Lots of freelance journalists do an end-of-year roundup of their work; I haven't done a *huge* amount this year outside of @inkcapjournal – and most of the other stuff I've worked on hasn't been published yet.

But what has marked this year out for me is how much support and kindness I've received from people – people who have sent me lovely emails, tweeted their support for @inkcapjournal, and chosen to subscribe simply because they want it to work out.

My partner Jack has also, behind the scenes, spent hours on @inkcapjournal – editing, discussing, factchecking – and generally soothing me whenever I felt discouraged.

At the beginning, when @inkcapjournal was fairly unknown, I literally owed the majority of my subscribers to the public support of people like @patrick_barkham @RobGMacfarlane @natalieben @lucyjones and @MarkAvery. That meant an awful lot to me.

Behind the scenes, chats with other newsletter writers – @LouDelBello of @LightsOn_India and @joshi of @ManchesterMill – were really helpful. If you're interested in India or Manchester, you should follow their work!

One of the great things about @inkcapjournal is that it has connected me to new people and readers in myriad ways. There are too many people to name, but every single message/tweet/email of encouragement has buoyed me more than you know.

(Though a particular shout-out to @T55Tony, who asked me to write a few articles for the newsletter that goes around his Northumberland parish, which was an unexpected joy!)

I've also been grateful to all the people who've agreed to give their time being interviewed for a relatively unknown publication. Thanks for trusting me!

Anyway, I've already got lots of exciting things lined up for next year, both personally and professionally – hopefully including getting married, since that didn't work out this year! – so I'm looking forward to getting back to it in 2021. Happy Christmas everyone!