I’ve been having a string of good luck lately. In the last week I received my Masters degree from Deakin in the mail, placed first in The Writing Junction Mentorship and Microfiction competition for my story ‘Crow’ and had a short story published in The Airgonaut. My Facebook and Twitter pages have become the grounds for shameless self-promotion and a whole lotta links (as has this blog apparently).

I’m incredibly grateful for these things, I want to make that clear. I’m ecstatic in fact and I hope the good times keep rolling in. But we all know slumps happen, they’ve come before and they’ll come again. I suppose, in an effort to make this post useful instead of just self-congratulatory, I want to say persevere. After my first two acceptance letters in February last year I waited just over a year to receive another one. What did I do in that time? I submitted and submitted and submitted and, of course, kept writing. I also whined to my mum and boyfriend but they’re endlessly supportive so I’m lucky again. Don’t stop, hard work and determination is necessary in any field, a little bit of self-delusion doesn’t hurt either.

Now for anyone annoyed by my bragging, I don’t blame you, let it be known that during my series of wins I’ve been suffering from a horrendous stomach bug and unable to celebrate with a single glass of wine or delicious morsel of food. You can’t win ‘em all.