Hiatus

I went back to work after the summer holidays, to a very much changed environment. It's not a myth that people in my profession often work 50, 60 and 70 hour weeks (and more!) and this was the situation I found myself in, trying to adapt to my new role and keep up with the work pace. Lots of new challenges. And so I found myself coming home from work and literally conking out on the sofa, too exhausted to move or even think. And yet there was this latest book to promote.....

However, I took the time to come to a decision about it's future, and have actively disengaged myself from the promotion process over the last couple of months. But I lovingly crafted the story of Albie and Edgar, the history of the house and the secrets and tragedies that developed. "The Secrets" took a long time to write and a long time to edit. Unfortunately in publication something was lost in translation regarding the printing of the book and I can't say that I am happy with the result of the cover. So there are changes afoot, and I will pop up with details of these soon. I am on a fascinating journey and I have been intrigued by the different directions I have taken with regard to venturing into writing and publishing. Publishing my first book was quite frightening and, in hindsight, done too quickly. The second one - well I have dragged my heels and I am still wavering. I can't say too much here until I have sorted it out, but I am in the middle of making a number of changes. The story, however, remains the same.

SO, it's available on Kindle at the moment, if you are curious to find out more. "Sadie's House; The Secrets".

My first book "Sadie's House; The Key" is being completely redrafted, and this is taking AN AGE!!! I have been heavily reassured by several sources that it is common to look back at your first writing with a very critical eye, but I hope I'm not losing anything by redrafting it in the third person, instead of the first. We shall have to wait and see.

And meanwhile, the family remain patient with me as I fling my way precariously between job, writing, cake making and trying to maintain my responsibilities and wife and mother, daughter and sister, friend and pet owner. I have been lucky enough to have quite a few holidays this year. But now the decorating needs doing, the Christmas shopping won't do itself, and there's another good series on Netflix.......

It's a busy old life. I love it :)

WARNING! No sex!

If you are looking for a slutty book, filled with sex and raunchy scenes, or where the helpless female is swept off her feet by the powerful charming businessman, then read no further. In fact you might as well move on now. My book is not for you.

And yet…..

No sex, no smut, no “overwhelmed with desire” (I can hardly even write that without blushing!) Sadie’s House:The Secrets is just a charming historical tale, and a love story with a bit of a difference. It’s the story of the history of a magic, living house, how it came to life and the story of the child for whom it awakened. It tells of two brothers, and desolate secrets that one of them must keep from the other for the sake of them all.  A dark and sad story of the house’s passion and desperation to have a happy ending. It may surprise. It may make you cry. And the awful revelations and huge plot twist will shock…….

So maybe take a look, then if the “Mummy porn” is more your cup of tea, then no harm done. But if your enjoy a  tale with drama, suspense, tragedy, romance and magic, spanning nearly  a hundred years, with twists and turns and the supernatural element of a house reacting to, and trying to influence its occupants, then this book IS for you.

The Secrets is my second book, the prequel to the first, Sadie’s House:The Key. As a fledgling author I am learning and improving all the time and this book has a personality of its own. You don’t need to have read the first to follow and enjoy the second (although, spoiler alert in chapter one. The full story begins in chapter two).

Available in the next couple of weeks. Look out for giveaway offers and freebies, and all links for purchasing will follow.

A Secondary Blog

I have come to realise that I write about quite a few different aspects of my life on here. This blog was originally developed so that I could chronicle my journey as would-be author, pretty much warts and all. Reading back, reflecting, learning and moving forward has been invaluable.

However, now my second book is complete and about to be launched, it seemed a good time to look at where I was going with it. I have two projects on the go right now. One is the redrafting of Sadie's House- The Key and removing the errors and inconsistencies. This will then be reprinted. The second is the third novel, of which I have begun chapter 1. I'm quite excited about both. So this main blog will focus on my writing.

The new blog "Behind the Scenes.....family, travel and cake" will be more personal and about other aspects of my life. I've explained on the blog, the link to which is above. So here we go again. Another journey, another adventure. Some people always seem to have it all figured out. I don't, I'm just making it up as I go along and sometimes this works and sometimes it doesnt. I don't think I'm alone in this.

So I hope you'll take a look, maybe even comment or like occasionally, but you are most welcome to drop by from time to time. And thanks for the continued support. You're fabulous!

The ups and downs of life

Nothing in my life, it seems, is straightforward. In a year in which many things have improved and gone well, I am still stricken with setbacks and irritations that it would be easy to dwell upon. And yet I remain the eternal optimist, despite often being riddled with anxiety. That's my nature, a true Gemini, split personality. It's true.

Lots of lovely things have happened this year. But lots of unhappy things too. Nothing on the scale of the last couple of years, but still enough to leave me sighing and wondering "what next?" And yet there seems to have been Gremlins in the machine for many who have said the same. It's not just me then? But I can't complain. My glass is half full, not half empty. Always.

Which brings me to the update. Sadie's House-The Secrets is about to be printed but not before I have spent another month, after editing, going backwards and forwards to the publisher, to get it right. I was becoming a little frustrated by the whole process, truth be told. But I'm finally happy and I have signed it off. 


So I suppose the moral of the story is this. Rubbish things happen to people, but so do good things. It's easy to ignore the many blessings we have because one thing has gone wrong. Successful people have setbacks but they get over them and move on. Problems are there to be solved, they make us stronger. And better. I strive to improve.

And one more thing. I like this little saying. "Don't be so intent on reaching your destination, that you don't enjoy the journey. Stop once in a while and enjoy the scenery." Wise words.

Sneak peek

Sneak peek 😀

There was a loud knock at the door, and Sadie, dozing by the radio, jumped. She stood to go and answer the door, but fell back onto the chair. She stood again, but fell back once more. Puzzled, she stood, more carefully this time, and turned, holding on to the back of the chair so that she could not fall again, then stepped to one side so that she could go and answer the door. The visitor knocked again, firmly, and Sadie reached for the door handle, but it had now disappeared, and there seemed to be no way of letting the visitor in. Sadie knew that house was up to mischief.
     “Sorry,” she shouted through the door, “I’ll be with you in a minute.”
     “You need to let me open the door,” she scolded the house. “Stop playing games!”
     “SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS” a whisper resonated throughout the house, and Sadie scolded again.
     “Stop that!” she said.
     “Sorry, what?” came the voice from outside.
     “Not you,” Sadie said, then looking down at the door again realised that the door handle was back in place. She reached for it, and pulled at the door, which refused to open. She scolded the house again. She reached for the door handle once more, this time turning it quickly and forcefully and pulled open the door, startling her visitor in the process.
     “Hello?” she enquired, to a tall slim young lady with hair a similar colour to her own, dressed in a pale blue long coat and with gloves in her hand, and being, Sadie speculated, probably somewhere in her late twenties to early thirties.
     “Hello,” the visitor said, “I’m sorry to trouble you. I’m looking for Sadie. Sadie Pickersgill.”
  “Who are you?” Sadie asked her, rather curious about the woman asking after her.
     “I would rather speak to her personally if you don’t mind,” the stranger said.
  “You had better come in then,” Sadie invited. “I am Sadie.” The stranger looked at her.
     “I have been looking for you for quite a while” she said.
     “Do you mind telling me why? And who you are?” Sadie enquired. They went to sit in the kitchen, and Sadie busied herself making tea, whilst the stranger sat fidgeting with her gloves.
     “It’s a rather delicate situation” the lady responded. “I need to speak to you about a rather, shall we say, uncomfortable state of affairs.”
     “I don’t know what delicate or uncomfortable state of affairs could involve me?” Sadie told her, “I am actually not that interesting. I haven’t been anywhere, or done anything.” She faltered. Could this be something to do with Albie? Was this the woman Albie had been going to marry when he lived in the city? She became uncomfortable, and she instinctively knew that the woman did not have good news.
     “Perhaps we could sit in the….sitting room? Parlour?” she asked, “it’s imperative that I speak with you.”
     “I think I might prefer you to come back when my husband is here….” She began. The other woman stood her ground.
     “I really need to speak to you now. I have come a long way,” she added. Sadie led the ways to the sitting room and made the lady comfortable on the sofa, asking to take her coat and if she required sugar in her tea. She knew that she was delaying, but something told her that she did not want to hear what this lady had to say. Sitting comfortably in the front room of the little house, the woman began her story.
     Half an hour later, Sadie was frozen to the spot. The colour had drained out of her face and she felt that the life had left her body. How could her life change in the space of just a few minutes? And having seen all the evidence presented before her, she knew that the woman was telling the truth. It was beyond terrible. She could not speak, could not cry, and could not move.
     “I’m so sorry,” the stranger told her, “but I’m sure you understand why I had to come to see you.”
     “I……I…..of course,” Sadie faltered, but could not say any more. Her mind was racing, and she could not find words that would make sense.
     “I’m sure you will need to discuss this with your husband,” the lady continued. “I can come back another time if you have more questions. I will leave you my card.” She stood, clinging tightly, as if for comfort, to her gloves. “It’s taken me so long to find you,” she said, and Sadie looked up at her, still rooted to the spot. “I hope we can meet again soon. I know that you will have questions. I’m so sorry.” She stepped to one side, wondering if she had indeed done the right thing, and sensing that the younger woman was in shock. “I’ll see myself out, I….” but she had run out of things to say, and she left.

Sadie's House-The Secrets
Coming soon

Fame at last!

Some tasty snippets of advice

James's RR Martin's useful advice for writers.https://www.facebook.com/authorspublish/posts/526038454250609

I'm expecting!!! (Book Two is on its way.....!)

I have some happy news! So I finally sent my second manuscript to the publishers! And what agony it's been as I have edited, edited again, double checked, asked friends to proof read, ( and huge thanks to them for their kind assistance!) edited again and re read. I even took it with me on a romantic trip to Cyprus with the hubby, and continued editing by the pool! No rest for the wicked, they say! But I have to say, even though it's taken nearly six months (just to edit!) I am proud of the finished product and hoping that between us, we have nailed it.

If you remember, my first book was rather riddled with silly little mistakes which had been sadly overlooked due to my haste in publishing ( for personal reasons which I won't dwell on). So I have been all the more determined to polish this and not publish until I was satisfied.  But careful editing alone won't make a good book, of course. I have worked very hard on the story, and love the premise and my characters. So here's a quick synopsis.

Once upon a time, a little house was born. Built on a hill and surrounded by the rolling hills of the countryside, the little house was infused with the spirits of the land and the trees and the wind. And when a child was born within its walls, the little house awakened from its slumber and claimed her as its own. Born three generations before her namesake, Sadie inspired the love of two brothers. But the ill-fated secrets that consumed them all left one of them hanging between madness and despair. And all the time, the little house watched, waiting and yearning for its very own happy ever after.

The second in the Sadie’s House trilogy, The Secrets reveals the history of the house, and unleashes a twisted tale of treachery and deceit that spans almost a century. What were the secrets that the little house held? Who could maintain such deceptions? And what was to become of them all?

The book is written as the prequel to The Key, but would also stand on its own without reading the first. That was always the idea, as they are quite different books. But it's gone to the publisher now, and I look forward to sharing the happy news of its safe delivery. Sadie's House: The Key has a little brother on the way. The family grows. I hope you will join us on our journey.

A big success

Let me begin by explaining that I am not at this point, referring to my books (as much as I long for the day that this will, in fact, be the case.) As it is, at the moment I don't think that there is much danger of me knocking JK off her perch. No, the Big Success referred to in the title is in fact the charity evening that we organised in memory of Dad. As per usual for me, not a lot went according to plan. We had spent months planning and as the evening drew near, tensions were running high as my sisters and I could not agree on certain aspects of the evening. Should we wear tee shirts with the hospice logo? How should the raffle with nearly 60 prizes be organised? Should we have a seat plan as advertised? Should one of the acts be included? And on it went. One act I had been thrilled to book couldn't make it. I had given him the wrong date, deep sigh. (Thank goodness I checked!) A lovely young singer did not own her own equipment so we didn't know if she could perform. And we're we going to sell enough tickets after a slow start. Were we charging too much? Or enough? How much food should we order for the buffet? We couldn't find a dj for the disco....The stress of it all!

On the day we decorated the room and it looked amazing. Great start. Then people began to arrive and we had sold over 150 tickets. Most of our family and friends were there and we were thrilled and amazed at their support. I made a speech. We had music. A dance act cancelled as they were double booked. There was food, we had a raffle, but ran out of raffle tickets half way through and had to run around trying to get more from the venue. The singer was delayed, but set up later. My son was the amazing compère, there was a dressing up corner, we organised gift bags for the ladies and activity packs for the children. There was dancing. There was alcohol. And the room was filled with love and fun.

With the support of a national bank agreeing to add to the total, we raised over £6500.

And just for the record, I am STILL editing and STILL finding mistakes in Albie. I know this has to stop now so I  am on the final read through and then it's going for publication. I'm off to Cyprus next weekend so I have set myself the deadline of completing this by the end of my holiday then it's going straight off on my return. I've been at it for months and I need to let go. Fingers crossed. Procrastinate no more. I'll keep you posted
 Xx

Build an audience for your writing

There are some useful tips here that fellow writers and aspiring writers might find useful.
http://www.authorspublish.com/11-ways-to-build-an-audience-for-your-writing/

A Comedy of Errors

My eldest son is currently working in the French Alps for a children's leisure company. We were lucky enough to go out at the weekend to visit him in the beautiful (high!) resort of Val D'Isere and set off on Saturday morning. Just how daft two mature adults can be in trying to reach their destination rather defies the imagination! We got to Geneva easily enough, despite a slightly delayed flight, but spent half an hour wandering about looking for our hire car. We got lost on the way to the mountains. We were late arriving spent an hour going backwards and forwards looking for the agency holding our apartment keys. When we found it there was a notice saying that they were closed but our keys were in the safe. The safe was outside and required a code which we didn't have. I phoned the emergency number to be told that we did have the code and on further investigation we did. There it was, printed on the email they had sent. We gathered the keys and paperwork and proceeded to the car park. They had no record of us, they said and the car park was full. Twenty minutes of arguing and they suggested that we might have a ticket with the keys. We looked. We did.

     With the car parked we proceeded to the apartment block but didn't know what room we were in. Another ten minutes going through the paperwork again before I realised that the details might actually be in with the keys. They were. And so it went on. Over the three days we spent ten minutes trying to push open a door that said pull (finally rescued by a chuckling local), spent an hour trying to return from a ten minute journey (wrong turn....easy mistake), allowed ourselves to be charged €30 for TWO drinks, fell asleep in deckchairs in the snow, tried to put money into a credit card slot at a toll on the road, drove down the mountain in the dark in a blizzard and got lost again when we tried to return to the airport. Luck, not judgement, got us back in the right place. Really, we shouldn't be allowed anywhere unsupervised and I pity our children for times to come as we get older and dottier!

We had an amazing time though, got to spend time with the eldest, who took his dad skiing whilst I took photos and drank  creamy hot chocolate. I had my IPad and took some great snaps of what I can only refer to as Christmastown, and one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen. And not to leave the book out of things, although it is finished, I decided on one last read through and still found another half a dozen mistakes. Exhausting all round! 

So that was my Easter weekend! Feeling a bit stupid, all things considered but we got there and back in one piece and now have another lot of memories to share. 

But we will be going Package on our next trip. We can't be trusted otherwise!

I finished it!!!

Just popped on here really quickly to say I Finished!!! Sadie's House-The  Secrets is now a complete manuscript!! Off to a few friends for proof reading but the next stage is in progress. Excited! 🍾🍾😀😀😍😂🍫🍫

The age of technology

Very excited to be travelling the French Alps this weekend. It's taken me an age and a half this morning to sort out all the administration for this.....hotel check in on line, car hire, print the tickets and vouchers, decide I need a suitcase so retrace the booking and add this to our flights, organise the car park, check that we have directions and so on. What happened to the good old days when you just toddled off to the travel agents, told them what you wanted then waited for everything to just come in the post? Why is everything so immediate on the one hand, and yet takes me twice as long on the other hand?

I am not the generation that grew up with computers. When I was at school there was THE COMPUTER in D block at school. It took up a whole room and looked like something from your favourite sci fi movie. We had to ring the university then put the phone on to a cradle to connect but it was nothing like the Internet we know today. It was something mysterious and vaguely awe inspiring, we didn't really know what it was for or what it did. It was a simpler time. I was late to university and even then, the COMPUTER was an enigma to me, something quite terrifying that I was convinced would break should I hit the wrong button. I have not mastered the (limited) skills I have today, many years later, without a great deal of anxiety and perseverance! And this continues! 

Today has been hampered by the fact that my own lap top has conked out and when I took it for repair to the shop from whence it came I was greeted with "we don't repair these, you'll have to ohone the company". Deep sigh. Tried to use the daughter's brand new lap top but can't fathom it so have had to rely on my trusty I pad, of which I have become very fond. 

Which brings me nicely round to the book. Having edited it 4 times, I completed a spell check and found about another dozen mistakes, cleared those up and am now half way through formatting ready to send to one or two very generous friends who have offered to read through. And I say half way through formatting as I have stalled yet again due to technical issues! I started writing this sequel in 2012 (I now this because I found the very first draft on my portable hard drive!) so it's been a long time coming. I'm hoping to have it with aforementioned friends before the end of the week. I LOVE this book and I can only hope, as can any writer, aspiring or otherwise, that it is well received. I hope to have news in my next post!

Meanwhile, I'm off not skiing (but I hear good things about the Spa and shopping!)  Meanwhile, stick with it, is my message for today. Perseverance can move mountains ( but not the one I will be at this weekend I hope!!!) 😀✈️⛷

You know you're a writer when........

These certainly resonate with me

Start as you mean to go on

So today I am very much inspired my very close friend's new blog, a witty repartee about her life around the equestrian world. I will post a link once I work out how to do such a thing on my IPad. It prompted me with the reminder of the promise that I had made to blog a bit more regularly than I have, hence the title of this post.

I am feeling slightly proud of myself this evening as I have completed the latest edit of the current book. Now I just have to have one more read through, then transfer it back to the lap top to complete formatting, then contact the publisher, and then off we go again. This series of events is likely to be slightly hampered by the fact that my laptop is currently out of action, having conked out last week after the hinge broke and subsequently broke the screen. But this will be sorted out in time so that I can complete everything. I seem to have been going at this for AGES but I have to say that I am so excited about this book that I actually got goose bumps as I reached the final chapter today. Is that normal? Perhaps I am biased......

And in my spare time, I am organising the charity event I referred to last time. With a full time teaching job and a large family, spare time is rare, but plans are going really well so I hope to be able to report back with news and photos later.

So, back to my plans...progress so far
Blog reorganised - not yet. Still trying to work out how to do this on ipad
Gym - up to 45 minutes and leg and stamina v much improved
Finish book - got a step further with completion of current edit
Blog more - here we go
Work out iPad- trying my best
Not make a fool of myself- difficult as it seems to come so naturally! (Hitting fellow diners over the head with my new boots bag, trying to climb into a cupboard I had mistaken for the door in the toilets, tripping over myself to name but a few on aforementioned visit to shopping centre.)

Will keep you posted on improvements!

Meanwhile, came across this. So whilst I am going to start now as I mean to go on, here are some wise words.

Are you a real author?

How to tell if you're a real author

The story so far

Is it too late to say happy new year? Not quite sure of the protocol, and I am quite sure that it probably is, being February. But the sentiment of good wishes is there anyway. One of my new year resolutions is to try to blog more regularly so we will see how that goes. 8 weeks in and this is the first so.......

So Christmas came and went, strange and sad without my dad but a good Christmas nonetheless. And Santa (aka Hubby) brought me an IPad, which is helping as it makes my writing that much more portable. I can edit on the go now - massively helpful. I am so determined to make sure that my new book doesn't have the errors of the first that I am painstakingly editing and it's taking AN AGE! Had a few days in a log cabin over the new year, visited Centre Parcs at half term and spent some of the time writing and editing so result! I came across the article below and did a quick word count of unnecessary words.....oh dear. Back to the beginning again. But then, just because it's on the Internet, does that make it true?  I have used it as a guide anyway....

Useless words in writing

Also came across the picture below, which pretty much sums me up where writing is concerned. I'm sure I'm not the only one!

After the Annus Horriblus, I am hoping for better things this year. I stepped tentatively into the new year, reluctant to leave Dad in the past and cautious of being too optimistic, which isn't like me at all. Since Christmas....

• Santa has returned my sense of humour, which is not always appropriate but my loved ones get me so that's what's important 
• My muscles are slowly getting back to normal but getting back to the gym is still proving to be a challenge!
• My brain still won't switch off...I think I was asking for a lot there
• I am editing like mad 

We had my daughters 21st birthday and had an amazing weekend of parties and surprises. And my sisters and I are planning a charity gala night to raise money for the hospice who cared for my dad.

Still to do...

Reorganise blog site ( long story. You'll see)

Gym????

Finish book

Blog more regularly

Learn how to use IPad properly

Not make a fool of myself in the shopping centre. (Long story again....for next time!)

Till next time -health and happiness to all 

X