This year was a year no one really saw coming, and yet life is one of those things that it doesn’t care if you’re ready or not, it’ll happen. So what I usually find that I do when I want some sort of grounding factor, is to write.

And despite reading to escape the reality of COVID, it felt odd not writing about it. Which is why I chose to write a story that transitioned through the pandemic alongside the real world.

Why Wales? Because this is where I went to University and I feel there is much less highlighting of the Welsh heritage than there is of the other UK entities. It’s a beautifully complex, glorious country.

The last thing I wanted to write about was how students are coping. I thought it would be interesting to explore how a student home coped with a pandemic over their finals, cancelled graduation, last few months as students and suddenly living 24 / 7 in cramped accommodation.

We have all been students, even if not everyone has been a University student. Most of us have had a period of time house sharing with people we are vaguely comfortable with or simply just with good old fashioned friends. We now all also know what it is like to experience a pandemic.

We all have different ways of relaxing and getting through this last year, writing has been mine.

I hope that you have found your retreat activity this year and have a very Merry Christmas!

As always, any feedback or recommendations on the post or the fiction series is really appreciate.