Kitty Johnson's Blog, page 2
March 18, 2024
Write the Big Scenes
I’m currently working on edits for my 2025 novel - it’s current title is Closest Kept, but since I very much doubt it will end up with this title, my 2025 novel is what I’ve come to think of it as.
I haven’t been asked to make any major changes - yay!! Okay, the third act needs more work, but mainly I’ve just been asked to dig deeper.
As a creative writing tutor, I often picked my students up on places in their stories where they’d omitted to write a big scene, skimming over it in a few reported sentences. You need to dramatise this, I’d tell them. (Many of my students on my mailing list are probably nodding their heads at this point. Either that, or smiling wryly.)
The places where they’d skipped over a big scene were always so obvious to me - there was their audience, in their seats, waiting to be caught up in their characters’ emotions. To have that prickly feeling on the back of their necks as their hairs stood on end. To grip the book tighter as they experienced empathy, horror, or absolute joy, and the writer hadn’t even opened the curtains on the scene, leaving the reader thinking, Oh, is that it?
Well, it turns out it’s easier to spot these places in someone else’s writing than your own, because last week I read this note from my editor:
So much we miss here - that feels too important to skip over to me.
And of course, she’s right.
That’s the wonderful thing about working with an editor you’re on the same wavelength as. Someone who really ‘gets’ your book and your characters. She can point things out, say a few words, and bing, there’s a chemical reaction inside your head and you know exactly what needs to be done.
I don’t know if other writers find this kind of collaboration daunting; whether it undermines their self-confidence. I suppose it’s possible they feel reluctant to let go of their autonomy. But for me, happily, it’s a very positive experience. I don’t feel as if I’ve been told what to do, just as if I’ve been given a packet of seeds to sew and cultivate exactly as I want.
So, prepare to grip the book tighter, buckle up, and put your scarf on ready for that chill on the back of your neck.
I’m diving in!
I haven’t been asked to make any major changes - yay!! Okay, the third act needs more work, but mainly I’ve just been asked to dig deeper.
As a creative writing tutor, I often picked my students up on places in their stories where they’d omitted to write a big scene, skimming over it in a few reported sentences. You need to dramatise this, I’d tell them. (Many of my students on my mailing list are probably nodding their heads at this point. Either that, or smiling wryly.)
The places where they’d skipped over a big scene were always so obvious to me - there was their audience, in their seats, waiting to be caught up in their characters’ emotions. To have that prickly feeling on the back of their necks as their hairs stood on end. To grip the book tighter as they experienced empathy, horror, or absolute joy, and the writer hadn’t even opened the curtains on the scene, leaving the reader thinking, Oh, is that it?
Well, it turns out it’s easier to spot these places in someone else’s writing than your own, because last week I read this note from my editor:
So much we miss here - that feels too important to skip over to me.
And of course, she’s right.
That’s the wonderful thing about working with an editor you’re on the same wavelength as. Someone who really ‘gets’ your book and your characters. She can point things out, say a few words, and bing, there’s a chemical reaction inside your head and you know exactly what needs to be done.
I don’t know if other writers find this kind of collaboration daunting; whether it undermines their self-confidence. I suppose it’s possible they feel reluctant to let go of their autonomy. But for me, happily, it’s a very positive experience. I don’t feel as if I’ve been told what to do, just as if I’ve been given a packet of seeds to sew and cultivate exactly as I want.
So, prepare to grip the book tighter, buckle up, and put your scarf on ready for that chill on the back of your neck.
I’m diving in!
March 2, 2024
Bulges and Pheasants
This has been quite an interesting and exciting week for me. I’ve taken a holiday - or rather, even though I haven’t been away anywhere, (except for a day trip to London), I had a week off from writing.
Those of you who work from home will know it’s not always easy to give yourself permission to do this, especially when you have a partner who goes off to work every day. Actually, for me, this is always the case, because I do something I love - something which barely feels like work even though I work very hard at it - and my partner has a job he’d willingly give up if he could.
Anyway, back to the interesting and exciting. Phew, I hear you say. Ha!
Monday evening was the final session of the six-week stand-up comedy course I’ve been doing, and we had to perform the five-minute comedy routine we’ve been working on. We were allowed to read out our material rather than learning it off by heart, which took the pressure off, but it was still a nerve-wracking experience. The group was hugely supportive though, and overall it was very uplifting. Unfortunately, whenever I do this sort of thing I seem to include swear words and er…rude material, so I’m not going to post my material here.
One topic of my routine was the traumatic time, aged 11, when I had to give a talk to my French class. I intended to start off by saying that Joan of Arc was brought up as a peasant, but instead, I confidently told the class she was raised as a pheasant. I’m sure I don’t have to describe the ensuing hilarity, arm flapping and pheasant noises to you.
This disaster had a - greatly exaggerated for the purposes of my comedy routine - major effect on my self-confidence. It gave me a public speaking phobia it took years to overcome. I could barely speak in class, and generally hid silently at the back hoping I wouldn’t be noticed. It wasn’t at all funny back then, but I really wish I could go back in time to tell that red-faced, humiliated girl she would make jokes about it in later life. And that people would laugh for the right reasons.
The other members of the comedy course are busy planning to perform their material at open mic sessions. I’d definitely join them I think, if I lived nearer. They mostly live in an around Manchester - a five-hour journey by train from me. We don’t have the same comedy scene in Norwich, though I’m not saying definitely never!
Performance wasn’t my main motivation for doing the course though - I’m currently developing a character who wants to be a stand-up comedian, and I wanted to learn methods for coming up with material. Now that the course is finished, I’m really looking forward to experiencing the whole thing through her eyes and seeing what she comes up with!
Those of you who work from home will know it’s not always easy to give yourself permission to do this, especially when you have a partner who goes off to work every day. Actually, for me, this is always the case, because I do something I love - something which barely feels like work even though I work very hard at it - and my partner has a job he’d willingly give up if he could.
Anyway, back to the interesting and exciting. Phew, I hear you say. Ha!
Monday evening was the final session of the six-week stand-up comedy course I’ve been doing, and we had to perform the five-minute comedy routine we’ve been working on. We were allowed to read out our material rather than learning it off by heart, which took the pressure off, but it was still a nerve-wracking experience. The group was hugely supportive though, and overall it was very uplifting. Unfortunately, whenever I do this sort of thing I seem to include swear words and er…rude material, so I’m not going to post my material here.
One topic of my routine was the traumatic time, aged 11, when I had to give a talk to my French class. I intended to start off by saying that Joan of Arc was brought up as a peasant, but instead, I confidently told the class she was raised as a pheasant. I’m sure I don’t have to describe the ensuing hilarity, arm flapping and pheasant noises to you.
This disaster had a - greatly exaggerated for the purposes of my comedy routine - major effect on my self-confidence. It gave me a public speaking phobia it took years to overcome. I could barely speak in class, and generally hid silently at the back hoping I wouldn’t be noticed. It wasn’t at all funny back then, but I really wish I could go back in time to tell that red-faced, humiliated girl she would make jokes about it in later life. And that people would laugh for the right reasons.
The other members of the comedy course are busy planning to perform their material at open mic sessions. I’d definitely join them I think, if I lived nearer. They mostly live in an around Manchester - a five-hour journey by train from me. We don’t have the same comedy scene in Norwich, though I’m not saying definitely never!
Performance wasn’t my main motivation for doing the course though - I’m currently developing a character who wants to be a stand-up comedian, and I wanted to learn methods for coming up with material. Now that the course is finished, I’m really looking forward to experiencing the whole thing through her eyes and seeing what she comes up with!
February 22, 2024
One Day, Five Winters and Naked Poker
I’ve recently binged-watched the new Netflix adaptation of One Day by David Nicholls, and I agree with Matt Haig (The Midnight Library) who’s just posted on Instagram to say how good it is. I think the adaptation is fantastic - the acting, the settings, the emotion, the flawed characters… I could go on. My only regret is that I’ve finished it. But hey, I can always watch it all over again.
I loved One Day when it first came out in 2011. The idea of following two characters on the same date over twenty years was refreshing and exciting. Also, for a writer, challenging and interesting. I freely admit that, when I decided my novel Five Winters should take place over, well, five winters, I was inspired by the structure of One Day. Why not? The two books are very different - although they’re both about love and finding yourself. I loved using the structure of five different parts - one for each year of the book. Finding ways to leave the reader on a cliffhanger at the end of one part and choosing interesting ways to fill her in on what had happened during the intervening time was fun, and somehow, because of it, the book almost wrote itself.
There’s nothing wrong with being inspired by such things - if there was, there may not have been anymore whodunits after Agatha Christie.
But what if a celebrity decides to write a series of books with a set up and a group of characters that is really similar to one you’ve been writing about yourself for several years? And what if that celebrity’s series becomes a global success, hitting all the best-seller lists? It’s irksome, that’s what it is!
I’m speaking about my friend Ann Warner’s Babbling Brook Naked Poker Club series, and Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club books. Now Richard, who may not have been quite the celebrity he was in the UK elsewhere in the world when he first decided to pick up a pen, is a thoroughly delightful guy. (Not that I’ve met him in person, you understand, but that’s the way he comes across on TV and social media). There’s no way he would have deliberately scoured the Internet, come across Ann’s books about a group of sleuthing pensioners and thought to himself, “That’s a good idea, I’ll try that myself.” In fact, I know the inspiration for the books came from his mother living in a supported living complex. But if Richard ever does come across Ann’s books, he’ll love them as, if you like Richard’s books, you will too.
Both series have sparky characters, wit, emotion, heaps of adventures and dastardly baddies. They keep you gripped. What Richards books don’t have is naked poker. And the first of his books isn’t free to download the way Ann’s is. Just saying.
If you like cosy mysteries, why not give Ann’s books a try? Here's the link to the first one in the seeries: The Babbling Brook Naked Poker Club: Book One
I loved One Day when it first came out in 2011. The idea of following two characters on the same date over twenty years was refreshing and exciting. Also, for a writer, challenging and interesting. I freely admit that, when I decided my novel Five Winters should take place over, well, five winters, I was inspired by the structure of One Day. Why not? The two books are very different - although they’re both about love and finding yourself. I loved using the structure of five different parts - one for each year of the book. Finding ways to leave the reader on a cliffhanger at the end of one part and choosing interesting ways to fill her in on what had happened during the intervening time was fun, and somehow, because of it, the book almost wrote itself.
There’s nothing wrong with being inspired by such things - if there was, there may not have been anymore whodunits after Agatha Christie.
But what if a celebrity decides to write a series of books with a set up and a group of characters that is really similar to one you’ve been writing about yourself for several years? And what if that celebrity’s series becomes a global success, hitting all the best-seller lists? It’s irksome, that’s what it is!
I’m speaking about my friend Ann Warner’s Babbling Brook Naked Poker Club series, and Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club books. Now Richard, who may not have been quite the celebrity he was in the UK elsewhere in the world when he first decided to pick up a pen, is a thoroughly delightful guy. (Not that I’ve met him in person, you understand, but that’s the way he comes across on TV and social media). There’s no way he would have deliberately scoured the Internet, come across Ann’s books about a group of sleuthing pensioners and thought to himself, “That’s a good idea, I’ll try that myself.” In fact, I know the inspiration for the books came from his mother living in a supported living complex. But if Richard ever does come across Ann’s books, he’ll love them as, if you like Richard’s books, you will too.
Both series have sparky characters, wit, emotion, heaps of adventures and dastardly baddies. They keep you gripped. What Richards books don’t have is naked poker. And the first of his books isn’t free to download the way Ann’s is. Just saying.
If you like cosy mysteries, why not give Ann’s books a try? Here's the link to the first one in the seeries: The Babbling Brook Naked Poker Club: Book One
February 3, 2024
Excuse Me, Your House Is On Fire.
I’m currently taking part in a stand-up comedy course because I want the main character in the novel I’m working on to be an aspiring stand-up comedian. It’s perfectly possible I chose for her to have this ambition because I wanted to dare myself to try stand-up comedy again - I did it once before and it was an utterly terrifying but completely life-affirming experience.
We haven’t yet got to the stage on the course of learning how to write jokes or to make things funny - that starts next week. At the moment we’re just examining our lives to amass likely material. For this week’s homework, we were asked to draw up a timeline of our lives and to pick out anything interesting. As I’m one of the oldest in the group - okay, THE oldest - there are lots of life events for me to choose from. At one point during my timeline construction, it felt as if much of my life has been about amassing material for my writing, even though I didn’t know it at the time. How fabulous that all that angst and drama has served a purpose, eh?
A few events from my childhood stand out on my timeline, including the memorable occasion my older brother almost burnt the house down.
There was a culture of secrecy within my family, my mother’s frequent refrain being, Don’t tell your father. Dad had quite a temper and we often had to walk on eggshells around him. But although Dad was out somewhere with my younger brother when the fire happened, the smoke damage and charred remains of my brother’s chest of drawers weren’t something we could conceal, much to Mum’s dismay.
My brother - around 14 or 15 at the time - had started smoking and was keeping the habit a secret. For some totally unknown reason - maybe he heard someone on the stairs and panicked, I don’t know - he put a lit cigarette lighter inside one of his drawers. Next thing we knew the whole chest of drawers was on fire, and my mum, my brother and I were running up and down stairs with pans of water to throw onto the flames.
The situation was already like something from a TV sitcom, but it was about to get worse. In the midst of our panic, there was a knock on the door. Our back garden backed onto the garden of a house that happened to belong to a police officer, and he’d looked out of his window and seen smoke coming from my brother’s bedroom. Anyway, not thinking, I opened the door and accidentally let the dog out.
Now this dog, Jasper, was utterly adored by my mother. He had long fur she spent hours grooming and collected up with a view to getting it woven into something one day. (She never did - we found it in the cupboard under the stairs after she died, where it had been for over 40 years).
Unfortunately, Jasper was overly defensive of family members, to the point where we kids couldn’t have friends round to play in case the dog bit them. And yes, straight after the police officer had uttered those memorable words, “Excuse me, do you know your house is on fire?” Jasper shot out and bit him on the ankle. My enduring memory is of the police officer glancing plaintively back at me as he hobbled off down the road. For weeks afterwards, Mum worried we’d be told Jasper had to be euthanized, but it never happened.
Looking back, this tale seems comical, as does the time Mum reversed into the wooden gate post in her Morris Minor two weeks after passing her driving test on the twelfth attempt.
The evenings when my parents’ marriage was in serious trouble and me and my older brother sat on the stairs trying to hear what they were rowing about don’t seem at all comical, even now.
But it’s all potential material for writing, and hopefully for making people laugh.
I’ll let you know how I get on!
We haven’t yet got to the stage on the course of learning how to write jokes or to make things funny - that starts next week. At the moment we’re just examining our lives to amass likely material. For this week’s homework, we were asked to draw up a timeline of our lives and to pick out anything interesting. As I’m one of the oldest in the group - okay, THE oldest - there are lots of life events for me to choose from. At one point during my timeline construction, it felt as if much of my life has been about amassing material for my writing, even though I didn’t know it at the time. How fabulous that all that angst and drama has served a purpose, eh?
A few events from my childhood stand out on my timeline, including the memorable occasion my older brother almost burnt the house down.
There was a culture of secrecy within my family, my mother’s frequent refrain being, Don’t tell your father. Dad had quite a temper and we often had to walk on eggshells around him. But although Dad was out somewhere with my younger brother when the fire happened, the smoke damage and charred remains of my brother’s chest of drawers weren’t something we could conceal, much to Mum’s dismay.
My brother - around 14 or 15 at the time - had started smoking and was keeping the habit a secret. For some totally unknown reason - maybe he heard someone on the stairs and panicked, I don’t know - he put a lit cigarette lighter inside one of his drawers. Next thing we knew the whole chest of drawers was on fire, and my mum, my brother and I were running up and down stairs with pans of water to throw onto the flames.
The situation was already like something from a TV sitcom, but it was about to get worse. In the midst of our panic, there was a knock on the door. Our back garden backed onto the garden of a house that happened to belong to a police officer, and he’d looked out of his window and seen smoke coming from my brother’s bedroom. Anyway, not thinking, I opened the door and accidentally let the dog out.
Now this dog, Jasper, was utterly adored by my mother. He had long fur she spent hours grooming and collected up with a view to getting it woven into something one day. (She never did - we found it in the cupboard under the stairs after she died, where it had been for over 40 years).
Unfortunately, Jasper was overly defensive of family members, to the point where we kids couldn’t have friends round to play in case the dog bit them. And yes, straight after the police officer had uttered those memorable words, “Excuse me, do you know your house is on fire?” Jasper shot out and bit him on the ankle. My enduring memory is of the police officer glancing plaintively back at me as he hobbled off down the road. For weeks afterwards, Mum worried we’d be told Jasper had to be euthanized, but it never happened.
Looking back, this tale seems comical, as does the time Mum reversed into the wooden gate post in her Morris Minor two weeks after passing her driving test on the twelfth attempt.
The evenings when my parents’ marriage was in serious trouble and me and my older brother sat on the stairs trying to hear what they were rowing about don’t seem at all comical, even now.
But it’s all potential material for writing, and hopefully for making people laugh.
I’ll let you know how I get on!
November 30, 2023
WINTER SIX! Free Bonus Chapter!
Have you ever enjoyed a book so much you're reluctant to leave the characters lives? Do you wish the author had written more and you could find out what happened next?
Well, several readers have told me they feel that way about FIVE WINTERS, and the characters have never left my mind, especially Beth.
So, I've written WINTER SIX - a bonus chapter you can DOWNLOAD FREE WITH THIS LINK! https://dl.bookfunnel.com/u932ul4s98
Somehow important things always seem to happen to Beth Bailey in winter. This one is no exception. WINTER SIX tells you the rest of the story. Prepare to be as surprised as Beth is!
If you download it I'll ask you for your email address because I'd love to keep in touch with you to tell you about future books, special offers and bits and pieces about my life, but you can unsubscribe at any time.
Well, several readers have told me they feel that way about FIVE WINTERS, and the characters have never left my mind, especially Beth.
So, I've written WINTER SIX - a bonus chapter you can DOWNLOAD FREE WITH THIS LINK! https://dl.bookfunnel.com/u932ul4s98
Somehow important things always seem to happen to Beth Bailey in winter. This one is no exception. WINTER SIX tells you the rest of the story. Prepare to be as surprised as Beth is!
If you download it I'll ask you for your email address because I'd love to keep in touch with you to tell you about future books, special offers and bits and pieces about my life, but you can unsubscribe at any time.
October 20, 2023
Conference Season
It has been a whirlwind month which has taken me to writing conferences in Chicago and Edinburgh.
In Chicago I finally got to meet my agent - Carly Watters - face-to-face, which was amazing. I also met lots of other Lake Union Publishing authors, which was a real treat. So good to chat and laugh together. The workshop sessions and talks were all really inspirational too. So glad I went!
Just over a week after I got home, I was travelling to Edinburgh for the inaugural Edinburgh Women's Fiction Festival. It was a long - but scenic - train journey from where I live, with views of the coast two thirds in. (I had to fly home because there were major rail works on the Sunday. Don't get me started about rail works, they're currently the bane of my life). The festival was a lively event with panels and discussions galore. One highlight for me was listening to a discussion between Mike Gayle and Jenny Colgan. I also very much enjoyed the panel on Feel Good Fiction. It was a good job the activities were so absorbing because there was torrential rain most of the time - much like today!
I hope the weather's better where you are and you are managing to find some equally inspiring things to do with your time. For me, now my travels are over for a while, I'm content to be inspired by smaller things. And writing of course - lots of writing!
In Chicago I finally got to meet my agent - Carly Watters - face-to-face, which was amazing. I also met lots of other Lake Union Publishing authors, which was a real treat. So good to chat and laugh together. The workshop sessions and talks were all really inspirational too. So glad I went!
Just over a week after I got home, I was travelling to Edinburgh for the inaugural Edinburgh Women's Fiction Festival. It was a long - but scenic - train journey from where I live, with views of the coast two thirds in. (I had to fly home because there were major rail works on the Sunday. Don't get me started about rail works, they're currently the bane of my life). The festival was a lively event with panels and discussions galore. One highlight for me was listening to a discussion between Mike Gayle and Jenny Colgan. I also very much enjoyed the panel on Feel Good Fiction. It was a good job the activities were so absorbing because there was torrential rain most of the time - much like today!
I hope the weather's better where you are and you are managing to find some equally inspiring things to do with your time. For me, now my travels are over for a while, I'm content to be inspired by smaller things. And writing of course - lots of writing!
June 7, 2023
Bathroom Doors and UK Speak
Hello, everyone!
I hope you're all well! Currently our shower room doesn't have a door because we're having new flooring laid on Monday and my partner has been working to get everything ready to accommodate it.
Why am I telling you this? Because it occurred to me while I was showering this morning - early, while my son was still firmly asleep - that this situation is similar to a writing decision I'm grappling with at the moment. I need to decide how much my readers will know about a situation, and whether that's more than all of the characters in the book, or just one of the characters in the book, or whether events will come as a surprise to everybody, including the reader. (I know, it's complicated).
What has this got to do with my shower room door? Well, I managed to have my shower in the confident knowledge that my son had no idea I was doing so in full visibility from the landing. If he'd been awake, and I'd said to him, "Don't come out of your room for a bit, I'm taking a shower," I would have different about it, and so would he. (I realise some families are happy with nudity, but we are not such a family). In this situation, it worked best for him not know anything about it.
As I say, until this morning, I haven't been sure who should know what about various truths and events in my work in progress. Before my shower, I wrote down all the different possibilities and ended up with a list of eight different permutations - although some of these may be duplicated if I really stopped to analyse it. Looking at my list, it struck me how significantly the different choices would affect my book, especially the genre. Some definitely made it more of a thriller than I would want it to be. It was a very useful exercise and it helped me to make my choice. I won't tell you what that is - you'll have to read the book at such future date!
Another issue I've been dealing with lately is "UK speak." I've been busy working on edits for Hedgehog Highway, which is due to come out in spring 2024 - I'll let you know the exact publication date as soon as I have it.
Some publishers produce a UK version and a US version of a novel, but my publisher just produces one version and my editor has been through my manuscript highlighting anything that is uniquely British. There's no pressure on me to change all of these words and phrases, but she suggested I might like to if it doesn't make a lot of difference to the meaning or tone, so I've been considering each one. Who knew they don't have strimmers in the US (they have weed busters) and they don't bottle out of things. Last night I put this issue to a group of writer friends from the US and their opinion was that I should keep these words and phrases in. They thought that, since my book features hedgehogs, which aren't native to the US, it is a uniquely British book anyway. I liked this advice, but I think I'll opt for a half way house - I'll change some things and keep others.
As a distraction to this kind of demanding decision, I've also been making some hedgehog inspired art. I used one of them as a design for a T-shirt, which was fun!
Just a little insight into a few of the things that have been occupying me lately. Oh, along with a lot of hedgehog rescuing for the hedgehog support charity I'm volunteering for, but more about that at a future date!
I hope all's well with all of you - thank you for reading, and, if you write, I hope it's going swimmingly for you!
I hope you're all well! Currently our shower room doesn't have a door because we're having new flooring laid on Monday and my partner has been working to get everything ready to accommodate it.
Why am I telling you this? Because it occurred to me while I was showering this morning - early, while my son was still firmly asleep - that this situation is similar to a writing decision I'm grappling with at the moment. I need to decide how much my readers will know about a situation, and whether that's more than all of the characters in the book, or just one of the characters in the book, or whether events will come as a surprise to everybody, including the reader. (I know, it's complicated).
What has this got to do with my shower room door? Well, I managed to have my shower in the confident knowledge that my son had no idea I was doing so in full visibility from the landing. If he'd been awake, and I'd said to him, "Don't come out of your room for a bit, I'm taking a shower," I would have different about it, and so would he. (I realise some families are happy with nudity, but we are not such a family). In this situation, it worked best for him not know anything about it.
As I say, until this morning, I haven't been sure who should know what about various truths and events in my work in progress. Before my shower, I wrote down all the different possibilities and ended up with a list of eight different permutations - although some of these may be duplicated if I really stopped to analyse it. Looking at my list, it struck me how significantly the different choices would affect my book, especially the genre. Some definitely made it more of a thriller than I would want it to be. It was a very useful exercise and it helped me to make my choice. I won't tell you what that is - you'll have to read the book at such future date!
Another issue I've been dealing with lately is "UK speak." I've been busy working on edits for Hedgehog Highway, which is due to come out in spring 2024 - I'll let you know the exact publication date as soon as I have it.
Some publishers produce a UK version and a US version of a novel, but my publisher just produces one version and my editor has been through my manuscript highlighting anything that is uniquely British. There's no pressure on me to change all of these words and phrases, but she suggested I might like to if it doesn't make a lot of difference to the meaning or tone, so I've been considering each one. Who knew they don't have strimmers in the US (they have weed busters) and they don't bottle out of things. Last night I put this issue to a group of writer friends from the US and their opinion was that I should keep these words and phrases in. They thought that, since my book features hedgehogs, which aren't native to the US, it is a uniquely British book anyway. I liked this advice, but I think I'll opt for a half way house - I'll change some things and keep others.
As a distraction to this kind of demanding decision, I've also been making some hedgehog inspired art. I used one of them as a design for a T-shirt, which was fun!
Just a little insight into a few of the things that have been occupying me lately. Oh, along with a lot of hedgehog rescuing for the hedgehog support charity I'm volunteering for, but more about that at a future date!
I hope all's well with all of you - thank you for reading, and, if you write, I hope it's going swimmingly for you!
April 25, 2023
Good News!
I hope you're all well, and if you're a writer, I hope your words are flowing and your creative wells are full. Can you guess spring is my favourite month?
My apologies for my long silence - my last blog post was ages ago. I've been waiting to be able to give you some good news and now I finally can! On Friday I signed a contract with Lake Union Publishing for a further two novels - squeal! I am unbelievably excited, as I'm sure you can imagine.
This deal is partly due to the success of Five Winters - thank you so much to each and every one of you who has bought a copy. It means so much to me. Wheels turn very slowly in this industry, so Hedgehog Highway won't be published until spring 2024 and Closest Kept the following year - so there is much anticipation and drip-fed excitement to come for me! (Closest Kept is a working title, so expect that to change - sometimes titles come easily to me, but not with that book).
I have always liked writing about groups of people thrown haphazardly together, and Hedgehog Highway was inspired by the cul-de-sac I live in, although I haven't used any of my neighbours in the book - the characters are all imagined. But I did use my local park, the belt of trees behind my house and the local wildlife. Some years ago now I met some inspiring people who go out of their way to help hedgehogs by volunteering for the amazing Hodmedods Hedgehog Support charity, and they were one of the initial sparks for this book. For those of you who live in the UK like me, I expect, many of you feed hedgehogs in your gardens. They're so cute.
In other news - also as a result of the success of Five Winters - I resigned from my teaching role at Norfolk County Council in February so I could focus on my writing full-time. it has been such a joy and privilege to be part of helping students to hone their skills and to discover a passion for writing, so I didn't take the decision lightly. I may teach some of my own writing classes at some point, but I don't currently have any plans for this. If anything changes, I will let you know.
Once again, thank you so much for all your support and interest - it's great to have you as part of my publishing journey!
My apologies for my long silence - my last blog post was ages ago. I've been waiting to be able to give you some good news and now I finally can! On Friday I signed a contract with Lake Union Publishing for a further two novels - squeal! I am unbelievably excited, as I'm sure you can imagine.
This deal is partly due to the success of Five Winters - thank you so much to each and every one of you who has bought a copy. It means so much to me. Wheels turn very slowly in this industry, so Hedgehog Highway won't be published until spring 2024 and Closest Kept the following year - so there is much anticipation and drip-fed excitement to come for me! (Closest Kept is a working title, so expect that to change - sometimes titles come easily to me, but not with that book).
I have always liked writing about groups of people thrown haphazardly together, and Hedgehog Highway was inspired by the cul-de-sac I live in, although I haven't used any of my neighbours in the book - the characters are all imagined. But I did use my local park, the belt of trees behind my house and the local wildlife. Some years ago now I met some inspiring people who go out of their way to help hedgehogs by volunteering for the amazing Hodmedods Hedgehog Support charity, and they were one of the initial sparks for this book. For those of you who live in the UK like me, I expect, many of you feed hedgehogs in your gardens. They're so cute.
In other news - also as a result of the success of Five Winters - I resigned from my teaching role at Norfolk County Council in February so I could focus on my writing full-time. it has been such a joy and privilege to be part of helping students to hone their skills and to discover a passion for writing, so I didn't take the decision lightly. I may teach some of my own writing classes at some point, but I don't currently have any plans for this. If anything changes, I will let you know.
Once again, thank you so much for all your support and interest - it's great to have you as part of my publishing journey!
December 29, 2022
Blog Appearance
I've always been a great believer in saying 'yes' to an opportunity and then working out later how I'm going to achieve it, or to pluck up the necessary courage to do it. In this way, over the years, I've agreed to teach a whole raft of subjects I had no business teaching - including - if you can believe it, because I still can't entirely - touch typing. Given that I normally teach creative writing, that was a bit of a leap, and the course organiser must have been desperate, but hopefully the students got something out of it!
I have recently been interviewed about my novel Five Winters on the excellent The Shit No One Tells You About Writing blog - an incredible opportunity to reach out to potential readers, and one I couldn't possibly turn down. I was very nervous before and during the recording, but I've just listened to it, and I'm very relieved to say that this doesn't come across. Phew! Why not take a listen? My appearance starts at 30 minutes in.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...
I have recently been interviewed about my novel Five Winters on the excellent The Shit No One Tells You About Writing blog - an incredible opportunity to reach out to potential readers, and one I couldn't possibly turn down. I was very nervous before and during the recording, but I've just listened to it, and I'm very relieved to say that this doesn't come across. Phew! Why not take a listen? My appearance starts at 30 minutes in.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...
December 4, 2022
Poem From Five Winters Book Party
Last week I had a Zoom party to celebrate Five Winters release into the world - it was such a great evening, and so good to share my excitement with everyone. As part of the proceedings, I asked participants to post a sentence about something they like about winter or Christmas in the chat for me to use to construct a poem. There was some wonderful material to use, and this is the result. I think it's guaranteed to make you feel festive!!
A Christmas Walk
Fresh snow, the sun just rising, a crescent moon still visible.
She precedes me out into the field, my dog, playing, joyous.
We are the first to walk through the field,
The first to leave our footprints in the perfect whiteness,
The air crystal crisp.
My breath fogs the jewelled tiaras of the spider webs,
Standing out against the nakedness of the trees.
Strangers approach – not strangers on Christmas Day.
Good morning, Happy Christmas! Smiles, companionship.
The smell of wood smoke as I approach the village,
Long tree shadows across the fields as the sun strengthens.
In a few months’ time leaves will start to unfurl,
And there will be a promise of spring.
But for now, the snow has cleansed the world, cold and pure.
A rider passes, her horse steaming in the cold air.
In the distance, early sledders speed down the hill.
I imagine them returning home, red-cheeked and smiling,
To twinkling lights, the smell of cakes and cookies,
And the pine-scented tree they decorated with their families.
Their parents eating cheese straws and drinking mulled wine,
Or a champagne cocktail or two before they start to cook.
Warm hugs and memories of past winters,
Three generations together, wearing Christmas jumpers, knitted with love.
The dog and I view their contentment as we make for home.
Time to sit by the fire to re-read my favourite Christmas book,
Before rising to stare out through steamed up windows for my son.
The dog’s ears are pricked – she knows before I do.
Before his headlights shine along the track.
It is his birthday – a time for deep happiness.
For love, actually.
A Christmas Walk
Fresh snow, the sun just rising, a crescent moon still visible.
She precedes me out into the field, my dog, playing, joyous.
We are the first to walk through the field,
The first to leave our footprints in the perfect whiteness,
The air crystal crisp.
My breath fogs the jewelled tiaras of the spider webs,
Standing out against the nakedness of the trees.
Strangers approach – not strangers on Christmas Day.
Good morning, Happy Christmas! Smiles, companionship.
The smell of wood smoke as I approach the village,
Long tree shadows across the fields as the sun strengthens.
In a few months’ time leaves will start to unfurl,
And there will be a promise of spring.
But for now, the snow has cleansed the world, cold and pure.
A rider passes, her horse steaming in the cold air.
In the distance, early sledders speed down the hill.
I imagine them returning home, red-cheeked and smiling,
To twinkling lights, the smell of cakes and cookies,
And the pine-scented tree they decorated with their families.
Their parents eating cheese straws and drinking mulled wine,
Or a champagne cocktail or two before they start to cook.
Warm hugs and memories of past winters,
Three generations together, wearing Christmas jumpers, knitted with love.
The dog and I view their contentment as we make for home.
Time to sit by the fire to re-read my favourite Christmas book,
Before rising to stare out through steamed up windows for my son.
The dog’s ears are pricked – she knows before I do.
Before his headlights shine along the track.
It is his birthday – a time for deep happiness.
For love, actually.
