Write Here, Write Now

Today is the Catch Fire Blog Party, celebrating the release of CassaFire by Alex J. Cavanaugh! Now, I haven't known Alex very long, but I know he is a highly respected member of the blogging community, and works hard to make people feel included in whatever he is involved in. I am looking forward to getting to know Alex better over time, and I wish him all the best with his new book!   Here is a little bit of info on CassaFire: CassaFire by Alex J. Cavanaugh CassaStar was just the beginning… The Vindicarn War is a distant memory and Byron’s days of piloting Cosbolt fighters are over. He has kept the promise he made to his fallen mentor and friend - to probe space on an exploration vessel. Shuttle work is dull, but it’s a free and solitary existence. The senior officer is content with his life aboard the Rennather. The detection of alien ruins sends the exploration ship to the distant planet of Tgren. If their scientists can decipher the la...

Before I start, I need to give a shoutout to all the awesome people who have signed up for the WIP:The Movie Blogfest! If you haven't joined in yet, you can find the details here !  And now,, I am about to engage in a Monday Moan (which sounds like quite a cool regular blog idea lol!). Anyone not wishing to read a self-obsessed whine should probably skip over this one, and I will try to be back to my sunny self next time! :D So, when I started this blog, my WiP was different to the one I'm working on now. I mentioned a little while ago that I have decided to self-publish the story I am editing at the moment, but that is still likely to change as I dance about with the idea of finding a publisher. That isn't really today's big issue. Instead, I am living under a constant cloud of doubt. I know every writer has one, but mine won't shift. I want to write, but all the time a voice in my head is saying, "Ha ha, who do you think you're kidding? You can...

Since I've been blogging, the fun of blogfests has helped me meet some awesome new people and also helped me to learn a lot of things I would have otherwise missed out on. I love reading snippets of everyone's work, and getting to know each individual writer's style and genre. With that in mind, I would like to announce a brand new blogfest which I am co-hosting with Rachel at Writing On The Wall !     WiP: The Movie - March 9th Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to post a photo of the actors or actresses you would like to play the characters in your WiP if it were to be made into a movie. It can be just one character, or the entire cast! Secondly, we want you to soundtrack your movie! Head over to YouTube, and post a song that best describes one of your characters, or your story as a whole. Again, you can pick one song, or several, it's entirely up to you! All we ask is that you follow these simple rules: 1, Follow me 2. Follow Rachel (We will ...

I have been working my butt off, trying to sort out my WiP, and editing the book I hope to self-publish. The downside of this is that my eyes are killing me, so I am going to keep this pretty short! I look like some kind of monster, with enormous dark circles under my eyes, and I'm cranky because I look like crap. Ideas whizz around my brain at night, keeping me awake for a stupidly long time which is only adding to my grouchiness. Thankfully, I actually slept reasonably well last night but man.... And my eyes are aching. I have taken most of the day off, but I had articles to write, so it's hard to find time to really rest! What do you do when you have days of looking like hell from too much time at the computer? Please tell me I'm not alone!

If you have been following my blog in the short time I have been writing it, you may be familiar with me struggling over the opening of my WIP. I have stared at it, re-written it, stared at it some more, put it back how it was, changed it again, moved on, been satisfied, then hated it again. I don't know if I am alone in this struggle, or if every writer fights with their opening chapter this way, but it has been a nightmare! But then something, well someone, wonderful happened. Angela Cothran , to be precise. Angela uttered some magic words, and after a moment of tearing my hair out in panic that maybe my WIP was going nowhere, I really thought about what she'd said. And the solution became clear. The downside of this revelation is that there are 5000 useless words at the start of the story. That's a hell of a number of wasted words. On the other hand, they probably aren't all a waste. Some can even be moved around to fit in a better, and less boring place. What ...

I promise not to make a habit out of posting twice in one day, but I am excited by McKenzie McCann's blog , in which she is celebrating a year of blogging, and giving away an award! Congrats to McKenzie on all of your success! I am new to your blog, but I always love to hear what you have to say. I think everyone should go check it out! Also, earlier I mentioned self publishing, and my brain has gone into overdrive, wondering about strange and tiny things. For example, my story is centered around a fictional soccer team. When I was just writing it for me, that was one thing, but I'm not sure how it works if I want other people to see it. Is it okay to create fictional football teams in a real place, or do I need to make up a fictional city too? And can I pretend the team is part of a genuine football league and mention real teams, or do I have to create everything myself? I know that is a bit rambly, and slightly desperate sounding (lol), but they are things I don't act...

Good morning, everyone! So, yesterday's "Is It Getting Hot In Here?" blogefest was huge amounts of fun! Much love to Hope and Cassie for organising it! All of those kissing scenes were perfect for Valentine's Day, and it was cool to read how everyone approached the kisses they wrote. As a direct result of all of the incredible comments I received about mine (thanks again, everyone!!), I am considering self-publishing the story it came from. After all, it is complete, it just needs some editing. I have self-published a book of short stories before, so I know how it works for the most part, but this feels different. This book will be one that shows off the kind of writing I want to do. I intend to put it out for free, or at a very low price, mainly as a thank you to everyone who has been so incredibly supportive of my writing. There are still a lot of things I need to learn about self-publishing, but it's a really good feeling to know that I already (nearly!) h...

I have been SO looking forward to the " Is It Getting Hot In Here? " blogfest! Thanks to Hope and Cassie for setting this up! You girls rock! So, onto my post! I am sharing one of my favourite kisses from a piece I wrote a few years ago, which may or may not end up as a publishable book one day! The scene involves Leah and Andy (whose name will change eventually, but at this point, Andy will do for now lol!). These characters have been working together for a few months, and there has been a lot of tension between them, mainly because Andy enjoys making Leah's working day very difficult. Here's what happens during one of their more epic fights (but cut down to fit the word count!) ** I turned away, ready to open the door for him to leave before I ended up punching him in the face for being so smug, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to him. As I stumbled against him, I clung to his waist to keep myself from falling over. My fingers twitched with lon...

Pick up any published book, and you'll probably find that somewhere, there is a love story in it. It might not always be central to the plot, but love is nearly always present. The same theme is also present in TV shows. Romantic relationships are a part of everyone's lives at some time or another, so it is something everyone can relate to. The problem with love stories is that they tend to follow the same format. A man and a woman meet, they fall in love, there is drama and they break up, they get back together. Occasionally something crazy and unusual will happen, but for the most part - every love story is the same. Does this make them bad? I don't think so. I am a "chick-lit" writer. Maybe some people wouldn't admit that so boldly, because I have come across some snobbery when I've mentioned it in the past, but if I can reach the success of Marian Keyes, Sophie Kinsella and Helen Fielding, I'll be pretty happy lol! However, while playing arou...

I am very sad to say that this is the last post in the " I'm Hearing Voices " blogfest! Cassie and Angie have done a wonderful job with this fest, and I have loved every single second of it! Thanks to everyone who has stopped by and left a comment, and followed my blog. I've followed many of you back, and I am having a lot of fun getting to know you all, and learning about your characters. Today's challenge is to write a piece of emotional flash fiction in no more than 250 words. I am excited to say I did it - yay! This piece is, again, lifted from my WIP, and is written from the perspective of Shannen. Enjoy! ** I hung up the phone, leaped out of bed and quickly threw some clothes on. Even though it was still warm, I put on my jeans and a long-sleeved top because I was shivering.  As soon as I was dressed, I grabbed my mobile and my keys, and went to wait for Guy outside. It’s weird how slow the time goes when you’re waiting. My foot tapped impatientl...

So, I guess some of you read on my blog yesterday that I was away on a mini holiday! I was gone for three days, which is why I am a little bit behind on commenting on the posts in the "I'm Hearing Voices" blogfest. However, I am back now and trying to catch up. I spent three days in Newquay, Cornwall, and for those who don't know, it's a glorious place in the far South West of England. It's one of my favourite places in the world, and any chance to go there and chill for a while it good with me! Just to give you an idea of the awesomeness - here are some photos of the view from my hotel room. To me, there is nothing more inspiring than watching the waves from somewhere warm and comforting, and although I was supposed to be resting, I used some quiet time to work on my WIP. It ended up being some of my best work so far, and I hope to get back to that hotel again as soon as possible! It's like a writer's retreat! Now, enough about my sea...

I'm glad everyone here understands that title - outsiders may think I'm losing my mind! Yes, it's day 2 of the " I'm Hearing Voices Blogfest ," and I am back to share a tad more insight into the characters from my WIP. I know I already said this, but huge thanks to everyone who read and commented on Monday's post - it's been great connecting with so many people, and I am enjoying your blogs immensely! So, today's challenge is to introduce two characters using dialogue ONLY. Boy, has this been a challenge! I would say dialogue is a strength of mine, but when you take out thoughts and internalization, it looks a lot different! I have noticed that people have interpreted this challenge different ways - and that is kind of what I love about it. When I initially read today's challenge, I read it to mean that we should write characters introducing themselves to each other, not to the people reading, and I have seen a few people do it this way, so...