On Blogging

A massive (and belated) thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes last month, commiserated with me on the whole TWO-FIVE thing, and promised to let me be 22 forever. Cheers!

Even if you don't follow this blog regularly, a quick glance at the post dates on this page alone will show you that I haven't been here much recently. I just wanted to pop in today and try to explain why.

1. Time

It's such a boring, annoying reason. But there's no getting around it. I'm back to looking after my toddler full-time, while also trying to work on a book. That leaves very little time for  ANYTHING else.

2. Content

Sometimes I have exciting news to share. Sometimes I want to talk about other authors' new releases. Sometimes I want to talk about a movie I've seen or a book I've just read that I LOVE. Sometimes I want to talk about other fun stuff. But sometimes... none of those things apply. I know I should think ahead and have a little list of fun things to fall back on when this happens, but I'm a spontaneous blogger. It's more fun and feels more real to me that way. So when I don't have anything I really want to say, I don't post. I'd rather be AWOL for a little while than churn out something half-hearted.

Which is all my way of saying I haven't abandoned the blog. I haven't lost interest. I still read your blogs and love your comments and am still very much around (try me on Twitter!) 

And I will definitely, definitely continue blogging. I just want to wait until there's something I simply HAVE to say.

A Day in the Life (Part Two)

I am completely run off my feet today, so I'm just going to point you to my guest post over at the Random House blog. I'm their Author in Residence this month, which is totally cool, so do pop over and have a look!

I wrote about a day in my writing life a couple of years ago and so much has changed since then (book out, baby out, moving house) that I thought I ought to take stock again. That guest post is the result. Here are tiny extracts from both posts to compare:

Then

3.50 PM: Notice that I received a text message half an hour ago. Odd. Why didn't I hear that? Hmm. Forget to reply to text message because brain is fully lost in book-world. 

4.10 PM: Realize I'm hungry. Even odder. Have I not eaten today? Oh. Why didn't I? Hmm. Forget to eat because brain is fully lost in book-world. 

5 PM: Brain aches. Eat a plum.

Now 

10.30AM – 12.30PM Baby asleep. Put baby very gingerly down in cot and race like a maniac to laptop. Write one blog post, two pages of book and answer interview questions for blogger. Start writing a third page of book. Consider eating. Baby wakes up and interrupts.

It's amazing how much difference a tiny baby can make! (And also how some things don't change at all...)

Hope you're all having a fantastic week.

Erratically Yours

Erratic is probably the best way to describe my blogging of late. Also sporadic, irregular and woefully unwitty. Over the last few weeks a lot of things have been eating up my time: moving house, being sick, my baby, and, naturally, writing. I've been working on something new and recently finished a synopsis of that something new. That was a joy. (Anyone else hate synopses with a passion?)

So there we go. That's life at the moment. And I'm off on holiday late next week, so chances are my blogging will continue to be a tad erratic, sporadic, irregular and woefully unwitty in May. 

...After that, though, things should look up. THE LOST GIRL is out end of August and I'm planning a HUGE blog event/blogfest/blogpalooza for the weeks beforehand. And what would a blog event be without you? So look out for that!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Catching Up

I've been somewhat absent the last couple of weeks. There's just been so much going on, so this will be a quick stop to catch up!

1. Last week I was interviewed by Ashelynn Hetland over at her blog; we talk about THE LOST GIRL's cover and she asked me some really fun questions, so be sure to check it out.

2. Jeremy learned to roll, which now means I now have to keep both eyes on him all the time, or he's off who knows where...

3. Steve, Jeremy and I went on a little holiday up north, to the gorgeous Lake District and thereabouts. It was even more special for me, because up north is where Steve and I went to university, and a lot of my book is set in those places. I have plenty of photos so I'm going to do a 'Key Moments from THE LOST GIRL' teaser post soon.

4. I've been doing a fair bit of writing, which is very exciting. There's nothing quite like the feel of a shiny new project, is there?

5. I've just realized my last 'Day in the Life' post is sadly out of date. With a baby in the way, and planning for when we move house next month, and so much work that doesn't involve actual writing, that portrait of my day is, alas, no longer entirely accurate. So keep an eye out for a new one soon!

Hope everyone's having a good Tuesday! What's going on with you this week?

What's going on?

There seem to be so many amazing and exciting things going on in the blogging/writing worlds right now, so, with the weekend around the corner and my brain virtually on holiday already, I thought today would be a great time to talk about fun stuff.

For starters, Talli Roland recently revealed the cover of her next book, CONSTRUCT A COUPLE, and it's so pretty you simply have to go check it out!

Saumya Dave has just signed with an agent, which is one of the most awesome things to happen to any writer, so huge huge congratulations to her!

If you don't know Alex J. Cavanaugh already (and I'd be amazed if you didn't), pop over to his blog and check out his next book CASSAFIRE's release party, it's going to be massive! The launch is on February 28th and Alex is giving away five copies of CASSAFIRE.

As for me, it's been a mad, hectic week, but it's not all been baby-related. ARCs of THE LOST GIRL arrived yesterday and I spent most of the day jumping around, squealing, and just generally staring lovingly at the books. I can't actually believe this is real. Even with a copy in my hands, even reading it, doesn't feel real. It feels like I'm reading another author's book. Maybe it will sink in one day.

But I'm going to share the joy! Look out for an ARC giveaway with my cover reveal next week...

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Where are we going from here?

Things don't stay the same for long - and thank heavens for that, or we'd all find ourselves climbing the walls with boredom! And that's true of this blog too. With my baby due in three weeks, and chaos bound to ensue, I thought now was a good time to talk about what you can expect from me/the blog in the immediate future.

I have no intention of vanishing off the face of the blogosphere! Just to get that out of the way first. I've never done the baby thing before so I have no idea what to really expect, but my plan, right now, is to take maybe four weeks off blogging once the baby's born.  (After I've bored everyone with oodles of super-cute baby photos, obviously.)

After that, for a couple of months, I hope to spend a day on here every now and then, scheduling posts and generally catching up on things.

I still plan to visit my favourite blogs and I will always return comments so those things won't change.

Wow. Actually putting all this into a post makes it so official. Like these changes are really real. Can this be? Am I really going to have offspring? Am I never going to have a lie-in on a Saturday again? Ack.

PS. In other news, rather excitingly, I got a mention on the Bookseller and various other blogs this week! Random House Children's Books (UK) sent out a press release about some of their recent acquisitions and THE LOST GIRL features alongside three other debuts - all of which sound amazing!

Thank You

Just a quick stop today. News: my book has just been put into copyediting, which is so scary and amazing all at once! Also, just a reminder about the 300 Followers Contest: to be eligible to win, you have to comment on the actual contest post, otherwise I won't know you want to be entered even if you are following me.

But what I really wanted to do today is welcome all my new followers! And a huge thank you to all of you, old and new. For stopping by the blog, for putting my contest button in your sidebars, for blogging/Tweeting about it, just generally for all your incredible support. You're fantastic!

The 300 Followers Contest!

A couple of days ago this blog got its 200th follower! Yay! Huge thanks to all of you, you can't imagine how much I appreciate it. But I'm going to show you. Yes! A contest! A kind of help-me-get-to-300-followers contest!

  With prizes.

So here's how it's going to work. If this blog gets to 300+ followers by the 30th of November, I will pick three winners and give away one of the following prizes to each of them-

a query critique
a 20-page manuscript critique
a £10 Amazon UK voucher (or a $15 Amazon US voucher if you don't shop on the UK site)
a box of homemade cupcakes*

*okay, I should probably mention I am not the best baker in the world, and I don't actually know how feasible posting a box cupcakes is, so maybe only pick this one if you're really not tempted by the others...

How to enter-

1. Become a follower, unless you already are.
2. Comment on this post. Please make sure you include an email address in your comment!
3. Pop the contest button in your sidebar/blog, linking it back to this post.

That's it! You don't have to write a post or tweet about it, but it would be very lovely if you did. It would really help me get the word out.

(And, of course, if more people find out about it and want to join in, the more likely it is that I'll get to my goal by the end of November!)

The prizes will be given away to three randomly chosen winners if I get to 300+ followers by that date. If we get there and you win, all you'd have to do is pick the prize you want and email me letting me know your choice!

Once again, thank you to everyone who got me to 200. You're the best.

Happy Friday!

It's that time of year...

I don't know what it is about this season, but every year, like clockwork, this seems to be the time for blogfests, blog events, launches, blog hops, generally all manner of bloggy fun. Here's just a taster of some of the cool stuff around:

Rachael Harrie is hosting her Third Writers' Platform-Building Campaign. It sounds like it's a fantastic way to meet new bloggers - and you can join groups based on your own interests and genres!

Next month marks the release of Talli Roland's second book Watching Willow Watts and she's celebrating by hosting a blog-wide launch party! And it sounds so fun.

We've all seen our fair share of truly horrendous movies, right? So if you're in the mood to rant, Alex J. Cavanaugh has set up a Worst Movies Blogfest.

There's tons more out there but these are just the ones I've signed up to recently. As if I wasn't busy enough! But these sounded too much fun to resist.

Have you discovered anything fun online this week?

You Tell Me

Yes! It's time! Reader-driven blog posts!

 
It's been several months since I asked my blog readers what you wanted to read. And I thought that, as things are quite busy here and finding inspiration for interesting blog posts has become downright difficult, that I'd combine the two. And voila! A You-Tell-Me moment! 

For the next ten weeks (or more, if it catches on), at least once a week, I will post something a reader wants. These posts will be titled 'Reader Request: [insert topic here]'.

Any and all suggestions are welcome; it's up to you. What would you like me to post or talk about?

Throw suggestions into the comments, or send them along in an email. I'll post my favourite suggestions - I'd love to post them all, but I think there are some things I might not have anything to say about!

(Note: you can suggest more than one topic/request more than one thing! This will go on for the next ten weeks at least, so if you think of new suggestions/ideas, send them over anytime)

Happy Birthday, CassaStar!

 My blog-friend Alex J. Cavanaugh has a novel, CassaStar, out today!

To be perfectly honest, I don't read an awful lot of science fiction. I'm more of a fantasy girl. But I watch a lot of great sci-fi movies and I do pick up sci-fi books that sound good to me, and Alex's book sounds good! Check this out:

To pilot the fleet’s finest ship...

Few options remain for Byron. A talented but stubborn young man with a troubled past and rebellious attitude, his cockpit skills are his only hope. Slated to train as a Cosbolt fighter pilot, Byron is determined to prove his worth and begin a new life as he sets off for the moon base of Guaard.

Much to Byron’s chagrin, the toughest instructor in the fleet takes notice of the young pilot. Haunted by a past tragedy, Bassa eventually sees through Byron's tough exterior and insolence. When a secret talent is revealed during training, Bassa feels compelled to help Byron achieve his full potential.

As war brews on the edge of space, time is running short. Byron requires a navigator of exceptional quality to survive, and Bassa must make a decision that could well decide the fate of both men. Will their skills be enough as they embark on a mission that may stretch their abilities to the limit?

“…calls to mind the youthful focus of Robert Heinlein’s early military sf, as well as the excitement of space opera epitomized by the many Star Wars novels. Fast-paced military action and a youthful protagonist make this a good choice for both young adult and adult fans of space wars.” - Library Journal

 

Okay, so what's not to like about something that calls to mind Star Wars, right? I'm stoked!

Here's a little bit about Alex:

Alex J. Cavanaugh has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and works in web design and graphics. He’s experienced in technical editing and worked with an adult literacy program for several years. A fan of all things science fiction, his interests range from books and movies to music and games. Currently he lives in the Carolinas with his wife.

For more about the book, including a great trailer and links to purchase, pop over to Alex's blog.

I love book release days, especially when it's an author I know! So let's crack open some bubbly and eat some cakes and celebrate this amazing day with Alex!

Selling Yourself

As most of you know, I'm a writer. And a lot of my blogger-friends are writers too. I know all of us love blogging now, love meeting new people and making friends through this fantastic medium. But I've been wondering: why did you start a blog in the first place? Because you thought it'd be fun? Or because you thought it was the way to start building up a readership for your writing career?

I started this blog because I read countless bits of advice for new authors telling me I should have some sort of web presence. I thought I'd like blogging, so I picked this form of web presence. I didn't expect to love it as much as I do, so much so that these days it's more about the posts and the interaction than it is about selling myself.

So my question for you is, is this why you blog? To sort of market yourself? I don't have a book due out, but if and when I do, having a few blog followers and a few people already interested in your work is going to prove helpful.

Do you think it's ever too early to start selling yourself and your work?

Me, You and the Blogosphere

This post is supposed to tell you a few things. One of them is to say that I've changed my blog background. This time, it's something I made myself and spent about three hours trying to upload (and then decided it's not that spectacular anyway, but I'm fond of it so it's staying for now), so be nice about it. Okay, you can be horrible about it, but that means I'll just cry a lot and ruin that perfectly nice cup of coffee sitting there. Not to mention those unblemished Post-It notes, just waiting for stunning insights.

Another thing I wanted to say was: I have been a fairly crappy blogger of late. I don't post as often as I'd like. I want to blame it totally on the new round of revisions I've been working on, but it's also the fact that I just can't spend as much time on the laptop as I used to. It's been giving me the worst headaches lately, so when I do come on here, I tend to write, revise and, if I'm lucky, flash quickly to a few of my favourite blogs and throw in a tweet or two. 

I intend this to change soon soon, hopefully when these revisions are done, and I hope to be able to blog every weekday. (The Character Geneses series is still going on, this is just one of my rambling interruptions.)

And I also wanted to talk about you. Yes, you, my much-loved blogging friends. There's so much going on in the blogosphere right now and I thought I'd highlight a few of my favourite things, like Julie Andrews.

Talli Roland has a blogsplash scheduled for December, and she's looking for a thousand bloggers to join in. It has to do with her book, The Hating Game, which sounds way fun in my opinion, so do go on over and check it out! Alex, Jen and Elana have been posting about blogging this week, so have a peek at their blogs because I expect you'll stumble upon one of their excellent posts on the subject. V. R. Barkowski just got an agent - I know, how awesome is that?! Alesa is writing a complex fairytale and I'm really enjoying it! And have I ever pointed you to the blog of the one and only Vintage Vixen, whose daily posts about her incredible and creative outfits always cheer me right up?

Oh, and on a bloggy note: how the heck do I change the size of my font? I can't access the old template format, and the new template designer doesn't have size options. I think. This irks me because I want a bigger font size for my posts!

So that's the world today, dear readers. Now I must force my aching head back to my revisions. 

Crazy Days

It's a crazy day today, so I'm just dropping in to say hello. Steve and I have friends coming over today, so I'm off to fetch them from the train station in a bit, and it should be chaos tonight (read: hangover tomorrow). Whoopee!

I've also just had the job interview I mentioned a few weeks ago. It got delayed and I had it today. I think it went well, but I guess I'll only know how well it went when I find out if I got the job or not. Should hear by the end of the day, so I might have good or bad news for you this weekend, dear readers.

I also want to boast about something Alesa gave me-

 

Isn't that amazing? It has my name on it. I'm so proud. Thank you so much, Alesa!

What has everyone been up to this week?

Blog Hop (Hi!) - and an Extract

I've just signed up to Tessa's new meet-and-greet blog hop, which I think is such a fantastic idea. If you click on the link, you'll get to Tessa's page, where she explains the rules and how to join in if you want to find new blogs and meet other writers!

New visitors, I'm not sure what to tell you about me. I have a Writing Projects page, which will tell you about the stuff I write and have written, and I guess the sidebar will tell you a bit about me - as for the rest, the blog's full of random surprises, so feel free to explore!

Before I discovered Tessa's blog hop, I was planning to post an extract from my completed ECHOES and I'm still going to do it below.

If you don't feel like reading on, don't bother, just skip to the bottom of the post, where I've linked the other blogs in the blog hop. But if you do feel like reading this, I hope you enjoy it. 

----------

(Text from the novel removed. Sorry!)

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As ever, any comments would be brilliant. And as for the blog hop, here is the list-

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"

...and I'm not even a Dickens fan.

This somewhat dramatic turn for quoting springs from my present state of affairs: I am trapped somewhere between far too many things to do, far too many things to wait for, and far too many other things to be stressed out about. This is what comes from trying to sort out doctor's appointments, enjoy your last (hectic) week of university life, and move into a new house at the very end of that last (hectic) week (with all the innumerable exciting and stressful things moving house involves) - all at the same time.

As a result of which, I'm very sad to say that blogging is going to have to take a backseat for a couple weeks, until I can find some breathing space and hunt down my elusive creativity again.

It really hit me this weekend how much time blogging really involves. I love to do it, so I didn't really notice it before. But when you're swamped, it's so much easier to tweet from your phone, browse the internet for something quick, or send someone an email, than it is to sit down at a laptop for over an hour and enter the alternate reality of the blogosphere.

I'm hoping to be able to write up a couple of posts over the next fortnight (but let's face it, I'll probably be too immersed in packing to even think), and I really hope I can pop in to all the wonderful blogs I follow now and then. Reading a blog post isn't too hard to do from your phone - it's just commenting that's nearly impossible!

Still, mustn't knock the marvels of technology.

So, I hope you all have a fantastic week(s), and do try not to forget me because I will be back, a la the Terminator!

Another Blog Award!

Over the last few days, I've been lucky enough to be given the award below four times! Thank you so much, Suzie, Clara, Zoe and Bryan!

(Bryan, I can't seem to comment on your blog - something about a proxy - so sorry for not thanking you there!) 

Rules:
1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who think you are fantastic for whatever reason! (In no particular order...)
4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.

So, the

7 Things

1. I'm engaged. (Yep, sorry, had to say it! Still so excited!)

2. My little brother was quite badly bitten by a dog when he was a toddler. Ever since, I have the odd bad dream of him in some kind of life-threatening situation. Yuck.

3. I often stumble across gorgeous pink shoes, but can never wear them because my skin colour's all wrong for the colour pink.

4. To follow on from the above: yes, I love shoes. Absurdly. No, I wouldn't spend five hundred dollars on them like the women in Sex and the City do. (Mostly because I don't have five hundred dollars, but also because I'd rather buy food. Sorry.)

5. I'm about to graduate from university, and am half-sad half-happy to be rid of the student life forever.

6. I've been chased by an elephant three times. While I've been in a car, of course. I don't think I could outrun them on foot. They're very, very fast.

7. I love tigers.

I assume you can't pass the award back to the people who gave it to you? I'd have liked to, but as I suspect that's against the rules, here are the other bloggers and blogs I'm going to pass this award on to (this time) -

Mary McDonald

Talli Roland

Tessa Conte

Elizabeth Mueller

Jane

Saumya

Amy

Bridge Marie

Vix

Roland Yeomans

Writer's Block, a Myth?

Okay, I'm really really curious to see what other people think about this (because I'm betting we're all creative people in one capacity or another), so I'm throwing this out for general debate and offering of opinions:

That nasty phenomenon known as Writer's Block; that Dreadful Affliction that apparently keeps writers, authors, artists and other creative people from going about their creative business; that Condition where the Muses have deserted us; that dry spell -

is it real? Or is just a myth made up to cover for a creative person's laziness/dry spell?

Can it be broken if you try hard enough? Or do you have to wait it out?


My thoughts on this? I think I can be genuinely blocked (like I am right now), genuinely unable to think of how to go on. But this is often because I have phases when my enthusiasm for a project dims, so I don't feel like writing it. So I don't know if it's that I can't.

I do think it's possible to muster up some energy and discipline and get cracking through that block, even if what you end up writing is rubbish. I just don't know if this necessarily means it's a challenging task rather than one you're passionate about.


Yep. My somewhat muddled thoughts on the subject. Now I'd love to see yours. Myth? Not a myth?

Bombard me!


Note: My themed week begins tomorrow! Powerful relationships, love stories, tragic could-have-beens! Drop by for a peek and for anguished cries against my controversial thoughts! (Yes, a few will be very controversial)

Don't forget to sign up for the Character Interview Blogfest! The signup sheet's in the sidebar, and the post date is the 15th of June. 


Update: Have just signed up to two more blogfests (yep, 'tis definitely the season). The first is the Cognitive Dissonance Blogfest, hosted by the fabulous Zoe, aimed for the 28th June. And yes, she does explain what that means, don't worry. I was kinda freaked out too.

The second is Tessa's brilliant idea, to do The Blogfest of Death. Makes you go ooooh, right?