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.

Setting Goals and Marking Milestones

When I'm writing, I usually set myself writing goals, usually 2,000 words per day but reduced to 1,000 words for last couple of books (apart from during November last year when I took part in Nano). And I've reduced the daily word count even further for Book 12.

Life BC (before Coronavirus) meant I could write all day when the kids were at school, but now we're combining working and home-schooling the youngest, it isn't so easy. I knew I'd get stressed if I attempted to keep up the same pace as before, but I also know I'm lazy and that without some kind of goal in mind, I wouldn't get much - if anything - done.

I don't have a deadline for this book, but I've created one for myself, because I want to start a new book for this year's Nano in November. I'd like a bit of time to plan that book, so ideally I want the first draft of Book 12 finished in September. I worked out I could comfortably get this draft done in time by writing 4,000 words per week, which works out at 800 words a day, which doesn't seem so daunting.

Each time I reach my weekly target (sometimes before the end of the week - very exciting times), I mark it off in my diary (I'm a simple beast, who responds well to the smallest rewards) and it's a boost to see that I'm getting there, bit by bit. I've also started marking the bigger milestones with post-it notes (see? Simple beast, small reward) and I've posted these on my social media. Again, it's a visual reminder that even though my daily word count goal is quite low, I am building up the words and one day I'll have a full-length manuscript.

Book News: Everything Changes But You Paperback

I'm chuffed to bits to be able to present the paperback of Everything Changes But You, which is available from Amazon now!

The book's cover had a makeover a little while and I love how it looks 'in the flesh' - I couldn't stop stroking it when my author copies arrived! I wrote Everything Changes But You back in 2014, but I still love Ally's story with its sprinkling of magic and I hope it'll find new readers in its additional format.

Be careful what you wish for...

Ally Richmond is dreading turning thirty and bidding farewell to her youth. And when her husband says he wants to start a family, she begins to panic.

Is this all that life has to offer from now on? Popping out babies and growing old gracefully? She wants a life crammed with glamour and spontaneous adventure, not one full of dirty nappies and night feeds.

When Ally makes a silly birthday wish for a new, exciting life, her wish is granted.

But when Ally is presented with the freedom and opportunities she craves, she soon realises this new life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and that there really is no place like home. But can she find her way back - or is she stuck in this new reality forever?

Amazon UK | Amazon US

The Little Things In Lockdown

During lockdown, I've really appreciated the little things I would usually take for granted; sitting outside to read my book (I have a whole post dedicated to my little garden here), watching the plants in my garden and kitchen windowsill grow, sitting down to watch a film (or theatre these days) with the family.

Books and writing have always been important to me, but they've been even more of a comfort over the past few weeks, allowing me to step away from reality for a little while and escape into a world where Coronavirus doesn't exist (I wrote a piece for my local writing group's blog about Coronavirus and what it means for my own writing here) and books have kept me company during the dreaded car park shuffle outside the supermarket (if you're going to be standing around for ages, you may as well do it with a book in hand, right?)

TV and film has been a good way to escape reality too, and they've become a much bigger deal. We don't just sit down to watch a film anymore in this house - we make sure we have popcorn and sweets to enjoy them with, and it goes in my diary, so we have something to look forward to at the weekend. Seriously. All the little things now go in my diary now; I bought some scones and clotted cream so we could have a cream tea and in the diary it went, when a theatre put their panto of Cinderella on YouTube, it went in the diary, along with our rock-painting plans and other little activities that I normally wouldn't think twice about.

I've been downloading box sets from iPlayer and catching up with stuff on Netflix, and I've found some gems I would have otherwise missed. I didn't watch Last Tango in Halifax when it was on originally, but I devoured the whole lot and loved it. I have no idea why I didn't watch it first time round, but I'm glad I've caught up!

With everyone at home all the time, I've been trying to do something different at the weekends, whether it's panto at home or rock painting or baking etc. One great success was the lime loaf the kids and I baked a couple of weekends ago. 

I'd been craving a slice of lemon loaf from the coffee shop in town, but obviously that wasn't possible, so I decided we'd give baking our own a go. I eventually got my hands on some flour and eggs, but my local Asda didn't have any lemons. They did have their green cousins, so we thought we'd see how a lime loaf would turn out...

It turned out AMAZING! I'd never made any kind of loaf before, so I was really proud of our efforts. It was lovely, especially the lime icing.

I used this recipe, substituting the lemons for limes. For the icing, I mixed 100g of icing sugar with the juice from a half a lime (I'd make a bit more next time though!)

This of course went in the diary.

Other family 'events' have been the community-style games of Scrabble we've played, where you have one set of tiles and take your turn whenever you get the chance. It's a more relaxed version where you can take your time, but still competitive! We set our board up in the kitchen with a score sheet and each game lasts a few days.

Other 'little things' that have made me happy are my plants. The raspberry plant we planted last year has grown back and is shooting up, so we should have some fruit during the summer.

I've also sown dahlias for the first time (and sown seeds indoors for the first time - I usually throw them in the big pots outside and hope the best!) and they're growing nicely.

I've re-potted some of the bigger ones into their own pots. My local Asda didn't have pots (it's only a little store, bless it) so I've used anything pot-shaped (or anything that could be cut into a pot, like the bottom of plastic milk bottles) and poked/drilled holes in their bottoms. I like the idea of reusing stuff I'd normally throw away, and I'm going to keep doing this even when the lockdown has ended.

What little things have kept you going during lockdown? Have you discovered anything new?

Home Schooling For Dummies*: A New Normal

*Me, the parent, not the kid

When is a bank holiday not a bank holiday? When they've moved it from the Monday to Friday to coincide with VE Day. And guess who forgot about this until Sunday night, after Isobel had gone to bed under the assumption that she had a day off 'school' the next day? Yup, this numpty.

It seemed cruel to snatch her day off away from her in the morning, so I didn't. She had the day off schoolwork. AND she's had a day off today, on the real bank holiday.

My school, my rules.

I'm finally starting to feel a bit more relaxed about this home-school stuff. We have our new timetable that seems to be working, and it's starting to feel... normal. Or a new normal, at least. We're five weeks into homeschooling (with two weeks of Easter hols in between) and the thought of Isobel going off to school every morning seems a bit weird. That isn't to say I think it's a good idea for her to home-school for a long period - far from it. Supervising is very different to teaching, which I discovered last week when Isobel needed help with her maths.

Do you remember when we were at school and we scoffed at maths, and questioned when we'd ever need to know these things? Well, that came back to bite me on the arse when I couldn't explain how to work out how many non-red cars were originally in a car park if some left and 60% of those remaining were red. NOW IS THE TIME I NEED TO KNOW THAT STUFF, and I failed.

My brain was frazzled, but luckily BBC bite-size came to the rescue when we found a clip with the formula you need to follow (confession: I still don't understand it).

If lockdown has taught me anything over these past few weeks, it's that I shouldn't give up the day job and go into teaching.

Kindle Unlimited - Read My Books For Free!

If you're a Kindle Unlimited subscriber, you can currently read five of my romantic comedies for free (though this can change over time, so please do check).

The books are:

One summer can change everything…

Mae has no time for men in her life! Local vet Alfie might be totally gorgeous but she’s far too busy looking after her young daughter and running her little bed & breakfast by the sea.

Willow is in the middle of building her dream home with her husband, Ethan, when disaster strikes. And with every month that passes she secretly worries that her happy ever after will never come true…

Melody only intended to stay in the bustling seaside town for a few days. But when she meets Hugo – the charming man in the ice cream van – she decides to stay a little longer.

It seems the little bed & breakfast is full of surprises!

Amazon UK | Amazon US

Ruth loves nothing more than curling up in front of the telly with a family-sized bar of chocolate. She doesn’t do diets and she certainly doesn’t do exercise. But all that changes when she’s invited to her school reunion.

Bullied at school for being overweight, Ruth’s first reaction is to rip the invitation into a million pieces. But then Ruth hatches a plan. She’ll lose the weight and arrive at the reunion looking gorgeous and glamorous, leaving her old classmates in awe. Especially her former crush, Zack O’Connell.

With the help of her friends and a new, unbelievably hot colleague, Ruth begins her transformation. With six months until the reunion, losing weight will be a piece of cake, right?

Amazon UK | Amazon US

Three women. Three weddings. But who will say I do – and who will say I don’t?

Ruth can’t quite believe she’s managed to snag The One but when he proposes, she can finally accept that she’s found her happily ever after. But when Ruth finds herself booking her dream church for just six weeks away, she starts to panic. You can’t plan a whole wedding at such short notice. Can you?

Trina has only just walked down the aisle, but she’s already starting to question whether they can make their marriage work. Will they survive the honeymoon period, or have they just made a very big – and very expensive – mistake?

Erin has somehow found herself agreeing to be a bridesmaid for the tackiest wedding known to man. With drunk hens, ridiculous outfits and a terrifying wedding planner, just what has Erin signed up for?

Amazon UK | Amazon US

Will you…date me?

Delilah James, singleton and smoothie-addict, has six months to find a date for her oldest friend’s wedding. Oh, and to prove to her ex, best man Ben, that she has totally moved on since he dumped her out-of-the-blue nine months, eight days and seventeen hours ago…

So, with her two BFFs playing Cupid, Delilah launches herself into the high-tech, fast-paced and frankly terrifying world of dating. Luckily there’s the hot new guy at work, Adam Sinclair, to practice her flirting on – even if, as a colleague, he’s strictly off-limits!

Yet time’s running out and date after disastrous date forces Delilah to tell a little white lie – and invent a fake boyfriend! But will her secret crush on Adam ruin everything? Does she even care about Ben anymore? And is it too late to untangle her web of lies and take a real date to the wedding…?

Amazon UK | Amazon US

Be careful what you wish for...

Ally Richmond is dreading turning thirty and bidding farewell to her youth. And when her husband says he wants to start a family, she begins to panic.

Is this all that life has to offer from now on? Popping out babies and growing old gracefully? She wants a life crammed with glamour and spontaneous adventure, not one full of dirty nappies and night feeds.

When Ally makes a silly birthday wish for a new, exciting life, her wish is granted.

But when Ally is presented with the freedom and opportunities she craves, she soon realises this new life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and that there really is no place like home. But can she find her way back - or is she stuck in this new reality forever?

Amazon UK | Amazon US

Happy Reading! :)

Starting a New Book

This is always an exciting part of the writing process, but it can be a bit scary too; being stared at by a blank page, wondering if you can pull off a whole novel (yes, even when you've done it several times before). 

That first sentence can be intimidating, but you've just got to go for it and dive into the story. It doesn't matter if the first sentence is rubbish - you're going to go back and edit later anyway. The important thing is to get going and allow the words to flow.

I've recently started Book 12. I'd started to get to know my characters (you can see the tips I shared here) but you can only get to know them a certain amount before it's time to get stuck in. You'll learn new things about them along the way, which is the best part of writing - when your characters start to come alive on the page!

The first characters I met were Cleo and Paul. Cleo Parker is the main character and I love her already. You can see my mood board for Cleo on Pinterest here but here are three things I have learned about Cleo so far:

1. She likes to keep lists
2. She works at a seaside fish and chip shop
3. She loves coffee

Paul is an old school friend of Cleo's. Here are three things I've learned about him:

1. He's a policeman
2. Cleo had a MASSIVE crush on him at school
3. He still has the ability to turn her insides to jelly

Next up is Cleo's grandmother, Cordelia and her new friend, James.

Three things I've learned about Cordelia:

1. She likes to help out in the community
2. She likes to crochet
3. She loves watching reality TV with her granddaughter

Three things I've learned about James:

1. He's divorced
2. He has two children
3. He works at the amusement arcade

And finally, there's Cleo's best friend - but she doesn't have a name yet (you can help out with the name if you'd like. In my next newsletter, I'll be asking my subscribers if they'd like to have the character named after them, so make sure you've subscribed if you'd like the chance to have your name in the book!)

Three things I've learned about the best friend:

1. She works at the fish and chip shop with Cleo
2. She's a single mum
3. She has terrible luck with men

So, that's how the new book is coming along at the moment. I'll be finding out lots more about these characters over the next few months and I can't wait to share Cleo's story with you!