What’s in a Name: Part 1
Please be advised there may be some who find the following insulting. Sorry! Any writer will have a problem with names. Let’s think about the mental gymnastics involved in naming characters first of all. I’ll visit naming places in a later blog. For me, when creating a character, often the name comes first. Rachel Makepeace in While I […]
Spring is on its way!
It’s sunny and warm here in Devon today and spring finally seems to be on the way. I’m heading into the garden for the traditional Bank Holiday weekend plant up, tidy up and inevitable bad back! What are you all up to? I’ve been having a play on Canva and produced this. Lovely to see […]
Books, Books, More Books and Going OutOut
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! The tree’s up (here’s Ralph doing quality control) so it’s time for the traditional round up of the year. 2022 had its ups and downs. The good stuff involved getting three books out, having several short stories accepted by The People’s Friend and signing to Bloodhound Books. The Harper Collins […]
A Giddy Gadabout Part 1
Brace yourself campers. This is a long one! This month I signed up to do NaNoWriMo. I promised to write 50,000 words during November. That means roughly 2,000 words a day. As the current work in progress stands at about 50,000, I thought it might give me the incentive to get the first draft finished. https://nanowrimo.org/ I didn’t […]
A Doggy Bloggy Part 2
It was International Dog Day yesterday. As I was out I missed posting but it was lovely to catch up with all the doggy pics on social media. Seeing as I didn’t share pictures of my two hounds, I thought it might be a good opportunity (excuse!) to celebrate some of my fictional dogs. There’s […]
Love, Laughter and the Suitcase of Doom: Part 2
So, to the Suitcase of Doom. I’ve had a grin plastered on my face all week from memories of the conference. Lots of catching up with old friends done, lots of opportunities to make new ones and get to know those only previously known online. It was a fantastic weekend. I wish I could say […]
Love, Laughter and the Suitcase of Doom: Part 1
It was the Romantic Novelists’ Association conference and the room was full of love. It really was! It was that time of year again. Time for the annual conference. Except excitement was mounting even more feverishly because it was going to be the first time we were able to meet in person for three years. News of possible rail strikes and heatwaves […]
A Country Mouse Goes OutOut
It’s been a long three years since the last author party was held and even longer since I was able to attend. It’s a pretty hot ticket so you can guess how thrilled I was when the invite popped into my inbox. Yes, this country mouse was going to the Harper Collins Summer Party! The […]
A Donkey Tale
Lots of family stuff going on at the moment, of the tricky kind, so it was good to get out and meet a few writer chums. For this morning’s meeting we decided on the Donkey Sanctuary at Sidmouth. It’s exactly what it says it is – a sanctuary for donkeys. It’s been expanded and redeveloped […]
Bank Holiday reads!
It’s May and the Bank Holidays are coming thick and fast. In Devon, so is the rain! Still, it’s not a traditional holiday weekend without some inclement weather. I suggest you curl up with a coffee and read some good books. You can check out a few here: https://www.agetimes.co.uk/entertainment/culture/top-20-summer-books I’m currently reading Natalie Jenner’s The […]
