Grasp some good luck

This time of year, in particular Samhain or Halloween can be such a magical time of year.

Whether it's children having fun with carving pumpkins, bobbing for apples or telling ghost stories around a fire, it's all part of celebrating the new cycle.

The end of summer for some people may feel horrible, but there are so many wonderful things that we can still enjoy if we embrace this new cycle of long dark nights and short days if we do not let the weather spoil our plans.

We can't do anything about the weather, so I try to think of positive ways to fight back if it becomes extreme, as it did last year in my case with the amount of snow we had where I live.

I shall spend more time writing because if it's dark and cold outside I feel more inclined to stay inside and be creative. I love sitting at my desk with a howling storm outside. I feel that I spend most of the year building up to this point of the year when I can be at my most productive.

In spring I started to sow some seeds, little ideas of what I wanted to write about. During the summer months I sat in the sun with my note pad, cultivating my ideas and helping them to grow.

In September I started to harvest those ideas. I moved them from a notepad onto my computer, keeping them safe for the long dark months ahead.

Now I will start to use my crop. A crop which will last me the whole winter. I hope to be sending a lot of submissions to various publishers in 2011, but I need this time to prepare for it it.

It was thought in ancient times that bobbing for apples would help a person to grasp good fortune - a bit of luck with one bite!

Here goes, my apples are waiting for me!