Write Here, Write Now

Whoa. Two weeks ago, I sat nervously at my computer, wondering how this blog tour would go. Would anyone read my posts? Would anyone care about my book? Would it all just be a massive waste of time, resulting in me discovering that maybe writing just isn't my thing? Today, I'm sitting in the same place, astonished by the incredible level of support, not just from bloggers I already knew, but people I'd never met before, saying they enjoyed my excerpts, liked the sound of my synopsis and my characters. It kind of blows my mind just how well Game On has done over the last weeks and I couldn't have done any of it without YOU! So, this is my end of tour thank you! To those who hosted me, who followed me on every stop, who have started following my blog, left comments of support, bought Game On, left reviews or ratings - I cannot even begin to explain how grateful I am. It has been amazing! Now, we reach the final stop of the tour - and it's right here! I had an id...

Welcome to the August edition of IWSG, hosted by the amazing Alex J.Cavanaugh ! So, as most of you know by now - because I haven't shut up about it LOL - my first novel, Game On, has been released. The blog tour officially starts next week (YAY!) but I find myself becoming increasingly nervous. A blog tour not only highlights my book, but me. What if people don't like me? What if my guest posts suck, and everyone thinks I'm boring? If I can't engage people in 300 words on a blog, they probably aren't going to pick up my book. And then there's the "what happens next" question. I plan to make Game On into a series, which feels a bit arrogant of me. I don't know how many people are going to like the first book, should I really be planning to keep the series going? So far, Game On has actually been incredibly well received. I've had great reviews, so maybe I shouldn't worry about people not liking it, but what if Book Two isn't as goo...

ARGH! So, you know how I did the Game On cover reveal a while ago? Well, it was hugely popular with everyone, lots of good comments for the work my friend Bobbie did on the design, and I thought it was perfect. It IS perfect. But while getting ready for the blog tour, there was some confusion about who the story is actually aimed at. The young, cute looking characters led some to believe that Game On is YA, when in fact it fits better into the category of NA, contemporary romance, and/or chick lit. This is something I should have considered before, and to those of you who pointed it out, please don't feel bad. It's something I needed to know so I could create a cover that fits better. After much research, a couple of emails to Jolene Perry (thank you!), and my original designer, I decided that I am having two covers. For the Kindle and other ebook versions, I will use a new design. For the print book, I am keeping the old design. Having different covers isn't ideal,...

W00t! not long now until the Game On Blog Tour officially begins! Before I talk about that (for probably the last time before it starts!) I want to say than you for all your comments on the last post, especially about my photo! I would have put it off for a bit longer, but Leigh Covington asked me for one to include with the interview she'll be posting in a week or two, so I thought I'd better get on it! :D Thanks also to those of you who have purchased Game On and left reviews! It is so amazing to see such postivity, I cannot express enough how much these reviews mean to me! For those of you who are interested, I've added a new "My Books" page to the blog, so you can see where to buy Game On, and some snippets of the reviews I've received. :D So, the blog tour begins August 6th, and I have started getting my blog posts out to the fab people who will be hosting me! If you haven't received an email from me yet and are expecting one, don't panic! ...

Good morning peeps! Today I come bearing news of a kickass contest, held by DL Hammons! Apparently, WRiTE CLUB was first held last year, but as I wasn't blogging then, yesterday was the first time I heard about it. WRiTE CLUB is kind of like the writers version of a knockout, in which writers are pitted against each other - anonymously so there is no need to be afraid - in numerous rounds with a final winner being chosen at the end by a team of incredible people including authors, editors and agents! All of the details can be found here , check it out, sign up, and get ready to do battle!

To begin with, I want to say thanks again to Emily for allowing me onto her blog as a blogging mentor! Being interviewed is always fun, and Emily is awesome! So, to Camp NaNo! Four days in and I'm still on track! Well, I will be when I finish today's writing. :D I mentioned a while ago that I was planning to battle boy POV, and I'm doing my best to get through it. However, it is hard, so I decided to turn my NaNo story into dual POV so it will be 50% less difficult! I'm not against cheating to get the work done. :p Just to give you a quick recap on what I'm doing for NaNo: In Game On, I have a young soccer player named Jesse Shaw, and he proved quite popular during the A-Z challenge. So, I decided he needed his own spin-off story! It's set at the end of the soccer season, when Jesse and his best friend go to London. I don't have a proper synopsis yet, but this is my guideline for now Soccer sensation Jesse Shaw literally has the world at his fee...

Is there anything more awesome than getting work back from a CP with nothing but awesome comments? I mean, there was constructive advice too, but for the most part - my feedback has been nothing short of amazing! Much love to Leigh Covington for making me do this this morning: Also want to say thanks to Clare Dugmore and Morgan Shamy who have given me equally awesome pointers and comments. You guys rock! So, now all I have to do is get my final (FINAL!!) edits done, format correctly for Kindle publishing, figure out all the tax drama (I'm halfway through figuring it out, and I'll post about it once I'm done), get my book cover finalised, and publish this bad boy! Okay, there's still a lot to do but I'm one step closer and that is making me very happy!

Okay, so I promised you I'd let you know about my next project, but then I gave up and went into hiding for a few days. But now I'm back and ... I seem to actually be writing after a solid week of staring at an open, blank document. With Game On (ha, I still wanna say "my WIP") complete and out with my CPs, it's time for me to begin something new. Scary stuff, as I can't actually remember the last time I started a brand new story. Game On was written ... I guess six years ago. Wow. Anyway, after the A-Z challenge, I noticed that people had made some very encouraging comments about the minor characters from Game On. Most notably, Jesse Shaw, the eighteen-year-old soccer player who was just trying to find his place in the team. I had an idea to write a story about Jesse - which would mean writing WAY out of my comfort zone. I have never written boy POV before, and I haven't written YA since I was a YA myself! I have some boy POV words on my page, and t...

Okay peeps, I think I'm ready to return to blogging now! Thank you SO SO much for all your support last week. Muchly appreciates, and I will do my best to be a better blogging friend now I've had some rest. :D I was going to give you a post about what I've been up to, but I realised that I have been given a BUNCH of awards from some awesome people, so I am going to post those first lol. I have decided in advance that I am not tagging people because no doubt most people already have them. If not, take them because you all deserve them! These awards also come with rules - but if I post 10 facts about me for every award, you'll soon get bored and I'm not sure I'm that interesting! :p So, I'll just do ten in total, and you can ask question if you want to lol! Okay, so firstly, Cassie gave me the Versatile Blogger Award, which I love, because I always wanted one of these lol! Thanks Cassie!  I also got the Kreativ Blogger Awards from Laura , Jenn an...

Wow, it feels seriously weird posting something that isn't related to A-Z or a bloghop! I don't know what to do now I don't have any guidance! :p I'd just like to say, on behalf of Clare and myself, thanks for all the comments on our "dusted off" project! We have spent countless hours talking about it recently, and it will definitely be something we return to, in between our other books, edits etc. During the A-Z challenge, I finished my WIP, and it is with my CPs right now *wibbles*. I am excited and terrified because this is the first time I've been ready for a real critique, so I'm waiting with very mixed emotions! To celebrate my achievement of finishing, my friend bought me a super cool present! Yup, it's a genuine Hermione Granger wand! Sorry the picture quality is rubbish, I took it on my phone, but that doesn't take away from the awesomeness of having my own wand! I've ALWAYS wanted one. If I was offered a HP wand for fin...

My plan for the A - Z Challenge is to write every post as if it were a diary entry by a character from my WIP. Today's post comes from Leah Walker. ** Zellor. Sounds a bit like a place where Hobbits might live, but no. It's actually my home town in Cornwall. It's pretty, very picturesque, the kind of place people think of when they imagine a traditional English village, with cottages and narrow, winding roads. It's a nice place to retire, but it's not a good place for young people. I spent much of my childhood playing in my friends' back gardens, because there were no parks to go to, so we had to make do with what we had. It was a lot of fun, it meant we could stretch our imaginations and make up magical worlds to keep ourselves entertained. It was when I hit my teens that Zellor became a nightmare. Hanging out at a shopping centre wasn't an option. In Zellor, there is one street where there are a few shops, and that's it. It has everything a...

My plan for the A - Z Challenge is to write every post as if it were a diary entry by a character from my WIP. Today's post comes from Leah Walker. ** I don't really like to talk too much about my youth because ... it was really, really dull. The town I grew up in was boring, and there was nothing much to do for the kids who lived there. The nearest cinema was a 20 minute bus ride away, the nearest nightclub, a 30 minute bus ride.  That made it quite hard to get up to any of the normal teenage mischief. Well, that's not completely true. I did the usual thing of saying I was staying at my friend's house, while her parents thought she was at mine so we could sneak out and be rebellious but even with the best of imaginations, there wasn't much we could do. My childhood wasn't terrible or anything, but one of the reasons I was so desperate to get away from my tiny Cornish town was so that, if I am lucky enough to have children one day, they will grow up in a...

My plan for the A - Z Challenge is to write every post as if it were a diary entry by a character from my WIP. Today's post comes from Radleigh McCoy. ** I sleep with a lot of women, but I don't have a lot of ex-girlfriends. I can't see any good reason to date a girl unless she's really worth spending time with. When I was in school, I had a couple of girlfriends, mostly short term. I don't think I dated any of them for more than a year. My longest relationship was with Jen. She was every guy's dream. I met her just after I signed with the Warriors, and she really turned the boys' heads. God, she was perfect. Great body, beautiful face, amazing legs. Too bad she was a bitch. She had one of those messed up personalities, turning on the charm when she wanted something, but once she got it, she was cold. I put up with it for two years because we looked good together, but as it turned out, she was sleeping with one of my teammates. I gave her everything...