Lucy Mitchell's Blog, page 52

How Your Approach To Makeup Can Change While Writing Your Book #Writing

On this blog I like to record tales from my book writing journey. Hopefully a few of my readers will relate to my experiences.

Today I am going to tell you about how my approach to makeup changed while writing my debut novel; Instructions For Falling In Love Again. 

Makeup became my secret weapon while writing my debut novel.

Please don’t think I was at makeup artist standard prior to deciding to write a novel. When God was handing out makeup skills I was at the back of the queue with my head stuck in a book. My technique was very much, ‘dab a little bit here, maybe a little bit there.’ Makeup didn’t really have a purpose in my life before writing my book.

Once I started writing seriously, my creative levels went haywire and everything changed. 

I also want to point out I did spend a lot of time on my own and it was mainly my three cats and dog who got to see my dodgy makeup attempts.

Here’s what I discovered:

A good application of glittery gold eyeshadow before writing was at times a life saver. I spent a lot of time alone at the kitchen table with my laptop and because of the way the stainless steel toaster was positioned every time I looked up to groan or mutter a series of naughty words about my work, I would catch sight of my reflection. My glittery gold eyeshadow would stand out (as I had layered it on thick prior to writing) and I would find myself forgetting about my creative troubles and sighing at my glittery eyes. I would find myself muttering, ‘Mitchell, your seventh chapter sounds dire but those eyes are stunning!’
The power of bold red lipstick and literary rejections. When I experienced any sort of literary rejection I would enter into a period of inner turmoil. This would normally involve shuffling over to the sofa to cry into a fluffy cushion and hugging the life out of the dog. Days later I would make the life changing decision to get off the sofa, chuck away my damp cushion, release the dog and come back fighting. This is when I found applying bold red lipstick really helped. There is something very powerful about red lipstick as you go about your business. It gets you back into that kickass author mood.
Book idea excitement can cause havoc with your eye shadow. Good ideas for my book would always come to me when I was busy applying a vibrant shade of eye shadow to ONE eye. Squealing with joy I would rush off to find a notebook leaving the other eye bare. Fast forward several hours and a loved one would be staring at me with a puzzled expression.
My left eyebrow liked to arch higher than the right brow during the creation of an intimate scene. I don’t know why but I would put on some makeup before I sat down to write a naughty scene. After writing the intimate scene I would catch sight of my left brow in the hallway mirror and gasp. That brow was almost touching my hairline.
Procrastination and makeovers. I did find giving myself an unexpected makeover a lot while procrastinating. Some of my novel was written at my dressing table and it became so easy to ignore my plot issue and imagine myself on the red carpet at my book’s film premiere with subtle smokey eyes. I will say this is a good time waster, it certainly livens up procrastination and I looked like I had been digging coal at one point.
Giving oneself a stern writing PEP talk in the hallway mirror is more effective when one has a made up face. I do give myself a lot of PEP talks which mainly consist of me telling my reflection to get a grip. During my novel writing I felt like I was constantly stood in the hallway mirror telling myself yet again to stop moaning and get a grip. I found the PEP talk was better when I wore makeup.
Concealer has its limits. I have found that concealer for bags under the eyes and dark purple circles due to late night editing has its limits and sometimes you just have to except no amount of concealer is going to get rid of the zombie look. Once my concealer reached its limit I knew it was time for self care (a warm bath, a Twix and listening to 90’s hits).

I hoped you enjoyed this blog post.

The next time you are in the depths of rejection despair, reach for your bold red lipstick

How Your Approach To Makeup Can Change While Writing Your Book #Writing

On this blog I like to record tales from my book writing journey. Hopefully a few of my readers will relate to my experiences.

Today I am going to tell you about how my approach to makeup changed while writing my debut novel; Instructions For Falling In Love Again. 

Makeup became my secret weapon while writing my debut novel.

Please don’t think I was at makeup artist standard prior to deciding to write a novel. When God was handing out makeup skills I was at the back of the queue with my head stuck in a book. My technique was very much, ‘dab a little bit here, maybe a little bit there.’ Makeup didn’t really have a purpose in my life before writing my book.

Once I started writing seriously, my creative levels went haywire and everything changed. 

I also want to point out I did spend a lot of time on my own and it was mainly my three cats and dog who got to see my dodgy makeup attempts.

Here’s what I discovered:

A good application of glittery gold eyeshadow before writing was at times a life saver. I spent a lot of time alone at the kitchen table with my laptop and because of the way the stainless steel toaster was positioned every time I looked up to groan or mutter a series of naughty words about my work, I would catch sight of my reflection. My glittery gold eyeshadow would stand out (as I had layered it on thick prior to writing) and I would find myself forgetting about my creative troubles and sighing at my glittery eyes. I would find myself muttering, ‘Mitchell, your seventh chapter sounds dire but those eyes are stunning!’
The power of bold red lipstick and literary rejections. When I experienced any sort of literary rejection I would enter into a period of inner turmoil. This would normally involve shuffling over to the sofa to cry into a fluffy cushion and hugging the life out of the dog. Days later I would make the life changing decision to get off the sofa, chuck away my damp cushion, release the dog and come back fighting. This is when I found applying bold red lipstick really helped. There is something very powerful about red lipstick as you go about your business. It gets you back into that kickass author mood.
Book idea excitement can cause havoc with your eye shadow. Good ideas for my book would always come to me when I was busy applying a vibrant shade of eye shadow to ONE eye. Squealing with joy I would rush off to find a notebook leaving the other eye bare. Fast forward several hours and a loved one would be staring at me with a puzzled expression.
My left eyebrow liked to arch higher than the right brow during the creation of an intimate scene. I don’t know why but I would put on some makeup before I sat down to write a naughty scene. After writing the intimate scene I would catch sight of my left brow in the hallway mirror and gasp. That brow was almost touching my hairline.
Procrastination and makeovers. I did find giving myself an unexpected makeover a lot while procrastinating. Some of my novel was written at my dressing table and it became so easy to ignore my plot issue and imagine myself on the red carpet at my book’s film premiere with subtle smokey eyes. I will say this is a good time waster, it certainly livens up procrastination and I looked like I had been digging coal at one point.
Giving oneself a stern writing PEP talk in the hallway mirror is more effective when one has a made up face. I do give myself a lot of PEP talks which mainly consist of me telling my reflection to get a grip. During my novel writing I felt like I was constantly stood in the hallway mirror telling myself yet again to stop moaning and get a grip. I found the PEP talk was better when I wore makeup.
Concealer has its limits. I have found that concealer for bags under the eyes and dark purple circles due to late night editing has its limits and sometimes you just have to except no amount of concealer is going to get rid of the zombie look. Once my concealer reached its limit I knew it was time for self care (a warm bath, a Twix and listening to 90’s hits).

I hoped you enjoyed this blog post.

The next time you are in the depths of rejection despair, reach for your bold red lipstick

How Your Approach To Makeup Can Change While Writing Your Book #Writing

On this blog I like to record tales from my book writing journey. Hopefully a few of my readers will relate to my experiences.

Today I am going to tell you about how my approach to makeup changed while writing my debut novel; Instructions For Falling In Love Again. 

Makeup became my secret weapon while writing my debut novel.

Please don’t think I was at makeup artist standard prior to deciding to write a novel. When God was handing out makeup skills I was at the back of the queue with my head stuck in a book. My technique was very much, ‘dab a little bit here, maybe a little bit there.’ Makeup didn’t really have a purpose in my life before writing my book.

Once I started writing seriously, my creative levels went haywire and everything changed. 

I also want to point out I did spend a lot of time on my own and it was mainly my three cats and dog who got to see my dodgy makeup attempts.

Here’s what I discovered:

A good application of glittery gold eyeshadow before writing was at times a life saver. I spent a lot of time alone at the kitchen table with my laptop and because of the way the stainless steel toaster was positioned every time I looked up to groan or mutter a series of naughty words about my work, I would catch sight of my reflection. My glittery gold eyeshadow would stand out (as I had layered it on thick prior to writing) and I would find myself forgetting about my creative troubles and sighing at my glittery eyes. I would find myself muttering, ‘Mitchell, your seventh chapter sounds dire but those eyes are stunning!’
The power of bold red lipstick and literary rejections. When I experienced any sort of literary rejection I would enter into a period of inner turmoil. This would normally involve shuffling over to the sofa to cry into a fluffy cushion and hugging the life out of the dog. Days later I would make the life changing decision to get off the sofa, chuck away my damp cushion, release the dog and come back fighting. This is when I found applying bold red lipstick really helped. There is something very powerful about red lipstick as you go about your business. It gets you back into that kickass author mood.
Book idea excitement can cause havoc with your eye shadow. Good ideas for my book would always come to me when I was busy applying a vibrant shade of eye shadow to ONE eye. Squealing with joy I would rush off to find a notebook leaving the other eye bare. Fast forward several hours and a loved one would be staring at me with a puzzled expression.
My left eyebrow liked to arch higher than the right brow during the creation of an intimate scene. I don’t know why but I would put on some makeup before I sat down to write a naughty scene. After writing the intimate scene I would catch sight of my left brow in the hallway mirror and gasp. That brow was almost touching my hairline.
Procrastination and makeovers. I did find giving myself an unexpected makeover a lot while procrastinating. Some of my novel was written at my dressing table and it became so easy to ignore my plot issue and imagine myself on the red carpet at my book’s film premiere with subtle smokey eyes. I will say this is a good time waster, it certainly livens up procrastination and I looked like I had been digging coal at one point.
Giving oneself a stern writing PEP talk in the hallway mirror is more effective when one has a made up face. I do give myself a lot of PEP talks which mainly consist of me telling my reflection to get a grip. During my novel writing I felt like I was constantly stood in the hallway mirror telling myself yet again to stop moaning and get a grip. I found the PEP talk was better when I wore makeup.
Concealer has its limits. I have found that concealer for bags under the eyes and dark purple circles due to late night editing has its limits and sometimes you just have to except no amount of concealer is going to get rid of the zombie look. Once my concealer reached its limit I knew it was time for self care (a warm bath, a Twix and listening to 90’s hits).

I hoped you enjoyed this blog post.

The next time you are in the depths of rejection despair, reach for your bold red lipstick

#Booklover – Are You a Plot Twist Thrill Seeker? #TuesdayBookBlog #Bookish

Book reviews will resume next week. 

For now I think it is time to talk about those of us who love a good plot twist.

Important question: are you a plot twist thrill seeker? 

Check out the signs below to see whether you are one:

You crave the rush of excitement and adrenalin from a good plot twist.
You don’t want to read dull and predictable books.
You are constantly searching for the ultimate plot twist. This means you are likely to have multiple books on the go
You trawl through book reviews searching for phrases like ‘WOW – what a plot twist!’ and ‘OMG – I never saw that twist coming!’  Once spotted you hunt down, purchase and read it.
While starting a good book you can be heard muttering things like; ‘I haven’t experienced a good twist in weeks!’
Reading enjoyment for you comes from trying to work out what the plot twist will be and whether you will guess it.
Sometimes your literary pleasure is dampened as you spend most of your time searching for what you believe to be foreshadowing and characters behaving oddly.
You have a lot of respect for the few authors who have caught you off guard.
You struggle to control your literary frustration if the plot twist was:

not there
not executed cleverly
just weak!  One of your pet hates in life is poorly constructed plot twists.


You crave that glorious moment when you have been caught off guard, your jaw is on the floor in shock and you are busy flipping back to the previous pages wondering what the hell just happened. This to you is book magic!
Your book reviews focus heavily on how you felt after the plot twist.
You need a regular plot twist fix. If you don’t get your regular dose of literary thrill seeking you can get a bit moody.

A big shout out to all the cunning and mischievous authors who are currently rubbing their hands with glee, who have an evil glint in their eye and are about to write a fabulous plot twist!

Have a fabulous day!

 

How To Survive Being Married To A Writer #WritingCommunity

It’s not easy being married to a writer. We are strange creatures.

Here are some useful tips on how to survive being married to a writer:

1. Accept the fact that you will spend a lot of your marriage talking about people, events and locations that don’t actually exist.

2. When your writer wakes you in the small hours with an amazing new idea for their next story you need to wake up, switch on the light and let them talk it through. Moaning about what time it is, how tired you are and what you have on at work is not going to help your writer. This is a big moment for them, it’s the birth of something wonderful. Your support is needed 24-7.

3. Marital relations and their writing ‘ups and downs’ will become interlinked. When their writing is going well you can expect good times, kisses and smiles. When their writing is not going so well you can expect tension, tears and tantrums.

4. When your writer emerges from fantasy world the best thing you can do is get them a hot, sweet drink, sit them down somewhere quiet and offer them a little food. Your writer needs to acclimatize to reality slowly. During this delicate time moaning at your bleary eyed writer about the state of the washing, the empty food cupboards and lack of ironing will cause immediate marital discord.

5. Accept the fact that your writer cannot read a book without commenting loudly on the plot, characters and the ending. You may want to read in bed quietly after a hard day’s work, which is great, however writers cannot keep book thoughts to themselves. Face it you are going to be interrupted and disturbed during bedtime reading. Try getting some ear plugs.

6. Tread carefully when giving your writer some feedback on their story. Think carefully about giving your writer some negative feedback like ‘that is really odd, don’t show that to anyone’ and ‘I don’t get it’. This is a minefield. Say something inflammatory and you run the risk of your shirts not being ironed, dinner being put in the bin and you being ignored. Think – is it worth the marital pain? The best option for you is to get your writer a ‘writer friend’. These special people are useful because they will happily discuss your writer’s stories for hours, they will be on hand to give the positive and negative feedback your writer needs and they will be a calming influence in your writer’s life. Writer friends can be found on blogs, in writing classes and in coffee shops by the side of motorways.

7. If you find your writer in floods of tears and distraught over the death of one of their favourite characters, in their story, here are the actions that you need to take to survive this tragedy:

– Place calming hand on the shoulder of your writer and in a reassuring voice say ‘we are going to get through this together’ (gentle squeeze)

– Reach for a black tie or armband

– Diarise a note to yourself for a couple of days later to turn to your writer (preferably with teary eyes) and say that you are struggling with coming to terms with the loss of their character.

8. If there is a character who sets hearts racing in your writer’s story and gives your writer that ‘dreamy, faraway look’ (nudge wink) suggest some marriage role play. You taking on the role of your writer’s special character in marital role play will help your writer in so many ways. Sigh.

9. When your writer is deep in fantasy world, don’t disturb them with ‘low priority’ issues like the dish washer needs unloading or the kids are squabbling.

10. Accept that your own issues regarding your car, the state of the kitchen ceiling, tickets for the next sporting event you want to attend and the next political election don’t come close in terms of importance and magnitude to the issues your writer is facing with their story.

Being married to a writer is tough. Remember the old saying – ‘what is good for the writer is good for the marriage!’

 

 

A List of Failed Attempts at Trying to Manage a ‘To Be Read’ Book Pile #TuesdayBookBlog #BookWormProblems

Your To Be Read (TBR) book pile is blocking out the light from your window, wisps of grey smoke have been seen curling up from your electronic reader, your loved one has to schedule in date nights between books and your pile is so big you are considering making yourself a little house of books to live in while the family descend into chaos outside it.

This is when some bright spark will suggest you attempt to manage your TBR pile.

‘Get it under control,’ they chuckle as you eye roll them before muttering unspeakable stuff under your breath.

Warning: This blog post does not give you any sensible advice. 

I have decided to do a list of failed attempts at trying to manage a TBR book pile.

Make a conscious effort not to buy anymore books until there has been a significant reduction in the TBR book pile. This doesn’t work as you can’t walk around town in a straight jacket and can someone define what is classed as a significant reduction in books?
Read multiple books. This makes your love of reading worse and you end up buying multiple books to replace the ones you have read.
Split TBR book pile into two groups  titled ‘I should read soon’ and ‘OMG – I must read now!’ Very difficult to sort good books into these categories.
Announce that you are planning to avoid all book shops for the rest of the year. The problem here is with announcing your intention. I have found once I announce something like this, God makes it IMPOSSIBLE for me to do it and I will somehow mysteriously end up in one with a magic gift card in my hand.
Make a shortlist of books you want to read and then hide the rest of your TBR pile. This is really difficult as give it an hour and I guarantee every book in your TBR pile will be on that shortlist.
Sort them into alphabetical order. Stop trying to make out you have your book obsession under control.
Decide to not go to any book club meet ups until your TBR pile reduces in size. Why would anyone deprive themselves of book club?
Ask your loved one (who is known for being practical and good at organisation) for ideas on how to manage your TBR pile. Causes sudden rifts in good relationships.
Ask a close friend or a loved one to give you a little punishment every time you add to your book pile. The quickest way to falling out with a close friend or loved one.
Mute everyone on Twitter who loves books or tweets about books. Given the current UK political situation books are our only salvation. Best of luck at finding any kind of hope in your new twitter newsfeed. By lunchtime you will be un-muting like crazy and by dinner you will be happily adding to your TBR pile.

Accept that you and your TBR pile are lost causes. Oh well…worse things have happened at sea.

Have a good day!

Lucy

How To Survive Writing Your Second Novel – Fab Guest Post by @bookish_yogi

Many creative moons ago I asked bestselling romance author Rachel Burton to write me a guest post. If you don’t know Rachel, let me tell you about her. She’s the author of The Many Colours of Us, The Things We Need To Say and The Pieces of You & Me.

She wrote this fab post on her learnings with writing a second novel and it warrants a re-post for the following reasons:

I am struggling to write my second novel.
I have been moaning a lot on instagram about my second novel.
Close friends have stopped asking me about my second novel.

Before Rachel’s guest post I would like to say that I think the subject of writing second books needs to be the focus of more blog posts and writing craft books.

This week I discovered second novel syndrome.

To sum up this syndrome in GIFS:

You’ve written a novel you are happy about.

2.  Then you realise you have to do the same thing again and it has to be just as good or even better…

3. Then the doubt kicks in – can you do all that again? Maybe you are a one-trick-pony?

4. Then you have a major meltdown…

Right, here is the guest post from Rachel. I love this post because Rachel gives good practical advice. 

It is a truth universally acknowledged that second books are difficult beasts. There is a lot of expectation, particularly if your first has done well, there is usually a deadline and often a lot of people’s opinions to take into account.

All in all it’s very different to writing your first – which in general you are often writing completely for yourself.

I spent the best part of three years on my first book. I wrote my second in eleven months. In that time I re-wrote the whole thing twice and went through two big structural edits; one with my agent and one with my editor. It was eye-opening to say the least and here are a few things I learned:-

1. Trust your gut

As I said, there will probably be a lot more people involved in this book. With your first will mostly have been all alone, or at most being buoyed along by friends or a writing group. I wrote my debut The Many Colours of Us by myself in my free time, while working full-time and running a business. I didn’t take it very seriously until it was almost finished. In truth I never really believed it would be finished until it got there.

Book 2 was very different. I had a lot of people around me offering support and advice – my publisher, my editor, my agent. On the plus side this was great because when I got stuck I had people to bounce ideas off, people to suggest different themes that I could explore, people to help me develop characters. On the negative side…I had a lot of people around me offering support and advice!! Ever heard the phrase ‘too many cooks spoil the broth,’?

If you don’t trust your gut with your second novel there’s a chance this might happen. I got to a point where my agent, myself and my editor all had a different set of ideas about where the book should go. In the end I had to back away, spend some time alone with my characters – and this is what led to the first major rewrite.

Your editor and agent want your book to do well, they want to help you produce the best work you possibly can. But at the end of the day you know your characters, you know how they would behave – take all the advice you’ve been given but ultimately trust your characters and yourself.

2. Plan, plan, plan

Confession. I didn’t plan my first book at all. I just sat down and wrote and waited to see what would happen. This is part of the reason it took three years.

Now I know planning doesn’t work for everyone, but I realised that if I had to write a book in a year I needed to know exactly where I was going. I split the book into three acts and I worked out exactly what would happen in each act – beginning, middle and end. This helped me write a specific number of words per week that I would need to reach my goal. I can’t plan chapter by chapter like some people do, but I really found this method helped me have a clearer path to my end goal.

3. Get a betareader

Betareaders are kind people who will read and comment honestly on your work. There will come a point in your drafting and editing when you, your agent and your editor will all be a little bit too close to the book to get perspective. This is where a betareader is invaluable. I was lucky enough to have three wonderful readers who all read different drafts and all helped immeasurably (you guys know who you are!).

I know it’s a scary prospect letting other people read your book but remember, by this point you’ve got a book out in the world and lots of people are reading it. Take a deep breath and give it a go – I have never regretted asking a betareader to help out.

4. Read, read, read

This one is self-explanatory. Keep reading – read in your genre, around your genre, outside of your genre. Read fiction and non-fiction, read the news, read everything. You never know where inspiration might come from. I tend to read in my own genre while I’m sitting on an idea and during the first draft and then when it comes to second drafts and subsequent edits I read outside of my genre (mostly in case I accidentally plagiarise, but also for a break).

5. Keep being you!

You are completely unique, your narrative voice, your characters, the way you choose to tell a story.

Write the story you want to tell. Your agent and editor will help you tell that story in the best possible way so that it can (hopefully!) be commercially successful – but ultimately this is all you.

While working with my editor on the last edit of my second book we came across an idea we didn’t agree on. Eventually (after a sleepless night) I broached the subject of not being happy with this edit. When I explained why to my editor she was on my side and helped me work the book in a different way.

So before you start work on an edit you are not 100% comfortable with remember: it’s your name on the cover.

Thank you Rachel. 

If you are about to start writing your second, I wish you well, my friend.

Have a great day.

How To Remain Patient With Your Favourite Author While You Wait For Their Next Book To Come Out

It is not easy waiting for your favourite author to bring out their next book.

After binge reading all their books, fangirling them by email and social media, all you can do is sit and wait for their next offering.

This agonising waiting period will involve some serious finger drumming, a lot of social media stalking and you forcing yourself to enjoy other books…written by other authors – gasp!

You will find yourself saying things like “how long does it take to write a book eh?” and “what is she / he doing…seriously it has been MONTHS!” 

And then that empty feeling inside you sets in. It is going to be a long and cruel wait.

Your literary pain will intensify when your favourite author sends you a newsletter with either a small taster of their next book. For noting: their next book will sound AMAZING and may even leave you gasping.

Or they let you know that they will have some important news on their book very soon – can someone actually define this time period?

I get that these newsletters are an important marketing tool, but they can be torturous to an author’s biggest fan.

Here is how to have patience during this challenging time:

Have faith in your favourite author and their book writing abilities. They will deliver on that next book!
Don’t believe everything you read on social media. Just because their Twitter feed gives you the impression they are enjoying themselves / not writing their next book, it probably isn’t true. They will be beavering away behind the scenes…on that relaxing beach holiday! Sigh.
Focus on that special day in the future when their next book is launched. All your literary pain and suffering will go away in an instant as you log onto Amazon and see their next book twinkling at you.
A regular tweet or two might not be a bad idea. It lets them know their reading fans are getting eager for their book and might encourage them to get a wriggle on!  Add some appropriate hashtags like #hurryup and #getoffthatsunloungerandwrite
Writing a book is hard so go easy on your favourite author. You only have to look at the tweets on Twitter under the #Writer hashtag to get an indication of how hard it is.
It’s tough being an author these days. Have some sympathy and try to picture them tearing themselves away from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Netflix to write their next book.
Don’t think about stuff like whether or not their next book will be the last in the series or whether this next book will need a sequel. These things will just make your  book misery worse.
Try not to dwell on things like which characters will die in the next book and which characters will start a steamy romance. All will be revealed in due course.
Put as much pressure as you can on your book club for getting your fav author’s book read. This will give you a wonderful opportunity to read their book again. Let’s hope none of your fellow book club members disagree with you on the quality of your fav author’s book.
Hunt out fan fiction if available or write some yourself!  Rewrite those romance scenes that didn’t live up to your expectations or those fight scenes where the wrong character died. All of this will keep your literary love alive.
Reassure yourself with the following – your favourite author is taking their time to write you an amazing and brilliant book. Good things come to those who wait!

Take it easy and be patient!

Have a great day!

How To Remain Patient With Your Favourite Author While You Wait For Their Next Book To Come Out

It is not easy waiting for your favourite author to bring out their next book.

After binge reading all their books, fangirling them by email and social media, all you can do is sit and wait for their next offering.

This agonising waiting period will involve some serious finger drumming, a lot of social media stalking and you forcing yourself to enjoy other books…written by other authors – gasp!

You will find yourself saying things like “how long does it take to write a book eh?” and “what is she / he doing…seriously it has been MONTHS!” 

And then that empty feeling inside you sets in. It is going to be a long and cruel wait.

Your literary pain will intensify when your favourite author sends you a newsletter with either a small taster of their next book. For noting: their next book will sound AMAZING and may even leave you gasping.

Or they let you know that they will have some important news on their book very soon – can someone actually define this time period?

I get that these newsletters are an important marketing tool, but they can be torturous to an author’s biggest fan.

Here is how to have patience during this challenging time:

Have faith in your favourite author and their book writing abilities. They will deliver on that next book!
Don’t believe everything you read on social media. Just because their Twitter feed gives you the impression they are enjoying themselves / not writing their next book, it probably isn’t true. They will be beavering away behind the scenes…on that relaxing beach holiday! Sigh.
Focus on that special day in the future when their next book is launched. All your literary pain and suffering will go away in an instant as you log onto Amazon and see their next book twinkling at you.
A regular tweet or two might not be a bad idea. It lets them know their reading fans are getting eager for their book and might encourage them to get a wriggle on!  Add some appropriate hashtags like #hurryup and #getoffthatsunloungerandwrite
Writing a book is hard so go easy on your favourite author. You only have to look at the tweets on Twitter under the #Writer hashtag to get an indication of how hard it is.
It’s tough being an author these days. Have some sympathy and try to picture them tearing themselves away from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Netflix to write their next book.
Don’t think about stuff like whether or not their next book will be the last in the series or whether this next book will need a sequel. These things will just make your  book misery worse.
Try not to dwell on things like which characters will die in the next book and which characters will start a steamy romance. All will be revealed in due course.
Put as much pressure as you can on your book club for getting your fav author’s book read. This will give you a wonderful opportunity to read their book again. Let’s hope none of your fellow book club members disagree with you on the quality of your fav author’s book.
Hunt out fan fiction if available or write some yourself!  Rewrite those romance scenes that didn’t live up to your expectations or those fight scenes where the wrong character died. All of this will keep your literary love alive.
Reassure yourself with the following – your favourite author is taking their time to write you an amazing and brilliant book. Good things come to those who wait!

Take it easy and be patient!

Have a great day!

How To Remain Patient With Your Favourite Author While You Wait For Their Next Book To Come Out

It is not easy waiting for your favourite author to bring out their next book.

After binge reading all their books, fangirling them by email and social media, all you can do is sit and wait for their next offering.

This agonising waiting period will involve some serious finger drumming, a lot of social media stalking and you forcing yourself to enjoy other books…written by other authors – gasp!

You will find yourself saying things like “how long does it take to write a book eh?” and “what is she / he doing…seriously it has been MONTHS!” 

And then that empty feeling inside you sets in. It is going to be a long and cruel wait.

Your literary pain will intensify when your favourite author sends you a newsletter with either a small taster of their next book. For noting: their next book will sound AMAZING and may even leave you gasping.

Or they let you know that they will have some important news on their book very soon – can someone actually define this time period?

I get that these newsletters are an important marketing tool, but they can be torturous to an author’s biggest fan.

Here is how to have patience during this challenging time:

Have faith in your favourite author and their book writing abilities. They will deliver on that next book!
Don’t believe everything you read on social media. Just because their Twitter feed gives you the impression they are enjoying themselves / not writing their next book, it probably isn’t true. They will be beavering away behind the scenes…on that relaxing beach holiday! Sigh.
Focus on that special day in the future when their next book is launched. All your literary pain and suffering will go away in an instant as you log onto Amazon and see their next book twinkling at you.
A regular tweet or two might not be a bad idea. It lets them know their reading fans are getting eager for their book and might encourage them to get a wriggle on!  Add some appropriate hashtags like #hurryup and #getoffthatsunloungerandwrite
Writing a book is hard so go easy on your favourite author. You only have to look at the tweets on Twitter under the #Writer hashtag to get an indication of how hard it is.
It’s tough being an author these days. Have some sympathy and try to picture them tearing themselves away from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Netflix to write their next book.
Don’t think about stuff like whether or not their next book will be the last in the series or whether this next book will need a sequel. These things will just make your  book misery worse.
Try not to dwell on things like which characters will die in the next book and which characters will start a steamy romance. All will be revealed in due course.
Put as much pressure as you can on your book club for getting your fav author’s book read. This will give you a wonderful opportunity to read their book again. Let’s hope none of your fellow book club members disagree with you on the quality of your fav author’s book.
Hunt out fan fiction if available or write some yourself!  Rewrite those romance scenes that didn’t live up to your expectations or those fight scenes where the wrong character died. All of this will keep your literary love alive.
Reassure yourself with the following – your favourite author is taking their time to write you an amazing and brilliant book. Good things come to those who wait!

Take it easy and be patient!

Have a great day!