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.

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Thank you for visiting,

Jennifer

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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

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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 

Help Name The Animals in Book 10!

There are quite a few animals that feature in my latest book, and I thought it would be fun if I handed over the naming of them to my readers. I've been doing this on my Facebook page over the past few weeks, and so far we've named our donkey, three chickens and we are about to name a sheep!

It's been a lot of fun reading the suggestions and seeing so many people getting involved. There are more animals to come, so there is still time to take part if you haven't done so already. Each animal name suggestion is put into a bowl, with one (or three, in the case of the chickens) picked at random. Whoever the suggestion belongs to will have their name put into the acknowledgements when the book is published!

I'm going to update this post each week until we have all of our animal names. You can see the names we have so far below:

Donkey

Daisy, suggested by Sharon Smith

Chickens

Chow Mein, suggested by Gemma Tierney

Bianca, suggested by Gisele Le Corre

Patty, suggested by Maggie Rollison

Sheep

Claude, suggested by Anne Maria Seymour

Hedgehogs

Pumpkin, suggested by Rae Kenny-Rife

Sophie, suggested by Jo Jackson

Kittens

Tommy, Timmy & Tammy, suggested by Melissa Elizabeth

Writing Book Ten: Part Six - Heading Towards The Halfway Point

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

It was my birthday at the beginning of the week, so I gave myself a day off from writing, which was lovely. I finished reading Clare Mackintosh's Let Me Lie (which I LOVED) and caught up on some TV shows. I'm aiming to write 5k per week and should have been at the 30k mark by the end of last week, but I was already over that goal by almost two thousand words so I didn't have to worry about falling behind schedule.

My goal for this week was to get to 35,000 words in the book and even though I gave myself a day off, I still managed to reach it - plus a bit more. My current word count stands at 38,103, which means I'm almost up to the halfway point. I always aim for 80,000 words for a finished first draft, although I usually end up somewhere between the mid-80s to the mid-90 thousand words.

Book 10 has quite a few animals, which I've been asking for name suggestions for on my Facebook page. This week has been the turn of three chickens, who are now named Chow Mein, Bianca and Patty and now I'm asking for suggestions for a sheep. Whoever has their suggestion chosen at random from the bowl will have their name put into the acknowledgements when the book is published. Head over to my Facebook page if you'd like to take part!

As well as writing Book 10, I've also been working on a new short story for Valentine's Day, which will be going out in my newsletter. If you haven't subscribed to my newsletter yet and would like to receive the short story for FREE, you can subscribe here

GO TO PART SEVEN

GO TO PART FIVE