Sunny Fridays and a general update...

It's Friday, the sun is shining and there's a general feeling of Spring/Summer in the air (I'm assuming - I haven't actually set foot outside today...)

I just wanted to thank you all for your kind words and support over my last post. It wasn't an easy decision to make, but I do agree that I think it was for the best. And next year, I can relax and complete the A to Z Challenge without feeling like I'm about to have a nervous breakdown.

I've been in Cumbria for the past week, and it was lovely to catch up with friends and family again. It still doesn't feel like I'm moving back - I've spent so long dreaming about it, it still doesn't seem real! But the Engineer will start his new job up there on the 18th April, so I guess there's no going back now.

The journey back to Norfolk seemed a lot easier this time around - I have to confess, the last few times I've done the journey, I've felt like crying (and I actually have cried on a couple of occasions), simply because I hated leaving Cumbria so much. So the fact that the next time I make that long, long, long drive, means that I'll be moving up there for good, makes me feel almost dizzy with happiness.

Do I have a job yet? Nope. Do we have anywhere to live? Nope. But you know what? I'm just so happy to be going home, that right now, I'm not stressing out. Give me a few days, and I'm sure it'll be a different story, but for now, I'm just going to enjoy the fact that in a month, I'll be home.

Anyway, despite the gorgeous weather, today I shall be inside, applying for jobs, tidying up and doing general life admin. The joys of being an adult...

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Have you ever made the decision to move back 'home'? Did you find it easy or hard to go back? Do you think it was the right choice?

A difficult decision...

So it's the eve of the A to Z Challenge 2016, and normally (well, based on what happened last year) I'd be writing my last few posts, double checking everything is scheduled correctly and just generally getting excited for the coming month.

But I'm not.

I know during my theme reveal that I said that I had 1001 things to do in April, but that I was planning on completing the challenge anyway because I absolutely loved taking part last year. My enthusiasm and passion for this challenge hasn't changed, but over the past few days I've had to come to a very diffcult decision. I have decided that I won't be taking part in the A to Z Challenge this year.

It breaks my heart to write it - I feel like I'm letting my fellow bloggers down, I'm letting my readers down, but most of all, I'm letting myself down. I so so badly wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. I wanted to show myself that actually, I was capable of juggling 100 different things while also completing the challenge, but the fact is, I've come to know myself a lot better over the past few years and I know deep down, I wouldn't have been able to do everything that needs to be done this month - something would have to give. And although it's unfortunate, I've decided that the challenge is the thing that has to go.

In brief: life sometimes just gets in the way of the things we really want to do. But I'm willing to sacrifice my blogging and my writing for a little while because of all the other exciting things that are happening right now i.e....

I'm getting married in July, and I have things to organise for the wedding that I can no longer put off; my and my fiance are currently in the process of moving up to Cumbria - which is incredibly exciting and I can't wait - but equally, that means that we have to sort out our house in Norfolk, we need to find somewhere to live in Cumbria because my parents don't want us to live with them forever (understandably) and, in turn, that means that I need to find a job ASAP. The Engineer has already found a job, which is fantastic, but that also means that now everything is starting to feel very real - I can no longer just dream about moving back up to Cumbria, because we're actually doing it - and that means that the most important thing on my ever-growing to-do list right now is to find a job.

So for the rest of the holidays, that's going to be my absolute priority - job hunting and booking all the last minute things for the wedding that need to be done. Am I sad that I'm giving up the challenge? Well, yes, but equally no - because I've finally admitted my choice to myself, I actually feel a lot better than I have been the last few days. I no longer feel quite such a crushing weight of pressure to get everything done by tomorrow, and that's such a huge relief.

I'll still be around, and I'll definitely be keeping up with the A to Z Challenge on other blogs - who knows, maybe later in the year I'll do my own little challenge and pop up all the posts I was going to do in April, so you guys can still read them :). But for now, I'm getting my head down and facing up to my responsibilites (for once).

So best of luck to everyone who's taking part in the challenge tomorrow - I hope you all have a fantastic time and, even though I won't be posting, I'll be right here cheering you all on from the sidelines :).

Are you taking part in the A to Z Challenge this year? Have you ever had to pull out/stop your hobby to do other things? How did you feel about it?

A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal

Where has this year gone?? In just under two weeks, it'll be April which means, yup, it's that time of year again - it's time for the A to Z blogging challenge! And then after April it'll be May...and then before you know it, it'll be July and it'll be my wedding, and then it'll be Christmas again, and then - okay, I'm going to stop now before I freak myself out anymore.

So today, everyone who's taking part in this year's A to Z Challenge can choose to reveal the theme they've chosen for this year. Last year I had a theme - it was all to do with writing, and I thought it was a great idea seeing as how the 1st April coincided with the release of my first novel (looking back, I feel like I probably wasn't the best person to dispense writing advice, given I'd only written one book, but oh well). I wrote about three quarters of my posts ahead of time, and I felt ridiculously organised for once. This year, I'm trying not to have a nervous breakdown. I did seriously consider pulling out, but then I thought - no. I've been looking forward to this challenge all year - I had so much fun last year, that I knew I just had to take part again. I have 1001 things to do in April (I'll go into more detail later in the week), but the fact is, I just can't pass up the opportunity to get out there and meet more awesome bloggers - I had such a blast last year and I can't wait to do it again.

So without further ado, my theme for this year's challenge is....

Heroes and Villains

I was planning on doing a huge fancy graphic to announce that, but then I ran out of time, so sorry folks, that's the best you're going to get for now.

I know it has very little to do with writing and that this is primarily a writing blog, but the fact is, characters fascinate me. I love a good character, no matter if they're good or bad - in fact, I've always been drawn more to villains/anti-heroes than to regular old heroes...so don't be surprised if it turns into more of a 'Villains' theme. I'm planning on exploring heroes/anti-heroes and villains from across the board - from books, films, comics etc. I'm currently toying with the idea of writing both a hero and a villain for each post, but I don't know if that will just be a whole load of extra stress...but let me know what you think! I know this is probably quite a generic topic, and that it's probably been done a thousand times before, but like I said, I adore characters and finding out what makes them tick, so this is the theme I'm sticking with for now.

And now, to go and write 26 posts before the 1st April...wish me luck!

What do you think of the 'heroes and villains' theme - is it overdone, or is there still room for little old me? How else do you think I could put a twist on this theme? What's your theme for this year's challenge?

Cake and the A to Z Challenge 2016

How is it Monday again already? Does anyone else feel like someone sets the clocks to run extra fast on a weekend, then slows them right down again for Monday?

Anyway, this weekend the Engineer and I went into the city on Saturday - he bought a load of stuff for trip to Sweden for the WRC in February, and I treated myself to some decent make-up (hello MAC, where have you been all my life??). We went out for lunch, and then we headed home before going to see The Hateful Eight on Saturday night. It was so lovely to spend time with the Engineer that's more than a few hours at night - it felt like we were in uni again with all the time in the world!

On Sunday though, the Engineer once again abandoned me for his cars. I didn't mind though - I used the time to break through the 30,000 word mark on my current WIP. For some reason, this number gives me great satisfaction - it's like it's starting to become an actual novel instead of just a random collection of scenes (which if I'm honest, that's actually all it is right now) - it feels like the book is finally starting to have a shape. This is the first full length novel I'm trying to write without an outline. I have loads of ideas for scenes and chapters, and how they'll vaguely fit together, but I have no detailed synopsis. Which in a way is great, but equally, I do occasionally find myself wondering how all these loose ends are going to tie up.

So to celebrate, I made some buns. I'd post a photo, but I deliberately didn't decorate them very well because I was too eager to start eating. But yeah, that's basically my reward for any time I accomplish something to do with writing - I eat cake :).

In other news, the A to Z Challenge 2016 sign up list is now live! If you'd like to find out more about this awesome challenge, you can find out more on their website here. I took part last year, and I'm definitely signing up again this year. I've already got a possible theme, but I'll let it germinate for a bit, before deciding whether or not to commit to it.

So that's it for today! I'm going to leave you with this wonderful quote my boss sent me over the weekend. Even though it doesn't really have anything to do with writing, I love love love it!

What do you do to celebrate when you reach a goal in your writing? What did you get up to this weekend? Are you participating in the A to Z Challenge this year?

A to Z Blogging Challenge 2015: Reflections

Good morning all! May the 4th be with you! (Sorry, couldn't resist...)

So it's now May and the A to Z blogging challenge 2015 is officially over for this year. This was my first year participating in the challenge and I have to say, I loved every minute of it.

I didn't really have a specific theme for the challenge -  I decided just to post any writing tips or advice that I thought fellow indie/first time authors like myself might be interested in. After all, I originally set up this blog to document my journey through to becoming a published author and I thought that if there was anyone else out there in the same position as me, they might appreciate the encouragement, no matter how big or small.

I really loved having a topic to blog about for a whole month - normally I'm pretty stuck for blog ideas, or I find myself too busy to post, but this challenge has made me fall in love with blogging all over again. I'm definitely going to be trying harder to post new and exciting content for you guys from now on! I actually have a couple of ideas based around a few of my posts, so hopefully I'll have some interesting blog posts for you all this month as well :). This challenge surprised me: the posts I thought people would like to read and comment on where the ones that weren't as popular, and my completely random, weird posts about jackknifing, exceeding your expectations, villains and flash fiction are the ones that people seemed to like to read!

I really really enjoyed visiting other blogs and making new friends. There are a couple of blogs that I followed that I know I'm going to continue to visit. I felt bad that I didn't really get a chance to look at more bloggers who signed up, but as this was my first year participating, I found it hard enough to juggle blogging and returning comments. But that's going to be my goal for next year and for my monthly IWSG posts: to visit the linky list and discover more wonderful bloggers.

I'd love to participate in the A to Z challenge next year as well - the lessons I've learnt from this year are: to schedule more of my posts so I'm not rushing to write them (I scheduled the first two weeks of posts and it was definitely less stressful at the start of the challenge!), posting in the mornings instead of late at night and I'm thinking about having a definite theme for next year - I really enjoyed reading blogs that featured flash fiction pieces every day, so I might try my hand at that next year :).

I'd just like to say a big thank you to everyone who visited, followed and commented on my blog during the challenge. Your support and encouragement helped me to make it to the end - I know I never would've finished without you :).

Hope you're all having a wonderful May Day, and enjoying the sunshine while it lasts :)!

Z is for...Zeal!

Hello and welcome to the final post in the 2015 A to Z blogging challenge! And of course, our special guest today is the letter 'Z'!

Zeal: fervor for a person, cause, or object; eager desire or endeavour; enthusiastic diligence; ardor.

WE DID IT!!! HOORAY!! HAPPY DANCE!!



I think it's pretty obvious that most bloggers who have taken part in this year's challenge have shown a lot of zeal, both in their posts and their comments on other blogs. I couldn't be happier that I 1) decided to join this wonderful challenge and 2) actually managed to complete it! It just goes to show that if you put your mind to something, you can do it :).

I'm keeping this post short and sweet as I'm about to crawl into bed and pray that this lurgy I've managed to pick up goes away before the weekend - we're off to a family wedding, and I'd hate to be sniffling all the way through it!

So, just remember to keep showing zeal in your writing - readers can always tell whether or not you're passionate about what you've written, or if you've just thrown something down on the page. We're always teaching the kids in school to show a passion for their learning, and I think the same can definitely be said for authors too!

Thank you so much to everyone who's visited/followed my blog over the past month - I've had a blast, and I'm looking forward to meeting more of you on the A to Z road trip next month! I'll see you in a couple of days for the A to Z reflections post :).

Until then, happy writing everyone!

Y is for...Yesterday

Today's blog post is brought to you by the letter 'Y'! WE'RE ALMOST THERE!! Can you believe it?!

I was a little stuck about what to write for my 'Y' topic - I could talk about Young Adult books, perceptions/tropes in YA literature...but I wasn't really feeling it. So today I'm going to try my hand at something new, just for fun.

This is a completely off-the-cuff flash fiction story - I hope you like it, but I did try to write this under a time limit, just to see what would happen:


Yesterday I sat in the sunshine with your fingers in my hair; your lips on my lips; your body close to mine. We sat in that summer sun, dizzy and exhilarated with all that life had to offer, with all the foolishness that only young love can bring. We sat in that glorious weather and we felt untouchable.

Today all I have is a memory. The ghost of your lips caressing my cheek; the imprint of your hand upon my arm, the fading of your smile. Today the wind blows and the rain thunders, and yet, even that cannot drown out the howling in my soul.

Today we learnt that no one, not even fools in love, are untouchable.



Happy Wednesday everyone!

X is for...Xander

Tonight's blog post is brought to you by the letter 'X'!

I've mentioned my book a couple of times during this challenge, but today, I thought this letter would be the perfect opportunity to introduce you to one of the characters in my novel - Xander.

I've tried to find a picture that best sums him up, but to be honest, purple haired/eyed men are pretty thin on the ground (thanks for nothing google...) - so these pictures are the best I can come up with:

  

Xander doesn't have long emo hair though - his hair is actually quite short. Next time I do this challenge/a post on Xander, I'll definitely ask a few of my more arty friends to draw a proper picture of him for you.

Anyway, moving on from the aesthetics, Xander is a pretty cool guy. He's Anais' boyfriend and boy, does he have a lot of running around to do when it comes to her! The thing that I like most about Xander is that he allows Anais to grow and be her own person, without trying to impose his views or beliefs on her. He supports her decisions, even when he doesn't totally agree with them. He's not possessive, he doesn't mind if she wants to do her own thing and they don't declare their love for each other after three days - they both realise that they're young, and they're having fun.

Xander has a pretty sarcastic sense of humour, which is great because Anais is equally as snarky (if not more so). He's loyal almost to a fault, and he has strong opinions on what's right and wrong. In fact, he struggles with the concept of the world not being simply black or white - if it were up to him, every choice would either be right or wrong.

Which brings me onto his role in the second book. To be honest, I've been struggling lately with what to do with Xander. He's such a sweet, caring guy and I love that he's always got Anais' back, but here's the thing...nice guys aren't that interesting to read about. I feel like he needs something 'more' to definite him, other than being Anais' boyfriend who also just happens to be good with computers.

The rest of the Synthetica series is going to be dark. I can feel it in my bones. There's no place in these books for a nice guy who's happy to let someone else take the lead. Xander is going to have to grow as a character, and fast. I already have one major plot planned out for him - at first, it absolutely broke my heart but the idea just wouldn't go away, and now I can't wait to get started and write it. Let's just say that after the next book, Xander's perception of right and wrong is going to shift in a major way ;).

Oh, and I think I'm totally going to use the below picture as my inspiration for Xander's motives in the next book. I love Xander and everything, but like I said, I'm looking forward to pushing him (and me) out of his comfort zone, and exploring his dark side:

Kinda cool, don't cha think ;)?

W is for...words, words, words

Hello everyone, welcome back to the A to Z Blogging Challenge. Apologies if I don't manage to get through as many blogs as normal today, as I've somehow managed to kill the Engineer's Macbook, so I'm on the desktop and it's taking me a while to remember how to use it. Don't worry though, I'll definitely visit more bloggers tomorrow :).

So today's post is all about the wonderful, wacky letter 'W'.

This is probably quite an obvious post, but to be honest, the only thing you need to be a writer is...words.

Sounds simple doesn't it? Whack a few thousand words down and BAM! You've got yourself a novel. Well, if we can ignore the endless revisions and editing that finally makes a novel readable, then yes, that is the essence of it. You can't be an author unless you write, and you can't write without words.

About ninety percent of your words will suck, especially in the few stages of your novel. But that's okay - every single writer feels like their novel is rubbish. But you know what? At least you've started on that wonderful journey to becoming an author - you've finally started to use your words to express that idea in your head, no matter how crazy that story might be.

There is a quote floating around somewhere that says once you've finished your first draft, you've written 80,000 words more than you would have done, had you not started that particular novel i.e. you're a writer who's 80,000 words better than the writer you were before (does that make sense? I feel like it makes sense to me, but sorry if I'm not writing it in the best way!).

I love that idea - every time we write, we're improving as authors - no matter how badly our words look on the page. And that idea gives me a lot of hope :).

How about you? Do you find it easy to just 'get the words down'? Do you think you've become a better author than from when you first started? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

V is for....Villains

Time for take two today for the A to Z Challenge! This post is brought to you by the letter 'V'!

I have a confession to make – I'm one of those people who absolutely loves villains. I love reading about them in books, and watching them in films. Here's a snapshot of some of my favourite villains below:

  

   

If a story has a good villain in it, I'm sold.

When done well, I feel like villains can really bring out both the good and bad sides of a protagonist. They're there to challenge them and to force them to make decisions that they wouldn't make under normal circumstances; they push the main characters in ways that may not always be comfortable, but that's integral to the MC's journey. In short, they are imperative to any story.

The only thing that I don't like is flat villains. Villains that spell out their plan to the MC for no good reason, except to inform the reader of said plans. Or villains that are meant to be subtle/a plot twist (e.g. the bad guy being the MC's best friend or something) that are actually completely obvious. Or villains that don't do anything 'villainy' at all, and instead just twirl their moustaches and laugh evilly. To me, the very best villains are the ones that you know are evil/fundamentally flawed, and yet, you end up loving them anyway (Game of Thrones anyone??).

I have so much fun with my villains – to be honest, I love writing them more than my good guys. I love exploring their motivations, and trying to understand why they do the things they do. I love making them a challenge for my MC's to figure out. I love to hate them!...although, quite often, I end up just loving them instead ;).

Do you enjoy writing about villains? Why/why not? What kind of villain do you like best? Who's your favourite villain of all-time?

U is for...Understanding the world

Welcome to today's A to Z blog challenge post! I apologise for being a bit behind – I ran out of time to post on Friday, and then I fell ill over the weekend (which made work today super fun...).

Anyway, let's get started! This post is all about the letter 'U'!

I was going to base this post all around the concept of understanding your characters and their motivations, or understanding what you want to get out of writing etc etc; but then something happened at work that really made me stop and think.

I can't go into too much detail, but it really hit home for me about how not everyone sees the world the same way. Some people look on the bright side and manage to see the positive in everything; others may feel like the whole world is against them for no apparent reason; people can interpret actions and words in a hundred different ways from someone else, depending on what mood they're in. And if you suffer from anxiety or depression (like me), or another mental illness, or maybe perhaps you're somewhere on the autistic spectrum; once again your world view will be so different form the people around you. There's no telling how someone will react to a simple greeting or conversation, or a dream they may have had, or a TV show/film they may have watched – you simply don't know what's going on inside someone's head, no matter how close you may be to them. All you can do is try to be there for them, and be as understanding as you can.

I apologise for this post not being strictly about writing and for it being a bit vague, but I guess if you wanted something 'writerly' to take away from this then make sure the reader can understand, not only your character's world, but also the world inside their heads. Every single person sees the world differently – and if you really want to grab a reader's interest, the same should be true for your characters as well.

What do you think? How do you make all your characters see the world around them? Do you find it difficult to show their motivations and beliefs, without simply telling the reader? Have you ever written about a 'diverse' character e.g. someone with a mental disorder, or someone on the autistic spectrum? Let me know your thoughts!

Happy Monday, everyone!

T is for...Time

Today's blog post is brought to you by the letter 'T'!

I wanted to get a good chunk of my latest WIP detailed synopsis/outline done this week, but it really hasn't happened. I was planning on coming home straight after school and writing until the Engineer got back from work, but here's what my week actually ended up looking like so far:

Monday: invited over to a friend's house for a cup of tea. Got caught in traffic for an hour on the way home due to an accident. Words written: 0

Tuesday: Got home on time, but had to tidy up house from epic building work that took place at the weekend. Words written: 0

Wednesday: Inset evening at school for an hour. Got caught in traffic again. Went shopping. Made supper, but didn't eat until after 8. Words written: 0

Thursday: Got home on time, but had a phone call from a friend I haven't spoken to in about six months. Words written: 0

It's actually quite depressing when I write it out like that, but there were many things this week that were outside my control (I did pre-plan for the phone call today though, and took my laptop to school, but when I went really anti-social working on it in the staffroom so I put it away again!). I have made a couple of little notes on my phone whenever an idea has occurred to me, but I haven't really been able to sit down and work on my WIP properly.

There are going to be some weeks when you simply can't, for whatever reason, sit down and write, however much you want to. Time will run away from you and before you know it, the whole week has passed in a blur and you're not entirely sure how it happened.

I haven't had the time to write this week. But am I going to let it stop me? No. If anything, it's making me even more determined to use my time wisely while the Engineer is away this weekend, and write as much as I can.

So make time to write, but equally, don't beat yourself up if you can't find the time. That's life. Don't let it get you down, or stop you from writing. Sometimes that's just the way it goes :).

Do you plan time to write? What do you do if you can't find the time to write? Do you try and make up the time?

S is for...Synthetica

Today's A to Z blog challenge letter is brought to you by the letter S!

Today I thought I'd share an excerpt from Synthetica with you. If you're new to my blog, Synthetica is my debut YA sci-fi novel. Below is the blurb of the novel, for those of you who are new:

"Seventeen-year-old Anais Finch lives in a world where everyone is born beautiful, where every dream is a possibility - and where their every move and every piece of personal information is recorded by an ID picochip inserted behind their right ear. When technology giant, Civitas, finally announces the launch of their highly anticipated Scholarly Learning Programs, which allow people to download and learn any subject instantly, Anais can hardly wait.

But not everyone is pleased with society's progress, and not everyone wants to fit in. When Anais witnesses a brutal murder on an innocent citizen and is implicated in the crime, she becomes determined to uncover the truth, especially when others like it begin to occur all over the city. But it may already be too late for Anais to stop the man who calls himself 'the Hacker' before he commits his most appalling crime yet."


Today's excerpt comes from one of my favourite parts of the book - the Hacker, not content with the way one of underworld contacts has been doing business, finally decides to show his true colours. I've always felt that this is a kind of turning point in the book; we already know the Hacker is unhinged, based on his past actions, but it's only in this scene that we begin to realise that he'll stop at nothing to get what he wants. What makes him so dangerous if that it doesn't matter if you're on his side or not; if he believes you're standing in his way, it's pretty much the end of the line.

Enjoy the excerpt!

"It was only polite, after all, that one informed someone when their services were no longer required.

So it was completely beyond him why Denzel was on his knees, begging and crying. It didn't evoke any sympathy in him; if anything it simply made him more contemptuous.

Or maybe it had something to do with the knife in his hand. Every time Denzel glanced at it, he burst into renewed sobs.

“P-please, just give me a chance, give me a chance. You'll have your money from the deal, I wasn't keeping from you, I swear, I swear. An' I sold six more of those chips today and I told 'em that if they had any friends, to send them my way. Word's getting out – I just need a little more time. Just a bit longer. Please, please...” Denzel seemed inconsolable as he dissolved into tears.

His brow creased as he tried to imagine what was going through this pitiful man's head. And then he decided he didn't particularly care.

“Get. Up.”

His voice was soft, but he still saw Denzel flinch at the hoarseness of it, at how wrong it sounded. He was used to people recoiling at his voice. He didn't care so long as they still listened to what he had to say. Denzel gave a loud sniff and forced himself to his feet.

He took a step towards Denzel, and Denzel cowered back.

“You can keep the money.”

Denzel looked as though he couldn't believe his ears.

“W-what?”

“This was never about the money. I have no use for it. Keep it.”

Relief washed over Denzel's face and he began to gush in his relief.

“Thank you, thank you, I -”

“Why are you thanking me?”

Denzel stopped. His gaze kept flicking back to the knife.

“I am running out of time. And patience. You told me you could sell. Each and every one. Of those programs within a week. You have not. Lived up to my expectations. You have failed me.”

Denzel remained silent, stealing terrified glances between the knife and the masked face in front of him.

“I have no use for failures.”

He lifted up the knife and Denzel squealed, stumbling backwards and falling onto the floor.

“No – no! Please! I can still help you! Those programs – they're amazing, I ain't never seen a copy that good before. They're just like the real thing would be. I can sell them, I swear, I swear!”

He paused.

“You really. Think they're. That good?” His voice was still as soft as he could make it.

Denzel nodded furiously.

“They're real good. They'd pass any test, honest.” Denzel's voice was almost a squeak in his terror.

He looked down at Denzel grovelling on the floor. He was almost tempted to tell Denzel what his programs actually did – how they were so much more than anything Civitas could ever dream of. But then he decided it would be much more fun to show him.

“Denzel,” his hoarse voice was quiet but the cruel, amused undertone was unmistakable. “Would you like me show you exactly how my programs work?”"

Hope you liked it!

If you did, make sure you check out Synthetica on Amazon and Goodreads :). 

Happy Wednesday everyone!

R is for...Rejection

Welcome to Tuesday's A to Z Challenge post! Today, we're talking about the letter R (obviously the best letter in the alphabet)!

Rejection is something that comes up a lot in writing. Whether you're submitting to agents, or even just finally opening to your family and friends about why you've been locked away in a darkened room for months on end, rejection is something we writers inherently fear. And with good reason - we pour so much of ourselves into our work that it can be terrifying to think that someone may not love it as much as we do. We can't bear the thought of our novel being rejected, because it feels like a part of ourselves is being rejected at the same time (which isn't true, but you can understand why authors think like that).

I have a confession to make. Do you want to know how many times I submitted Synthetica to agents? I'll tell you. The grand total was...twice.

Yup, you read that right. I submitted it to two agents, and it got rejected both times. Contrary to my advice yesterday about not quitting, I did indeed give up submitting to agents.

But why? I hear you cry. Why did you up give up submitting? Well, here's the thing - when I completed Synthetica, I was in a very dark place emotionally and trust me, receiving 100+ rejections would not have done anything to improve my mental state. I simply couldn't bring myself to do it. That, and I'd kind of already made up my mind to give self-publishing a go.

Here's what both agents said to me when they rejected Synthetica:

I don't know much about standard rejection letters but the second rejection letter, strangely, gave me hope. Perhaps if I'd taken my own advice and kept persevering, I would've landed an agent in the end.

But you know what? I'm happy with my decision to give indie publishing a go. It's hard work, but I wouldn't have meet all the wonderful people I have if I'd simply gone down the traditional publishing route. I still hope to be a traditionally published author one day, but for now, I'm having a blast being an indie author. And if my voyage into indie publishing fails miserably, I know I can always start submitting to agents again.

So don't worry if your work is rejected numerous times - just remember J.K. Rowling and the rejections she faced. And if you're really not getting anywhere by submitting to agents, remember that indie publishing is a completely viable (and highly recommended!) option too :).

Have you ever been rejected by an agent? How did you deal with it? How do you deal with other types of rejection in your writing?

Q is for...Quitting

Welcome back to the A to Z Blogging Challenge! I hope you all had a lovely weekend break :)

I'm choosing to talk about something today that I think a lot of writers can relate to - quitting.

There comes a time, whether you've just started outlining a new project, or you're knee deep in revisions for your novel or (and this is where I tend to quit) when you're halfway through your first draft, and you'll simply want to give up. Problems with characters start to become more apparent, you end up hating your MC, you'll have plots and subplots that are so messed up that you don't even know how to untangle them and you'll just want to throw in the towel. I've talked about something similar before in this challenge, and it's not my intention to keep repeating myself - but I can't stress enough how much you shouldn't give up.

So instead, today I'm going to cheer you on. Writing a novel takes time - I constantly have to remind myself that writing is a marathon, not a sprint. I'm the type of person that if I want something done, I'll have wanted it done yesterday (which is why I'm stressing out about the house renovations at the minute - WHY CAN'T IT BE DONE ALREADY?!). But it takes time, and patience and dedication to keep writing.

You can do this. Tomorrow, I'll be talking more about another reason why writers might choose to quit - rejection - but for now, I just want you to remember that every writer, even bestselling authors, go through phases of wanting to quit. But they don't. They keep going. And so should you. If you ever need any support, or a personal cheerleader, you know where I am. Failing that, I can't stress enough how much the Insecure Writer's Support Group helped me to write my book - in fact, I've even credited them in my book's acknowledgements.

So I'm just going to leave you with some quotes I've found helpful to remember whenever I'm in the depths of despair about my own writing. Hopefully this will motivate you into having an awesome writing week! Happy Monday, everyone!

*Special thanks go to Rachel Schieffelbein at Writing on the Wall for the first two quotes!

P is for...Profanity

Today's A to Z Challenge post is brought to you by the letter P!

YA books can come with a lot of controversies: sex, drugs, violence, murder, war, death...and swearing.

A lot of people don't mind profanity in YA books - it can make them seem more realistic, it can add to a particular scene and it can show you certain parts of a character's personality. However, a lot of readers also don't like swearing in YA books - it can seem ugly and unnecessary, it might not fit with the setting (i.e. are we going to have the same swear words in the future that we do now?) and it might lead younger readers into bad habits.

While I can see both sides of the argument, personally, I don't mind swearing in YA books. Just like some will drink underage and have sex, most teenagers do swear - I know I did. It's their choice. It really pulls me out of a story when I'm reading an emotionally charged scene, and one of the characters suddenly says, 'what the fudge?', or 'I frigging hate you.' I really really dislike it. But that's just my opinion, and I respect anyone who doesn't wish to see bad language in the books they read - again, it's their choice.

I use the same principle in my own writing. My characters swear - not all the time, just whenever they're angry or frustrated - much like I do in real life. I know many readers won't like this aspect of my books, and that's fine, but I'm simply trying to keep it realistic. When I use swearing in my novels, I'm using it for a reason. I choose all my words with care - whether I'm describing a scene, or two characters are having an argument - I'll choose words appropriate to that setting, whether that includes swearing or not.

I might be alienating readers by including swearing in my work, but to be honest, that's just the writer I am. I'm not doing it to deliberately shock, or to be different - I do it because it fits that particular story. I won't add in any profanity if I don't think it'll add anything to a scene or to a character's personality, but equally, I won't shy away from it either.

How about you? What do you think about profanity in YA books? Do you agree/disagree with it? I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

O is for...Originality

Welcome back to my bumper Sunday of A to Z Challenge posts! I missed a couple during the week, so I'm catching up on everything Challenge related now :).

Despite the post name, this probably isn't the most original topic to talk about but I thought I'd throw in my two cents anyway.

Originality is a big issue for authors - or at least, it should be. If you're the kind of writer who's happy to rip off another author's work and claim it as your own then you're not going to last very long in this business, I'm afraid.

Humans have been speaking and writing stories for thousands of years. So it's no surprise that there's very few stories out there that can be said to be truly 'original'. Every author will pick up bits and pieces from other novels that they've read, or films they've seen, or even music that they like to listen to. Undoubtedly, these ideas are going to seep in their writing somehow or other, and that's okay - that's what inspiration is all about.

Writing isn't about stealing other people's ideas - it's about gathering together ideas you've seen/heard and putting them altogether in your own unique way. Sometimes authors are going to slip up (case point: The Hunger Games Mahogany Incident), but in general, readers aren't going to care if you use a well known phrase or situation ( a man running to the airport to stop his true love from leaving? A villain saying 'there's nothing you can do to stop me'? A chosen one who's destined to save the world? You know what I'm talking about...), so long as the bulk of your story is your own. There are a million different ways that you can put your ideas together - really, there's no reason why your story should copy anyone else's.

So don't be discouraged if you want to write a story about a girl who moves to a small town, falls in love with a vampire and eventually becomes a vampire herself - yes, it's been done, but the important thing is that you put your own spin on it, and make it your own. Don't let anyone tell you what you can or can't write - just make sure you're not following someone else's story too closely ;).

How about you? Do you think any story can be truly original?

N is for...Normality

Welcome back to the A to Z blogging challenge! Apologies for my silence over the past couple of days - I've been trying to get back into the swing of work, while juggling getting the renovations sorted on the house. We're getting there - slowly!

So today's post is all about the letter N!

As I've just mentioned, I've been kept busy this week with work, and with trying to get quotes off builders/decorators for the house. I did try to keep up with the Challenge earlier in the week, but something had to give - and it ended up being my writing.

Since deciding to take my writing seriously, I've gradually learnt that there's no such thing as a 'normal' day. Sure, a routine does massively help me to organise my thoughts and shows me what I 'should' be doing - but here's the thing, a little something called life quite often gets in the way. My to-do list (wether writing related or not) quite often gets longer rather than shorter.

As someone who likes being organised and often shows up 10 minutes early to appointments so there's no way I'll miss it, I don't often cope very well if my writing schedule, or normal everyday routine, is interrupted. But that's just something that we've all got to deal with sometimes.

It's okay if you don't get everything done that you wanted to in a day. Don't stress or beat yourself up over it if you can't find the time to write during the week. Just do what you can, but remember - there's no such thing as a 'normal' time to write - when you write, and how much you can fit in, is up to you. And don't forget, we all need to time to relax as well - so make sure you make time for yourself. Don't make writing a chore or something that needs to be done. You'll have far more fun that way :).

How about you? Do you have a 'normal' routine for writing? What do you do if you can't find the time to write?

M is for...Making a Mess

Today's blog post is all about the marvellous letter 'M'!

Somedays (actually, most days if I'm completely honest) when I'm writing, I get stuck on a plot point,  or my character suddenly won't do what I want them to do, or I can't think how I want a scene to go, despite having a rough synopsis in front of me.

I know most people would encourage you to power on through, and that's fine, and I completely agree that you should never abandon a WIP just because of a tricky situation. However, sometimes when you're stuck for ideas, it can help to step back for a moment and do something completely different.

I think I've already mentioned that I like to bake to celebrate finishing a draft, but I also love baking as a way to distract myself when the words simply won't come. There's something about clearing your mind and focusing on something completely different that makes the creative juices start flowing again (most of the time...). It's generally when I can't physically write my ideas down, either because I'm elbows deep in dough, or I happen to be driving along a motorway, that I'll have that flash of inspiration that solves whatever writing dilemma I've managed to get myself into.

If I don't want to mess up my kitchen (unlikely), I might go for walk, read, watch a film, or start another creative project (i.e. wedding planning and choosing how to redecorate the house) - anything to take my mind off my writing for a little while. It might take an hour, a day or a week, but eventually, I'll get there in the end.

So if you are stuck for what to do next, or your WIP isn't going the way you want it to, try making your own 'mess' - the messier you get, the more likely you'll solve whatever problem that's been bugging you ;).

How about you? What do you do when you're stuck in your writing?

L is for...Love

Today's A to Z Challenge post is focusing on the letter L!

I suck at writing romances. I don't know what it is, but I find it incredibly awkward to write romantic scenes, or even hint at romance between characters. Even if the characters are just sharing a glance, rather than a steamy kiss, I still get embarrassed. And although I don't mind reading about romance, I find writing it a whole different kettle of fish.

Perhaps it's because in some YA, romances tend to get overblown into 'love at first sight', where every glance makes the MC 'shiver' or 'tingle' and heaven forbid they actually touch, or they might just both explode (which would be unfortunate, but quite an original story I think...). I'm happy to try and squeeze every bit of drama out of almost any situation, and yet, romantic relationships doesn't seem to be one of them. I get all awkward and shy because I'm so scared that the reader won't buy into my character's relationship.

But how do you go about changing this? At some point, I might want to write a story where the romance, not the sci-fi or explosions, takes centre stage. How can I expect readers to buy my character's relationship, if I don't even feel comfortable writing it? If my writing is stilted and awkward, the odds are, the character's 'love' for each other will come across like that too.

In all honesty, I still don't have an answer to this question. But I don't mind not knowing how to write realistic romances for the minute, because it's always something I can always find out and it's something that I'm happy to keep improving on. I have an idea for the sequel to Synthetica which will redefine several major romantic relationships, and I simply cannot wait to write it. Perhaps that's what I've been lacking in my other attempts at writing romance - being in love with my characters' love ;)!

So how about you? How do you write your character's romances? Do you find it easy or hard? Do you have any tips for writers like me, that find it difficult to write about love?? I can't wait to hear your thoughts :)!