My Eighth Publication Day!

Well, it was actually yesterday (the 12th), but today a box of books arrived on my doorstep, so it feels like today!

You can now purchase the third story in the Chronicles of Issraya series from any good physical or digital bookshop, or contact me if you'd like a signed copy. 

Oh...and of course every newly published author coordinates their clothes to their book cover, don't they...? 

No? 

Just me, then? 

OK... *winky face*

I have publication dates!

When you read the next line, imagine you're playing a trumpet.

Pom-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-paaaar!

Delighted to let you know that I have publication dates for not one, but TWO books.

Squidge's Guide to Super Stories (and how to be a better writer)  is set to be published in June. It will, I hope, give anyone who wants to start writing the confidence to get going, and show those who are already writing some of the things they can do to become an even better writer.   

On top of that, Tilda's third adventure - Tilda and the Tombs of Kradlock - will be published in August! 

I'll update you as and when I get more information, because there will be online (probably) launches for both, and I'm already racking my brain for competition ideas.

I am one VERY excited Squidge.

Watch this space!

A Tale of Two Versions

As every author knows, you often end up with multiple versions of a novel's manuscript on your computer. Mine go something like this;

Version 1 is the really rough one. Often doesn't have much formatting in it, no speech marks, sometimes notes instead of proper sentences.

Version 2 is the first polish. Fills out the story, gets formatted, looks much more 'proper'. Usually ends up hanging together as a story much better. 

Version 3 is often the 'voice' version, where I really get into my character's head and often rewrite sections from their point of view. It's really where the story comes alive, and often the one that gets sent to beta readers - or the publisher if I'm feeling really confident about it.

Well...

You remember I had a bit of a rough time just before Tilda #2 was published and launched? (It went great, by the way - a few issues that others might like to learn from, but I'll blog about that another time).  I was working on Version 3 of Tilda #3. I'd found a few glitches and worked out some issues, but took a break from the third novel to give Tilda and the Mines of Pergatt a really good start.

After the launch, I picked Tilda #3 back up - and realised that, although I had begun working on a third version, at some point I'd switched to Version 2 of Tilda #3 to continue working on. 

This means I now have a beginning of Tilda #3, Version 3 that's been tightened and put into Tilda's voice, and a middle of Tilda #3, Version 2, that's had the same treatment. 

You'd think it would be simple to fix - just combine the two bits of the different versions and carry on, yeah? 

Nope. 

Cos when I was working on Version 2 more recently, I was grappling with some issues that had implications for the earlier part of the novel - and I went back in Version 2 to change them. This makes it VERY complicated to use Word's combine/compare function, and I decided not to go down that route for fear of complicating matters even further.

I'm left with two versions of the same novel, neither of which is the most up-to-date on its own.

This has resulted in me printing out a hard copy of Version 3 and transferring any sections I changed in that to Version 2 on the computer, mainly because Version 2 is the larger file which suggests there is more content in it. The result is Tilda #3, Version 4. 

It is slow, painstaking work to correct. Every now and again I come across a section and I don't know which version has the most recent changes in it - both sound OK. As a result, Version 4 - in places - has ended up with something entirely different again. Hopefully it'll all come together in the end. 

I'm just thankful I realised before I sent anything off to the publisher... 

Half a polished novel, anyone? 

At least I don't have this many versions on the go...

Digital Book Launch - Preparations

I'm just a teensy bit excited... 

I've 'dressed' my garden room ready for Tilda's Book Launch on Friday! I now have a rainbow dreamcatcher up, my books out, and my very own gallery of imaginary gemstones ready for the competition winners to be announced...

(I've also spent a few hours drawing in the book that's going to be the prize copy as well)

See you on Friday!

You are invited to...Tilda #2's book launch!

It's official - I'm going to launch Tilda and the Mines of Pergatt in a digital Zoom session on Friday, 17th July 2020 at 6pm 

(London time, or GMT+1, for any international folk)

If you'd like to attend and celebrate with me, contact me via microscribbler@gmail.com or Messenger, and I'll send you the relevant links next week. If you know someone who would be interested in joining in, please ask them to contact me directly for the link rather than forwarding it so I can keep track of numbers. 
 
Please note the event will be recorded! However, by sticking to speaker view (ie me!) muting participants, and handling questions through the chat function, no one else's faces will be in the final video. 

6pm       Event goes live

6.15pm  Reading of first chapter, followed by Q&A in the chat

6.45pm  Announce the winners of the Imaginary Gemstone Competition

7pm       More Q&A 

7.30pm  Event finishes

Looking forward to seeing you - virtually at least - and making Tilda #2 official!

Katherine 

Book Launch Competition!

I'm working towards a date for a Zoomy or Facebook-livey kind of Book Launch Party, (which I'll post as soon as it's fixed) but thought I'd give you advance notice that THERE WILL BE A COMPETITION!

To enter, all you have to do is describe or draw a gemstone - but it has to be a completely imaginary one! I had great fun making up gems and their names; some ended up similar to real names, some described a gem's appearance, and others were completely made up from people's names...

My absolute favourite imaginary gem will win a copy of the book - signed and supplemented with hand-drawn (by me) illustrations, plus a small treasure box containing a few (glimmer-sized!) real-life gemstones AND some larger pieces of 'tomasite', 'jennisine' and 'black ruby'. The two runners-up will each receive a signed copy of the book.

So get that imagination working and please share this competition with anyone else - especially little people - who you think might like to enter.

I've also taken delivery of some 'proper' Tilda 2's now, with the right title on the spine. If you'd like a signed copy of either a 'proper' book or a 'duff title' version (remember, the latter might be worth a fortune in years to come!) then please drop me a message to arrange it.

Look out for the date of the launch event - coming soon!

That sinking feeling...

I was in two minds about posting this, because it deals with a rough time recently which resulted in a few issues around the publication of Tilda and the Mines of Pergatt. 

However, I decided to go ahead and share this with you because it's another pointer towards how hard writing and publication can be when you're not completely focused. I have to say that I'm really thankful for the support of the team at Bedazzled Ink in this, which made it possible to still meet the intended publication day; they cover pretty much every aspect of the publication process themselves, and I didn't make their job easy with this particular novel!

So what happened?

In January, I received the edit from Bink. I worked through that OK and sent it back a few days later for the typeset to be prepped. Bink also worked on the cover design (which I LOVE!) and the blurb, so although there was radio silence for a while, I knew cogs were turning furiously behind the scenes.

Then - COVID. The world went a bit mad, and my head wasn't good with the weirdness of everything. I fought the panic attacks of my first post-lockdown shopping trips, stayed at home, and kept on editing Tilda #3 while I waited for the typeset of Tilda #2. 

We settled a bit more into the new 'normal' and got to May 8th...when my father-in-law died. (Thought to be Covid related, but not confirmed).

Things got a bit blurry after that, as you can imagine. And in the middle of that particular cloud of grief, the typeset arrived. I worked my way through it, using it as a distraction, and sent it back on the 20th.

But something was niggling at me. There were a couple of places in the novel where I felt I'd not explained things properly or there was a lack of consistency with the first book. On the 22nd, I emailed Bink to say that, as much as it pained me to say it - we were at the typeset stage, for Power's sake! - I didn't think the book was ready to be published. Could they give me a bit more time to address the issues?

Bink might well have had a facepalm moment in the office, but they never hesitated; I was given a week. 

In hindsight, I realise I was not in a good place mentally - haven't been for a while - and probably should have given the edit much more time. The Black Dog that people talk about had actually been loping alongside me at a distance since well before January; since lockdown he's been an awful lot closer at times, and I finally recognised him for what he was. I'm still up-and-down a bit, but on the down days, I allow myself the time I need to do something that doesn't involve concentration...

Back to the book. 28th May saw my typeset notes returned to Bink. A day later there was a revamped typeset back with me for final read through and I still found things to change! Mainly cos I'd missed them before, but also as a result of the changes I'd asked for previously. (I wonder if there is a record of how many times something's been read and changed and faults are still being picked up?) 

Either way, on the 1st June, Tilda and the Mines of Pergatt was published digitally - hooray! Paperbacks would follow! All done!

Not quite. June 9th, I had a surprise delivery; I videoed myself opening the box!

And then, as I began to take photos to post on the Scribbles, my heart sank. I realised there was a typo on the spines... The title was Tilda and the Merjan. Talk about being in the clouds one minute, and dashed to earth the next. My first reaction was, what would readers think if they'd ordered books already and they arrived with a duff spine title? 

But within 24 hours, and even considering the time difference between us, Bink were on it, had made the changes, sent the cover flat to me to double check it, and the new cover version was on its way to the printers. 

If you do receive a copy with the wrong title though, hang onto it - I'm reliably informed by Bink that some book collectors pay good money for copies that have mistakes on them. So when I'm rich and famous, you might be able to cash in! I have forty of them myself...they will either have a corrected 'patch' added to the spine, or be sold as is - both cheaper than a 'proper' copy - at some point in the future...

It's all been a bit mad, but we've come through and out of the other side and I'm still smiling. 

At least I've learnt to recognise the Black Dog so I can take steps to keep him at a distance in future - or not tackle important stuff when he's trotting at my side.

Happy Publication Day to Tilda and the Mines of Pergatt!

Tilda's back, and her second adventure 

is here for you to enjoy. 

Available now from Bedazzled Ink, Amazon, and probably bookshops - but in light of the lockdown and effects on businesses from the Covid crisis, your best bet is probably to buy a digital version if you can't wait for a paperback! 

Do let me know what you think of the story when you've read it... I'm working on Tilda 3, so hopefully you won't have too long to wait for her next adventure. 

Tilda's Going Underground!

Now here's something a bit different! In this time of lockdown, I've created a little video to get you thinking about Tilda and the Mines of Pergatt. 

I was in my garden room at the time, so you might hear a blackbird in the background (he sits in the nearby pear tree to sing to me!) or distant neighbours' children in their gardens.

If you like it, who knows, I might be tempted to read you the first chapter of the new book before it's published! 

How to Launch a Book - Digitally

I've started to think about how I mark the publication of Tilda and the Mines of Pergatt.

An actual launch is, most likely, going to be out of the question. Heck, I don't even know if the physical book is going to be available initially, or if it will start off as an ebook only. So Tilda 2 isn't going to be getting the kind of launch party I threw for Granny Rainbow...

But it's always good to celebrate publication, and some people are doing it virtually in this time of social distancing and restrictions.

My dilemma is related to my target audience. My novels are aimed at middle grade readers - 9+ years - and for certainly the lower end of that scale, you wouldn't expect the kids to have access to some forms of social media. An interactive chatroom kind of launch is therefore pretty much out of the question. Of course, I realise that a lot of my readers are a bit older and potentially could do chat rooms etc, but I want to be as inclusive as possible to ALL readers.

So what could I do instead? Here are a few thoughts

1. Ask for questions in advance, and answer them as part of a recorded Q&A that goes up on youtube.

2. Record myself reading the first chapter of the book.

3. A competition - perhaps I could do some illustrations in a print copy (assuming they are available) and you win that if you send me a pic of you, with the book (digital versions would be allowed!) as your entry? I did it for Tilda of Merjan. (read about it here.)

4. I can't remember the name for it, but a campaign to share across social media something about Tilda 2 - photo, snippet of text, a link to wherever the book is being sold - on a specific date and time.

5. Some kind of homemade book trailer...

Would you even bother tuning in to a virtual launch, or simply buy the book to read?

Hmmm... It would be good to know what you think, as I'm relying on you, Reader of the Scribbles, for support!

Tilda 2...coming soon!

I've seen the proposed cover for Tilda and the Mines of Pergatt, and I love it.

The team at Dragonfeather Books, Bedazzled Ink's children's imprint, have come up with a corker of a concept which will give the entire series a unified look whilst allowing each book to be distinct from each other in terms of detail.

Here's a sneaky peek prior to it being finalised;

Can't wait to share the real thing with you soon. Keep watching this space!

Once a writer, always a writer?

I've recently joined a facebook group for students who went to my primary school in the 70s and 80s.

There are some amazing memories being posted - strange how names and events come back to you when you see the photos of old schoolmates. I found a few photos of my own, and although I recognise many faces, I don't often remember the names that should go with them... It's still something I struggle with, if I'm honest. I can remember you and things I know about you, but not your name. (In fact I can forget a name within moments of being told it...)

Anyway, in reminiscing and looking for the photos I found my old junior school reports, which cover Years 3 to 6 in modern schooling. What became apparent in reading them was that, from early on, I was writing stories, reading lots, and generally being creative rather than mathsy or sporty.

It was especially interesting to read about my writing...

Y3: Katherine thoroughly enjoys reading. Her creative writing is imaginative and carefully expressed with colourful descriptions and good vocabulary. She has learned to join her writing, but now tends to be rather untidy occasionally.

Y4: Katherine reads very well and seems to enjoy reading both to herself and aloud. She puts her spelling and vocabulary to good use in her creative writing, which is always lively and interesting, and sustained at length.

Y5: Creative English has been outstanding. She is able to express feelings and details and shows a sympathy for her characters. She writes lengthy stories and her punctuation, grammar and spelling can be so accurate that they hardly need correcting. She has an extensive vocabulary and her work is most enjoyable to read.

Y6: In her creative English work, Katherine is highly imaginative. She produces lively, spontaneous poetry full of descriptive phrases. Her stories are lengthy and follow a well developed plot. The excitement generated by the dialogue and the action shows that Katherine derives much pleasure from writing her stories. Punctuation, sentence structure and use of paragraphs are excellent. Her extensive vocabulary reflects her love of words and the depth of her reading.

Reading them actually made me a bit sad.

While the reports indicate that I've always loved reading and writing, and that I used to write decent stories even as a child, the reports make me realise how much of that joy and ability I lost over the years that came after.

When I think of how many years I've spent, re-learning the art of writing stories after a decade in a microbiology laboratory and another ten as a stay at home mum, there's a little bit of me that can't help wondering whether I should've tried harder to become an author earlier in my life. Especially now that my current ambition is to have published all five of Tilda's stories by the time I'm 60!

Mind, having said that, I'm also a believer that things happen at the right time; I know that if I'd not changed focus to science and worked as a trainer in microbiological awareness, and if I hadn't spent so many years training as a guider, then I wouldn't have developed my presentation, workshop and  and speaking skills which have been so vital to my school visits and talks. If the physical act of writing stories had all come too easily, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to seek out help, and as a result, make such wonderful writing friends. If I'd never offered to help listen to reluctant readers at my children's school, I'd never have even thought about writing stories for other people to read.

Maybe, sometimes, you need to let a talent rest, so that you can rediscover it later? But not just rediscover it - rediscover it and combine it with a few other skills you've learnt, so that it develops into something even bigger and better?

I wonder what 11 yr old me would have said, if you'd told her back then that one day those creative writing stories would mean she'd one day be published and passing on her love of writing to children her own age?

Bits and bobs of news

Been a busy few weeks with family and church 'stuff', so here's a few bits and bobs you might find interesting!

Tilda.

The launch went well - Tina was a fabulous host at the Bookshop, and even got me involved in recording a piece about Tilda for the Merton Talking News October Magazine... I pop up at around 7 minutes into the recording.

I had some lovely surprises in that folk popped into the shop I hadn't expected to see at all, and it was lovely to spend the day chatting to old friends and new about all sorts of things. Course, I sold a few copies as well...

If you read Tilda, do please consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads; word of mouth is the best form of recommendation, and there are some banging reviews up already. (Five stars!)

Family.

We've been down to Bristol to fit secondary glazing in Squidgeling J's flat, because the old sash windows were so drafty. My cardmaking skills of days gone by came in useful, especially when we had to peel the backing off the double sided sticky tape. All went well until Mr Squidge fitted some shims to prevent the plastic being ripped off when the windows were opened; when he went to test it, he realised he couldn't.

We'd forgotten that once the plastic was on and shrunk, there was nothing to hold onto to open the window! An emergency visit to Wilkos and three handles later... Voila! Opening windows.

Combined with the new boiler that's been fitted in the flat, Squidgeling J is now toasty in time for the winter.

We also went up to Manchester in the same week to see Squidgeling T - he came home with us for the weekend. As is the way of things, we didn't see too much of him as he caught up with friends at home, but it was good to hear about how his course is going. He's not developed a 'rock star' look yet, but there was passing mention of tattoos and piercings... *gulp*

Word Art.

At NIBS in September, the group worked on an 'I remember' exercise focused around people we had loved and lost, with a view to turning it into an artwork for a community project exhibition at church called 'The Art of Remembrance'. On large sheets of paper, we wrote some of the words and phrases we'd generated, often with a more artistic arrangement, and then the large sheets were chopped up.

Well, this week, I've been helping Jacqui Gallon, the artist who is facilitating the exhibition and associated workshops, to sew the paper onto fabric to create the final artwork.

A DIY MA in Creative Writing.

I've taken the decision to work on a course designed by the amazing Andrew Wille with a group of Denizen friends. It's basically everything that goes into a formal MA course, but you can work through it at your own pace. We've tried to structure it a bit, timewise, and I've attempted a couple of exercises. Only problem is that I don't seem to have much writing time... 

So, to that end, I've just bought myself an academic diary to try to plan my writing a bit better. The 'free' days I had hoped were going to be writing opportunities are getting eaten up fast by lots of different things. And yet developing writing practise is a big part of the MA - it almost feels like I'm failing before I've even started. I've been here before though, when life gets in the way and writing's always - ALWAYS - the first thing to get shoved onto a back burner. I would do NaNoEdMo again, but I'd have to set myself a very, very low word count!!

Anyway, I'll stop rattling on here, and get down to writing up an overheard dialogue exercise... If only I hadn't been so interested in eavesdropping, I might have written down more of the conversation!

See you later, Scribblers.

One-of-a-kind

For the launch of Tilda of Merjan, I thought I'd run a special competition. Anyone who comes and buys a copy of the book on the day will have a chance to win a unique, one-of-a-kind book.

I'm not a particularly good artist, but...I drew a map of Issraya on one of the front pages. And then I added sketches, mostly at the end of some chapters. Some even got coloured in. 

And then I thought, 'what the heck', and hand wrote a short extract from book 2 on the end papers at the back.

Intrigued? Here are a few pics to satisfy your curiosity.  

But remember, if you want to see all of the sketches and enter the competition, you need to pop into the Old Curiosity Bookshop and Tea Room in Hathern, sometime between 10am and 4pm on Thursday 17th October for the launch...

From bookworm to author

My lovely publisher, Bedazzled Ink, shared this on facebook today:

As I prepare to launch my third novel into the world this Thursday, I realised it's 100% true for me.

I don't remember reading as a child, pre-school. I know we had books, and Mum and Dad must've read to us, but my first memories about books are from my school days. When I started school, aged 5, my teacher called my mum in, to ask whether she'd been teaching me to read at home. When my mum denied it, the teacher told her that I was always going missing - and I'd always be found in the book corner. Somehow, I started reading.

I remember Peter and Jane books, and a whole series related to Roger Red Hat. I remember being so annoyed with the latter, as they brought out a version that was spelled phonetically; I knew how you should spell 'was' - and it wasn't 'woz'.

The primary school library was in three parts; the reference library was triangular, and sat at the junction where the corridor split to go to the infant classrooms to the left, juniors to the right. Just before the corridor split, there were two more library areas either side of the corridor - infants on the left, juniors on the right. I can still remember the giddiness I felt when I was allowed to go into the junior side, even though I was only in 'top' infants. The only book I can remember reading there was 'King of the Copper Mountain', still a favourite of mine. At home, I was devouring Enid Blyton's 'mystery' books, and climbing the Magic Faraway Tree. I also went on adventures with a couple of brothers whose sole task seemed to be capturing rare animals for zoos. Very un-pc nowadays!

At secondary school, I started branching out. I used to get the Bunty comic, but moved onto Jackie. I read James Herbert and scared myself silly with 'The Rats'. The library was mostly under ground level, with windows high up in the walls. I loved 'Sue Barton', a series about a nurse in America, and added another to my collection every year on holiday. I read Barbara Cartland, and anything else that took my fancy from the mobile library that stopped at the end of our road on a Friday evening, just before tea time. We were allowed six books at a time - I was usually back within a week, looking for more.

When we went on holiday, we children were allowed to take three books each. I'd often finished mine and ended up reading my brother's and sister's books AND bought something new at the beach shop in Whistling Sands before the end of a fortnight in Wales.

I read in my teens, but I don't remember what. 'Katherine' is a title that stands out from that time, and I think I must've read widely but without anything making much of an impression. I worked my way through a lot of Reader's Digest condensed books, which introduced me to memoir as well as fiction.

In the end, it doesn't matter what I read, or what I remember reading. The important bit is that every single book I read got me to where I am now, and I hope that, one day, someone who read one of my stories as a girl will go on to write something as a woman.

That's the kind of legacy I'd like to leave the world.

A boxful of books

On an extremely wet Tuesday, I received a delivery...

Tilda has arrived!!!

The books are a larger size than StarMark or Kingstone - they feel quite substantial. But it's not just the size or fabulous cover I am excited about. Look at this spine:

There's a number on it...indicating that this one isn't a standalone title - there are more to come! (Excuse the highly patterned knees in the pic; I had just got home from my dancing class when the parcel arrived. I'd not had time to get changed...)

And on the back, there's the beautiful dragonfeather itself, with what I've been told is now the 'series symbol' for The Chronicles of Issraya.

Squeeee!

Did I mention that Tilda's now available in paperback from Amazon, via Waterstones, and from Wordery? Kindle and mobi versions are available direct from Bedazzled Book Peddler.

Or that there is an official book launch on the 17th October at The Old Curiosity Bookshop and Tea Room? (Tilda will also be available to purchase there after the launch.)

Well, it is and there is! So you can get your hands on a copy via several different means - even avoiding the big A if you so choose. 

Please, if you read the book, do consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads, as it's often word of mouth that gets them noticed. And I would love to know what you think of the first instalment in Tilda's story.

I'm off now to sniff new book smell...!

Tilda of Merjan

It's official - we have a cover for the first of Tilda's stories! Publication due in September, so keep your eyes peeled for pre-order buttons...

Editing, un-editing, and gooseberry bushes.

I have been extremely quiet on the blogging front - again. I last posted when I finished Camp NanoEdMo, and had a completed edit of the current novel under my belt. That is now with BInk, and I'm waiting to see what they think of it.

Would you believe, as I sent that one off - the second in Tilda's adventures - the first book came back the other way, having been edited by BInk. (Publication is September, so things are starting to move, with cover design and title ideas being thrown around!) I'd already spent some time working on the first book, because it didn't feel as much in Tilda's head as I wanted it to be, so I ended up incorporating some of my most recent changes into the MS as I checked through BInk's edit.

Problem was, a lot of the stuff I added went it, then a lot of it came back out.

Sometimes, I was only playing with the word order. The alterations I'd made added nothing of value to the scene, so I was un-editing myself and reverting back to the original - which most of the time BInk had no issue with. Realising this led to a very interesting discussion with fellow authors over in the Den of Writers, because I started to wonder whether I was making changes for the sake of change, rather than to make an improvement.

Editing's a weird stage in a novel's life, especially when it's an editor that's made suggestions, rather than you being self-critical of what you've produced. I try not to be too sensitive to the suggestions of A.N.Other, but it's hard.

Some issues arise because the US editor works to a slightly differently format to the UK and we end up bouncing back and forth a bit until I understand why certain punctuation has to be a particular way. Some are because I'm not being grammatically correct - and I'll admit, I don't know all the rules so I do break them; I often write how I'd speak, but when written down, that doesn't always work.

Of course there are places where BInk make a suggestion and I can see that there is an improvement needed, but I have to find my own - Squidge - way of saying it. This can be as subtle as a change of word choice, to ending up re-writing whole sections of the novel. And it's never clear which it's going to be until I start.

There are a few places where I dig my heels in and don't want the change that's been suggested. In this particular novel, I often write actions linked to 'began to...'. I think it must be due to how I picture the scene in my head - I see a sequence of actions, so in writing about the action, it begins before it continues or changes. I can accept that's not always appropriate though, and to state more simply that the action happened is better. But not always...

So, having accepted, amended and rejected - mostly the first two! - the edit of that book's back with BInk too.

I felt rather bereft once it had gone. I tried to go back to book 3 - currently being handwritten in a notebook - and got seriously stuck on a plot point.

Perhaps it's a genuine sticking point. Perhaps it's just that I have focused so much recently on editing, I'm not allowing myself to make mistakes and play any more.

So, in an attempt to give myself a breather, I've done some gardening. I've often said I love my garden, but I don't like gardening, so this is a major form of procrastination/need for thinking time if I'm actually weeding. Mr Squidge wanted some more gooseberry bushes, so the two of us set to on a patch of weedy ground we'd not sorted out since the garden room was built; it was covered in borage. Now bees love borage, and it's very pretty - looks like a prickly, large, forget-me-not plant - but boy, does it spread. It's overtaking my garden, and a real beetle to dig up.

Borage, bramble (lovely blackberries so we keep it), and bush!

Lots and lots and lots of borage

But we cleared the space and yesterday, planted two goosegog bushes and some ground cover flowers. Hooray! I also planted up a couple of blueberry bushes in pots...

Planted!

Pots. I do like blue in my garden

Has it worked in terms of giving me headspace and mulling time? I won't know that until I get back to the notebook, but I'm hopeful. At least now, when I'm sitting in the garden room on a sunny day and staring out of the windows looking for inspiration, I'll have the fruit bushes to look at.
 

Baby goosegogs! These will be red, the others yellow-green

 

And teeny tiny blueberries beginning to form...

And even if I struggle a bit more with the latest novel, there'll be gooseberry wine and blueberry gin to look forward to later this year...so at least something good's come of the writing break!

News!!

Well, unfortunately Kingstone didn't make the shortlist for the Leicester Book Prize; I always knew it would be a tough call when I saw the other books longlisted with it!

Congratulations to Rod Duncan, whose novel Queen of All Crows, was crowned Leicester Book of the Year 2018.

However, I do have a little bit of good news to share...

Yup. 

I'm going to be publishing a third novel with Bink under their Dragonfeather imprint. 

The Mage of Merjan is the first in a series of - hopefully - five novels about Tilda and her adventures on the island of Issraya. (I'm already half way through drafting the second...) 

So I can't be too sad about the Book Prize, can I?

Looking forward very much to introducing you to Tilda sometime in the future. 

Getting started on your first book

This week, I received an email from a lad called Josh. It said;

I am a 14-yr-old boy who wants to write his first book. How do I start my first book?

I replied with some advice, but thought that actually, this would make a good blog post. So for any other young folk out there who are thinking of writing a book and wondering where to start, here's my advice. 

(Remember though, it's only advice. What works for me might not work for you. Read the advice of other authors too, and be wary of applying advice as 'rules'.)


1. The best advice I can give is...start writing! A writer writes - simple as. So pick up that pen and start putting words on the page, and see where it takes you. Keep a notebook to jot ideas into; write short stories; write scenes, dialogue, descriptions; play with words. Use prompt sites to give you ideas if you're stuck. The more you write, the better your writing will become. 

One of my notebooks and a story that has yet to be finished...

2. Read. A lot. By reading you get to see how the best authors structure their stories, and equally, how those that aren't so good make mistakes. Don't just get to the end of the book and say 'that was great!' or 'That was awful!' Try and analyse what made it good or bad for you - and then try and use or avoid similar things in your own writing.

3. Be aware of how you approach your writing. Are you a planner? Do you need to know exactly what the story's about before you begin to write it? Or are you a pantser? You get a whiff of an idea and you're off, seeing where it takes you? Are you a mix of the two (I certainly am!) Do you like to write every day, or only when the muse strikes? What works for you won't necessarily be the same for someone else...and it might take you some time to figure out how you work best.  

4. Don't worry if your story isn't perfect to start with. Tell yourself it's the s****y first draft, it's you working it out for yourself. The 'proper' story comes later, when you're writing it for your reader. And don't be surprised if you end up editing it again and again and again...

Tea...my fuel of choice when editing

5. Make sure the writing is as good as you can make it, especially if you reach the point of wanting to submit it anywhere. Check spellings, grammar, punctuation, and presentation etc. Ask for help if you need it - and be prepared to accept it.

6. Don't give up. If you really want to be a writer, then you have to be prepared for some serious knocks - and each time you get knocked, you have to get up again and keep on trying. If you believe there's a story in you which you have to tell, make sure you tell it. Persistence pays off, as long as you are learning and improving.

There's probably a lot more I could add, but I think that will do for starters. Picking up that pen is the first step in capturing the story ideas that are in your head. Once you've done that, well...who knows where you'll end up?