E.R. Murray's Blog, page 7

The Book of Shadows is here – & you’re invited!

It’s my third book in a 12-month period, and yet holding that initial copy of an actual physical book for the first time never gets old. I’m in the middle of writing the final part of the trilogy, and it feels like a very long time since I thought about/edited/looked at The Book of Shadows – Nine Lives Trilogy 2… and yet, when I received this in the post from my publishers, the very first copy I’ve seen, it all came flooding back.

And so, once again, it’s launch time! The lovely and very generous Sarah Webb is launching The Book of Shadows in Eason’s O’Connell St, Dublin at 6.30pm on Thursday, September 15th – if you’re nearby and you’re free, I’d love you to be there. If we’ve chatted via social media but haven’t yet chatted in person, so come up and introduce yourself – please don’t be shy!

If you’re battling away at your own manuscript, please keep going and stay strong. The Book of Learning, the first in my Nine Lives Trilogy, was rejected many times and I even shelved it, thinking it was the book that got me my agent. I revived it a couple of years later and it got snapped up, and ended up being chosen as the 2016 Dublin UNESCO Citywide Read for Children.

So believe in yourself, keep going, and trust your instinct. With hard work, determination and a damn good manuscript, you’ll get there.

Interviews, bullying & class: new writing on the web

Deadlines looming – look what I’m missing!!!

I’ve competed my first draft of The Book of Revenge and I’m onto draft 2, but the deadline is looming :October 31st is not far away, especially when I’m booked out for the whole of October with events. This means that the manuscript needs to be almost complete by the end of September – the pressure is ON!!! So if you’re wondering why I’m a little quieter online at the moment, that’s the reason.

I’m away on retreat from Sunday to get some focused writing done, and then it’s time to launch The Book of Shadows – Nine Lives Trilogy 2 (details to follow)! In the meantime, I thought I’d put a post together with some of my recent ramblings around the web, in case you were looking for a quick read during your break…

A post on why I write about bullying in Caramel Hearts
My Irish Times article on class in YA fiction and how the lower classes are under-represented
10 Writing Tips for the lovely Le Book Chronicles in Australia
Some foodie fiction that I love
A Q&A in the Irish Times by Claire Hennessey (with Helen Falconer)
Another author interview on Australian blog, Read The Bloody Book
A lovely review, some Caramel Hearts designed nails (I’m not kidding) & seven Irish YA authors you should read on the Bookish Manicurist
The conclusion to my #1stdraftdiary on writing.ie (spoiler: I did it!!!)
A post on how a visit to Arvon helped my writing career
And another review/interview in Australia – this time, Read3r’z Re-Vu

Happy reading and I’ll see you all back here with details of the launch(es) soon!

#1stdraftdiary Week 4 (36,500 – 50K)

Returning to #1stdraftdiary after a break, I feel completely disconnected. I had a wonderful time at West Cork Literary Festival and also a week in the UK – but what about my characters? What’s happening in the plot? I had zero idea about what was happening before, now I have less than zero –how is that possible?

Another issue is that after delivering four books in a 20-month period, I can feel myself burning out. I’m tired, and those 6am starts aren’t cutting it any more – they’re more of a battle than a pleasure, and that’s not how I want the writing process to feel. My neck is constantly sore, threatening to lock again, so I have to mind myself. I also have to give this final book of the Nine Lives Trilogy the respect it deserves and so – time for a new routine!

I’m not sure it’ll work but I feel energised by outdoors and exercise and so I’ve decided to spend my mornings walking the dog before going to the gym and swimming & walking home again. The idea is that this will help with my back/neck but also give me more energy. We’ll see! Anyway, time to dive back in… wish me luck!!!

#1stdraftdiary Day 22: I spend the day writing fillers, adding to disjointed scenes and get from 36,500 to 37,600 in an hour! Maybe the break has been good? I continue on and pause at 40,300. Thankfully, I’m back in the zone – and I still have more left in me. I’m cautious of overdoing it and leaving myself bereft of words for tomorrow, but the pull is too strong and I continue until 43K. In fact, something unusual has happened; my brain is starting to plot and plan. Maybe it’s because it’s my fourth book, or maybe it’s because I have to wrap up the trilogy and all its threads? Who knows! This has never happened this early in a draft before – but I’m going with it. Must do what is best for the book!  Word count: 43,000

#1stdraftdiary Day 23:  Even after yesterday’s marathon, I still have words!! Hooray! This is a complete surprise, so I write as soon as I can. As I expected, I run out of steam quite quickly but a realisation hits: I know where to start The Book of Revenge (I had three options!) and so, although this has never happened before, I’m ready to start draft 2. I’m going to listen to my instinct and start it alongside the first draft; I want at least 50K words of cul-de-sacs before I feel fully ready to let go. I still have ideas to find! I move onto draft 2 and write the first chapter. Magic! Word count: 46,200 (Draft: 1112 words)

#1stdraftdiary Day 24:  Within two hours, I reach my word count (48,200) for the day but I have a hunger to continue on. I can feel draft 2 is calling me – much earlier than it would usually – but I think knowing my characters and some of the issues I have to tie up is making this happen. I push on throughout the day to 52,100 – a mammoth word count for the day that leaves me feeling a little low (this always happens when I write too much) but also elated because that’s it – I’m there. There is no point continuing to 60K, as the story is calling – This book has t be delivered to my publishers October 31st and I’m fully booked for the month of October for the children’s book festival, so I have to crack on and do this! Which means, straight into draft 2; this will be more like most people’s first draft. No ore word vomit – it’s time to think, plan, plot, smooth, shape. Wish me luck! Word count: 52,100

And so… this is the quickest first draft I’ve ever done, but also the most disjointed. I’d say it hasn’t really helped me find the story very much like it usually would because of all the breaks, but I have enough to work with. It’s all change; my routine has changed (it’s working up to now) and I’m not leaving any time between drafts this time around (I will for draft 3) – but I guess that’s all part of the fun.

Check out #1stdraftdiary on twitter to see everyone else’s achievements & to cheer people on – and if you’re working on your own first draft, join in!

#1stdraftdiary Week 3 (28K to 36.5K)

One of the most amazing things, and something I didn’t expect, is the amount of people joining in with #1stdraftdiary. Although I’ve been finding my own journey this time around to be disjointed and frustrating, I’m loving the response it’s getting from others. From people thanking me for being honest about the process and making them feel better, to lots of writers joining in to kick start their own work or understand their own process, it’s been phenomenal. And so, if you head to #1stdraftdiary on twitter and click on the Live tab, you can see what everyone is up to and offer your support. And if you’re writing a first draft, why not join in? In the meantime, here are my #1stdraftdiary days 15 to 21.

#1stdraftdiary Day 15 (June 25th): although I prefer to write first, it’s not always possible, especially when you have a number of freelance clients waiting for work or a garden that needs rescuing. I manage 2000K words of freelance, some intense weeding of the vegetable patch and herb garden (before everything dies), a dog walk, and some article pitches sent before I can sit down to write. I see it as creating an air of calm for writing; I can’t write when I have lots of things hanging over me. Despite starting late, I get my word count up to 29,400 in a very short space of time and eventually hit the 30K target. Can’t extol the virtues of switching off internet enough! Word count: 30,000

#1stdraftdiary Day 16: I was going to take a day off writing to clear some freelance work but the words are calling. I manage 300 words in a cheeky 20 minute stint and eventually finish the day at 31,500, as well as 2000K words of freelance and two guest blog posts. I set up a corker of an opening for the next morning. But first, I have a birthday party to go to! I’m chuffed that I added 1500 words on a supposed day off; it just goes to show that once you get in the swing working at this pace, it’s hard not to write! Word count: 31,500

#1stdraftdiary Day 17: Day off! I need some creative so I treat the day like a holiday and let it lead me wherever it desires. A meander through film, books, poetry, and countryside lanes with a paddle in the sea. Word count: 31,500

#1stdraftdiary Day 18: Just half an hour in and I reach 31,900 words, before adding another 700 words in a short space of time. Write when you can! It builds up! Freelance load is heavy today also, so two fast but short dog walks keep me sane. Aiming at 2K words a day, I should be on 36K words and I end up reaching 32,600. BUT: some unexpected final tweaks to The Book of Shadows – Nine Lives Trilogy 2 arrive in my inbox – a plethora of small and fiddly details that need immediate attention. Word count: 32,600

(I decide to take a pause until July 3rd because as well as the urgent edits, I have a trip to Dublin for an Arts Council event on making applications in the Irish Writers Centre – it’s a 16 hour round trip & an overnight stay for a 1.5 hour session but MUCH NEEDED!)

#1stdraftdiary Day 19 (July 3rd): I’m back to it this week before another little pause on the horizon. I’ve never written a 1st draft so disjointed before but you have to prioritize. Today: five freelance articles, 2 residency/bursary applications & 2 interviews so it’s late when I get started. I know it’s going to be almost pointless at this level of tiredness but I start at 32,700 and finishing at 33,500. That’s only 800 words but that was all I could manage today. Word count: 33,500

#1stdraftdiary Day 20: – hit the target of 2000 but it feels like filler and not really connected to what the story needs to be. Another cul-de-sac. Word count: 35,500

#1stdraftdiary Day 21: (July 5th) 1000 words. It’s usually frustrating when you don’t get many words done, but today I’m super happy as I actually thought at one point that I’d get zero done! This is the final day before I take another, longer break – I have to go on a visit to the UK to say farewell to my sister who is moving to Australia for good, and I have a massive freelance project I have to finish first otherwise I won’t get paid. When I return I’m interviewing Carol Drinkwater at West Cork Literary Festival the next day, before doing three events of my own, and so the 1st draft will have to wait until it can have the time and respect it deserves. And so, I pause on 36.5K until July 21st. Word count: 36,500

Conclusion: This has been the most disjointed first draft ever – I have never had to stop and start like this before – but when you are juggling, prioritization is necessary and I just have to live with it. Events need just as much preparation and focus, so Im prioritizing chronologically. Am I worried? Unsettled perhaps, but then, isn’t that always the way?

It seems the result is the same – I’m writing myself into a lot of cul-de-sacs so when I step away I can see where I’m not to go. The only difference is, this time, I’m not getting that buzz, that intensity that I love, because of all the gaps. This doesn’t feel great on an emotional level, but the important thing is: it’s moving forward. The process is still working it just feels different. So long as the manuscript is the best that it can be by the time I deliver it on October 31st to my publishers, all is well. By then, these weird feelings will be forgotten about anyway, so time to turn off that inner critic (she’s particularly rampant right now).

I will start again on July 21st with a view to get my draft finished by the end of the month – that gives me exactly 9 days (the right number of days to have completed this draft in my usual 30 day timeframe) to write 20-24K words (it will come to a natural halt – or at least, it usually does). Wish me luck! I’m going to need it. But in the meantime, I’ll be cheering everyone else on with their #1stdraftdiary. Come and join me?

#1stDraftDiary week 2 (14K-28K words)

Waterstone’s![image error]

And so, the first draft continues… Usually I try and write more than 2000 words a day so I can take a day off here and there, but that is stretching my limits at the moment. This first draft is proving harder than the others I’ve done, and I think it’s because it’s been so full on since signing contracts. It’s my fourth book written or edited within 18 months & the last of the constant deadlines – and I’m still doing events and promotion. I’m loving it, but I’m not certain that I can keep it up this time. Maybe I will have to find a new way to work to get this book delivered in time? Here goes…

#1stdraftdiary Day 7: Today is, surprisingly, a breeze, so the seven days up to now must have given me momentum. I make use of it while it’s here! And somehow a giant octopus slips into the story. Word count: 14,000

#1stdraftdiary Day 8: Zero. I organise my events for Belfast Book Festival this week, and answer interview answers. The festival comes first time wise, so has to take priority. When you do children’s events, you’re performing, so you have to be watertight – and events change depending on the age of the children and the group size. I have two events in Belfast with 80 teenagers each event, plus a family fun day hour and an Eason’s event to prepare. This means, planning, preparation, timing, props, practicing for each. It takes time – like anything, when I do an event, I want to do it well. That means enabling the kids to get lots out of the time spent together – and this requires thought. Word count: still 14,000

#1stdraftdiary Day 9: I awake to that niggling, judgmental voice, but beat it away with gusto. I’m starting 2,000 words behind but kind words from Jane Mitchell and CJ Black (thanks lovelies) help me get going. I realise I’ve forgotten Winston in three chapters, so I spend some time adding him in. I reach my word count easily today and still have steam so I continue on and surpass it – 3,900 words in total and doesn’t feel like it at all. One of the really good days. Word count: 17,900

  (And an unplanned intermission…

I also cheated & took a trip to Giant’s Causeway – somewhere I’ve wanted to go since I was seven years old!!!

#1stdraftdiary Day 10 (take 1): Zero. I had to freelance during the ten hour journey to Belfast Book Festival so no words written. Will try again tomorrow.

#1stdraftdiary Day 10 (take 2): Zero. By the time I finished my social media clients and have prepped for & then completed three events today, there is no energy left for words. I decide to pause for the Belfast Book Festival as I have two full days of travel and three days of events. With the best will in the world, I’ll never get through my various freelance stuff, attend events and do my own events as well as my first draft.)

#1stdraftdiary Day 10 (Take 3): Pausing was a good idea – I’m feeling energized by all the great events and festival atmosphere but also pretty tired from the ten hour journey home! As I expected, today was a bit of a slog – but I ploughed through the words and got back on track. Feeling relieved! Word count: 20,002

#1stdraftdiary Day 11: With freelance and other responsibilities today, I don’t even get started on my first draft until 8.30pm and by this time, I can actually feel my brain throbbing. I doubt brain-throb is a good sign but two hours later and my word count hits the spot – just 100 words short. Happy to leave it there. Sometimes, you have to know when to stop pushing. Word count: 21,900

#1stdraftdiary Day 12: I make writing the main focus today, before anything else, like it should be. The only interruption is a live radio interview at 12.15pm – and I’m only 500 words behind my word count at this point. I love radio, it’s a really nice way to chat about books, and so afterwards I’m excited and a little giddy so I switch to admin for a while, chasing up invoices and writing more. By 2pm, I’ve hit 24,400 words. I’ve passed my expectation and have plenty left in me. A medium-sized freelance project (40x 500 word articles with a two week deadline) comes in, so I decide to really go for it today and get ahead if I can. I also became a Patron of Reading today, so I’m celebrating . Word count: 26,400

#1stdraftdiary Day 13: Zilch. Today was spent travelling 3 hours to Cork city for two x1 hour school events in Waterstone’s (they treated me 5 star – such darlings), then a meeting, then a three hour journey home. The events went really well – the pupils were fantastic. Interested, excited, inquisitive – big thumbs up! Word count: still at 26,400.

#1stdraftdiary Day 14: And so, the day was marred by the shock result in the UK, but I decided to use it to my advantage and write the call to arms scene that I need before a battle. I rely on nature today to keep my head straight – the sea, birds, flora, vegtable garden. In the end, I write fast and the words are not completely awful. I stop the moment I reach the word count, leaving not just a chapter, but a sentence, unfinished. Word count: 28,000

Summary: word count on track, amazing schools events and a festival thrown in – but I’m feeling at the end of my energy reserves and I’m finding this difficult to admit. Let’s hope I can keep it up.

#1stdraftdiary – Week 1 (0-14,000)

Mood lighting[image error]

This is an easier week than usual, because I’ve taken a week’s leave from freelancing. I have a chest infection that’s slowing me down a little, and it’s just two weeks since I delivered the proofs of The Book of Shadows – Nine Lives Trilogy 2. Also, I’m just back from Listowel Writers’ Week, as well as my Caramel Hearts launch in Dublin, so my energy is low – but time doesn’t stand still and it’s time to get cracking on The Book of Revenge – Nine Lives Trilogy 3! It’s due to publishers on October 31st & I’ll need it to be on at least draft 3 or 4 by then. Here goes…

#1stdraftdiary Day 1: Some words are stolen from deleted scenes from Book 2 (approx 300). Today was a real slog – it was difficult to switch off from the publication & (double) launch of Caramel Hearts, so it felt like I was connecting back with the characters and little more than that. Probably the hardest day of writing yet – and this is my fourth book so I didn’t expect that! Instead of feeling pleased that I’ve started, the day ended feeling rather glum. Word count: 2012

#1stdraftdiary Day 2: I decamp to a friend’s house for a change of scenery as a pick me up. She’s an artist and works with music on somewhere else in the house and I make an important discovery – I can work with music on if it’s not in the same room! This isn’t particularly relevant for me on a day-to-day basis because I live in a mobile home, so everything sounds like it’s in the same room! But it’s a discovery all the same. The change of walls, desk, light works and I manage to get a great word count down. I know that these are all the wrong words and usually I don’t care – but this time, I’m unsettled. As I close my computer down, I realise where I should have started and know I have to start again. I don’t usually do this, but the book is due September 30th & there isn’t much room for mistakes so I delete a whole chapter. Word count: 4521

#1stdraftdiary Day 3: And start again! But the day is warm and muggy and promising sun, and it’s calling to me. I walk the dog six miles instead of the usual three before it gets too hot. An essay I want to write keeps bugging me, so I decide to think about this when I’m walking, and then concentrate on my first draft when I am stationary. It works! The essay begins to form and then I sit at the water’s edge half way through the walk, writing more of my book using notebook and pen, moving now and again to avoid a pair of territorial swans. When I return home, I write up my thoughts on the essay, then type up the book. Because I started again (something I don’t usually do), I’ve gone backwards – this puts me 1500 words behind schedule. Word count: 3500

7,200 words!!!

#1stdraftdiary Day 4: I finally connect with my old way of working. Thanks to a brief conversation with Celine Kiernan on twitter, I realise that the start has been slow because I know the characters (this is book 3 after all!!) so I’m automatically editing and criticizing, when usually I let these things go and write freely, without the little nagging voice. And so, I force that voice to switch off and gallop on, feeling much happier with the actual writing part! End of day, I’ve caught up a bit; still 800 words behind schedule but it’s early days and certainly nothing to worry about – plenty of time to catch up. Word count: 7200 

 

#1stdraftdiary Day 5: Woke up in a mild panic. The garden had to take priority, meaning a trip to Bantry to buy plants, then weeding the beds and planting before any work can get started. By 4.30, I still have 30 minutes of garden watering to do and no writing. Beating myself up severely about this for several hours of the day, but when I finally get to sit down, the words flow quite happily and I realise what a pain I’ve been to myself all day. Feeling rather joyous when I shut the computer down. Word count: 9100

#1stdraftdiary Day 6: A great day in terms of word count: I catch up and get ahead of myself. However, I had to cancel a street party with a friend, and also abandon the dog to my husband for the day to make it. I’m finding that #1stdraftdiary is revealing plenty to me about the way I work and also, all the ups and downs. I hadn’t actually realised what a daily rollercoaster it is! I’m also receiving messages from other writers saying the project is inspiring them to get started / making them feel better about their own process / interesting to read. That makes it even more worthwhile. However, I may have overdone it as my mood plummets once the writing stops and that inner voice I’ve been silencing comes out in full force… (You didn’t walk, you lazy so and so. You didn’t give the dog enough attention. Did you do anything nice for anyone else today? Why haven’t you joined this, done that – who are you trying to kid? Etc etc until I distract myself with Western films). Word count: 12,700

#1stdraftdiary Day 7: The promise of an afternoon walk with my husband and dog in one of my favourite spots, Glengarriff woods, gets me up and at it early today, with my word count achieved by 12.30pm. And that’s it on until tomorrow – just a couple of interviews to finish and this blog post, and I’m done for this week! Word count: 14,100

Other achievements this week (like I say, it’s a quiet week):

3 miles walk daily (except Day 5)
Newspaper pitches x2 – both accepted
Essay notes: 8 pages A4 (happy about this – wasn’t expecting it to sneak in!)
Updated invoices, chased unpaid invoices, updated expenses (phew! Relief!)
One online interview completed and sent
Hay bales brought in (251 in total)
Planted fennel, lettuce, kale, carrots, parsnips, beetroot, spinach, mint, sage, rosemary – almost cleared a wild patch but saw bees feeding on the buttercups and felt I should leave it until winter.
Travel for Belfast organised (this consists of a walk, a bus, and two trains each way – takes a bit of thought)
#1stdraftdiary project started
2 blog posts written/posted
Social media for writing.ie

Summary: word count on track, enjoyment of writing process back up to speed, that feeling of being a fraud still niggling but being ignored – looking forward to a new week that includes four nights & three/four events (schools, bookshop & fun day marquee) at Belfast Book Festival.

Welcome to #1stDraftDiary !

People regularly ask me how I write a first draft in a month, and I mumble my way through a barely comprehensible answer but in truth, I don’t really know. I just do it. And so, this inability to answer what should be an easy enough question has inspired a new social media project –#1stdraftdiary  – that I hope you’ll find interesting.

You see, when I write, and I get to the end, I forget all the work that went into it, the challenges and difficulties, the highs and moments of clarity; they all fade into a big fuzz. I don’t remember all the revisions or the edits, and by the time it’s actually finished – as in, been through the editing process, the copy edits, the proofs – I remember nothing of what went on to get it to that point. All I am certain of is that the first draft was written in a month, because this is the approach that works for me.

And so, I decided to try something new (to me anyway): a record of writing a first draft in a month, in real time. Check out the hashtag #1stdraftdiary on twitter to see what I mean (you don’t have to have a twitter account to follow the hashtag)!

Now, this is by no means a competitive project. There’s far too much of that around already and as authors we have enough to strive for/fail at/beat ourselves up about; it’s simply an experiment, a reaction to a question I repeatedly get asked and have no proper way of responding to.

#1stdraftdiary is an honest record of word counts and feelings and barriers and challenges, and hopefully it will amount to something that will reveal to me, not just other interested parties, what writers can go through as they write. All writers are different, so it’s just one lone ranger going for it, but it might help trigger or kick start something for someone else, or consolidate something in their own writing process. Who knows? I certainly don’t. After all, I can’t even explain my own writing process!

On twitter, I’m keeping the #1stdraftdiary chat writing specific, but I’m also going to blog on here and writing.ie about some of the other stuff that goes on behind the scenes during the day/week and how writing fits into my overall schedule.

It feels a little revealing and may turn out a big horrible mess with my usual process failing me but hey –that’s all part of it. As writers, we’ve got to be brave, right?

I hope you’ll interact with me as I bare my poor writing soul – and if you like the idea and you’re starting a WIP, why not join in too? I’d love to see how other people work too!

Caramel Hearts Well & Truly Launched!

I’m a little slow posting this as I’ve been away from home (at launches, festivals and events) and – believe it or not! – I’m also straight into writing my next book. But I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me in sending Caramel Hearts out into the world.

To everyone who came to one of my launches, bought a book, baked cakes, wrote a review, came to my twitter chats, and supported my blog tour (by hosting or reading or both) – I give you my heartfelt thanks. Without you, none of this would be possible (or as fun)!

In case you missed them, here are the articles from my blog tour, with some of my favourite photos from the launches below. Do go and have a read of anything that sounds interesting and support these wonderful blogs[image error]

Seven secrets about my books on Serendipity Reviews

All about Changing Age Group and Genre on Writing.ie

Let Them Eat Cake: the use of recipes in Caramel Hearts on Teens on Moon Lane

An interview about Caramel Hearts & The Book of Learning on Wee Bit Wordy

Chats with my lovely publishers, Alma Books

Interview with E.R. Murray on The TBR Pile

All about the writing process on LadyNicci

Food in Fiction on Girls Hearts Books (some of my favourite moments)

Interview with E.R.Murray on Yafictionados

And now for some launch photos…

Caramel Hearts is Published!

Caramel Hearts – published today!!!

I can hardly believe it; today is publication day for Caramel Hearts, which means that my second book is hitting the shelves! It is separate to the trilogy and for an older audience, so here’s a bit of info before I tell you how it all happened …

Can a book full of secrets unlock the past?

Liv Bloom’s life is even more complicated than that of your average fourteen-year-old: her father walked out on the family when she was young, her mother is in a recovery centre for alcoholics, and her older sister is struggling to step into Mum’s shoes. The only person she can turn to is her best friend Sarah, who gets out of scrapes at school and is a constant source of advice and companionship. One day Liv discovers a book of recipes written in her mum’s handwriting, which sets her off on a journey towards self-discovery and reconciliation – but a theft, a love rivalry and a school bully are just some of the many obstacles on the way.

Structured around real cake recipes, Caramel Hearts is a coming-of-age novel about love, disappointment and hope, and discovering the true value of friends and family, no matter how dysfunctional they are.

The journey of this book was fraught with uncertainty. I wrote it because my first book hadn’t been signed, and I needed to write something else. Something that wasn’t like my rejected book – not fantasy, or middle grade, or anything like The Book of Learning! I’d put so much into that first book and needed to move into a different headspace.

There was no guarantee that Caramel Hearts would be any good, and even though I now had a wonderfully supportive agent, the way forward felt pretty bleak at times. But I knew that being an author was what I really, really wanted and what I really, really cared about, so there was no way I was giving up. The decision to shelve The Book of Learning and start all over again was a difficult one, but a new book gave me something to concentrate and focus on, rather than the recent rejections.

When I started typing the first sentence of Caramel Hearts, did I believe it was ever going to get published? I hoped so, but the knockbacks – all part of the process but still difficult to deal with, especially in the early days – can be distracting, especially when you’re getting good feedback but still no deal. And yet, despite the upset and frustration, I couldn’t not write.

It was at this point, at this moment of realisation that I decided to stop focusing on the end result, on getting that elusive book deal, and instead, on enjoying the process. Coincidentally, this is also when things really began to fall into place. I found that I enjoyed turning up to my desk every day much more when I wasn’t worrying about whether I was good enough or ever going to be good enough. The words flowed. The edits flowed.

Plenty of *research* needed! #Baking #Cakes

It took a year to write and edit Caramel Hearts with the help of my agent. But when it went on submission, it felt different to last time; instead of excitement, I felt fear. What if I got close to getting signed again but it still didn’t happen?

I remember asking myself – OK, if you truly want this, how many books are you willing to write that will be potentially never be published? When will you stop?

The answer was: I would write as many books as needed and I’d never stop. I had written a whole other book after the first one was rejected, and I would do it again. And again.

And so, that’s exactly what I did. I sat and wrote another first draft of a different story, to distract myself and continue improving my craft. I also reread my The Book of Learning manuscript and still felt it was good enough. I removed the word ‘very’ as a token gesture and it went back out on submission. The fear doubled.

It turns out that I needn’t have worried. A month later, The Book of Learning was signed in a three-book deal and a couple of months after that, Caramel Hearts was also signed. Two book deals within six months, four books in total signed and three of those books to be published in my first year as an author – a dream come true!

And so, here we are: publication day of my second book, Caramel Hearts. It’s a change in age group and genre, but a book I really believe in and I hope you enjoy it.

I’ll be celebrating my ‘book birthday’ all day long on twitter and facebook, so please do join me – there’ll be a few chances to win copies of the book too, so spread the word.

Hope to see you there! Thank you for celebrating my book birthday with me! :) 

A little taster of Caramel Hearts

Seeing as it’s hitting the shelves this week, I thought it might be nice to give you a taster of what Caramel Hearts is about… So here’s a little something I’ve been working on: a mini intro video (3 mins) for you to enjoy. I hope you like it!

Huge thanks go out to Jason Lee for all the video & filming skills.