Merry Christmas.

Every time I take a step out the door, I'm reminded of an old movie called Dr Zhivago, set in Russian during world war 1 and the Russian revolution. The film was based on the book by Boris Pastermak, and  it involves KGB Lieutenant General  Yevgraf Andreyevich Zhivago (Alex Guinness) searching for the daughter of his half brother, Doctor Yuri Andreyevich Zhivago (Omar Shariff), and Larissa (Lara) Antipova (Julie Christie). Yevgraf believes a young woman, Tonya Komarova (Rita Tushingham) may be his neice and tells her the story of her father's life.

 It's a tragic love story in which Yuri and Lara do not get a happy ever after, in the end they are parted by war and politics, but just as Yuri catches a fleeting glance of Lara on the train platform years later, and rushes to be with her, he collapses with a fatal heart attack. Lara disappears with all the political upheaval and either dies or ends up working in a labor camp according to Yevgraf. While Yevgraf strongly believes that Tonya is Yuri's and Lara daughter, she is still not convinced. Yevgraf notices that Tonya carries with her a Balalaika. Finding Tonya learned to play the Balalaika by herself, he smiles, " Ah then, it's a gift," thereby implying she truly is their daughter after all. (Wikipedia.).

I can hear the haunting music right now...

I know that everyone is getting ready and is busy shopping, wrapping presents and getting organized with only a week to go, which is why I wanted to take this moment to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Also, because it's the season I'm reflecting on the past year and what I've achieved. In 2013, I am proud to say that I finished Children of Annwn:The Promise and submitted to several agents/ publishers. Although, I didn't get the green light, I did receive amazing feedback from two publishers and it spurred me on to make the necessary changes !!!! Woot Woot!!!!

One of whom is actively pursuing my book, following a huge rewrite, which I am deeply immersed in at the present. I cannot begin to tell you how thrilled and excited I am as we close out the year and begin to start 2014. I am incredibly excited and blessed for this incredible opportunity and I'm hopeful that a couple of weeks of solid writing, and that will be it. I can then send it off to the publisher with all my fingers, toes and everything crossed. We'll see what 2014 has to offer.

So excited.

I also received some lovely comments from a beta reader friend of mine who really enjoyed my re-writes, which is pushing me even further to get a grip and gather the momentum to finish the task in hand.I'm travelling home to Wales on the 26th to spend some time with my mother and oldest son with my trusty laptop in hand, hope to post for the New Year, but until then wishing you all a very Merry Christmas...