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Book review: Fall Down Dead

This feature is in association with NetGalley. Fall Down Dead,  Stephen Booth Thanks to NetGalley and to Little, Brown Book Group UK for an advance copy of Fall Down Dead…

0 645  1 Comment on Using a murder board
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Using a murder board

The murder board My murder board isn’t up yet, but every time I open this tin of bits that go with the murder board, it cheers me up no end….

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Getting back into a routine

I had a lot of admin work to do yesterday in the end, and there’s still a load more to do. First job, of course, right after writing yesterday’s blog…

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Hello, Finningley!

For the past two weeks we’ve been moving house (again!), and now we’re in the village of Finningley, which used to be in Nottinghamshire but is now in South Yorkshire….

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The rainy day account

Something I try to maintain during this self-employment of mine is a rainy day account. I’ve been stuck so many times in the past with no savings and suddenly faced…

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Squeezing the work in

This morning I finally started the next book for NetGalley. Well, actually, I re-started it as I’d already read a couple of chapters and I wanted to refresh my memory….

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Clearing the decks

I realised that we get the keys to the new house next Wednesday. That’s just over a week away. So I’ve decided to close the office on Tuesday. I won’t…

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Purging and packing

The end of last week was mostly spent on a client job, which I got back to the client during Friday evening. We had a discussion too about either me…

0 438  2 Comments on Pitching for work + Creating mockups
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Pitching for work + Creating mockups

Pitching for work I don’t actually need more work at the moment, but I still like to keep an eye on what’s available, and I still keep looking because you…

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I published a book

I didn’t get around to writing any of Catch the Rainbow yesterday, but I did sort some of the rest of the material into some sort of order. This one may…

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Managing the diary

A light week last week followed by an uncluttered weekend meant I could devote some time to scheduling the diary a little more efficiently and adding a price list to…

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It’s okay to take a sick day

Ever since the poet went back to work on 1 July, we’ve both had cold upon cold upon cold. And yesterday, I was finally flattened. Unusually, it seems that the…

0 445  2 Comments on Publishing short stories
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Publishing short stories

Today’s faff, then, has been all about re-publishing standalone short e-stories. Once upon a time, I discovered CreateSpace, a wonderful self-publishing tool from Amazon. The best thing about it, for…

0 345  3 Comments on Do you need a logo?
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Do you need a logo?

So I’ve been reading this series about making money from home (Make Money from Home series by Sally Miller), and I’m finding it very interesting and informative. I’m trying a…

0 302  1 Comment on August 2020: Plan for the month (lists alert!)
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August 2020: Plan for the month (lists alert!)

After basking in my Camp NaNoWriMo winner glory for a moment or two, I finished work late on Friday. It was about 9pm here, so about 11pm for my client….

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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 20 (last day)

With me finishing the revisions of Twee Tales Too on Wednesday, I already had an extra hour today. Then when I checked in to the content-editing workroom, there was no work,…

0 319  1 Comment on Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 19 of 20 (in the end)
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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 19 of 20 (in the end)

So this great plan of mine to be at my desk by 9am and write for 4 hours was foiled before I even got there. The poet was working from…

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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 18

As well as arriving very late to my desk this morning, I then got distracted. Three times. First of all, I saw that Martin Lewis, our money saving expert, has…

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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 17 + How to calculate your hourly rate

Although technically I wasn’t at my desk at quite 9am today, I was still working. I was doing my daily email declutter, responding to emails and turning down work. I…

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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 16

Oops, skipped a day … From this week, my 10-project writing planner has a new project attached. It’s a proofreading job, and I want it finished by the end of…

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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 14

After quite a bit of rigmarole (see yesterday’s post) I finally started work yesterday afternoon. I was keen to do some work for the client as well as some writing…

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Irritating interlude

Yes, I know they always happen and we should always build in some sort of contingency. But I’d only just got into a good rhythm of work when this week…

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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day off (rant alert)

Time was already tight this week with so many errands and deliveries booked in, so when the internet fell over – yet again – yesterday morning, I was not a…

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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 13

On Saturday we managed to get out for another bit of a drive. We ended up in Lincoln, as I’ve never been before. We had a lovely meal at a…

0 418  2 Comments on Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 12
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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 12

After all of my bluster about starting the day writing, on the very first day I failed spectacularly. Friday was a Very Busy Day. The poet’s car was due in…

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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 11

Leaving my own work until the end of the day doesn’t work. It doesn’t get done. Especially if I’m busy on client work that has a solid deadline. Soft deadlines…

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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day Off

The day started on time yesterday, but much of the morning was spent on admin. I checked in with the content editing job first thing, but there was no work…

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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 10

The poet went back to work on Wednesday 1 July, his furlough over for now. Within 7 days of him mixing with people again, we both had signs of a…

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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 9

After a weekend that didn’t feel like a weekend, I was hardly raring to go yesterday morning and I was later to my desk than I would have preferred. It…

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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 8

I didn’t get a lot of my own work done on Friday. In fact, I didn’t get any of my own work done on Friday. I was finishing a client…

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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 7

Admin time was a little longer yesterday, 25 minutes instead of 15. I stopped when I started to get distracted again, and I closed down social media and webmail. I…

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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 6 (of 23)

Yesterday I started the day with just 15 minutes of admin before hurling myself into the novel. I wrote for just over an hour, and I added 1,956 words to…

0 328  2 Comments on Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 5
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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 5

I say Day 5, but is it really Day 7? It was certainly Day 7 of the month, and it’s probably Day 7 for a lot of other campers. But…