Hello and welcome to my blog, where you can find out about my books (all the links are on the right-hand side) and keep up to date with all my news and latest releases.

My latest book, The Single Mums' Picnic Club is out now.
 

Below, you can find my latest blog posts, and you can also find my social media links on the right-hand side, or read my short stories using the tab above.

While you're here, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to receive book news and exclusive content!

Thank you for visiting,

Jennifer

😊

 

Writing Book Ten: Part Eleven - We Have a Title!

I'm keeping a diary of the writing process of Book 10, from the first words to publication.

Do you remember this snippet from my last entry?

Obviously, I made a big mistake. You should never say that something is going well unless a spanner gets thrown into the works, because guess what? A spanner is going to get chucked in there at some point, probably within days or even hours of the statement. That's just the way life works, I'm afraid, and touching wood makes no difference whatsoever.

So, I had a bit of a spanner in the works last week. It was nothing major - just some pesky germs that had me feeling extremely sorry for myself as I lay on the sofa, binge-watching After Life on Netflix and clearing some space on the Sky box - but it meant I didn't write for a few days. Luckily, I was slightly ahead of my word count schedule so I haven't fallen behind. In fact, I managed to reach a mega milestone this week - the 80k mark!

I'm so pleased to have reached this point as it means I'm getting so close to having a finished draft. I still have a good chunk to write, but I'm getting there. And there's more good news as Book 10 finally has a title! From now on, Book 10 will be known as...

The Accidental Life Swap.

What do you think?

GO TO PART TEN

Writing Book Ten: Part Ten - Limited Time

I'm keeping a diary of the writing process of Book 10, from the first words to publication.

It's been a bit tricky finding the time to write over the past couple of weeks. We had half-term, which obviously poses a challenge, but I was determined to keep up with my usual writing goal of 5k per week as I didn't want to fall behind. I've found writing this book to be the pleasure writing used to be before deadlines kicked in and made some of the books a blur of panicked rushing, and this is mostly down to being able to take the pressure off with a lower word count aim for each week. So I didn't want to shatter this more relaxed state of writing by having to play catch up.

Luckily, I was able to - just about - meet my goal and keep myself on track (I had 39 words to spare!) so it made going into what I knew would be another tricky week less stressful. My home life created a bit of a spanner in the works last week, with four medical appointments booked in for the same week. None of them were for me but I needed to be there, so it meant my writing took a bit of a backseat (as it should, I may add).

Again, I scraped by, reaching my goal and keeping myself on track. I'm now at the 70,000 words mark, so The End is almost within reach. My deadline is 15th April, which is six weeks away, and the book will fall between 80-90,000 words, so unless a great big spanner gets chucked into the works (touch wood it doesn't) then I should be able to meet the deadline without the major panic I sometimes feel!

GO TO PART ELEVEN

GO TO PART NINE

Writing Book Ten: Part Nine - Powering Ahead

I'm keeping a diary of the writing process of Book 10, from the first words to publication.

Earlier in the week, I reached the 50,000 words point, which was amazing and left me feeling pretty good about how the book is going. Not only that, it seems to have motivated me even more than usual as I clocked up over 3,000 words on Wednesday alone - which is over half of my aim for the whole week! By Thursday, I'd reached my word count goal for NEXT WEEK, which is good for two reasons:

1. I'm 5,000 words closer to The End than I expected to be at this point
2. It's half-term next week

It's always more difficult to write during the school holidays, for obvious reasons. And even if I wait until my youngest is in bed, there just aren't the same amount of hours to fit the writing into as there are under normal circumstances. So being ahead takes the pressure off. I'm still going to aim for my usual 5k, but now it isn't a huge problem if I don't quite meet it!

I'm still asking for help naming some of the animals that will feature in Book 10. This week, we've named the kittens and there will be a couple more chances to take part over the next couple of weeks. Head over to my Facebook page if you want to join in - whoever's suggestion is used will have their name put in the book's acknowledgements!

You can see which names have been chosen so far by clicking here

GO TO PART EIGHT

Read My New Valentine's Day Short Story For FREE

I love writing short stories to share with my readers, and I've been working on one for Valentine's Day, which will be going out in my next newsletter.

If you haven't subscribed yet, you can sign up by clicking here - it's quick, easy and free! My newsletters go out 4/5 times a year and there is a subscriber-exclusive giveaway with each one, as well as book news and recommendations, seasonal short stories and extra content for my books. Plus, when you subscribe, you'll receive a free ebook short straight away!

Receive a free ebook short when you
subscribe to my newsletter

Writing Book Ten: Part Eight - Reaching a Major Milestone

I'm keeping a diary of the writing process of Book 10, from the first words to publication.

There are a few milestones I like to take note of while writing a book so I can have a mini (internal) celebration - for example the first 10k, 20k, the halfway point - and there are Major Milestones, like The End (which requires an actual celebration. Usually something edible and a big rest). And today I reached what I consider to be another Major Milestone: 50k!

50,000 words is A LOT of words. It represents hours and hours of work (both writing them down and imagining them while you're washing up or wandering around Asda). It seems like an impossible goal when you're at the very beginning or you've been hit with The Slump, when writing a handful of words is an unreachable task. So reaching this point is well worth giving yourself a pat on the back for. I've written a MASSIVE chunk of the book and I'm definitely past the halfway point. Reaching the 50k point comes with a huge sense of relief. I'm getting there. Every day I've sat with my laptop, I've been inching closer and closer to The End and having 50,000 words chalked up is evidence of that.

So, I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself right now, especially as I haven't been hit with The Slump yet, which I usually have by now and it makes getting the words down extremely difficult and sucks all the joy from writing. I really do think that having a solid plan in place and a lower weekly word goal has helped to take the pressure off, so I'm enjoying seeing where Rebecca's story is going each day.

GO TO PART NINE

GO TO PART SEVEN

Writing Book Ten: Part Seven - Building On The Basics

I'm keeping a diary of the writing process of Book 10, from the first words to publication.

Before I started writing Book 10, I bought a book to help me with plotting and structuring novels (you can see my post about it here), which has been a huge help. I love that I have the whole plot in front of me, so if I get stuck, I can refer back to it and know where I need to go to keep the story moving. Some people don't like working this way and prefer to see where the book and characters take them, keeping that first draft fresh and exciting, which I understand even if I can't work that way (I've tried, but I'm definitely a plotter). 

But the great thing about working to a plot is there is still room for your characters to lead the way, even if they are on a certain track (and those tracks are never set in stone anyway and can be moved around or chucked out altogether). Lots of things have been happening that weren't plotted as I've been writing this week. Yes, they're following the main framework, but the characters are definitely taking on a life of their own and nudging things along in their own way. The next section of my plan is pretty vague, but I like that I've got to know the characters by now so I can fill in those gaps much easier than I could in the plotting stages.

One of the unexpected scenes this week involved three newborn kittens (I know, adorable, right?) so I've been watching YouTube videos as 'research', which was clearly VERY TAXING. I haven't named the kittens yet (other than Kitten1, Kitten2 and Kitten3 in the manuscript) as I'll be asking for help to do this on my Facebook page soon.

This week on Facebook, we've named Claude the sheep and there will be a new animal to name tomorrow. If you'd like to take part, pop over to my Facebook page and see the pinned post (from Friday). Whoever's suggestion is used will have their name put into the acknowledgements when the book is published!

You can see a list of all the names that have been chosen so far by clicking here

GO TO PART EIGHT

GO TO PART SIX