My Writing Year 2013 and Plans for 2014

It' been an overwhelming year in many ways. Not least because I'm mainly writing in Swedish again. And I happen to live in Sweden. I haven't quite accepted it yet. I keep telling myself that nothing is forever and that I'm a citizen of the world and all that ...

I still have three main projects going on:

SWENGLISH 

The project is finished and I've written the book. It's just the whole publishing business left to deal with.

REPLACING ANGEL/UNDER THE LIP

Same, same but different. This novel has been finished forever and I haven't given up on the UK market, but at the moment I'm finishing the translation into Swedish and will start to approach Swedish publishers again.

POETRY

And then there's poetry. Performance poetry. If it wasn't for the poetry I would tear my hair and slit my wrists. Poetry keeps me on track. Poetry gets me out of the house. Poetry makes me friends. This year I took part in the National Slam Championship in Malmö and since then I've been performing regularly at festivals, slams, open mics and other random events. I also tried my luck as a "metaphor wrestler". (Pictured).

The reason I love performance poetry so much is that it's immediate and democratic. Anyone can do anything; you can write a poem today and throw it on the world tomorrow. The novel writing can be soul destroying in comparison as it involves a lot of waiting.

So. The future. In 2014 I will do everything I can to get SWENGLISH published and I will try equally hard to get REPLACING ANGEL out there. And I will step up on every stage and fill every page. Am working on some promising collaborations. Watch out!

I also got a an author page on Facebook now. Please like if you haven't already!

Happy new year all readers!

PÅ SVENSKA

Identity as a writer

Today I went for a job interview. I've already got a job. I'm a writer. But unfortunately I'm not making enough money out of it. Yet. In the meantime I have to do something else to be able to pay my rent. On and off since 2001 I've been doing casual library work. The interview I went for today was for a permanent post as library officer, 3 days (21 hours) a week. It's a job that I really want, because it would give me 3 full days to work on my writing + 1 day to rest.

However I left the interview almost in tears. I think I did OK, but something made me feel incredible sad for no reason. It could just be that my period is due ... (My brother just made a comment that I'm not being very personal in my blogs, so there you go!) Anyway, another reason might be that it doesn't matter if I got a job as Axl Rose's personal assistant; I'd still mainly be a writer and therefore I'm not able to show enough enthusiasm when interviewed for other jobs.

When I came home I got a nice confirmation of my true identity. A letter had arrived from Australia! A few weeks back I wrote to one of my favourite authors Belinda Burns, who's the brain behind "The Dark Part of Me". This novel has inspired me a lot both when it comes to both writing and living. It's a coming of age story set in Brisbane and is loaded with sex, drugs and rock n' roll, but is also very funny and offers deeper insight into human nature. The end is especially good and twisted. Read it now!

I was delighted that Belinda took her time to write back! She was also happy to receive my letter as writing can be such a lonely pursuit ... Whatever I do to make my money I know that my writing always comes first. Sometimes you just need to connect with other writers to remember who you really are.