August was a pretty great month for me in terms of writing and work. There have been some big changes, and there are lots of exciting things in the pipeline.

The first thing you might have noticed is that I’ve changed my name. Bandte is now Thomsen!

All my social media channels have been updated seamlessly, and it was a bit of a weird thing at first but now I’m used to it 🙂 Hopefully everyone else is too!

In my July recap I mentioned that some publications had been pushed back into August, so there were a few articles of mine that went live.

The first was a book review of Word Migrants by Hazel Smith for the New South Wales Writers’ Centre.

The poetry was really clever, and had me thinking about migration and displacement long after I stopped reading.

I also had a book review published by Mascara Literary Review, which I am so chuffed about. Mascara is a fantastic journal, and to be published by them has made me all fuzzy inside.

The review was for the 2015 UTS Writers’ Anthology Strange Objects Covered with Fur which was a great collection of fiction, poetry, essays, and script that showcased my contemporaries. Inspiring stuff!

Last but not least was an article that has been swimming around in my head for a while, after I was asked by a friend how to get started as a freelance editor.

So I wrote it and Writer’s Edit stuck it online for me – thanks guys 🙂

It goes through all the technical things I’ve learned so far (like ABNs and business cards) as well as what to do when you land a job.

So there’s one last super-cool work thing that happened in August – I’ll now be working from home two days a week!

I’ve been working full-time for two and a half years now, and I commute by train for almost four hours a day. That’s over a month of every year, just sitting. (Yep, kind of crazy.)

Two days a week from home means I get those hours back. I can focus on my creative writing and looking after myself.

I mentioned the dangers of burning out in my July recap, and I’ll say it again – it’s okay to turn down work when you need a break; it’s okay to ask for help when you’re struggling; it’s okay to have limits.

September is going to be fabulous, I just know it. It’s my 25th birthday, and I’ll be writing and submitting more stories, and I’ll have a proper work-life balance.

I’m also doing a September book photo challenge on Instagram if anyone wants to follow along with the hashtag #lilbookishseptember or find me @KyraThomsen.