Welcome to my first blog post of the New Year!
Well, did you miss me? Did you notice I’ve been offline for a bit? Probably not – if you’ve got any sense, you’ll have spent a lot of time offline over Christmas too.
But I have to say I’m greeting the first working week of the New Year with renewed energy and enthusiasm, after spending as much time as possible away from my computer during my daughter’s two-week break from school.
When I furtively dipped back into the internet now and again during the holiday fortnight, it was effectively under cover – I’d set up an out-of-office message to cover my two email accounts: the online equivalent of dark glasses.
In fact, if I hadn’t been part of Helen Hollick’s fabulous Christmas Party Blog Hop, I’d have spend even less time online. Reading the other participants’ fascinating posts was the main reason that I sneaked back to my computer at all.
Why Christmas Isn’t Over Yet…
What do you mean, you didn’t read the 25 fabulous articles on the blog hop, on different aspects of Christmas traditions and with plenty of festive fiction samples to enjoy?
Fear not, there’s still time to catch them with a clear conscience, because, as I’ve just discovered, Christmas isn’t actually over just yet. I’m not talking about waiting for Twelfth Night (today, 5th January, according to some people, or tomorrow, 6th, for others, including me). The vicar’s letter in the new Hawkesbury Parish News states that the festive season doesn’t officially conclude until Candlemas on 2nd February. Now there’s the excuse Laura was looking for to keep the Christmas tree up for a little longer.
In the meantime, I’m back in the room – and I’ve just been blogging about the benefits of going offline on the advice blog of Alliance of Independent Authors. You can read that post here, if you’re interested: Don’t Let the Internet (Tail) Wag the Author (Dog)
- What’s the longest you can bear to stay offline – or indeed online?
- Do you have a top tip to share on avoiding internet burnout?
- Feel free to join the conversation via the comment box below!
Unfortunately I didn’t get to spend much time away from my computer over Christmas but for ‘other’ work reasons *sigh*. However I am taking much more of a back seat with social media for the foreseeable future anyway because I’ve found I don’t have the time to write, do that and the irritating ‘other’ work thing as well so 2015 will have to see a much more disciplined me! Thanks for the post Debbie and I have promised myself that next Christmas will see me away from my computer a lot more 🙂 Things have to change.
Be bold and go for it, Georgia – you deserve to allow yourself the time you need to write more books. Your writing is on a roll now, and don’t let the internet impede your success! Here’s to a productive 2015 for us both!