Image courtesy deathtothestockphoto.com

Today’s post is written by founding editor Suzannah Windsor.

First, it’s great to be back. I’ve really missed sitting down to write something personal to you—especially to those of you who have supported my writing in many different ways over the past five years.

Maybe you thought Write It Sideways had come to an end because nothing new has been posted for a while, but I was really just taking a breather from blogging to focus on other things and figure out where we go from here.

In the past few months, my life has been anything but quiet:

I moved overseas.

Many years ago, I moved from Canada to Australia. Just before Christmas, I moved from Australia back to Canada. This involved a lot of time and effort for me, my husband, and our four kids. We’ve been busy settling back into life in the north, and that’s been taking up a lot of my time.

My twins turned two.

Newborn twins were a challenge, but toddler twins are just as much work (and just as much joy!). They’re running everywhere, exploring every cupboard in the house, eating like horses, and generally keeping me on my toes. Most of my work gets done while my oldest two children are in school and the twins are napping—that is, when they nap.

As much as having a big family means it’s more difficult to find time for writing projects, being a full-time mom is an incredible honour. That’s why I know you understand when I’m not in touch with you as much as I once was.

I’ve been writing and editing, just not here.

I’m keeping up with the literary journal I founded in late 2012—Compose: A Journal of Simply Good Writing—despite time and sleep constraints. As managing editor, I oversee all aspects of the journal and its blog, and work with a team of editors who are utterly amazing.

You can read the Fall 2013 and Spring 2013 issues of Compose online, and sign up to be notified of new issues and blog posts as they become available. There’s a lot of great reads there from some very accomplished writers and poets. Our editors are always reading submissions for future issues, and we plan to publish our third issue by the end of April.

What’s next for Write It Sideways?

Thank you for sticking around during this quiet time. I appreciate that. Really. 

We’re working toward making this blog a more user-friendly resource for writers, as well as giving it a facelift in terms of aesthetics. I’ve already corresponded with some of you via my newsletter, but if you have any further suggestions on what you’d like to see, please get in touch.

I’m still open to guest posts, as long as they are a good fit for our readers here. If you have an idea for a guest post, check out our contributor guidelines.

Now you know what I’ve been up to over the last few months. How about you? What writing projects are you working on at the moment?