Keeping it brief

Hello everyone,

This will be a very brief entry today, as it’s been a rough week full of time-eating problems and deadlines all coming along at the same time like fleas on a dog.

As you may know, my ‘other job’ is teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) and most of my students are in China. This week, ESL online companies worldwide have been rocked with the news that all teachers and companies working to bring online English lessons to students will be suspended, many with immediate effect. This has left many companies with no choice but to close without notice. My own company has seen its Chinese based workforce slashed by 2/3 earlier this week, and many of my teaching colleagues have also had the rug pulled from under them as they have lost classes and/or secondary positions within the company. It’s been a mad, rough, heart-breaking week piled high with uncertainty and worry.

I’m in a far luckier position than many, as I was planning to cut back over the next six months as my publication dates close in, and I also currently still have a full teaching schedule that I believe I will be able to continue to teach until each of my 20-something courses come to their end. This will give me a nice gradual wind-down and gentle transition. Many of my colleagues are not in such fortunate positions. Even for me, it could change overnight as the nature of working for a Chinese company is that change is as sudden, frequent, and predictable as rain showers in Ireland.

Meanwhile, I am also writing an assignment for the MA – which does mean that the new novel (Book 4) I talked about last week is progressing well, so that’s good news, despite the time pressure. Meanwhile, I am also doing final me-edits on A Diet of Death before sending that book off to the real editor this weekend. Meanwhile, I’m still frantically trying to finish proof-reading fellow CJM debut author’s awesome Magical Realism book: Henry Mitchell’s A Winged Child, which releases a little before Dear Isobel comes out.

So, it was a busy enough time without work concerns popping up to torment me!

Therefore, let me take a moment to direct you over to Henry’s blog instead f hanging around here today, while I try to catch my breath and get that editing finished. He writes beautifully, and I promise his CJM debut will not diasppoint. I am thoroughly enjoying it, and long to find time enough to curl up in a small corner with a nice cup of tea to finish it.

So, I hope you will forgive me for short, newsy, and over and out today.

Love, Jinny