2021, and we thought we would be coming out of Lockdown but life remained restricted.
Walking the Solent Way – in search of plastic pollution washed up on the shore
Becoming a Patron of the charity ‘Covid Reflections’
Speaking on BBC Radio Cumbria’s Saturday morning Breakfast Show
Appearing on BBC Antiques Roadshow with ‘Swallows and Amazons’ movie memorabilia including a hazel bow and arrow.
Taking Part in School Readers ‘Race for Reading’ challenge 2021, collecting litter on a section of the Welsh coastline
Collecting sea plastic whilst walking along the south coast of England
Writing articles for The Herald to encourage people to beach-clean
Representing Litter Pickers of the New Forest
Interviewed by JJ Walsh in Japan for a podcast on beach cleaning and meeting the head of Eco-Bricks UK who took some of my fishing net finds for a talk.
Having my unpublished novels placed in a number of literary awards:
Two historical novels Long-listed by Retreat West, 2021
Semi-Finalist in ACFW Genesis novel writing contest in the USA, 2021
Page Turner Finalist, 2021
Reaching the finals of the 2021 Eyelands Book Awards for an unpublished historical novel
Long-listed by Roadmap’s Write Start Competition in the USA, 2021
Longlisted for Adventures in Fiction New Voices, Flash 500 first page competition and The Eludia Awards in the USA.
Mounting my sketchbook drawings on Instagram – here’s one that got away (the aspect ratio didn’t fit)
A few sporting achievements:
Worcestershire Archery Society’s prize for Lady’s Most Hits
First Lady’s Gold at the West Berks Archery Society
Best Lady’s Gold at Meriden
Lady’s Championship Trophy for highest score Worcestershire Archery Society
Celebrating the first wedding after Lockdown lifted
Sailing to the Isle of Wight while Lockdown was eased
Giving a talk at ‘The Late Summer Festival of Romantic Books and Writing’
Contributing to a handbook for Christian Writers entitled ‘Write Well’ published by Instant Apostle
Riding across the wild areas of Sicily
Writing a Foreword to ‘Boats Yet Sailing’ by Trevor Boult
Finding a bid of £251 on a signed first edition paperback of ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’ in an auction in aid of BBC Children in Need
Bringing out a second edition of ‘Funnily Enough’ with added illustrations
Being able to go to restaurants with my family – if only for one birthday lunch
Raising funds for welfare projects in the Waterberg, South Africa
And helping to rebuild the church that burnt down
Being interviewed about my dog, Flint
I was honoured to be awarded ‘New Forest Litter Picker of the Year’
You can see photos of flotsam on an earlier post here
Very many thanks to all my readers who have reviewed my books
Reviews have appeared on Amazon for ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’ and on Goodreads here.
Sophie Neville 
Wow! What a year, Sophie. It’s so nice to realise that it hasn’t been totally ‘doom and gloom’! And, I love the Litter Art. Thank you for your blog posts and for making our year so much happier better than it otherwise would have been. Here’s to 2022.
Very Happy New Year to you too!
Dear Sophie,
I noticed that the ” S & A 1974 ” film was on one of the main channels
this week in the morning, aiming at a young audience. I hope some
parents who remembered the books and film sat their children down to see
what used to happen in the “old days ”
Yours,
Graham
Yes, it was broadcast in the UK on 30th December. I didn’t know until it was out! People can still watch it on demand. Very Happy New Year to you!
Thanks, Sophie, for the reminder that 2021 gave us successes as well as failures. Best wishes to you for the coming year.
I wouldn’t have thought much of the year if I hadn’t kept a record as I went along but we enjoyed some lovely moments. Do you have plans for the year ahead?
Another read of S&A series, of course. Some travel (UK might be a destination), rebooting my blog, and finishing my manuscript. So, not much at all!
I’m longing to travel too! We might be visiting some S&A places. Do you belong to any writing associations?
I’ve been a member of SCBWI for years, but that’s it. I have a couple of writing groups, although one has been on hiatus during Covid. The other moved to online meetings. Thank goodness for the internet!