Fanfiction New Year's Resolutions:

1) Finish Conclusions in Cape Town- priority no.1, Josi has been lost for far too long :(

2) Start work on a sort of recovery fic leading on from Conclusions in Cape Town, because Harry, NIkki and Josi deserve to be happy. And after having written Josi for almost a year now, I can't quite imagine leaving her behind once I finish C in CT. I know, I know, nothing I write is real. But sometimes when I'm in mid flow I'm not so sure :P

3) Finish Salty Tears ASAP, alongside no.2. For something that was supposed to be a one week side project, it really has sat there untouched too long.

4) Finish The Obsession, if you haven't all lost interest, also alongside no.2. I'm sorry, I really am! I actually want to write the next part so badly at the moment but there's still a fair bit of that to go and hardly any of no1 and no2, so I'm going to do those first. But I promise to get a move on very soon!

5) Any other projects that take my fancy :) if there's something you'd like me to write in particular then please let me know, I can't promise anything but I will give it my best shot if it grabs me. xx

Happy Tet! To those of you who don't know, Tet is the Vietnamese version of Chinese New Year, held on the same days but with a different name :) Tet is a time for celebration, but for me it's also a time to reflect on how lucky I have been so far in my life and to spare a thought for those who have not been so lucky in finding a family.

There are an estimated 1400 thousand orphaned children in Vietnam waiting to be adopted. Some of these children genuinely are famililess, some are former street childten, though many are abandoned because their mothers simply cannot look after them, for whatever reason. We hear horror stories in the media of the British care system, though this is often nothing in comparision to orphanages in countries such as Vietnam. The children receive little stimulation, few get the chance to go to school and with hundreds of children living in each orphanage often ranging in age from a few days old to 18 years, the children receive little individual attention and become very institutionalised. The longer a child spends in an orphanage, the greater the risks of them developing learning difficulties, emotional, social and physical development issues, attachment disorders... and the list goes on. They are also at high risk for various diseases. The older the child, the harder the transition to a loving and stable family, no matter how much love they receive.

The hardest hit are the children classed as 'special needs adoptions', who have an even slimmer chance than others of being adopted, domestically or internationally. In adoption terms 'special needs' can often be anything from a repaired cleft palate causing no further problems post surgery to serious conditions like HIV, Hepetitis B and deafness or blindness. These children are often abandoned because of these birth defects or diseases, sometimes even when there is a cure, treatment or surgery available. I was one of these children.

I'm not trying to persuade you to adopt; adoption is a wonderful, life-changing process when it works out but it's not for everyone. I'm not trying to persuade you to donate either or to pray for these children if that's not something you believe in. But I would like to ask you to please, please spare a thought for these children over the next few days of Tet, not just for Vietnamese children but for those in a similar situation right across the world, from the UK to China to Russia to South Africa. Maybe sparing a thought won't make any difference at all. But maybe we can spread the word, because somwhere out there, there must be someone thinking about adoption, and maybe, just maybe, this message will somehow reach one of these people and the life of an orphaned child will be changed forever. I know it's a long shot. But even if my rambling does nothing but raise awareness of the millions of children worldwide without parents, at least these children will know that someone somewhere is thinking of them. And that's a start.

The link below is a video from an adoption blog run by a family in the US. The girl in the video, Xiaoyun, is a China adoptee who was about to age out when she was adopted, she was also I believe classed as a 'Special Needs Adoption' due to a curve in her spine which was never treated and consequently reduced her lung capacity. In this video, having been home for less than a year, Xiaoyun speaks about adoption and shares her feelings on being an orphan.

Thank you ever so much to anyone still reading. You are amazing, you really are, and I honestly couldn't have made it this far in my fanfic writing if it wasn't for you. xx

When I write, I'm letting out my frustrations and fears, my happiness and relief, my gratefulness and determination. When I write, I can be anyone I want to be through my characters, do anything I want.

When I write, I take already established characters and shape them, their lives, explore the endless possibilities that life has to offer.

When I write, I play by my rules. I can express myself and my emotions through people I am not, people I never will be and never would want to be. I am me and I am original, but this alternate universe I create is at times what keeps me sane. This is my own space, my own free will and right now I am loving every second of the time I have to spend here. Real life must always come first, but this is a place I cherish and will always come to in order to sort through my thoughts and feelings on life, hopefully turning them into something you guys can enjoy.

When I first started writing, I thought I knew exactly how my first fic was going to turn out. And yet here I am almost 9 months later, still writing, still dreaming, still creating. The truth is, as I went along I realised that every character has a story to tell, a secret not explored in the original work, in the case of Silent Witness the series. And so the purpose of this space is to borrow the characters for a while, to play around with them and see what happens. And I promise to give them back relatively unharmed. Most of them. :)

When I write I do it for myself, but I put my fics on here for you guys to read and hopefully enjoy. If you read one of my stories then I would really appreciate it if you find the time to review, even if it's just a couple of words. Your kind words and encouragement is just amazing, every single review means the world and all my finished fics on here are thanks to you :) Never forget, you are amazing.

'The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.'

Nelson Mandela

Fic Timeline:

Starred fics are part of the Lighthouse Universe, anything else listed here can fit into the Lighthouse Universe, but is perfectly readable on its own and was actually written independently, just can also be used as a supplement :)

1- Digging up the Cat

2 - School Reports

3 - N verhaal van Verlating

4 - Om te hou haar veilig

5 - Intaka Yakha Ngoboya Benye

6- Ungalagl'imbo Yakho Ngopoyiana

7- Pandora's Box

8 - Nakitsura Ni Hachi ( mid S in SA)

9 - There you'll be (starts mid S in SA)

10 - Sunset in South Africa*

11 - Lifelines in London*

12 - Conclusions in Cape Town*

13 - Cases like this

14- Road Rage

15- Christmas Countdown

16 - Her Perfect Beginning

17-Pull of the Moon

18 - When I'm 64

Seperate Fics:

1 - Cinema Date (Silent Witness)

2- The Obsession (Silent Witness) - on a break at the moment but I promise to finish it soon!

3- Fuel to a Fear (Silent Witness)

4- Salty Tears of Torment and a Healing Broken Heart (Silent Witness)

5- To Forgive to Forget, to Live so to Love (Silent Witness)

6- Secrets in the Lab Challenge (Silent Witness)

7- Finding Peace (Silent Witness) -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JONzYxjVzrg

8- Dreaming on a Velvet sky

9- Cuppa Soup

10- And then I fell in Love Tideover fic

11- Patterns in the Wind