2008. End of.

HIGHLIGHTS

January: wrote the pilot for a new kids' show for an Asian animation studio and script edited the remaining 25 half-hour eps (which would spread out over the year).

February: shortlisted for the inaugural Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Award with a children's book I co-wrote with Sam. Didn't win but got down to last 5 out of 2,000 manuscripts so we were well chuffed.

March: Sofia's Diary makes its UK debut on Bebo and becomes an instant hit. I wrote four weeks' worth of webisodes (including the launch) but a lot of credit has to go to Melanie Martinez, creator Nuno Bernardo and the rest of the team for moulding its success. Way to go!

March/April: pitched ideas for Badly Drawn Roy, a new CBBC show (an Irish co-production, too, with JAM Media) and got a commission to write an episode.

May: got EastEnders after writing a trial episode in March!

July: relaunched the Red Planet Prize with Tony Jordan at the Screenwriters' Festival.

September/October: visited the set of Badly Drawn Roy to see my ep being filmed. Also start to develop another new kids' series for the Asian studio as well as script editing a feature film script that's been given some cash by the Irish Film Board.

December: EastEnders commission is confirmed and I begin writing my ep.

A good year, no, a great year, with the two stand out higlights being Badly Drawn Roy and EastEnders. But this is just the beginning, really, so time to knuckle down and keep improving. It's also been a year where I deliberately focused on TV to ensure consistent pay cheques after a few years of exciting but ultimately frustrating experiences with the world of film. That's okay. I'm patient, and getting better all the time. 2009? Bring it, baby.