Where the Heck Have I Been?!

You might have noticed that I haven’t published any new blog posts since the beginning of January. It’s been almost two months! What the heck?!

Well, it turns out, I’ve been just a little bit busy. Just a little bit. But part of being so busy means that I’ve literally read one book this month, and three this entire year so far. That’s… well, that’s just a bit pitiful, especially for a book blogger.

So what exactly has been keeping me so busy?

Our Li’l Trip to Valencia

For Christmas, my sister and I surprised our mum and step-dad with the biggest gift we’ve ever bought anyone: a three-day trip abroad to Valencia in Spain for the four of us! We started off by planning a little weekend retreat to a cottage or something in the UK, but as we do, we had to be all ~extra~ and book a holiday in Spain, instead. Why not, eh? Life is short.

We went in mid-January and despite everyone saying it’d be really cold, it was actually pretty glorious when we’re used to… well, British January temperatures. We spent a whole day in just t-shirts because the weather was so great. And there were people in coats. And scarves. One perk of being from dismal Britain is that when we visit a place where the climate knocks the temperature up a few degrees, it’s like we’re in some sort of tropical paradise.

I took a ton of photos while we were there so at some point I’m going to post a photo diary of sorts and write more about our trip. If you’re interested, look out for that! Probably in about August when I finally get around to sorting my photos out.

I Joined a Theatre Group!

It’s been my goal for a long time to join a theatre group. I used to love taking part in theatre clubs and productions when I was in school, but since then I haven’t done much else – but I’ve always wanted to. So, this year I bit the bullet and did a bit of research, and wallah – I found a theatre group near me. I emailed, was told that they had literally just started rehearsing a new show so it was perfect timing, and that I could attend their next rehearsal in four days. Not terrifying or spontaneous at ALL!! Nope!

So along I went, and I loved it. Dancing has never been my thing, but I even enjoyed the dancing. Okay, I was totally unprepared because I was in my chunky Dr Martens boots and completely wrong clothing to dance in, but it was a lot of fun. I’ve been to a few rehearsals now and I feel like I fit right in already. Everyone there is so lovely and welcoming, which helps a lot!

The show we’re currently rehearsing is Made In Dagenham, which is an ex-West End musical that was adapted from the 2010 film of the same name. The show is about a woman called Rita who works for the Ford Motor Co. plant in Dagenham, England. Despite working in a specialised job of sewing upholstery for car seats, Rita and her co-workers are classified as unskilled labour and paid much less than men. Encouraged by a sympathetic union representative, Rita agrees to bring the women’s grievances to Ford, and eventually they encourage other women to begin a nationwide strike for fair pay.

I love that the show is so women-centric, and with a lot of women in the cast, it’s perfect! I’m just in the ensemble for this one (because I’m brand new and joined after they started rehearsing the show), and I’m already looking forward to rehearsals each week. The show is in June, and I can’t wait to get back on a stage again after so long!

I’m Still Writing a Book

I wrote 50,000 words of my LGBT YA novel for NaNoWriMo in November, and whenever I’ve had chance, I’ve been continuing my work on it – mostly editing what I’ve already written. I’ll be honest and say this hasn’t taken up a huge amount of my time, but it’s still been something on my mind. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it or if I’ll shelve it soon to start something new, but it’s exciting to see where it goes!

A Few Other Things…

I got a tattoo! My sister and I got matching tattoos of Thing 1 and Thing 2 from The Cat in the Hat, because we’re identical twins. Mine is on the left and Emily’s is on the right. I love them!

I saw Brian Cox give an incredible talk about space-time, possible life on Mars and other planets, how Saturn (my fave planet) and its rings were formed, and so many other amazing things. I even got a new novel idea from one of the theories he discussed, and learned more about the theories that author Lauren James used for her novel, The Loneliest Girl in the Universe!

I think that’s about it. I’m excited to get back into blogging again after this little break – I have plenty of post ideas swirling around in my little brain, so let’s see how long I can keep it up before my next accidental hiatus.

Hope you’ve had a wonderful year so far!