Inspirational weekend words...

Where on earth does the time go? One minute you're relaxing in front of the new season of Luke Cage on Netflix on a Saturday night, and the next you're staring blearily at your computer screen, gulping down your coffee and wondering how Monday rolled around so fast.

But I have some inspirational words to share with you today to help you through the Monday blues!

First up, I saw this thread on Twitter over the weekend:

This is my favourite thing I've read in a long time. It made me smile so much, and I just had to share it with you all. It's so so true - there are bloggers that I've known since I first started my blog, and recently, I've seen a few of them winning awards, being shortlisted and getting published, and you know what? I'm so so proud of each and every one of them. They might not know it, but to me, they are all rising stars, and I hope they all know how much I look up to them, and how much I'm cheering for them. Seriously - if you ever feel like throwing in the towel, just read the above and know that to someone, somewhere, you are their star.

Secondly, I also found this article from The Guardian on Sunday morning:

Paula Hawkins: an unexpected ending to writer’s dark journey

If you have a minute, or if you're looking for something to read at work at lunchtime, make sure you read the whole thing. The Girl on the Train was Hawkins' fourth novel - she wrote it when she was short of cash and wanted to write something different from her normal romcoms. And look what happened - it just goes to show what might happen if you don't give up on you dreams. I'm not saying everyone will become the next Hawkins (as nice as that would be!) but if you write what you want to write, you never know what might come along. 

The other reason I love this article is because Hawkins didn't give up when things were going badly - she rebooted herself, got rid of her pseudonym, wrote under her real name and wrote what she wanted to write. Even if you think you don't have another chance, even if you think you've 'blown your only chance of getting published' somehow or that you're writing the wrong things - don't give up. It's never the end of the journey - so long as you're alive and you can still write, your writing career can be whatever you want it to be.

Although I didn't get to work on my WIP over the weekend (it was finally time to write out our wedding thank you cards), these two things really cheered me up, and resolved my determination to keep writing no matter what. I hope they've inspired you, as much as they inspired me, but just in case you need some more writing inspiration, here's some photos from our Sunday morning walk:

And here's some from the sunrise this morning - it was worth getting up at 6.30am on a Monday morning just to see this:

Have a great week! See you all on Wednesday for IWSG!

What do you think of the tweets/article? Have you come across any articles or tweets that have ever inspired you to write, or not give up on your dreams? How was your weekend?

Not so blue Monday...

So apparently today is the most depressing day of the year (see below for the formula which apparently 'proves' this). No one has any money, the weather is bad and we'd all just like to go back to bed and hibernate for the rest of January instead of going to work. I actually feel rather positive about today - mainly because tomorrow is payday and I've been counting down the days until the 19th for the last three weeks when I ran out of money. Whoops. So for me, Monday isn't looking so blue (yet).

I went out on Friday night for a meal with The Engineer's family, to celebrate his dad's 60th birthday. If I'm honest, I had been dreading it because I hate large social gatherings, but it was actually surprisingly good (and the food was great too). Then on Saturday, The Engineer went out with his dad for the day, so I stayed at home and caught up on some chores, before sitting down and writing all afternoon. It felt so good to be sitting down and doing some writing again. It was lovely just to carve out some 'me' time and spend it doing whatever I wanted to do - writing, eating chocolate and drinking tea. Bliss.

Then yesterday, we decided to have another lazy day. However, The Engineer is the kind of guy who can't sit still for more than five minutes, so he ended up tidying up the house before laying some more of the kitchen floor. Luckily, for most of this I was again left to my own devices. Which meant that, yup you guessed it, I got to write some more. Hooray!

Over the weekend I've managed to write about 5,000 words on my new fantasy novel. I'm still in love with the story and the characters, and I'm so looking forward to this being an actual finished book that I can read. Like I mentioned a while ago, this novel is just for me, and there's something very peaceful about the fact that once it's done, I can read it, then do whatever I like with it. I may show it to a few people if I think they'll like it, or I may not. But to even have that choice feels so good. I'm not rushing it, I'm not constantly worried about what people will think - I'm writing it simply for the pleasure of writing.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend! Have a great week!

Do you feel down about 'Blue Monday'? What did you get up to this weekend? How is your writing going?

To vlog or not to vlog, that is the question...

Over the weekend I've been thinking about my website, and my author 'brand' and all that jazz. While going over my marketing plan and ticking off the things I'd done on my 'to-do' list, I discovered that I'd written down the word 'vlog' with a huge question mark next to it.

I don't tend to use YouTube that much. In fact, my dad knows how to use YouTube better than I do - the only time I ever go on it, is if someone links to a cute animal video on Facebook.

But apparently book vlogs are becoming more of a big thing now. I've seen on Twitter a couple of people doing a video of their book reviews and I've watched a couple of author interviews on Goodreads, but I only really know of one author who posts videos to his website. In them, he discusses his books, his upcoming projects, his mental health issues and being transgender - they're really interesting videos, but then again, he is a NYT bestselling author. If I posted a video up, would anyone even bother to watch it?

Yeah, I could discuss the things I already write about on my blog, such as self-publishing, and review a few books and talk about my writing (or lack of), but would people actually find that interesting? I'm just not sure. I think I'd have to come up with a certain angle for my videos, but if I'm completely honest, between blogging, using Twitter/Tumblr/Wattpad, as well as actually writing my next book, I just don't know if I'd have the time to commit to vlogging as well.

The topic of social media is a source of never-ending fascination to me. I find it incredible how people can make an actual career out of making videos on YouTube or posting photos on Instagram. Yes, I'd absolutely love to reach more readers and have a conversation with them, but it sounds like it would take up an incredible amount of time to set up. Plus, I hate the way I sound/look on video.

So, what I'd like to know is:

Do any of you vlog? If so, how do you find it?

Do you think vlogging is becoming more of a thing for authors? 

Do you watch vlogs by other authors? (Please, do link to their videos in the comments, I'd love to check them out)

Do you think authors vlogging is a good thing or a bad thing?

Seriously, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this! If you have any info on vlogging, please share it in the comments below :)

Have a great Monday, everyone!

I'm still alive...

...just in case you were wondering ;).

It's been quite a while since I've blogged/been on Twitter/done anything remotely social media related. I went home for a couple of days, then my sister came to stay last week and I've spent the weekend on various boats/hanging out with my fiance for once. I haven't even been thinking about my blog, or writing, or being on Twitter.

And it has felt so good.

I can't lie. It's been amazing. All that pressure I felt at the beginning of summer (you may remember my panicked IWSG post? Yeah, that) has mostly melted away. True, when I think about what I wanted to accomplish this summer, I still feel a bit sad and panicky that I haven't managed to write two whole books and plan a further two - but then again, I've had such a good time just totally switching off, that I don't regret it at all.

In all honesty, as much as I love being a part of the online writing community, it's not very good for my mental health. I'm one of those people who constantly obsess over little things, and I feel like I'm doing something wrong because everyone else seems to living the dream, whereas I'm just constantly plodding along behind, desperately trying to catch up. My worst habit is comparing myself to others, and although I know I'm being stupid, my anxiety still doesn't let go. It's no good telling someone with anxiety to simply 'get over it', or to 'stop worrying' because the point is, they can't. Trust me, they want to - they want to stop obsessing more than anything in the world, but it's incredibly difficult to break the cycle of obsessive thoughts and worrying once you get into it. You just need time, and patience and - for me at least - to get out of your own head for a while.

So, really, what I'm trying to say is that I may not be around as much as I have been. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to try and blog every week, but I'm not going to exhaust myself trying to do it. I'm also going to be cutting my time on Twitter - me and social media have had an on/off relationship for years and it's only lately that I've realised how much social media feeds my anxiety. It's why I barely use Facebook anymore. I'd rather not put myself through the pain of obsessive and depressing thoughts for days on end, just because someone I barely know got a new hairstyle, and my hair hasn't been cut in weeks. Sound stupid? That's because it is. And yet, my poor brain will still go into overdrive.

I'm hoping that by cutting my time on social media, it'll not only give me a proper break and a chance to relax, but it'll also help me start writing again. I have the ideas and the inspiration but I do appear to be procrastinating rather a lot (or maybe this is what every author goes through before writing their second book? If so, let me know in the comments!) and once again, if I happen to see that Author X, Y & Z have all got book deals/movie deals/releasing their 10th book in a year on Twitter, then it'll just make my anxiety worse (see above. See, told you it was a vicious circle).

This week, I'm going to visit a friend in London for a few days, before spending my last week of the holidays up north with my family. I'm ssooo looking forward to it. I may feel inspired to write a little today, but then again, I may not, and that's okay too. To be honest, I'm mainly planning on spending today sitting in the sunshine, reading - I bought a new book last week for the first time in forever, and it feels great to be reading again (for those of you who are curious, it's a little book called The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, and you're not allowed to tell me ANYTHING that happens, okay? Okay, good) - reading a great book always inspires me to write, so it's not going to be time wasted at all ;).

I'm off now to sit in the sun and relax. Sorry for the ultra-long post, but I thought you guys deserved a decent explanation for everything.

Have a great week, everyone!

Have you ever been on a social media break? Did it help you write/focus/relax at all? How's your summer going?

Monday Movie Madness: The Maze Runner

So I've decided to try out a new feature on my blog, and as you've probably already guessed from the title, it's going to be about movies ;). Since the A to Z Challenge ended I've been trying to think up ways of keeping my blogging schedule going, so this weekend I sat down and had a brainstorm for blogging ideas, other than just writing about my, well, writing. I managed to come up with a couple of ideas I hope you'll like :).

The first of these ideas is Movie Madness - a post that will hopefully (if all goes to plan and I don't lose interest like I did with my book reviews feature...) take place every Monday. The idea behind it to have a chat about any movies I've watched over the past week - because believe me, I watch A LOT. While I'll endeavour to keep this as a weekly feature, I'm not going to put a load of pressure on myself; if I watch a film, great, if not, well I'm sure I can think of something else to blog about.

I'm actually more excited to show you the badge I made especially for this feature. It occurred to me during the A to Z Challenge that when I blog, I really don't tend to use pictures which can make my posts look a bit boring. So I've decided to jazz it up a bit:

What do you think? Is it weird that I'm strangely proud of it...?

Anyway, let's move on to the actual point of this feature: films. The movie I want to talk about this week is The Maze Runner.

The Maze Runner is a film based on the popular YA book series by James Dashner. It follows the story of Thomas, who has no recollection of who he is or where he comes from. When he wakes up in The Glade, an encampment surrounded by a terrifying stone maze, it's up to him and the other boys imprisoned there to find their way out before it's too late. But with the maze resetting itself every day, and terrible creatures called Grievers roaming the corridors at night, is it already too late for them to escape?

I haven't read this series, but despite my reservations from the reviews I've read about the books, I did enjoy the film. The story was fast and action-packed, and there was always something going on which kept my interest. Thomas' relationships to the other boys was fascinating; I loved seeing how he interacted with those boys who had been in The Glade for three years and how they took to his presence. Some of them welcomed him with open arms, others, well, not so much.

However, I do have to admit that there were a couple of things I didn't enjoy so much. For one, I had to look up the name of the main character as I wrote this post because he was kinda forgettable. He seemed like your average YA hero - pretty to look at, but not an awful lot going on behind the scenes. When he enters The Glade, the other boys deliberately keep important information from him, which he seems to accept without too much of a fight. If it was me, I'd be screaming at them to tell me what was going on.

While I did enjoy the overall premise of the film, I couldn't help feeling like it was all a tad ridiculous. Apparently this story is set in a dystopian world which has been ravaged by nuclear war...that's pretty much all we're told in the film, and I couldn't help feeling like if this world was real, surely the government wouldn't squander resources on a giant maze designed to kill the youngest and healthiest survivors of the human race? Can you imagine how much manpower, building materials and time it would take to build this:

Maybe this idea and the concept behind the maze is explored in more depth in the books, but I wasn't very satisfied by the lack of explanation in the film.

Overall, despite making me scoff a few times (such as when one boy unveils a miniature wooden sculpture he's managed to craft of the maze - tell me, how was this possible if the maze is always changing?) this film isn't bad - if you're looking for a bit of escapism for a rainy afternoon and you enjoy other YA films such as Divergent or The Hunger Games, then you'll definitely enjoy this too.

Have you seen the Maze Runner? What did you think of it? Have you read the books? What films have you been watching this week?

Hoot, hoot! Tweet, tweet!

So after much deliberation, I've finally signed up for HootSuite. I'm actually quite excited by this (simple things for simple minds...) - it kind of makes me feel a little more like a serious, grown-up blogger (although for those of you who have been here awhile, you know that's definitely not the case ;)...).

HootSuite is a program that allows you to link all your social media platforms, so you can post a link from your blog or a news article or whatever, to multiple platforms at the same time. It sounds complicated, but it's easier than it looks :). I was first introduced to it a few years ago when I worked in the marketing department at an academic publishing house - it was my job to look after all their social media, which included scheduling and posting tweets, and managing their website. I actually really enjoyed it!

Anyway, I realised that with the release of Synthetica coming up fast, and coinciding with the A-Z blog challenge - all of which will also be happening during the Easter holidays where I'll be at my parent's house for a majority of the time - I simply won't have the time to sit down and a) write my blog post every day and then b) advertise it on Twitter, as well as c) commenting on other people's blogs (which I love doing).

So I signed up for HootSuite. The plan is, I'll write a majority of my A-Z posts and Synthetica promo posts in advance, and then schedule them, both on my blog and on Twitter, by using HootSuite. If I was going to be at home for the Easter holidays, then I could probably just about manage to do it all myself, but the fact is, I'll be in Cumbria helping out on my parent's farm for most of the day (how's that for a glamourous release day?!) and I simply won't have the time. But as I'm serious about participating in the A-Z blogging challenge, and I want to promote my book as much as possible, I thought that this would be the best compromise. It means I'll have more work to do before April, but it'll definitely be worth it for peace of mind in the long run.

Also, I'm pleased to announce that I've FINALLY managed to figure out how on earth you even schedule posts in Blogger. I tried to do it a few months ago with an IWSG post, but it never posted. Then I realised that my blog wasn't on GMT time, it had been set to a different time zone. So I changed it, and I'm pleased to say that it worked! My quiet scenes post from yesterday morning was scheduled, and it seems to have posted with no problems! Yippee!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Hooray for half term!

For the last few weeks, I have been dragging myself to work and anxiously counting down the minutes to Friday the 13th. Why? Because this week, it's half term! Yippee!

However, I quickly realised that this week is not going to be the lounging around, reading a book a day, stuffing my face with chocolate/tea/cake week that I envisioned - if anything, I'm going to be working harder this week than I do normally.

Why? Because in just a few short weeks I'm hoping to self publish my first novel. And because I've only got this week to do everything, I can't afford to kick back and relax just yet. This week I've got to do the last tidy up on my rewrites, email reviewers to see if they'd be interested in reviewing my book, book a blog tour as well as starting to put together all my blog posts and topics for April's A to Z blogging challenge. I know it probably doesn't sound like a lot - but to me it is. This is the first time I've ever done anything like this, and I want it to go as smoothly (ha!) as possible.

I'm incredibly lucky that I have a whole week just to work on my writing. It's been so hard trying to fit it in around my normal job and I feel so grateful that - although I do have a lot to do - I've finally got the time and the breathing space to work on my novel. My only worry is that I'll waste my time somehow (I'm a huge procrastinator) and that I'll get to the end of this week without having done anything important. But let's not dwell on that. I'm going to power on with full steam ahead and see how far I get. Already this morning I've ticked off everything on my 'Monday to-do list' that I wrote last night - including coming up with the last of my A to Z blog topics and sketching the outline for a new novel idea - so that's something I guess.

And now - although I really REALLY don't feel like it - I have to go and work on my actual novel. Y'know, the one that people will actually be reading in a few weeks time?...Yeah, that probably should come top of my to-do list from now on ;).

Have a great Monday, folks!

Sunday night inspirations...

This weekend has been a bit crazy - for once, I've actually been participating in real life, meaning that although I've barely had the time to write, I feel kinda happy and satisfied at the thought that I've hung out with other human beings (y'know, apart from the ones in my head...). I went to a christening, had a catch up with the Engineer and his sisters, went to the cinema and went out for a meal. Phew!

Oh, and seeing as how the Engineer works ALL THE TIME, he dragged me into his office yesterday afternoon so he could finish something off. He did try to persuade me that this was a good thing, as I could work on my novel uninterrupted for a few hours. "That's all well and good," I grumbled, "but what if I don't WANT to work on my novel? In case you haven't noticed, my muse has TOTALLY AND UTTERLY DESERTED ME!"

I still went (because I'm sucker when it comes to promises of a mocha and chocolate). And you know what? Even though I didn't touch a word on my manuscript, it was a surprisingly productive evening.

I finally pulled together all my scattered notes on the second and third books in my planned trilogy. I added in details to those notes. I made folders for each book on my laptop (this always gives me a geeky rush). I started to get flashes of inspiration for certain scenes in both my current WIP, and the second book which I hurriedly scribbled down. I thought of a vague plot for the third book (which I've been drawing a complete blank on, until now) And finally, finally, I felt myself getting excited about the world that I'd built once again.

And that's not all. I think I may have found a way to drag myself through my rewrites. I knew I wasn't getting anywhere by just opening up my manuscript, copying and pasting a chapter, editing it and then pasting it back in. It still felt like an overwhelming task, even with my beat sheet. So I thought, what was it that got me through my first draft? What did I do this time, that meant I actually finished the damn thing? And that's when it came to me - I needed a new detailed synopsis.

Now, I know this probably seems like a step backwards, but I don't think it will be. I'm not going to do one for my entire novel (at least, not yet). Instead, I'm just going to do it up until my 'inciting incident'. I've chosen to do this because it's the beginning of my novel that needs the most attention - it's the part that I'm essentially going to rip apart and put back together again. To me, this is far to big a task to do with just a few scrawls on my beat sheet. 

We'll see how it goes. I've only just written the first scene for my new detailed synopsis, but already I'm getting a good feeling and what's more, I want to keep writing. I'll let you know how it goes but hey, even if this just turns out to be another form of procrastination - at least it's bound to help my writing in one way or another.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Today I was forced to do something I haven't done in a very long time....

...I drank coffee.

Yes, that's right, coffee. I only drink coffee in the direst circumstances i.e. if I'm forced to get up ridiculously early to go on holiday, or if I have a deadline to work to. Today, it was the latter.

But it wasn't just the deadline that had me reaching for the Nescafe and a large teaspoon of sugar. Today, I simply didn't want to write.

If you've caught my Twitter over the last few days, you may have noticed I've been celebrating writing 7,000 words a day. It's my goal that by the end of the summer holidays (actually, earlier than that as I'm going away for a few days next week) I'll have finished the first draft of my novel, Synthetica.

I am unbelievably close to finishing - out of the 17 page detailed synopsis I wrote a few months ago, I have 5 pages left to flesh out. 5! This is the closest I've ever come to finishing an actual novel, and I am over the moon about it.

However, this does mean that I'm currently writing like crazy. I love it, but at the same time, I ended up hitting the dreaded wall today. I just did not want to write. At all. I don't know if it's because I took a bit of a break over the weekend and got out of the swing of it, or if the writing frenzy of last week was finally catching up with me, or if it's because The Engineer woke me up in the middle of the night to change bedrooms (don't ask).

So today, I procrastinated by baking and doing jobs around the house, before going for a walk in a last ditched attempt to clear my head. I ended up writing 3,000 words - and although I wish it was closer to 7,000, at least it's something. And that's cheered me up slightly - every other time I've hit the wall in my writing, I've left it for days, or weeks, or sometimes abandoned the novel altogether.

So at least it's progress. I'm hoping tomorrow after a good night's sleep, I'll be back on form :).

How's your writing going? Let me know!

Patience is a virtue....

You may remember last week I posted about starting my own herb garden - well, I have some good news: IT'S STARTED TO GROW!!

Apologies for being so excitable about this, but when you somehow manage to kill everything you try to grow, this is a massive achievement. Especially considering the seeds only cost 30p...

After a week of excitedly checking my plants several times a day, this is the sight that greeted me on Saturday morning:

That right there is my very own basil :). In the soil next to it, I can see some of my other seeds started to germinate, which is pretty cool (I'm also convinced I can smell garlic already from the garlic chives, but that may just be my overactive imagination).

So, this got me thinking: everything needs time - growing herbs, baking a cake, writing a book. You just need to have a little patience and be willing to work at it. It might sound like a completely cheesy thought, but that's what I'm going to try to remember about my novel. So what if it feels like it's taking forever to write? I just need to knuckle down and be prepared to work at it. And in the end, those like shoots of an idea will eventually turn into a flourishing book (y'know, if I don't forget to water it, that is).

Happy Monday, and happy writing, everyone!