This Writer is Getting On It!

This year is shaping up to be rather productive for me on the work front. Outwardly, nothing has really changed. I am still officially the mother and housewife, running around after my children, preparing for 'big school,' and observing various monumental developments in their young lives. But aside from all of that, I have managed, and am managing, to actually do some writing! I currently have 4 novels in progress, one of which is close to being polished enough to publish. I am shopping another novel to various publishers, and I am certain it will find a home very soon. I even have enough short stories in my archive to consider publishing an anthology, although that is a seed of an idea at present.

So, what about the other side of writing? That murky, uninspiring, necessary task of marketing and selling books? At present I am the only one spreading the word about my, uh, words. I have no team of professionals on hand to assist. I  have no marketing budget to speak of. It is just little old me, emerging from the shell, and actually talking about my books, in public, after rather a long absence. I will kickstart this new phase of authorhood with my involvement in the upcoming Scribe literary festival in October. More details will follow, as we are currently awaiting the official media launch, but the event is shaping up to be a good one, and I am very excited to be sharing the stage with some impressive local authors. If you are located near Middlewich, Cheshire, check back here for an official press release later in August... I will follow up the literary festival with events in 2016, all to be confirmed. See you soon!

You Can Find Me in the Bookshop #amreading

What does a writer do on her day off? Go to the bookshop of course! At the weekend I decided to take a break from the children, so I hijacked the car, left my husband in charge at home, and collected my friend and fellow book lover for a day out at our favourite local craft and antique centre. And there, we lost ourselves among the stacks… it had to be done!

I love the smell of old books. I love the texture of their covers. And while my dry eyes struggle to cope, I even love that dusty, musty atmosphere of a second hand bookshop. It is unique. It is special. It is home. I found myself wandering alongside the bookshelves dragging my fingers across the spines, just to get a fix of their energy and power. You all know what I mean!

My favourite local bookshop is called Booklore, and is hidden away in the arcade at Dagfields Crafts and Antiques near Nantwich in Cheshire. Where is your favourite local bookshop? Tell me about it, and share your story of bookish love…

How to work when you have Children

This is the ultimate conundrum, isn’t it? Especially if you are a woman. Yes, I said it. I put it out there! In our enlightened twenty-first century society, women are still struggling to have careers and make a success of their professional lives. Don’t get me wrong, there are millions of success stories. Behind every female CEO, entrepreneur, famous creative type, there is usually a family demanding her attention. How do they do it? How do they manage to nurture their children, support their husbands and partners, and still give the necessary time and energy to their business? I don’t know.

But I have an idea. I think mostly these women simply do not sleep. And perhaps some of them have more external help than others. I mean, I cannot do it right now. I want to make a success of my writing business. And by success, I mean I want to be a famous author. I want my books to sell in their millions. I want to actually earn money from my book sales, and a decent amount of money at that. I want a regular, sustainable personal income, so that I no longer have to be reliant on my husband. And then maybe he can be more relaxed because he won’t be worrying about money quite so much. Ah, that would be bliss…

Read Love Hurts (A Redcliffe Novel) today

So how do I get started? I am in the very fortunate position of being able to stay at home with my children while my husband goes out to work. I am the housewife and mother. And I never thought that I would ever be in this situation. I always had a vague notion that when I had children, I would put them in nursery school while I went out to work full time. But you know what? I don’t want to do that. Why should I pay someone else for the privilege of raising my children, when I am perfectly capable of doing the job for myself? So, I swallowed my pride, ignored the indignant voice of my ego that demanded I should go out to work and ‘be a successful woman,’ and I accepted my role in the home.

I still struggle with it. Right now I am feeling guilty because I haven’t done any writing or promoting for two weeks. If I don’t talk about my books, nobody else is going to. I am all alone here, in this big wide world, where everyone is shouting to get noticed, and it all becomes a blur of sound and colour, much like a busy rain forest I imagine. Tomorrow I return to work, after a fashion. My eldest daughter will be at preschool, but I still have the toddler at home, and she keeps me very busy. And now I have the task of continuing to clear out my house and make room for new toys after celebrating a birthday. Maybe one day it will all fall into place…

Did you enjoy this article? Join my tribe today, and I will send you a fabulous FREE book to get you started… (be warned, my vampires do not sparkle, and my wolves will bite!) 

New Year, New Start

Many people are beginning 2014 with plans to give up drinking alcohol, to get back in the gym and lose weight, to eat healthily and any number of other physical efforts to improve themselves and their lives. I have never actually tried to do the traditional New Year's Resolutions. I was always very smug and said that I didn't need to. Well actually, there are some new resolutions that I should be trying, and here they are:

• Play more. I spent so much time in 2013 just trying to push my book sales that I forgot to take time out. My books are out there. I can let them do their job now.
• Be kinder to myself. I have become a martyr to my situation. I only realised at the very end of 2013 that I have become the very thing I dreaded: a downtrodden housewife. Actually I am nothing of the sort. It is all in my mind and my attitude. That will change.
• Live my life for me. I suppose this one sort of relates to the other points above, but ultimately we all have to take responsibility for ourselves as individuals. I wanted to have children, and I love being a mother, but I also need a break every so often. That is not a bad thing. I can be myself and I can be mother, wife and author. I just have to give myself time, space and understanding.

One of the ways in which I can reclaim some time and energy is to stop wasting so much time on social media. Yes, I enjoy interacting with people, but in 2014 I want to do it genuinely, rather than always thinking about what kind of result my efforts will bring. Our culture is so focused on bringing immediate results to our efforts that we feel like failures if something takes longer than 24 hours to improve. 

This year I want to be a genuine networker. I will not simply pay lip service to several social networks because I feel like that's what I should be doing. I would love for more people to comment on my blogs, even to offer suggestions of where I can make improvements, or to compliment me when I write something of particular interest or importance. 

2014 is the year for ME. How about you make it the year for YOU too? Happy New Year!