I'm often asked how do I find time to write and the answer is quite simple - I don't know. Whether you work full time, part time or are a stay-at-home parent, there are never enough hours in the day and using any of this precious time to write seems, well, just plain...
There's been no post from me this year about new year's resolutions. I don't tend to do them anymore. This time last year I was ill, so despite a shaky start to the year, it's already been an improvement on the last one. There hasn't been much writing going on though....
As I approach the end of the year and another birthday, I can’t help thinking what a crazy one it’s been. I wasn’t looking forward to turning 40 last year. As you may know, I kicked and screamed my way in to the next decade and I was determined to make the most of it...
My troublesome YA novel has been put firmly to one side whilst I've been concentrating on my middle grade books. However, it's always on my mind and now and again, I go back to it to continue formulating a plan of how I'm going to tackle it. Things got even...
I think it's so useful to get advice from other authors and I will absorb all the information I can get my hands on to help navigate through this complex business. Back in July, author Karen Inglis shared her writing process in an interview I did with her. Today it's...
Writing a story is the fun part. If I have a story idea, it burns a hole in my head until I can get it out. Fingers connect to keyboard and the circuit is complete to let those words flow through. Then I get to the end and congratulate myself on a job well done....
I have exciting news from Nikki Young Writes and I've been bursting to share it. My first book is going to be published soon! Many of you who follow this blog will know I spent a lot of last year working on my young adult manuscript. I finished a second draft and...
This is my work station at the moment. When I get time to work on my fiction writing, that is. It's been too lovely to sit at a desk staring at the wall. I'd much rather be in the kitchen, looking out over the garden, lush and green as it is at the moment. I'm...
I’ve been quiet on the blogging front recently. Sometimes, I feel as though I could quite easily spend all my time blogging and never get anything else done. I have to pull myself away from it every now in then so I can concentrate on other projects. That means I’ve...
I'm glad I didn't make any new year's resolutions, because I would have been bitterly disappointed by now and it's not even the end of January. Work on my novel has come to a standstill whilst I work out where it's going and it seems this has triggered a fiction...
After the whirlwind that was November, I haven't done any writing since. It didn't feel right to jump straight in to editing and I decided to take a step back and take stock of what I have been doing and where I want to go with the novels. I'm reading a book called...
Never more so are we reminded of how fragile life can be following the events of Friday evening in Paris. 129 lives ended simply because they were out enjoying themselves but happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's a time of reflection and as I took...
I'm in the thick of it at the moment, writing wise. In the middle of a 50,000 word challenge for National Novel Writing Month and typically, I get a report back on the first three chapters of my novel. I wasn't happy about the amount of work I still need to do on it...
So I did it. I signed up to do this year's NaNoWriMo. That doesn't mean that I have signed my life away and committed myself to something I can't get out of, but it does mean a step that makes it seem real. I've spent most of this year re-writing my novel. Having done...
The blurb on this book tells of the discovery of a skeleton on the roof of a derelict building in Edinburgh and of a vigilante seeking vengeance for past crimes. What it doesn't tell you is that this story links to the time of the Balkan's wars and the terrible...
Welcome to Friday Fiction, my weekly fiction post. It's the first Friday of the month (already), so that means it's link up time too. Please see the blue frog link below and follow the instructions if you would like to add your own fiction piece or book review. I look...
When the children go back to school, it feels like the start of a new year. It's the beginning of a new phase and a great time to get back on track with anything that you've gotten out of the habit of doing over the summer months. For me, that means working on my...
Welcome to Friday Fiction. As it's the first Friday of the month, I open my doors to invite other bloggers to join me. This is the place to link up your fiction posts and book reviews and join the discussion. All you have to do is click on the blue frog at the end of...
I haven't made up my mind whether or not to take a break from blogging over the summer. I think I would rather just see how it goes and not put any pressure on myself. I've edited the first three chapters of my manuscript and it's gone out to readers, so I hope to...
I have one more session left of a writing group I've been taking part in at my local bookshop. It's the first time I've ever done anything like this and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. What attracted me to the course was that it offered the opportunity to tackle your...