They say that the world is to end this year, that Nibiru is already stalking us behind our moon and that it will collide with us on the 21st December (the day before my birthday! How inconsiderate!); or that we will have used up all our natural resources and the world will retaliate; that a huge climate shift will kill us all; or maybe some man made disaster in the form of WW3 will wipe us out.
For those who believe this, I can only imagine what is going on inside their head, of the panic and the fear. I'm not a believer, but if I don't reach my 32nd birthday then I'll eat my words and be proven wrong. In the mean time I'll simply believe that the Mayan society run out of stone when carving their calender and could go no further than 2012.
However, this year does seem to be having a negative effect on me so far, and the biggest change to come about is the fact that I lost my job just over a week ago. I was made redundant after seven years. I understand completely, from a business point of view, why this needed to happen, but I can't deny the fact that I'm gutted. I loved my job. I'm also the sort of person who likes stability, and when I get settled into something I'm there for good. The thought of having to look for a new job and then settle in somewhere new isn't really doing me any favours and I have a whirlwind of emotions running through my mind at the moment. I am at unease.
Still, one good thing to come out of this is the realisation that I should go off and do something that I want as opposed to something that I need to do for the wage. Obviously any job will be taken if needs must (and becoming a full-time writer just isn't viable at present), but I've also decided to put myself through a course to learn all there is to know about the Adobe Creative Suite. I'm pretty nifty with photoshop already, but there's still a lot it can do that I don't know about. Then I'm going to freelance myself in my spare time and do book covers and book trailers for all those wonderful writers out there who have reached the exciting point of publishing their work. It'll be something that I love doing and something I'll enjoy.
Another little thing I saw that shed some light into my surrounding 2012 darkness was a review on Amazon for my book, 'Son of Jack'. It came just when I needed it and put a well needed smile on my face:
"This is an excellent psychological thriller about what happens when a town is plagued by a serial killer. We see the different reactions of the four main characters and their various spirals into madness. Although the killer is a constant presence, he is kept "off stage", which in my opinion only made events more chilling and added to the suspense. The pace was not too rushed, which allowed the drama to build nicely. I was gripped by this book and this author is one to watch!"
Thank you, Nick Wilford.
