July (so far) round-up

~ Annalisa Crawford

A few weeks ago I spoke about being busy. Well, what happened next was I signed up for a sponsored step challenge in aid of Diabetes UK, and started taking very long walks with Artoo.

As you can see, he’s loving it!

My aim is to walk 1.7 million steps over the course of July, August and September – this is roughly the distance from Lands End to John O’Groats.

This cheeky link will take you to my sponsorship page, if you feel inclined to make a small donation. I’ve got a target of £170, which is only £1 for every 10,000 steps! Bargain!

Some links…

Last week, I had a new short story published on the Fairlight Books website. All the Magpies Come Out to Play is a story written during the UK’s first lockdown, about the lockdown, without ever mentioning lockdown or indeed Covid. After swearing I would avoid the topic, these characters – especially The Woman in the House Opposite – arrived fully-formed and quite demanding. I’d love to know what you think.

Anne Goodwin, author of the absolutely fantastic Matilda Windsor is Coming Home, gave me a spot on her blog where I share four books which helped to inspire Small Forgotten Moments.

And finally…

I’m still trying to complete my novel-in-progress, and it’s slowly coming together. I am literally this meme (from Dr Freelance)

I have two methods now – I add the month to the document so it’s easy to work on the current one, and I shove all previous drafts into a folder called – can you guess? – Previous Drafts. Simple, but relatively effective.

I would love to start querying this novel in the autumn, but with work, walking, housework (because apparently that still needs to be done), and marketing for Moments, my time is a bit stretched!

How do you cope when you’re rushed off your feet? Do you have any tips for me? All advice gratefully received! 😘

15 thoughts on “July (so far) round-up”

  1. Ofcourse you will take care of your feet and knees. I would only suggest to keep count and rest after a certain period. 3 months on the trot will certainly be demanding but i am sure you are looking forward to it.

    Nara x

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    1. I’ve never been into running, so where most people challenge themselves in that way or enter marathons etc, I have to look for something else. Rest days are a really good idea, I’ll take that into consideration.

      Funnily enough, I was looking at my poor feet this morning and thinking they really need a bit of TLC. The only stress on my knees so far is when my dog pulls too hard because he’s seen a cat – we’re working on this, I’ve tried to explain we’re a team, but he’s not so sure 🙂

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  3. Hi Annalisa – I sort of lost track somewhere … i.e.. my feet weren’t following your steps – my brain definitely wasn’t – good for you for supporting Diabetes UK … I’ll be over to support. Well Artoo deserves his zizz … while you stay on your feet getting his supper! Cheers – take care and all the best with the challenge and books etc – Hilary

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    1. I have a spreadsheet (nothing to do with writing) called 2021. I know what it in in context with the folder I keep it in, but in my shortcuts it’s just 2021 and I sometimes have to pause for a moment.

      In short, naming files is not my forte!

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  5. My walking challenge is piddly in comparison. Good for you and good luck! 🙂

    I used to do some running, but I enjoy walking better, less impact on my knees, etc. The sad thing is, I’m actually faster walking than running. 😮

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    1. No challenge can ever be considered ‘piddly’! They all take effort and extra time and going slightly outside your comfort zone. Running hurts my ankle – a very old injury that still likes to nag at me every so often. I think I’d have the same speed issue 😂

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  6. You’re certainly keeping busy. Great that you’re doing all those steps and for a good cause. Artoo looks exhausted!

    I also tend to overuse the word “final” quite optimistically…

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    1. Final is a great word! For writers I think it just means ‘next’.

      I realised yesterday that my pedometer isn’t working properly and doesn’t register all my steps. I have a new one arriving today. I *may* have done many more than I’ve logged! 😂

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  7. That does sound like a lot of steps! My job has me doing a fair share of walking, which is good even though by the end of some days my legs are really pissed at me. Some weeks I average about 15,000 steps per day. And then my wife and I love to hike on most weekends. Glutton for punishment?

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    1. Apparently I was doing a lot more than I thought because my pedometer was undercounting. I bought a new one and wore them both as an experiment – the new one registered 5000 more steps than the old. Which means on some days I’ve hit 25-26,000 without realising. It makes sense now – those days were really tough with two dog walks and time on the treadmill too, and I was disappointed to see so few steps at the end of the day. Much happier now 🙂

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