My Ideal Writing Day

I wake up early in the morning, but not too early, maybe between 7am and 8am. I get up, take a shower, have breakfast, and then I sit down at my computer and write until I can write no more or my stomach begins to growl. There are no interruptions, and I am free to stay there until the job is done. That would be my ideal writing day. That is not my current writing day.

My current system is more like this: I wake up between 4am and 6am to breastfeed my newborn daughter, after getting to sleep at around 1am when she finally settles. We go back to sleep for an hour or so, and then I have to get up and deal with my toddler when she wakes. I spend the morning doing ‘motherly’ and ‘housewifely’ chores which include changing nappies, feeding the children, doing the laundry, washing dishes and whatever housework takes precedence on that particular day.

My toddler attends preschool three days per week, so I try to use this time for my computer work. I don’t really get much writing done at the moment. By the time I have soothed the baby and dealt with my need for food and drink (greatly increased because of the breastfeeding), and I have made sure my daughter’s nappies are washed and drying on the line or the airer depending on weather, I seem to lose my day. I barely manage to skim through my emails and respond to the most urgent ones, try and update my blogs, and do some freelance work.

I am resigned to my fate for now. I wanted to have children, and I adore my two daughters. I could not be without them. My writing can wait. I have a whole lifetime in which to create my masterpieces, and I already have four published. I have several notebooks scattered around the house that I can refer to when the mood takes me. For now I am satisfied if I can keep my blogs up to date, and I will simply write as and when I find the time and my mood is right. I am gearing up to attempt NaNoWriMo this year. That will be a challenge indeed…

*Image courtesy of Natalia Sylvester blog

A Slow Return to Work #amwriting

I am, very slowly, returning to work after having my baby. The summer holiday is drawing to a close, which means schools will resume and my elder daughter will return to pre-school. Hopefully that will enable me to do some proper work for a few hours during the week, as long as my newborn allows it. I will, however, make allowances for attending parent and child social groups, health appointments etc. For now, I am trying desperately to find time to resume my writing projects, but so far no joy. I still have an unfinished manuscript to work on, and it will require a lot of work since I stalled with writer's block a few months ago. My Muse seems to be waking up very slowly, but I am not quite back in the zone yet. I did have a rather interesting vision just last week.

I was sitting on a bench in a children's playground, nursing my newborn daughter, while my eldest played on the apparatus with her grandparents. As I gazed vacantly across the grass towards the border of trees and shrubs in one corner, I became aware of a tall, dark haired man standing there smiling at me. He was not a solid person, more what I would call a 'spirit' entity, but he definitely was not a ghost. He was one of my vampire characters from my current work in progress, and I felt a rush of relief flood through me as I realized that it was my Muse making her presence known. It will only be a matter of time before I am once again ensconced at the computer, tapping at the keys and completing yet another literary masterpiece...

Oh, and I finally drew a winner for the Hot Paranormal Nights blog hop. Sorry for the delay folks! The lucky recipient of a paperback copy of Love Hurts (A Redcliffe Novel) is Michelle Willms. Congratulations!

*Image courtesy of Flickr

This Writer Has a New Baby!

I finally had my baby! And she took us all by surprise, as I knew she would. After spending a long and uncomfortable pregnancy convinced I was carrying a boy, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on Thursday 1st August. Welcome to the world Georgina Karen Green, who arrived by natural delivery weighing a healthy 7lb 15oz.

Getting Down to Business

As mentioned previously, I have been so involved with networking and promoting my book recently that I have been rather lacking in actual writing. So tonight, after another busy day with the baby and various jobs, I forced myself to sit at the computer and not jump straight onto the internet.

I have actually managed to write another chapter of The Darkness of Love, and at the moment this book is drawing me back in. Marcus Scott is a hot character, I have to say, and this story is all about classic Victorian vampires. It is sultry, sexy and alive, despite the undead characters!

There is still a lot of work to do with this. Firstly I must persevere until all of the chapters are written in rough. The story has been buzzing round my head for months now, and I have to stop suppressing it. Then I can start at the beginning, read through, and amend the chapters as necessary.

Once that is completed, I will need to format it and find a publisher. Easy! 

Redcliffe and Real Life

It is so hard to leave my book alone when I want to write! I could happily sit up all night typing away, but I know that I must sleep. We have a mother and baby yoga class in the morning, then a playgroup in the afternoon. Thursday is a busy play day!

I have managed to write another chapter of my spin-off novel The Darkness of Love which tells the story of how Marcus Scott came to be a vampire. This is potentially more of a steampunk novel, but we will see. It seemed to drag for a bit, but every time I return to it I am pleasantly surprised at my work, which must be a good thing!

And I have at least written another partial chapter for the sequel to Love Hurts. Jessica is struggling with her feelings for Danny, the forbidden brother, and as the novel deepens so will the intrigue. There are more secrets to be broken, more danger to encounter, and even I am not sure what the outcome will be...

Celebrate New Beginnings

Good evening all,

As I write this I am embarking on another of a series of exciting adventures within the past year. To begin with I took a huge leap of faith and quit my full-time job, took a part-time job, and decided to use the free time to develop my professional writing. While the finances are still being worked out, I believe this is one of the best decisions I made! Since then I have had two short stories published in Young Adult anthologies, and I am working with a publisher to realise my dream of being an independent novelist. More to come on my debut novel later...

Both anthologies available on Amazon:

Devils, Demons and Werewolves (where I am listed as Catherine Hargreaves, pre-marriage!)

The Mirador Fantasmagoria