Dear blog,

So, I’ve been unable to post anything on this blog for three months. I’m not sure why (I’m sure there must be a good reason for it) but all of the blogs have moved to a new platform and here, finally, I am back again.

The cynic in me wonders at the timing of my not being able to blog. The last three months perfectly coincides with the 90 consultation period that the University of Salford gave to those people who were threatened with redundancy. In English, the threat has abated because of people moving to other jobs elsewhere, a retirement, and someone deciding to go part-time. The threat still looms over others in the university and they have had to reapply for their jobs and face interviews and competency tests to determine who gets to stay. We were on strike on Tuesday 26 June and the only good thing to have come out of this is the realisation that staff are going to support each other and face this together.

In other news, we had a great north-west long nineteenth-century seminar last Wednesday. It was really well attended, with some great papers, and some good discussions in the seminar and in the pub afterwards.

Since Friday though, I’ve been working full-time on my book, which is due in at the end of this month. It’s a real relief to be able to work on it every day for a few weeks. I haven’t had that kind of time to devote it to it for a long time. It is really difficult to write an extended piece (like a 90,000 word book) alongside all of the other tasks that we are asked to do. This year, as has happened in other years, I won’t be taking all of my holiday entitlement because I simply don’t have the time. This is pretty outrageous I think and I’m sure this would be a surprise to the public, who seem to think that we have the three months off that the students have. The good news is that – at present – I’m enjoying the process of finishing, while being very nervous about how it will turn out. Everyone around me is helping me: my mum is proof reading; my brother is putting chapters into the publisher’s house style, my partner is sorting out my footnotes. I’ve chosen the cover image now too from Wellcome images, but I’ll let that remain a surprise…

It’s nice to be back online and if you’ve missed hearing about what’s going on, I shall endeavour to keep the blog up to date from now on!

Best,

Sharon