So, lots of exciting things relating to my writing and other work have happened in the past week. But, before I go in to what they are I must warn you that some of these exciting things I’m only allowed to talk about in vague terms (sorry about that but Very Important Legal Documents such as Non-Disclosure Agreement thingamajigs and Big Important Broadcast Organisations like ITV prevent me from filling in too many gaps).

However, there are some cool things I appear to be doing right now. And, bizarrely, when things start going right with my writing I get really frightened something bad is going to happen to bring everything crashing down around my laptop. Maybe this is because it’s happened before, maybe it’s because I’m an over-sensitive, rabbit-in-the-headlights catastrophising writer, or maybe it’s a natural instinct to want things to continue in a positive, successful vein.

Either way, Anthony, chill the $%!@ out and enjoy it, right?

Okay, okay, I hear you. But before I tell you about the good things, let’s get some rubbish (trashy) stuff out the way. Because, if you hadn’t noticed, in life there is yin and yang going on. This means that, at the same time as getting rewarded for your hard work, there apparently has to be some beat-downs too.

For instance: I recently finished writing my coming-of-age pirate adventure-fantasy The Pirate’s Potion. I’ve been sending it out to literary agents in the hope to place it so they can send it out to publishers. But, so far this week, five of them have rejected the manuscript. I’ve sent it out to a few, though, so plenty to go yet.

So on to the cool things that are happening to me and my writing at the moment:

1) I’ve been commissioned by producers working at Aardman Studios in Bristol to write the pilot script for a brand new children’s TV show for national British broadcaster ITV. That’s all I can say. apart from the fact that I love writing it…!

2) I’ve been asked to write a special new play for a theatre group working with girls who are trying to integrate themselves back into society after being in care, in prison or in foster homes. The play will be performed across the UK at festivals.

3) I’ve been approached to do my very first literary festival. The Purbeck Literature Festival in Dorset, UK in February 2014 has asked me to come up with several specialist writing events for children and adults alike. Cool…!

4) I’m setting up a brilliant new Movie-Making Academy in the UK especially for disaffected young people who are out of work, homeless, have mental health problems and are in care. The Academy will be a flexible, hands-on film-making course covering everything from scriptwriting to editing…and all the bits in between.

5) I’ve just started another new role running special outdoor education residential weekend breaks for children and teenagers who have run away from home due to parental problems. This youth worker role is for charity Reach Out Dorset and the first weekend is planned for November 1st and I’m looking forward to it.

So, on the whole, a whole lot of things going on! If you want to be successful in what you do then make sure you do it your way and work hard. Bloody hard. And don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t.

Feel free to let me know below what you’re up to. In the mean time…Keep. Writing. People.