The story behind the story

As is the way when an author releases a new book, I've been scanning the early reviews of The Clock in My Mother's House. There are twelve on Goodreads at the moment, so it's easy to see when new ones appear - I'm not stalking reviewers or anything. Soon I'll forget all about them - …

Yes, Yes, Yes!

I've done it! I've finished my novel. I started - as you know - in November 2016, and wanted to finish within the year. It's been one year, two months and sixteen days. With a caveat... it's going to go to my editor, the wonderful Karen Sanders, who, I imagine, will pull it apart and …

One last edit… (and #BlackFriday sale)

... is what I said to myself, before I hand it over at the end of January. Well, actually, my plan was to retype the whole darn novel, and it started pretty well. If you're new to this blog, you may not be aware of my rather unique editing style of retyping. I discovered a …

Happy Birthday, Novel-of-Mine

This morning I posted this picture on my Facebook page, and thought it deserved more comment. You see, after sending my novel to beta readers, receiving their feedback and implementing it, this was supposed to be the final quick read-through to check for snags before sending it off to Karen Sanders for editing in the new …

Novel in a Year, plus another year

With the chill autumnal air approaching, and the kids back to school and - sigh - university, it's time to get back to my novel. Over the summer, three wonderful beta readers (Nick, Liz and Ruth) read my draft and gave some awesome feedback. There's a lot to do. I realised, while scanning through their comments, …

Oh look, July’s happening!

I always know when I'm neglecting blogging, because my email notifications cease, and my inbox is really quiet! In fact, I've been working so hard that the onset of July almost passed me by. But it's all been for a good reason - my WIP is flying. Now, whether it's a good flight or not, …

I finished the Red Edits! Phew!

Actually, I finished last weekend, just before I went to London for a few days. I had a list of specific things that needed to be done: A new prologue - this was the last thing to be completed, just today in fact, due to some inspiration while I was walking to work and hastily scribbled …

The green edits are done!

I originally allowed myself thirty days for this part of the process, but did it in fifteen! As I got closer to the end, I reduced the date goal, because I like tidy graphs... Normally when I edit, I meander around - reading, adding notes, watching TV, going back over the same parts again and …