Hello and welcome to my blog, where you can find out about my books 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 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

😊

Writing To Music

I don't do silence while I'm writing. It's too weird. I like background noise (as long as that background noise isn't a couple of kids arguing about who's taking up more than their fair share of the sofa. Yes, I am talking about my kids) but it can't be a TV program as I'll end up tuning in and my writing will be forgotten. So, music, for me, is the perfect solution.

I like the music to set the scene, so if I'm writing something festive, a bit of Noddy Holder shouting at the top of his lungs that it's Christmas is spot on (plus, I'll use any excuse to listen to Crimbo music). But most of my books aren't set at Christmas so I need something to suit my non-festive rom coms. I'll usually head for 80s or 90s pop compilations but I've recently set up a romantic comedy playlist of my own, made up of the playlists of some of my favourite rom com films.

So far, the playlist consists of playlists from:

 13 Going 30

You've Got Mail

Picture Perfect

Clueless

Groundhog Day

Notting Hill &

Bridget Jones' Diary

It's a work-in-progress, so I'll be adding more playlists (usually after I've watched them, because why not? Who doesn't love a good rom com?) but it's the perfect compilation to listen to while I'm writing. It's full of upbeat and quirky tunes as well as more melodic songs oozing romance and love.

You can listen to my playlist below via Spotify, or you can save it to your own account to listen to it whenever you're in a romantic comedy mood!

Writing Book Ten: Part Twelve - Deadline Day

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

Today is deadline day.

And I've just sent the completed draft of The Accidental Life Swap to my editor! Excuse me while I:

1. Punch the air in celebration
2. Weep with relief and
3. Collapse in a heap

Even though I've loved writing the book over the past few months and there's still a ton of work to, it feels like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I did it! I wrote another book, from beginning to end. And it doesn't matter that the finished book may look nothing like this draft, because I've passed a massive hurdle and no matter how much editing is required, I have something solid to work with.

Now I really am going to collapse in a heap. I'll be back with more updates when I have them, but for now I'm going to have a little rest and enjoy the last week of the Easter holidays :)

GO TO PART ELEVEN

A Quick Catch Up

I haven't done one of these for a while - the last one was in July! Here goes...

I'm working on my tenth book at the moment, which will be out in ebook on 1st October and paperback in December. I'm on the final furlong of the first draft, so I should be reaching The End pretty soon.

I've been keeping a diary of the writing process of this book, which you can see here

I'm currently reading The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell. I fell in love with Lisa Jewell's rom coms back in the early 2000s (Thirty Nothing is one of my favourite books) but I also enjoy the darker stories too. There are a few I need to catch up on!

I've read some brilliant books recently. A few of my faves are

One in a Million by Lindsey Kelk

Our House by Louise Candlish

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinsborough &

Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh

There's been some great stuff on the TV over the past few months. I was doing cartwheels (in my head - I haven't performed a cartwheel in quite some time) when Vera returned as it's one of my favourite TV shows. 

My very favourite returned yesterday - if you haven't watched Line of Duty yet, then you really must! I re-watched the past four series in preparation of series 5 and this time my daughter, Rianne watched them with me and she loves them too. My Mother's Day gift is series 5 on DVD, though I have to wait for it to be released (it has been pre-ordered!)

I love a good quiz/game show, so I've been a bit spoiled lately as Only Connect returned, Blockbusters has been revived and Jeopardy has been put on Netflix :)

Books, writing, holidays and my new crocheting hobby. Plus Luna, of course :)

So that's what I've been up to lately. Let us know what you've been getting up to, and/or pass on your own books and TV recommendations in the comments below!

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 TWELVE

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