Category: My books

  • The art of knowing when to stop

    I am in the thick of final, final, FINAL proofing for my next novel, The Last Dreamseer. Somehow, I thought it would be quicker than this. I’ll explain my editing process: I’ve written the book, had writer friends look at it, revised and revised again. It’s then been to a professional editor for substantive edits…

  • Divide and Conquer

    As my adventures in self-publishing continue, I’m learning (slowly) how to juggle the many hats I need to wear. Key, for me, is to have the discipline to change hats and not keep the same one on all day. I love writing, and I’d be very happy to become a stereotypical writer, sitting in a garret…

  • Overcoming Marketer’s Block

    I haven’t blogged for a few weeks. I have a couple of good excuses – I’ve been crazy busy finishing the dirty draft of one novel and working on edits for another. Since I’m a writer, it’s good to be busy with writing. However, since I’m a self-published writer, it isn’t so good that I’ve also…

  • Rollercoaster Rides

    It’s a good metaphor: the writing life is full of ups and downs, as well as being occasionally terrifying, sometimes exhilarating, and feeling largely out of control much of the time. This week, I’m delighted to say I’m on a breathless whoosh downhill as the words for my brand new WIP pile up. For once,…

  • Plotting in the rain

    It’s the first weekend of the school holidays, so naturally the weather is disgusting. All thoughts of walking along to the castle and enjoying an ice cream in the sun have been shelved. It’s exactly the sort of day to stay in and read a book – or write one. Choosing the latter, Offspring and…

  • Something for Nothing

    Well, it’s blatant promo this week, so switch off now if that’s not your thing. I was at YALC (Young Adult Literature Convention – an offshoot of ComicCon) this weekend, having a wonderful time talking about books and having the occasional fan girl moment. I also learned something pretty important for my writing career, which…

  • So long as you know what you need to say, the words don’t matter (yet)

    I’m in the middle of revising. I enjoy revising. And I hate it. Other writers may feel the same – or differently. *For clarity – revising is what I call the editing done by myself. Editing editing is done in consultation with a real, live editor who hasn’t lived through the development of the book…

  • Variety is the spice of life

    I have been writing like a demon this week. Deadlines are rushing towards me with the speed (and I fear the impact) of comets, so I have been bum-on-seat to hit word targets, sustained by chocolate when necessary. This approach works, but it can also be wasteful (and unnecessarily like to cause Type II diabetes).…

  • I hate to BRAG, but…

    We writers are an insecure bunch, but perhaps that’s not surprising. The average development of a book goes as follows: 1. I’ve had this AMAZING idea! 2. Oh wow, this book is going to knock the world’s socks off! 3. Er, this isn’t coming out how I thought it would. 4. This is awful. 5.…

  • A whole new world

    I love writing fantasy because in that genre you get to make it all up as you go along – don’t you? You absolutely do make up a new world, but “as you go along” might be problematic – whatever you create has to be internally consistent and make logical sense to the reader. I…