Naming 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 did this on my Facebook page and we named thirteen animals.

It was a lot of fun reading the suggestions and seeing so many people getting involved. Each animal name suggestion was put into a bowl, with one (or three, in the case of the chickens!) picked at random. Whoever the suggestion belonged to will have their name put into the acknowledgements when the book is published!

Here are the names - and who suggested them:

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

Rabbits

Rupert, suggested by Stephanie-Jayne Matthews

Honey, suggested by Patricia Scott

Pig

Violet, suggested by Maggie Ewing

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

Writing Book Ten: Part Five - Help To Name The Chickens!

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

I'm definitely back into the swing of things after the Christmas break and am managing to meet my 5k/week goal. This week I reached a pivotal point in the book, the part where Rebecca really commits to meeting the challenge she's been set after a big setback and I'm looking forward to seeing how she copes after her wobble!

The End still seems so far away at this point, but I'm still at the stage where writing is fun. Usually, by the 20-30k point I'm starting to grow less fond of the book and getting the words down becomes more and more of a struggle (over the years I've learned this is completely normal so it doesn't send me into a panic anymore!) but I think setting myself a smaller goal to reach each week is helping.

Last week on my Facebook page, I asked for help naming one of the donkeys in the book. I received over 50 suggestions, which all went into a bowl (no hat available) and one was picked at random. So, our little donkey is called Daisy. Now she has a name, I can replace the '*Donkey2*' markers I've left in the manuscript!

I'm going to be asking for help naming the animal characters over the next few weeks, so head over to my Facebook page if you'd like to take part. If the name you suggested is picked, your name will be put into the acknowledgements when the book is published.

This time, I'm asking for help naming some chickens!

GO TO PART FOUR 

GO TO PART SIX

Writing Book Ten: Part Four - Florida, Christmas & Donkeys

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

It's been a few weeks since my last entry, and that's because I've had some time off writing for Christmas. We spent Christmas in Florida, so I had to get everything organised before we went, plus I needed a bit of time to get over the jet lag once we got back, so I had around three weeks off altogether!

Once the kids were back in school and I could pretty much function again (jet lag and I are not on good terms), I jumped back into Book 10 again. I've set myself a target of writing 5,000 words a week, which will give me enough time to reach my mid-April deadline without leaving me frazzled (unless I go way over my word count goal, but let's not worry about that now).

So far I've managed to stick to my 5,000 words per week goal, and I'm pleased to report that I'm still on track! I was worried having a three-week break would make it more difficult to get back into the story, but it's been absolutely fine and I've enjoyed seeing what Rebecca is getting up to. The only problem I've had this week is forgetting an idea I had last night but didn't write down - rookie mistake!

There are quite a few animals in Book 10, and I thought it would be fun to ask for help in naming them. The first animal who needs a name is a playful donkey. I'm taking suggestions over on my Facebook page, and one of the names will be chosen at random. Whoever made the suggestion will have their name put in the acknowledgements when the book is published.

If you'd like to take part, head over to my Facebook page and see the pinned post :)

GO TO PART THREE

GO TO PART FIVE

My Favourite Reads 2018

It's that time of year where I look back on all the brilliant books I've read during the year and pick a few favourites to share.

I adored each of these books for different reasons and they are in no particular order as picking just five favourites was difficult enough! Some of these books aren't 2018 releases but I read them this year. So, here goes...

Amazon UK | Amazon US

I'd heard so many great things about Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and I was afraid it wouldn't live up to the hype - BUT IT DID. I adored Eleanor and I loved getting to know her, She's quirky and funny but there's also a heartbreaking tale buried beneath her routines.

I can't wait for the film release!

Amazon UK | Amazon US

I read The Chateau of Happily Ever Afters during the summer and I loved every single page of it. The chemistry and humour between Wendy and Julian was brilliant and I so wanted them to get together! Jaimie Admans' writing style is light and full of fun, so you can relax into it and enjoy the story as it unfolds.

Amazon UK | Amazon US

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society has been out for a while but I only got round to reading this year just before the film was released. I have to admit that it took me a little while to get into the book, but once I did I was completely hooked and was so bereft when it ended as I just wanted to continue reading the letters between Juliet, her publisher and her new set of friends. I haven't got round to watching the film yet but I really need to watch it!

Amazon UK | Amazon US

This is the first Kate Morton book I've read, but it definitely won't be the last! The House at Riverton isn't the paciest of reads but I thought it was such an enjoyable read. The descriptions were vivid and the story was intriguing. I'm looking forward to reading more from Kate Morton in 2019!

Amazon UK | Amazon US

I've read a few Rowan Coleman books and enjoyed them, so I was confident I was going to find a great read in We Are All Made of Stars - and I was right to be. We Are All Made of Stars is heartbreaking at times as letters are passed onto the loved ones of patients who have passed away, but it was also uplifting too. You may need a tissue or two!

So, those are my 2018 favourites - but what have you been reading this year that you'd like to shout about? Let us know in the comments below :)

Writing Book Ten: Part Three - First Goal Reached

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

I had a couple of days off from writing this week as I went to London for the HQ Christmas party. I had a brilliant time, meeting up with Lucy Knott in Manchester so we could travel down together before heading to the News Building for the party. Writing can be a quite isolating as you're in your own head for large chunks of time, so it was great to meet up with other authors and the publishing team. I had the chance to catch up with some of the other HQ authors, as well as meeting old Twitter friends in real life for the first time!

Before heading home the next morning, Lucy and I treated ourselves to hot chocolates and cake from Peggy Porschen Cakes, which was lovely and so Christmassy.

Back home again, it was time to get back to writing. My goal was to reach 20,000 words by the time the kids finished school for Christmas, so we could have a nice break together. And I'm pleased to report that I reached that goal today - yay! So I''m going to have some time away from the book now and make sure everything is ready for Christmas (mainly tackling the dreaded wrapping of presents) and spend some quality time with the family. 

In the new year, I'll be asking for help naming some characters, so keep an eye on my Facebook page for more details!

GO TO PART FOUR

GO TO PART TWO

Writing Book Ten: Part Two - I Would Write 10,000 Words, and I Would Write 10,000 More

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

This week, I reached my first word count milestone for Book 10: 10,000 words! There are still many, many more words to come, and they won't all come as easily as this first chunk, when the story characters are new and exciting, but I'm so happy to have reached this stage. My aim is to reach 20,000 words before the kids break up for Christmas, so I can have a nice break with the family, so I'm half way to that goal.

The book is going well so far and I've managed to stick to my 1,000 words per writing day goal. In the past, I've aimed for 10,000 words per week, but I've found this becomes more and more of a struggle the further into the book I get, sucking all the joy from writing it. This time, I want to get back to loving what I write, and I think having a more manageable goal in mind will help with this. It's certainly working at the moment as I'm loving writing Rebecca's story and I look forward to opening my laptop to continue her adventures each morning. It helps that my deadline is mid-April, so there isn't a mad rush to get the words down!

GO TO PART ONE

GO TO PART THREE