Granny Weatherwax is one of my favourite Discworld characters, and “I Aten’t Dead” is the phrase she famously hung round her neck for those occasions she appeared outwardly lifeless, while she was actually off Borrowing and experiencing the world in a different way. This, I feel, sums up my year (or at least, the online aspect of it) perfectly.

Much earlier this year, my Facebook account was hacked and subsequently suspended – I suspect an attempt to grab hold of my ads and any money that might be connected to them. (Don’t worry, I was sensible and cut everything off immediately.) It’s a common enough occurrence for businesses on social media that I should have been expecting it to happen one day, and I thought I’d taken precautions to lower the risk of a breach ever happening, but it turns out I was wrong.

The day it happened I felt utterly sick, watching years of my personal data get locked behind a digital wall. Especially because this was also my personal Facebook account, which contained years of memories, photos, interactions with friends, and connections with far-flung folks that I may never recover.

For a while, I pursued a solution. The route of appeal was effectively a brick wall, so I spent some time chasing down other ways to contact the famously uncontactable Meta, but soon ran out of steam. I’ve had other priorities to focus on. Baby Henry – who recently had his first birthday – and his five-year-old sister Evie have been the centre of my universe this year.

They’ve both grown so much, and their relationship as siblings has been a greater joy than I anticipated. There’s also been a great deal of sleep deprivation (alas, Henry was not a good sleeper for most of the year).

The time I’ve had for writing I’ve focused on more personal projects: short stories and submissions to magazines & anthologies. At the same time, I’ve been working on a gift for fans of Jack Hansard: a Christmas adventure that was supposed to be a 5,000 word short story, but which turned into a 19,000 word novella. Stay tuned – I’ll tell you how to grab it for free in my next blog post.

I’m now looking ahead to next year with the aim of rebuilding my online presence and making an unhurried return to publishing. While one child is now at school, the other is still at home and I’ve also gone back to work part-time – which is to say, time feels short even when it’s well-organised.

I have a wonderful husband and very supportive family who help me find time for myself and writing, but I don’t expect to be churning out multiple books a year any time soon. So, slow and steady it is. I’m looking forward to getting back into long-term projects and reconnecting with folks in this sphere.

I don’t post on my blog much, so if you want another way to find out what I’m up to, considering signing up to my newsletter (you’ll receive a free story) or following me on Instagram @GJefferyAuthor.

Here’s to keeping in touch – even if it is infrequently. 😉