This feature is in association with NetGalley. The Road to Grantchester, James Runcie Thanks to NetGalley and to Bloomsbury for an advance copy of The Road to Grantchester by James Runcie. I'm a big fan of Sidney Chambers, so it was great to be given this opportunity to find out what led him to Grantchester. First … Continue reading Book review: The Road to Grantchester
We had planned on visiting my mom at the weekend, but the country was battered by storms last Thursday, and most of Saturday was spent rebuilding the greenhouse. I'd already spent time on Thursday and on Friday looking for bits that had blown off. But we live on the edge of a cornfield opposite a … Continue reading Back to normal … ish
Congratulations to all of my fellow NaNoWriMoErs who hit their target this year. Commiserations if you didn't reach your target, but don't worry. I failed for far too many years to mention before finally finding my NaNoMoJo, and now I've won 4 years on the trot. Well done to everyone who took part. It can … Continue reading NaNoWriMo comes to an end once more
Well, I made it. Despite taking several days off, including an unplanned additional 6 days sick, I reached the finish line once again with a total of 50,270 words. I still have a way to go. The novel isn't finished and I'm going to keep it up. But after years and years of failing at … Continue reading NaNoWriMo 2018 – day 29 (oops, I did it again!)
We had a very busy weekend with Monkey Dust playing both Friday and Saturday evenings. Two very late nights on the trot automatically mean two very late lie-ins the next day too. I also had a massive proofreading job I wanted to finish, and I ended up finishing it at the gig on Saturday evening … Continue reading NaNoWriMo 2018 – intermission: days 22 – 28
I didn't mean to take another day off. But yesterday I did a new assignment and by the time I got home something else happened to distract me from my writing: My book was published! The book was supposed to be published next year some time, but we did so well getting it ready, publication … Continue reading NaNoWriMo 2018 – days 20 & 21
I am delighted to announce that my book A History of Cadbury is now in stock. You can buy the hardback direct from the publishers at Pen & Sword or you can buy it from your favourite book dealer. It's currently only available as a hardback, but the paperback will follow in the usual due course. … Continue reading We interrupt this broadcast …
The weekend just gone was planned time off. I had 2 of my 5 days off together, as I prefer to have days off at the weekend than midweek. Saturday was a shopping and housework day, and a recce for two more assignments that have come in for me this Friday. Sunday was a run … Continue reading NaNoWriMo 2018 – days 17, 18 & 19
Oops-a-daisy! I seem to have had another inadvertent day off. I'm not beating myself up about it, though. I'm currently very busy and next week is looking busier. And anyway, I'm not really lagging behind either. Yesterday was spent arranging two new assignments for next week that involve (shock! horror!) leaving the house! 😱 There's also not … Continue reading NaNoWriMo 2018 – days 15 & 16
I've not had much time again today, as I've been pitching for some new and different jobs as well as continuing with the existing work I have in. I only managed to add around 700 words to my running total. But I have a few more very short scenes and Act II Part II is possibly … Continue reading NaNoWriMo 2018 – day 14
I didn't get around to NaNo until quite late on this afternoon. I've been in correspondence with various people, including editing and proofreading clients as well as the publisher of my Cadbury book. The great news is, my book has arrived on the publisher's desk! And they're very happy with the result. I can hardly … Continue reading NaNoWriMo 2018 – day 13
I hit my weekly target by the end of Thursday evening. I'd planned to take Sunday off, but as things transpired, I had 3 days off! But as I'd hit my weekly target by the end of Thursday, I didn't beat myself up too much over it. Friday was a sad day as one of … Continue reading NaNoWriMo 2018 – days 9, 10, 11 & 12
So now I'm thinking, if I can do this in November for NaNoWriMo, why can't I do it the rest of the year as well? My daily target is 2,000 words, which means I can also have 5 days off. My usual daily target is around 1,000 words per writing day. If I upped that … Continue reading NaNoWriMo 2018 – day 8
I was quite tired yesterday following the shenanigans of the previous evening, but by 5pm I'd completed my day's work quota. I'd added more than 3,000 words and I reached my first 100 pages on a proofreading job. I always like to hit the first 100 pages. At 5pm, I checked on the chickens, put … Continue reading NaNoWriMo 2018 – day 7
It was a long day yesterday. We visited Mom last night – she was great and in fine form – and we were set to be home at a fairly reasonable time, around 10pm. On our way down we'd seen an accident on the M42 that had just happened. One lorry had stopped, a car … Continue reading NaNoWriMo 2018 – day 6
We were going to visit my mom on Saturday and then stop off at Sherwood Forest, or similar, on the way back as it was going to be such a nice day. However, there was a stomach bug at the home, and visitors were asked to stay away. So we stayed in and baked instead. … Continue reading NaNoWriMo 2018 – day 5
The plan always was to work yesterday, and take today off as my first day off. Then the plan changed because the weather was supposed to be nicest yesterday. We were going to go out for the day. Then that plan changed as well and we decided to stay in. However, I decided to keep … Continue reading NaNoWriMo 2018 – days 3 & 4
Day 2 and I'm still planning a bit while writing a bit, although my word-count did go up quite considerably this morning. NaNoWriMo is my first "job" of the day. Whether I'm planning or writing, it's the first thing to get my attention, after about an hour of admin/household stuff. The day before yesterday I … Continue reading NaNoWriMo 2018 – day 2
And so it begins again ... I was a little late to the party this year. For the past few years I've been ready to go by the end of play on 31 October. This year, I finished most of the prep at around 1:30pm today. Eek! When I say prep, I mean my Scrivener … Continue reading NaNoWriMo 2018 begins
This is a new feature on Words Worth Writing, in association with NetGalley. I Never Lie, Jody Sabral Thanks to NetGalley and to Canelo for an advance copy of I Never Lie by Jody Sabral. First of all I'd like to say how much I enjoyed the concept behind this story. I think the whole … Continue reading Book review: I Never Lie
With only a week to go I finally made a decision, and I'm hoping it's the right one ... bit of a gamble, but that's how it goes. This year I'm being a NaNoReBel - again! Last year I chose to write a non-fiction book: A History of Cadbury (to be published on 30 November … Continue reading NaNoWriMo 2018 – decision made
About a year ago ... actually, exactly a year ago, I was preparing for NaNoWriMo 2017. I had a book contract under my belt for A History of Cadbury and I'd learnt how to use Scrivener. During NaNo I wrote that book and spent the following months (between other work) editing it, polishing it, submitting it, … Continue reading NaNoWriMo rules, OK
This is a new feature on Words Worth Writing, in association with NetGalley. The Way of All Flesh, Ambrose Parry Thanks to NetGalley and to Canongate Books for an advance copy of The Way of All Flesh by Ambrose Parry. This is the debut historical crime novel from the team behind Ambrose Parry, Chris Brookmyre … Continue reading Book review: The Way of All Flesh
Before I start, please hop on over to the alphabet adventurers to see the latest post. There's still time to enter a competition there, with a closing date of midnight (UK time) this coming Friday, 28 September. It's been a while since I published a to-do list. This is mostly due to me trying to … Continue reading Clearing the decks
This is a new feature on Words Worth Writing, in association with NetGalley. Stop Dieting and Lose Weight, Philip Swart Thanks to NetGalley and to Troubador Publishing for an advance copy of Stop Dieting and Lose Weight by Philip Swart. I thought this book was packed full of interesting and useful information. My particular favourite … Continue reading Book review: Stop Dieting and Lose Weight
This is a new feature on Words Worth Writing, in association with NetGalley. Touch the Silence, Gloria Cook Thanks to NetGalley and to Canelo for an advance copy of Touch the Silence, by Gloria Cook. This book was first published by Severn House in 2003 and was republished in 2018. It's the first in the … Continue reading Book review: Touch the Silence
We manged to have another weekend off, an entire weekend to ourselves without any obligations to anyone else. And we got quite a lot of work done too, both around the house and on creative stuff. On Friday evening, the poet continued to edit the 'G' is for ... video for the alphabet adventurers. By … Continue reading Domestic weekend
Despite the recent difficulties I've been having regarding finding a new paperback publisher, yesterday turned out to be a good writing day. My working days are clearly split into two now, with "my work" for 3 hours in the morning and "client work" for 3 hours in the afternoon. The rest of the (working) day … Continue reading A good writing day
The news that Amazon's CreateSpace is being swallowed up by Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing spurred me into action yesterday, a little. The first thing I did was contact KDP with a few questions. While I awaited their reply, I set about researching an alternative. CreateSpace was always the paperback arm of Amazon's self-publishing platform. KDP … Continue reading It’s all so complicated!
Due to the changes at Amazon CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing, my plans have changed slightly for the next few days. Well, they've changed completely. I don't think KDP is as good as CreateSpace. I don't think it's as easy to use. I don't think it looks as professional. And it looks as though it … Continue reading Temporary change of plan
I've been a bit overwhelmed with trying to catch up with work again, but I think I finally reached a balance once more. The past week in particular has been busy - as usual. I've not had a single idle day, though, and I'm looking forward to the week ahead. On Monday I caught up … Continue reading Organised again
This is a new feature on Words Worth Writing, in association with NetGalley. Killing It, Asia Mackay Thanks to NetGalley and to Bonnier Zaffre for an advance copy of Killing It, the debut novel by Asia Mackay. Meet Lex Tyler, licensed to kill and the new James Bond. But this special agent is different in … Continue reading Book review: Killing It
We took last week off for the bank holiday. The last time we booked time off was a fortnight in June, when the heatwave was at its height. But we didn't get to enjoy a single moment of it as we were moving house. So we decided to take last week off. And this time … Continue reading Diary of a novel: The Beast Within (Week 2) – planning work
