Keep It Pinteresting

Reaching the 40,000 words milestone for Book 12 a couple of weeks ago was amazing as it meant I was around the halfway mark. But it also comes with a hint of trepidation; reaching the halfway point is a reminder that the book is no longer shiny and new, yet you've still got a huge chunk to write before you can type those glorious words: The End. 

This part of the writing process can have me feeling a bit bogged down with it all and in The Slump. Sometimes this is full-on writer's block, where the words simply won't come. Or sometimes there's an idea or two for new books floating around my head, jumping around and calling for my attention - and these ideas are shiny and new. I need to somehow keep myself in this book and one way I've found is to keep myself 'pinterested' in the story.

It's a really simple idea of highlighting the important plot points of your book in Pinterest by pinning relevant images. I did this for The 12 Christmases of You & Me, and it was fun picking out the images and seeing the story build up visually rather than just seeing a Word document. You can see my Pinterest board for the book here.

When I started to write Book 12, I set up a new Pinterest board and started to build the story up in images. It's only the first draft, so some of the pins may change or get removed later on, but I love seeing my book in a different medium. I'm writing a romantic comedy, but this would work for any genre, and it doesn't matter if you're writing your first novel or you're got a few books under your belt - we all need a bit of motivation and focus sometimes!

Home Schooling For Dummies*: Still Home Schooling

*Me the parent, not the kid

Some schools have started to take some of their pupils back in. My daughter's school decided to only take their Year 1 classes back in, but as we're in the North West and the R rate is still high here, they postponed this (though they may be in now, I'm not sure). Isobel's in Year 6 and they're looking at bringing them in from 29th June for the last three weeks - but only if the parents are happy to do this. As things stands, we're going to continue with the home schooling.

Our timetable has had another tweak over the past couple of weeks. Because some pupils were due to go back into the school, the online classes Isobel had about three times a week have stopped because the teachers are needed for the classroom 'bubbles' at school, and I've also decided we're having a little break from basketball in the garden after my washing line came down three times in one week.

As well as the schoolwork provided by school and the worksheets I downloaded from Twinkl, Isobel has been watching BBC Bitesize every day, which has been a godsend over these past few months. It's twenty blissful minutes where somebody else takes over. I'm not sure if they'll stop too now kids are starting to go back into school or if they'll carry on until the end of term, but I'm grateful for every episode that's been made!

There are four weeks of term left, so we're on the home stretch now. We can do this.

Cover Reveal: The 12 Christmases of You & Me

I'm so excited to be able to share the cover for The 12 Christmases of You & Me. I absolutely love it and I hope you do too!

What if you could go back in time and fix the biggest mistake of your life?

Two years ago, Maisie’s best friend walked out of her life and she hasn’t heard from him since. When she wakes up in 1994, she naturally assumes she’s dreaming. But when she finds herself in the past again the next night and her actions in the dream alter her present-day life, she begins to wonder if she’s somehow hopping back in time. And if she is time-travelling, can she save her friendship with Jonas?

When Maisie is forced to relive Christmases of the past, will she face up to her mistakes, or make them all over again?

The 12 Christmases of You & Me is a magical tale of friendship, first loves, and learning to live in the present.

The 12 Christmases of You & Me is out on 20th October, but is available to pre-order right now for just 99p/99c!

Amazon UK | Amazon US

Reaching The Halfway Point

I've been recording my writing milestones on post-it notes and sharing them on social media in a bid to keep myself motivated while writing Book 12, and last week I was able to share my 40,000 words post-it note.

That's a lot of words, but more than that, it represents the halfway point of the book as I'm aiming for 80,000 words. This is a massive morale boost, especially as I was worried about finding the time to write during lockdown. I'm home-schooling my youngest daughter so I was nervous about starting a new book during this time - would I be able to write and home-school? Would I be too stressed to concentrate (I definitely don't have the skills and patience to teach!) But I'm getting there, word by word, and each post-it note feels like an achievement.

I've loved writing the first half of Cleo's story, and I'm looking forward to the next half and seeing where she takes me!

Want To Have YOUR Name Used In My Book?

I've been busy writing Book 12 over the past few weeks, but one of my characters doesn't have a name yet. With The Accidental Life Swap and The 12 Christmases of You & Me, I asked my newsletter subscribers if they would like their name used for a character and I thought I'd do the same with this book.

My next newsletter will be going out next week and I'll be asking for names to go in the hat. If you haven't subscribed and would like to, it's quick, easy and free. Plus, every subscriber receives a free ebook quick read, Six Dates, which is exclusive to my newsletter subscribers AND there'll be a sneaky peek at the cover for The Twelve Christmases of You & Me in the newsletter, which you'll get to see before anybody else!

Click here for more information or to subscribe.

Writing To Music

Music is an important part of my writing process, and I think this can filter through to my books, whether I'm 'borrowing' songs for titles (Everything Changes But You) or giving a character a passion for a type of music (A Beginner's Guide To Salad's Ruth and her love of cheesy pop, for example).

I always write with music in the background (or through headphones now the house is full because of lockdown). Sometimes it's music to set the mood (festive, summery, break-up songs) and other times it's simply music I love. With Book 12, the music I'm listening to while writing the book came about in a slightly different way.

I needed a song for a particular scene in the book, preferably one from the 70s, and after a little procrastinating search (my writing days are littered with these), I found the perfect song. The Buzzcocks' 'Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve?)' was added into the book and I popped it onto my spotify playlist for the book.

All my books have a playlist, sometimes made up of music mentioned in the book or sometimes music that follows a similar theme to the story (you can find the playlists by clicking the 'Book Extras' option under each book on the right-hand side of the blog). With Book 12, music plays an important part, so the playlist will be made up of music mentioned, including The Buzzcocks' offering.

I really liked the song and found myself playing it at the start of each writing session. I did this so many times, the song easily puts me into Cleo's world so I started a new playlist, imaginatively called the 'Writing Book 12' playlist. 'Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)' is the first song and I've added others that set me in the right frame of mind for writing the book.

It's only a small playlist at the moment, but I'm adding to it all the time.

Home Schooling For Dummies*: The Shit Sandwich

*Me, the parent, not the kid

Confession: we've had a bit of a shit sandwich of home-schooling over the past couple of weeks.

The first slice of bread for the sandwich (good) was that SATs were due to be held last week. Usually, this would be BAD because I have a hate/hate relationship with SATs. But the tests have been scrapped this year, which means Isobel doesn't have to sit them. Hurrah!

But then we have the shitty sandwich filling - and it's a double helping. First, we have the government's insistence that schools should open on 1st June (too soon, in my opinion), and our local council agrees. Isobel is in Year 6, which are supposed to be going back and although we've agreed as a family that this won't be happening for her on 1st June, it adds even more anxiety to this whole thing.

And secondly, we've had a bit of a tough week. There's been frustration and shouting and the lowest point was the debate** whether a calculator can produce two different answers if the same information is put in. Isobel later said they're not allowed to use calculators in school. NOW I KNOW WHY.

** debate is stretching the truth. There was frustration and a major difference of opinion. Lots of it.

But now we get to enjoy the other slice of bread that makes up our shit sandwich - half term! I have never been more grateful for a school holiday.