Making it up as I go along

The observant among you will note that I've changed my blogging day to Monday. When I decided I'd post a series of interviews, I was going to do them on the third Monday of each month but continue posting around the Thursday/Friday as well. I realised that was a little unfair on my interviewees because …

Off-schedule

I have a schedule. I printed out a year-to-a-page calendar, and scribbled all over it for working on my current draft, so I can work on something brand new before getting down to the edits for next year's release. And at the beginning of the summer, it felt easily achievable. Mostly because I wasn't going …

Alas, poor study…

I live in a three-bedroom house - or as I like to call it, a two-bedroom house with study. Sometimes it's my study, sometimes it's a bedroom. With the imminent return of my eldest from university, today it's a study, tomorrow it will be a bedroom again. Old StudyThe Place Where My New Desk Will …

Holding my breath

Bear with me, because I have no idea what I'm going to write today. I know I want to write something - the whole point of returning to my blog was to do it regularly - but... oh my god, I did not sleep well last night. I watched 1:15 disappear into the darkness, and …

Spring is springing

After some very cold and snowy weather, today felt properly Spring-like. This is what a happy dog looks like, once he's run around and exhausted himself! The awesome thing about this time of the year is waking up when it's light, strolling rather than rushing to get through errands, and being able to sit outside …

A weekend in Bristol

A few people have asked how my day at the Indie Pop-Up Signing in Bristol, this weekend, went. So, whenever I'm asked a question that requires more than a one-syllable reply, I blog about it 🙂 I've not done a signing on this scale before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Everyone else seemed …

To write a novel, don’t write a short story instead!

  This month, I have mostly been side-tracked by the Commonwealth Writers Short Story Prize, which is a huge international competition that I've entered for the past couple of years. Normally, I've had a story that I can refresh for this, and send off without too much fuss. But this year I had nothing. At …

Just a quick update, while I wait…

It's been almost four weeks since I finished my novel and sent it to my beta readers. I've had one come back, and one giving intriguing updates. As hard as it is, I haven't looked at those first comments, and I haven't opened the ms at all in that time. I'm quite proud of myself …

Where Words Fail, Music Speaks

Two lovely author friends - Kyra Lennon and Clare Dugmore - are editing an anthology, Where Words Fail, Music Speaks, in aid of research into cluster headaches, a debilitating condition suffered by more people than you'd think. Kyra knows at least a couple of people who suffer which inspired her to create the anthology. And one …

My nemesis and I…

January! Argh! Can anyone think of a worse month? It's dull, boring, dreary, and so dark in the mornings. It taunts me, it hates me. And somehow, those 31 days seem to blossom into 64! But, recently, I've been thinking about it more objectively. How many times have you wished you had more hours in a day, …