Category Archives: General

Countdown to next weekend…
Both ‘The Year’ and ‘The Cave Baby’ e-books will be FREE. Two days only, Saturday 31st and Sunday 1st.
I’ll post a reminder at the end of the week.

This morning I attended the Hartlepool Author Showcase at the Community Hub. I met thirty-one brilliant authors. The three hours flew by and everyone was so helpful with the questions I needed to ask. I have come away with many new contacts and a whole list of books I would love to read.

This event was organised by Hartlepool Community Hubs who deserve huge praise for such a well-organised and interesting morning.

There was a knock at the door. It was my lovely neighbour, G. I had given her a copy of ‘The Year’ to read and she was bringing it back. Her face said it all really. Apparently she doesn’t like me any more because I made her cry.

My daughter E read it on holiday and sent me a similar reaction by text message.

Sorry about that, G. Sorry about that, E.

Try ‘The Cave Baby’ and see if it makes you feel better.

I think my love of Appleby-in-Westmorland is obvious in ‘The Cave Baby’. I mention some of my favourite shops in the book so thought I would send some copies to Sean (Low Howgill), Sarah (Appleby Hub) and Catherine (The Little Shops by the Bridge). I hope they enjoy them.

Incidentally, my author photo on the back of the book shows me wearing a dress I bought in Catherine’s shop!

This week I have been pushing ahead with book 3 (which is really book 4 but the real book 3 has been shelved for now.)

I am aiming to do at least 1000 words a day, at which rate it should be published by Christmas.

Thank you to Emma for inadvertently giving me the plot after an incident she experienced.

I also need to thank Lisa for being a first-class literary agent this week on social media. She knows hashtags that I didn’t even know existed!

I am delighted with the bookmarks which came today. I got them from Printed.com and they are perfect. I just wanted a little something to pop in each of my gift books and will use the rest as business cards/ publicity.

I have some author copies of both books to give away so thought I would order some personalised bookmarks and stickers to give with them.

The first proper copies of ‘The Year’ arrived today. There’s something lovely about holding the paperback in your hands knowing the work that went into it. In the last few days I have uploaded ‘The Cave Baby’ too and I should have the proof copy of that one in a few days.

Book three ground to a halt and so it has been abandoned after 30 000 words! I feel that book 4 has more potential so putting more time into that.

The Year is now available on Amazon Books.

https://amzn.eu/d/013aANU7

Since October I have been full of ideas for writing and finished off ‘The Year’ then launched straight into ‘The Cave Baby’. As soon as that was published I started book 3 with the intention of slowing down a bit, but still got about 20,000 words in… and then this happened.

My computer has been temporarily abandoned and my creative flow has been stemmed by this 1.3kg bundle of fluff.

Following hot on the heels of ‘The Year’ came my second book – a novella, because it is shorter than a novel. This one felt so much easier than my debut novel and it was completed in one month. It was lovely to write something based on two places I really love – the sandy beaches on the north-east coast and the Cumbrian town of Appleby-in-Westmorland. Though the focus towns are never named in the book, anyone who knows me and the area I live in will have no doubt about which ones they are.

This book looks at some fairly sensitive issues so reader discretion is advised. Again, this is available on Kindle here:

https://amzn.eu/d/8FODxF5