Over 300,000 people currently work as teachers in Australia, about a half/half split between Primary and Secondary schooling levels, with over 70% being female. When I began the career way back in 1978, I quickly realised that very little of what I thought I knew about teaching and what was shared with me at university was correct or useful. Educational theories and history and pedagogical practices and curriculum maps and technologies certainly provided a little of the necessary knowledge and skills teachers need, but the reality gap between academia and day-to-day workplaces was – and still is – huge.
 
By my fifth year of teaching, I was mapping a potential guide for people who were contemplating teaching as a career or were in the early years wondering what just happened. I began collecting comments and observations made by colleagues and storing them – conversations on yard duties, behaviour management, administrative paperwork, reliefs, union membership, and so on. The comments I collected are like:
​
“I was born branded as a teacher. Mum is a Principal. Dad teaches Tech. My grandmothers on both sides were teachers, and my father’s father worked as an accountant for an education company. I’ve never known a world outside teaching. We’re a bit like professional military families – actually, a lot like them.” (AK, Economics Teacher, 12th year in profession)

“Every morning, I coach myself to be positive when I walk into the school grounds. I smile, I greet people, I exude positivity because I know the impact it has on everyone else.” (JN, Year 5 teacher, 4th year in profession)

“If I have to do one more session on Mandatory Notification I will scream. I get it. I know what to do after four sessions. Really. Stop wasting my time. The sessions are so boring.” (CB, Food Technologies teacher, 22nd year in profession)
​
“I learned a lot of tech stuff during uni, but I was surprised at how many of my colleagues still struggle with tech at work. It’s embarrassing. I’m helping people with basic stuff and the kids know it.” (FS, Middle School teacher, 7th year in profession)

Writers are readers. I firmly believe it’s essential for people to read and read widely (I know, persistent prejudice of a former English teacher), because writers open the world and in places where most of us never choose or have to journey. Writers take us to real worlds, fantasy worlds, potential worlds. They immerse us in love, war, creation, despair, hope, joy, fear, abomination, spirituality, aspirations, grief, loss. They allow us to see life through many different eyes and from vastly different perspectives.
 
I was asked last week what I read, especially as I write in specific genres. It’s expected I read fantasy since I write fantasy, but I rarely do nowadays, and for two reasons. I don’t want to copy other fantasy writers, and I don’t want my stories to be influenced by what others are writing while I’m writing my stories. When I read fantasy it’s always between projects and never during.

So, here’s the thing. I bet you and I can ‘people watch’ on the street and we would identify a host of stereotypes in everyday life, based on common fashion choices, hairstyles, movement and poise, interactions with others, family origins, gender. When we sit with family and friends and chat, more stereotypes emerge: common topics of interest, points of view, reactions to other people, voice tone and accent, gestures and so on. At work, we witness colleagues’ shared attitudes to the workplace and people, actions and reactions under pressure, drudgery and creativity, planning and chaos, success and failure. In all of the above people watching, we see common traits, shared personalities, physical similarities, and these shape stereotypes in our world views. And this is before we enter the less pleasant environments of gossip and media and prejudices where the stereotypes become vilifications.
 
Stereotypes have been aligned with profiling (consider the definitions) and negative connotations attached to the term. The accusations ‘He looks like that so he must act like this’, ‘She dresses like that so she must be this kind of personality’, ‘They come from there so they will believe these things’ are examples of stereotyping as profiling. At the heart of this conversation, then, is the politicisation of stereotyping. Where vilification and profiling are evident, stereotyping characters should be questioned, examined and determined as acceptable or not acceptable. Not only should the writer’s work be examined but also the motivation behind the critic’s criticism. Politicisation is a two-(or more)-sided action where all parties’ views need to be examined.
 
There are now more than eight billion humans on the planet, so it’s possible that you share similar physical appearance with quite a lot of other people. Note, though, the emphasis is on similarity, not exact duplication. There are so many people on this planet that you do have a small but possible chance of meeting your exact doppleganger, something like a one in one-hundred-and-thirty-five chance, but that’s like the conundrum of anticipating a monkey could write Shakespeare’s plays if left in front of a keyboard long enough. Basically, it has a probability, but it’s so huge it’s likely to never actually happen.
 
For every group of ten thousand people, there’s a chance eleven of them will share similar facial features with people in that group. The chance that you will meet someone with very similar facial features is apparently more like .0011%. A very tiny number? Absolutely. But distil that across eight billion humans and there could be as many as eighty to ninety thousand people who have similar looks to you.

​https://petapixel.com/2022/09/01/doppelgangers-dont-just-look-alike-they-act-alike-and-share-dna/ 

Editing. Again. Creating and manipulating a four-book series at the same time is not something I have tackled before. The fantasy series published with HarperCollins in 2002-3 – the Ashuak Chronicles – and again in 2008-10 – Dreaming in Amber – were one-at-a-time book developments, admittedly framed into six-month deadline frameworks for each book. Somehow, they seemed easier.
 
In this final editing-before-submission phase, I’ve found the most difficult aspect is remembering which book I’m in as far as whether I have already mentioned the places or people or events. At least twice, now, I’ve started editing a paragraph or fact only to realise it isn’t being repeated – it actually is the first time I’ve mentioned the information!
 
I’m learning much about my writing style working across four books. I have an obsession with the setting at the start of chapters and sections. I like to establish the weather, the light, the scenery surrounding the characters. Too much. I’m focussing on editing at least some aspects of that obsession in this final process. I particularly discovered an obsession with fishing boats and seagulls. I am reducing the number of times they are referenced.
 
I love dialogue. That leads to how many times do I have to use the word ‘said.’ Then there are the -being-too-clever risks with synonyms for said. And the risky ‘don’t use said at all’ in some lines. The reader is clever. This is challenging across a total of 400,000 words in four books.
 
Telepathic communication between the dragon and the three siblings is a significant aspect of the third and fourth books and deciding how to represent it is ‘interesting.’ In the end I’m going with the dialogue convention and keeping ‘mindspeak’ as traditional dialogue by using the words ‘projected’, ‘mindspeak,’ ‘telepathy’ to alert readers that telepathic communication is happening. Only personal thoughts and dreams appear in italics.
 
Tamesan’s Song: Book One and Chasse’s Song: Book Two are done. Jaysin’s Song: Book Three is this week’s project and Harmi’s Song: Book Four will complete the March project line. Back into the editing I dive.

The "GPT" in ChatGPT stands for "Generative Pre-trained Transformer." The "generative" part refers to the model's ability to create new text based on what it has learned from its training data. The "pre-trained" part refers to the fact that the model has already been trained on massive amounts of text data, making it more accurate and efficient than other language models.”
 
There are risks, as with anything:
 
“As an AI language model, ChatGPT can provide valuable information and assist with various tasks. However, there are some risks associated with using ChatGPT, including:
 
1. Bias: ChatGPT's responses are based on the data it was trained on, which can include biases that were present in the original dataset. This means that ChatGPT's responses can sometimes reflect and perpetuate biases, stereotypes, and prejudices.

2. Misinformation: ChatGPT's responses are generated based on statistical patterns in the data it was trained on. While it can provide helpful information, it can also generate responses that are inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading.

3. Lack of empathy: As an AI language model, ChatGPT does not have emotions or empathy. This means that it may not understand or be able to respond appropriately to emotional or sensitive topics.

4. Privacy and security: ChatGPT's interactions with users may involve personal information that needs to be protected. There is also the risk that bad actors could use ChatGPT to generate harmful content, such as fake news or hate speech.

5. Dependence: Depending too heavily on ChatGPT for decision-making or information-gathering could lead to a loss of critical thinking skills and independent thought.
 
Overall, while ChatGPT can be a useful tool, it's important to recognize its limitations and be aware of the potential risks associated with its use. It's important to use ChatGPT with caution, and to verify the information it provides through other sources whenever possible.”
 
Of course, I didn’t write any of the above. ChatGPT did from my prompt. I figure I won’t need to ‘create’ blogs hereon in. I can have ChatGPT generate them for me. For example, it is Writers’ Week in the city and for the first time ever I can attend any of the sessions on any of the days because I am no longer tied to an 8-6+ job. To celebrate Writers’ Week, here’s a quick poem:
 
“In Adelaide's Writers' Week,
The city's streets come alive
With words that dance and words that speak
And tales that make us thrive.
 
Authors, poets, and wordsmiths too
Gather here from far and near
To share their stories, both old and new
And bring their passions clear.
 
We listen to their voices rise
Like music in the air
As they paint worlds before our eyes
With words that we can share.
 
From memoirs to fiction, they inspire
And captivate our hearts
In Adelaide's Writers' Week, we conspire
To make art that never departs.
 
So let us gather in this space
And revel in the magic of the pen,
For in Adelaide's Writers' Week, we embrace
The power of words once again.”
 
Yes. ChatGPT again. Doggerel. Needs a serious edit and I’d hope to write something much more interesting, but then…
 
Maybe I can write fantasy novels – or more to the point, ChatGPT can write them for me. I asked it to write a fantasy story in the style of Tony Shillitoe (it doesn’t know who I am, by the way – I’m unknown to it). Here’s what it generated:
 
“Once upon a time, in a land far beyond the reach of mortal men, there lived a powerful sorcerer named Zephyr. Zephyr was known throughout the land for his mastery of the arcane arts, and his ability to summon forth creatures from other dimensions to do his bidding.
 
One day, Zephyr decided to undertake a journey to the far-off kingdom of Arvandor, where he had heard rumors of a powerful artifact that could grant its wielder unimaginable power. Setting out from his tower in the mountains, Zephyr travelled for many weeks, battling fierce monsters and crossing treacherous terrain until he finally arrived at the gates of Arvandor.
 
As he made his way through the city, Zephyr sensed a powerful magical presence emanating from the castle at its center. Without hesitation, he made his way to the castle gates and demanded an audience with the king.
 
To his surprise, the king agreed to see him, and Zephyr found himself standing before the throne, face to face with the ruler of Arvandor.
"What brings you to my kingdom, sorcerer?" the king asked.
"I have come seeking the artifact of power that is said to be hidden within your castle," Zephyr replied.
The king eyed him warily. "And what makes you think I would just give it to you?"
 
Meh. Although I do like the final line as a threat.
 
This is a very selective set of examples of what ChatGPT and other AI systems can already do and this is merely the beginning of a whole new age. I don’t believe creative writers are at risk yet – unique styles are difficult to replicate in original work (but not impossible). However, the “writing is on the web” for workplace writing and simpler creative tasks. Resumes, reports, Hallmark poems are all simply and effectively generated. For example, here’s what I got when I asked for a night-fill resume for a supermarket job:
 
“Name: [Your Name]
Contact Information: [Your Phone Number] | [Your Email Address]
 
Objective: To obtain the position of Night Fill at [Supermarket Name], bringing strong physical stamina, attention to detail, and excellent time-management skills to ensure timely and accurate stocking of merchandise.
 
Education:

• [High School Diploma or equivalent], [Year of Graduation], [High School Name]

 
Experience: Night Fill, [Supermarket Name], [City, State], [Year-Present]

• Unload delivery trucks and stock shelves with merchandise according to store procedures and standards
• Ensure product rotation and freshness by following proper rotation procedures
• Monitor inventory levels and inform the manager of low stock items
• Keep the work area clean and organized, following safety and sanitation guidelines
• Collaborate with other team members to complete tasks within designated time frames
• Provide excellent customer service when asked for assistance with finding items

 
Skills:

• Strong physical stamina and ability to lift heavy boxes and containers
• Attention to detail to ensure accurate placement of merchandise and adherence to store standards
• Excellent time-management skills to complete tasks within designated time frames
• Customer service-oriented mindset to assist customers with finding items
• Ability to work well in a team-oriented environment

 
References: Available upon request.”

ChatGPT offers a great first draft option for writing. Our world is on the cusp of another digital revolution, especially paired with deep fake technology and the ability to use multiple platforms to spread (mis)information quickly, widely and efficiently. Is it possible the next generation of storytellers will be as constructed as their stories?
 
“Words wake on the web,
Tomorrow’s tales yet untold:
AI defines us.”
 
(a collaborative ChatGPT and human haiku)

Censorship of a piece of writing in our ‘democratic’ communities is not as simple as someone in a position of authority deciding what can and can’t be read. It is far more complex. It may well begin with a nation or state setting laws about what is morally acceptable for publishing/reading and what is not, but after that there are many players who make choices and decisions:
 
1.     First, the writer will choose what they want to write about – the language, the characters, the moral content, the actions. One colleague told me she is happy to write dark content for her teenage readers but she will NEVER kill a cat in her stories.
2.     Sometimes, the writer’s beta readers – family, friends, trusted colleagues – will influence the content before the final manuscript is completed.
3.     If the manuscript arrives at a publishing house, trusted readers employed by the publisher will have their input as to what should or should not be published.
4.     The publisher’s editor (or editors) will choose what will be published and what might need to be edited/changed/removed from the original.
5.     Then the publishers booksellers sometimes have influence, especially of dealing with a bookshop owner who can only stock some but not all the books being offered by the publisher.
6.     The bookshop owner and staff then introduce their level of preference for which books will get shelf exposure and recommendations and which will be silently stowed on the shelf. This extends to the amount of shelf life a book receives before it is removed and replaced.
7.     Then the buyer makes choices based on personal interests, moralities, and what is available and recommended.
 
If the book is sold into schools, another raft of people are involved in the book’s ‘censorship:’
 
8.     The school is likely to have a book selection policy determining what is acceptable and what is not.
9.     The school librarian and possibly the key leader of the English department will choose what books will be purchased for specific class study
10.  The school librarian can choose to promote, display obviously, or ignore general books in the library
11.  Parents will weigh into book selection based on their values and beliefs
12.  Finally, students will make choices on non-class texts when they browse the library.
 
I began a PhD in 2002 based on censorship of teenage fiction in Australia and proved through research with writers, publishers and bookshop owners (right down to not being able to complete my PhD) that censorship in Australian publishing is ‘silent’ but powerful, and based on the steps and processes listed above.
 
Roald Dahl’s writing exists. He wrote the right material at the right time within the cultural and historical context of his time, in the same way as Shakespeare and thousands of other writers wrote tales that reflect the attitudes and issues of their times. Efforts to update, sanitise, change the original work may have good intentions – I don’t doubt that – to keep good stories alive across generations and cultural changes, but it is censorship, and it is an attempt to rewrite history to suit our own needs, and we have to be blatantly honest about doing that if we feel there is a genuine need for it.
 
Then the cynic in me is wary of the people who want to sanitise Dahl’s works for selfish reasons:
 

• It enables the books to keep earning money for the people invested in them
• It allows people who loved the books as children to share them with their children but without having to address the culturally inappropriate bits
• It satisfies current cultural priorities

 
To the point: if Dahl’s books are not to your taste, seriously, choose to read another writer. Thousands of new and fascinating stories for children are published every year, most within the current cultural context and written specifically to fit the contemporary ethical and cultural trends/tastes/changes we want to embrace. Maybe the truth is that Roald Dahl’s time has come and gone, much like Enid Blyton’s, Edith Nesbitt’s, J M Barrie’s, Erich Kastner’s popularity came and went within their times. Time and tastes might invalidate the sales popularity of a writer, but it should not invalidate the writer’s works, only highlight their cultural contexts and readers’ choices.
 
We have multiple levels of censorship in place and thousands of current and amazing writers seeking to be read: there is no need to sanitise the past to satisfy the present.

​As a teenager, Josie enjoyed dancing and her brothers would take her out to swing and then rock and roll dances. When her older sister, Eileen, began dating and then married a man from the Meningie area, she travelled back and forth to country dances held in the Ashville hall, and there she met John Webb. The two eventually married, settled in Meningie and had two sons.
 
My memories of Josie firstly revolve around Friday nights, and Saturdays and Sundays in the 1960s, when my parents would periodically visit John and Josie in Meningie to play cards and chat in the kitchen while I spent the evening or afternoons lost in the miracle of television in the lounge room (we didn’t have electricity or television on the farm until I was 12). These were the times of ‘The Flintstones’, ‘Wagon Train’, ‘Have Gun Will Travel’, ‘Maverick’, ‘Davy Crockett’, ‘World Championship Wrestling’ and ‘Roller Derby’ TV shows. Then there were Saturday nights spent spotlighting for rabbits on the farm. And lastly, in my early teens, there were football days, whenever the club I played for, Border Downs, played Meningie.
 
Josie excelled in playing local golf, and in later years she was a good lawn bowler. There were many good years for her in Meningie after a tough childhood, but life always deals mixed cards, and she struggled when her younger son died in a tragic boating accident in Lake Albert/Coorong, and again when her husband John died. At 82, battling health complications, Josie passed. This Friday, family and friends will say farewell in a ceremony at the Meningie Bowling Club.
 
So, novel editing this week is tinged with sadness, emphasising how important it is to savour relationships, stay in touch with family, and record life. The last time I sat with Josie, she shared her story during the time the novel covers. Much of it happened outside the scope of my mother’s life, but it’s important to know what was happening while Eileen was away from her siblings in Victoria and Tasmania, and then recuperating from TB, because it shapes her world and relationships ever so subtly.

What a massive difference the use of time becomes when writing is a full time option. In the space of two weeks I completed edits of three novels, a task that would normally take at least a month for each one when I was working in school!
 
Apart from all the common corrections re typos, grammar, spelling and so on, my editing process last week addressed, for example, issues like:

1. Disappearing characters

Four major background characters had ‘disappeared’ ie their fates were unresolved in Book Four. I have addressed two and the other two will be dealt with today. Once the plot of Book Four stopped dealing with these characters they literally slipped off the radar of the tale. They need to reappear appropriately, even if they remain ‘off stage’ in events.

1. Time

While I was conscious of the story arc spanning several years, I had not meticulously mapped the exact time in the drafts. I was able to work through and find that the whole story across four books covers a period of seven years in our characters’ lives. The three human protagonists ‘come of age’ in their respective books – the dragon ‘matures’ and certainly grows in physical size.

1. Currency

Originally, I named the currency coins ‘keys’ (ie money opens doors) but the clash with that word for actual keys across the story was just annoying, so the realm coins are ‘bits’.

1. Repetitive/overused phrases and words

So many actions are repeated in telling a story that some words and phrases need to be altered with synonyms or eliminated as unnecessary. For example, in my case, I have (and will again today) work through the stories to deal with excessively repeated use of ‘turned to’, ‘looked at’, ‘said’, ‘met X’s gaze’, ‘approached’ and a host of others.

1. Said

I use substantial dialogue in storytelling because I believe it shows rather than tells what is happening with characters, but while there are many synonyms to describe speaking it becomes highly repetitive to use said (and sometimes forced when I replace a simple ‘said’ with ‘replied casually’. I don’t think I can ever complete or get this task balanced enough.

1. Scenery description

I like opening chapters and sections in chapters with a snippet of the place to set the scene. Unfortunately, across four books at 30 chapters per book and possibly anywhere up to 300 sections overall, scene snippets also become repetitive eg ‘gulls circling fishing boats’, ‘sun sinking’, ‘birds heading to roost’, and so on. The challenge is to find enough variation while retaining reader reference to the setting/place.

1. Connection to past series

The Andrakis trilogy way back in 1992/3 established a fantasy world, magic sources and dragon culture which I subsequently used and embellished in the 2002/3 Ashuak Chronicles and 2006/8 Dreaming in Amber series. These are now weaved into The Last Wizard sagas. Chronologically, The Last Wizard comes after the other three series, but in another part of the greater world, much further east. There is a partially completed loosely titled Dragon Queen series I started in 2011 that sits between Dreaming in Amber and The Last Wizard that is also somewhere on the drawing board for completion. All five series are connected now.

1. Endings

The Last Wizard sagas are coming of age tales, so each book is designed to end with the main character having some understanding of who they are becoming and their possible purpose. The fourth book also summarises the outcomes for all four characters. The editing challenge is to make that ending satisfactory and complete for the readers who have come on the long journey. While the ending completes the overall tale/adventure, I do deliberately leave open the possibility for a whole new adventure to begin for our ‘matured’ characters. I can’t help it.
 
Those are samples of what I put into a ‘third’ edit process when writing. This week, when the last issues mentioned above are resolved, I will do a full read of the saga to check for any glaring issues I somehow missed. Then it’s time for beta readers.

One week into full time writing and the writing job is already very different. There is much to do in the coming weeks:

• Establish a weekly routine
• Reconnect writing relationships
• Edit five draft projects in readiness for making publisher approaches
• Plan new projects
• Reconstruct my web site
• Research potential writing markets
• Research, learn and apply marketing and promotion skills

 
This first week I busied myself with two key tasks:

• Editing two novels – Chasse’s Song and Jaysin’s Song in The Last Wizard series
• Attending a six-day Kindle online publishing program

 
The online program, run by Ty Cohen and the Writers Life team, was a basic and free overview of how to approach writing for Amazon Kindle. It was highly informative, and I have several take-aways from it that I will pursue later in the year as I amass material. While it focused on several essential matters, including:

• Self-belief
• Self-discipline
• Know the markets
• Make connections
• Focus on one project first
• Learn to market

 
I also learned surprising aspects of the Amazon writing industry:
​

• Hundreds of ghost writers are available on sites like Upworks.com for very cheap rates to write text for you: the ‘session musicians’ of the publishing industry
• AI (artificial intelligence) programs are being embraced and widely employed to write
• so-called ‘writers’ are cobbling together books using the ghost writers and AI (artificial intelligence) and making significant sales

 
The online program has given me a great deal of food for thought as I move forward.

First, an indulgence. Today is the first day in my life as a full time writer. No more squeezing desperate and sometimes frustrating moments out of the working/family/friends week to fervently create in patches of 10-45 minutes. Today I sit before my screen knowing that every working day hereafter the first priority and responsibility is to my craft. Honestly, I feel so elated, so freed, so weird!
 
The greatest challenge, now, will be self-discipline. No more school bells making me salivate and flinch, and move to the next class or task or activity or day. No more fretting over planning and marking in the evenings and on weekends to meet assessment deadlines or satisfy the needs of colleagues or students or parents. Instead, I am my task master. I decide what I will work on and when and how. And that becomes a very different form of self-discipline – like committing to regular gym or yoga or a diet to improve health.
 
Roald Dahl and many other writers have told us how important it is to establish routines as would be the case in any job. I am choosing to operate a working week from 9am-5pm. I have a sense of the working week daytime tasks that I must meet:

• Planning
• Thinking
• Writing
• Home duties (washing, tidying, eating, lawns etc)
• Editing
• Reading
• Research
• Learning
• Marketing
• Lunch
• Blogging

and after work activities:

• Family
• Exercise (volleyball, gym, yoga, walks)
• Socialising
• Entertainment (films, plays)

 
And for the first time in so many years I can keep the former set from consuming the latter. Add to that mix once-off events like workshops, conferences and conventions to reconnect and stay in contact with writing peers and associations. Oh, and nanna naps – reflection time in the afternoons 

• Remaining typos and errors
• Plot arc
• Character consistencies, especially emotional traits
• Social/community details
• Travel, time anomalies
• Connections with previous and following books

 
and a host of other things. Third edit is when I prepare a manuscript for beta reading.
 
Enough. I’m also setting a time limit for writing each weekly blog. Time’s up. Time to edit.

​Thursday, I finished the first rough draft of Harmi's Song - The Last Wizard Book 4. The editing process begins this coming week.

Creating a fantasy story entails creating a rich world in which the characters can play out their lives. The original The Last Wizard (1995) was based in a pseudo-Nordic coastal environment in a village called Harbin nestled beneath Dragon Mountain. All the village culture and history aside, I created a map of Harbin to visually position events (maps below).

I labelled the significant places in the final version, and in the print edition the colours were transformed to a black and white rendition. Harbin became a place.
 
For fantasy writers, geography and an understanding of how geographical formations and features co-exist and affect each other to create a specific ecosystem of plants, birds, animals, becomes an essential tool bag of knowledge and skills when designing a place or a world.

The expansion of The Last Wizard into four distinct books where the central characters are drawn by necessity and circumstance into a much larger world than their original village has necessitated more map building. The value of maps for me include:

• understanding and utilising geographical spaces and names in the story
• ensuring travel distances and time are logical and consistent
• flagging cultural norms and changes for the readers as well as the characters
• providing physical challenges and refuges for characters
• adding 'reality' through 'suspension of disbelief' for readers

It's been a long haul between the last post and this one - not just three months. Reflecting on 2022 made me realise just how nasty the year was on personal levels, although there were plenty of good things too. BUt one change is in place - I begin 2023 as a full time writer!

For the record, my lack of recent posts is due to several matters:

• ending a long career
• setting up workplace resources for my successors and colleagues for 2023
• having an emergency gall bladder operation

So, 2022 - glad you are done.

The current project - Harmi's Song: Book 4 of The Last Wizard series - is one chapter from draft completion and currently sitting at 89,000 words. I planned to have this one done before Christmas, but see the list above as to why it took longer.

Having built toward the final confrontation between our heroes and the antagonist, I'm currently crafting how that confrontation unfolds amid an epic but fundamentally one-sided battle. Overwhelming outnumbered in a battle that doesn't make much sense to my protagonist - a dragon caught in human warfare - the antagonist is determined to 'rule the world' and ignore the rights of others - think Putin and the like - and while our dragon is keen to protect her immediate human family she struggles with the human need for power at whatever cost to other humans. I can't say more - spoiler otherwise.

The Last Wizard series across four books will represent around 360,000 words of creativity when finished. The next steps are to:

• complete the final chapter draft or denouement for our characters
• work through drafts of book two, three and four to check for consistency/continuity
• edit book four in the usual first draft manner
• decide whether to add a language guide at the end of the books where appropriate
• improve/update maps

I'm estimating as a full time writer I can go through these steps and be ready to approach publishers by March/April with the proposals. Guess I'm about to find out the efficiency difference between cramming writing tasks between full time employment and other life matters, as I've always done, and the 'employment' actually being writing.

One target is to increase the frequency of blog posts as personal discipline for each week of writing. There. It's in black and white. You guys can hold me to it. I will make Sunday evening the time for writing reflection each week.

​Happy new year. Let 2023 be a healthy, productive and satisfying year for you all. We're underway!