Happy New Year! I trust you all had an enjoyable festive period. 2014 got off to an impeccable start for me with a two week trip to Hong Kong and the Philippines. Unfortunately the jet lag that I thought I’d managed to avoid seems to have caught the next flight home and joined me in London today, manifesting itself in a headache of such epic proportions it has felt as though my head’s been gripped in a vice all day. Last night’s over-enthusiastic return to marathon training has also resulted in the aggravation of my pre-Christmas back injury, so I’ve had to book an appointment with an osteopath to try and get it sorted before my stamina well and truly leaves the building (after almost three weeks of gorging myself on rich foods and largely sitting on my arse all day this is quite some challenge).

On a more positive note I returned from holiday to find one of my short stories had been shortlisted for a competition in February’s Writing Magazine, which couldn’t have been a better start to the year where my writing is concerned. It’s therefore in the spirit of this enthusiasm that I’m writing my first blog post of the year, and whilst I can’t promise they’ll be daily as they were in 2013, I will do my best to ensure they are as regular as my other commitments allow.

Happy 2014 everyone – let’s make it a good one.