Happy 100th post!

Yup, that's right, this post marks my 100th post on this blog!

I never thought I'd manage to keep this blog up for this long, but I'm finding that the more times goes on, the more I enjoy writing on my blog and connecting with other writers :). But its down to YOU, all my lovely readers, that have made it possible for me to continue for so long - thank you so much for believing in me, and coming back again and again to read my little posts :).

I just wanted to give you all a quick update and to say thank you so much to everyone who visited my blog and commented on my IWSG post :). I've been sick since Thursday and I couldn't even face my laptop until yesterday, so I haven't commented back yet - but I'm going to catch up now!

I was actually rather annoyed at myself for being sick - I thought that for the two days I was off work I could maybe cross one or two little things off my rapidly growing to-do list, given all the work I have left to do before April. But I genuinely wasn't up to the task. I literally slept all day Friday! But by yesterday, I was feeling almost back to normal and I managed to power through some more edits on my novel - I was actually quite proud of what I managed to do, considering I normally don't like writing in the afternoons, and I didn't get started until 1pm! So I'm happy I'm slightly more caught up now :).

Also, it's half term next week, which means I'll be starting to really up the pace - not only have I got to make sure my novel is ship-shape, I've also got to start contacting reviewers, book in my blog tour (if I decide to do one - still in two minds about that one), and start my posts for April's A-Z Challenge, because if I don't get started on it now, I know I'll run out of time! As well as catch up on normal everyday things, that are unrelated to writing. I know I've got a lot of hard work ahead of me, but you know what? I'm genuinely so excited :), I can't wait to get started!

After all....

Happy Monday, everyone!

IWSG February: Am I crazy...?

Welcome to February's IWSG post! You can check out the official IWSG website here!

This week I made an announcement about my novel Synthetica – I've decided to self-publish it. My proposed publication date is 1^st April, which is less than 2 months away now. I am so so excited about the prospect of self-publishing. And yet I can't help asking myself: am I completely crazy??

There's a part of me that feels like a huge fake. What on earth do I think I'm doing? There's no way I can organise everything in two months! I've got to do the final tiny edits to the book, I've got to finalise the cover design, I need to email other bloggers to see if they'd be interested in reviewing it, if I'm having a blog tour, I need to book it in ASAP for April. Don't get me wrong, I do love being busy, but there are moments when the panic descends and I completely freeze.

But there's also a bigger issue. Whenever I read about other people self-publishing their novels, I think, that's great, good for you! And yet, the idea of me self-publishing a novel seems absurd. Who am I to think that my novel is good enough for the world? This time last year I didn't even have a novel to publish – what makes me think it's even any good to be published now?? I feel like I'm missing out on some huge secret in self-publishing, or that I'm missing a step and I don't know what it is. Essentially, I think this comes down to the question I seem to ask myself everyday, no matter what I'm doing: Am I doing this right??

There's a lot more leeway in self-publishing that traditional publishing (found a major mistake in your manuscript? Cover not working for you anymore? Simply take it down and re-work it til you're happy!), but even so, I've always been someone who strives to get it right first time. I'm so scared of being a failure before I've even begun. I guess at the end of the day, if I let these doubts overwhelm me, I'll never have the confidence to publish my novel.

It's like anything in life - you don't know until you've tried. But it would be nice to know that I'm not just stumbling my way through everything for once ;).

It's never too late (or early) to start writing...

As I was browsing Twitter today (for research reasons, obviously...), I came across these two articles from the Guardian Books website and I just wanted to share them with you all.

This first article tells the story of Tony Schumacher, who left school with a U in his English GCSE and published his first novel at the age of 46. But it was this second article is about a girl called Helena Coggan who published her first novel at the age of 15 that made me want to write this blog post.

Helena's story resonates with me more than Tony's does. Growing up, all I remember thinking in my teenage years was 'I'll have written a book by the time I'm 16.' When I turned 16 I thought to myself, 'okay, I'll definitely have finished writing a book by the time I'm 18.' 18 came and went and I began to get a little more desperate - 'I will DEFINITELY have finished my novel by the time I turn 21/by the time I've graduated' - and, yup, you guessed it, that elusive novel never fully materialised. Although, to be fair, I did actually give it a damn good go that time, but my graduation rolled around quicker than I anticipated.

I applaud Helena, not only finishing her novel, but for getting it published too. Writing a book is no easy thing. It takes time, dedication and perseverance and and incredible amount of self-belief (which, for someone who suffers from extreme anxiety like me, can be a little thin on the ground sometimes). But there's no greater feeling of satisfaction than writing those last few words with flourish and thinking, that's it. I'm done.

I have finally finished my first novel. It's taken me a few years longer than I originally anticipated, but when I look back over my journey as a writer, I wouldn't wish for it to be any different. Who knows, perhaps if I'd the determination to finish my novel when I was 15 instead of 24, I'd have sold it to a publisher and made my millions before I turned 20. But I seriously doubt it. There was no way any sane publisher would've wanted any of my earlier work, even if I had managed to flesh them out into 100,000 words.

But the thought that I'm going to take away from these two articles is this: it is never too late, or too early, to start writing.

Whether you're 15, 20, 35, 50 or 85, there is only one time to start writing, and that is right now. If you have a passion for reading and writing, and you want to share your own stories with the world, go on and do it. At the end of the day, the only thing that will ever hold you back from writing (or baking, or woodworking or whatever your dream may be) is you. You are the only one that can make your dreams come true. It doesn't matter whether you only want to write for you, or if you want to write Harry Potter fan fiction and share it with other HP fans, or if you want to write the definitive guide to flower arranging - write whatever YOU want to write, and start writing it NOW.

It's taken me a full ten years to realise this. But now that I know that the only person responsible for my writing is me, I'm going to keep chasing my dream of becoming an author. This time last year, I hadn't even written a novel. In eight weeks time, I'm going to self-publish my first book. Is it the way I thought I'd get published? No. But I don't care. Once I've published that book, I'll move onto my second one. And then I'll do another one after that. And then another. And then another. Until my crazy brain either finally runs out of steam, or I can't physically write any more. There's nothing to hold me back, there's nothing that can stop me...except me!

So, what are you waiting for?? Get writing!

Just a tiny update...

So I have some super exciting - and super terrifying - news for y'all...



I have set a publication date for Synthetica.



The thought makes me want to simultaneously jump for joy and throw up out of nerves.

How? How on earth am I going to fit everything in before my proposed date?? Will the novel actually be ready (i.e. will I wake up the day before and realise the whole thing needs to be trashed and completely rewritten)?? Am I actually capable enough to do all my own promo?? Will anyone even WANT to feature/review my book?? Have I made a serious error and I'm not actually cut out to be a writer at all??

Does this mean that I finally have to admit to the world that I've written a book??


I can't even believe the amount of fears and anxieties I'm experiencing right now - it's about 100 times worse than anything I've felt during an IWSG post....and I haven't even published my book yet.

And yet...it's also strangely exhilarating. I finally have a timeline to complete everything in. I can finally put a plan together for marketing my book. It's finally snapping me into action.

And that is, if I'm completely honest, the real reason why I made the decision to publish my book. Without this deadline, I could go through revision after revision and keep putting off doing the deed with excuse after excuse. But I don't want to do that. I don't want to be a writer who writes, but never has the nerve to publish anything. I want to write, and I want people to read what I've written.

People might hate it. People might (hopefully) love it.

But I'm never going to know what I'm capable of until I actually publish it. It's time for me to stop messing around and get serious about my writing.

So (providing there are no major major catastrophes) pop the date in your diary, folks...

1st April 2015...Synthetica is coming.

How much is too much...?

Happy New Year, everyone :)!

I know I'm probably a tad late in saying that, but hey, better late than never ;).

I've actually been taking a break from the Internet for a while - to be completely honest, I haven't been in a good place lately and being online has only made things worse, which is why I didn't post for IWSG last week. But this weekend has been the first weekend that I feel ready to face the world again, so it's all good :). One day, I'll write a super long post and bore you all to death with my issues, but for now, I'm back and ready to write!

Anyway, so I had a nice, relaxing break over the Christmas holidays and I barely thought about my book at all - but one day last week, a new idea struck me for my novel. I've been idly wondering for a while if there was any way I could rewrite the beginning of my novel, but tbh, I was pretty happy the way it was and unless inspiration struck, I was happy to keep it as it is.

But then inspiration did strike. And immediately I scribbled down the initial idea, and then I was off - writing down all the possible implications of this new beginning for my novel; would the middle still work? How would it change the overall character? Would it change her relationship with the other characters in the story?

I haven't started writing it yet, but I'm planning to work on it this week and see where it takes me. I love the feeling of once again being super excited about my work, but it also got me thinking....how much rewriting, is too much rewriting? How do you know when to stop? I know that if I rewrite my beginning and don't like it, I can always take it out and put my old one back in - but what if I think of another different way to write it? And then another way? How do you know when to stop?? Is there a writerly sixth sense that simply tells you when you're done - that moment when you write the last word, sit back and think, this is it? Or do writers forever critique their work, and will never be fully happy with it?

As a newcomer to all of this, I'm simply curious to know what other writers do! I know authors could probably spend forever tweaking words here and there, but I'm talking about when you come up with new ideas for your novel - you think you've finished and it's the best it can possibly be, then BAM! Suddenly a new scene, a new chapter or even a new character bursts into your head. What do you do? Do you ignore it? Or do you try it out?

I'd love to hear your thoughts :)!

All the best for the new year, everyone! Let's make it a good one!