Thursday 29 December 2016

And it's finished!

Managed to write chapters 7-10 today so that's 'Sammy the spider' finished a day ahead of what I was thinking so I can have a long bath tomorrow and spend time with Steve's family again as well as going over on Sunday to celebrate the New Year.

Going to write 'Don't bother' for JanNoWriMo starting Monday so that I can enjoy the New Year with the in-laws instead of worrying how much writing time I am missing!

Up to chapter 7 now

Going to write chapters 7 and 8 today, go to the in-laws tomorrow, for Marie's birthday, write chapters 9 and 10 on Saturday, ready to start JanNoWriMo on Sunday!  lol

It's things like this that I'm grateful for my brain damage because I can never remember what I wrote the previous night and have to read the previous chapter to get ready to write again every morning!  lol

Sunday 25 December 2016

I was whacked around the head by my muse this morning

We were waiting at the end of the road for my FIL to pick us up so that we could spend Christmas Day with the in-laws and I was smacked around the head by my muse to write a story about Dave the dragon.

I've just done that... it's far from my best work, but it's not too bad considering I didn't write it as soon as I was struck by inspiration like I usually do with PB's!

Saturday 24 December 2016

Another two chapters written this morning

I've written 3,000 words in about 20 hours, take off 10 of those hours for me being asleep so I've written 3,000 words in about 10 hours.

Going to have me lunch, then a bath and try and write another couple of chapters this afternoon which means, taking off tomorrow all day, I'll have my first ever early chapter book done and dusted by the time I go to bed on Wednesday.

That means, the only books I don't write are board books which is OK by me 'cos I'm not an author-illustrator, I'm just an author and don't know how to write board books!

Friday 23 December 2016

Review of "The Moon Laughed at Me" by Katie Woolhouse

I know Katie from SCBWI and couldn't wait to get my hands on her book when I found out it was published and ready to be bought!

This is a cute little picture book about the main character, Izzy, going to the park and playing with her friends.

The first couple of pages are confusing for me though... at first I thought Izzy was a little girl, then a cat then back to a little girl again and there are a few inconsistencies with SpaG that kinda distracted me from the story... sorry, Katie!

If you've got a young child who seems to have never-ending energy then get this book 'cos that describes Izzy (the MC) to a tee!  They even go back to the park in the dark because Izzy can't sleep and wants to go and play with her friends again!

It ends up as Izzy going back home and falling asleep though.

Nite nite Izzy!

Wednesday 21 December 2016

That's the first chapter written, so...

Just written the first chapter of 'Don't bother' so that's it now until January... just gotta hope that JanNoWriMo goes as much to plan as NaNo this year.  I'm going to try to write 2,200 words a day starting in January so that, in theory, I finish it on 25th January.

If I finish before that, then that's great, but writing 2,200 words a day will mean that I finish on the 25th with 46 chapters and 50,000 words written in a month again.

Now I'm just going to enjoy the rest of December  👍

Going to start writing 'Don't bother!' today

I'm taking part in JanNoWriMo but some people have started already so that it's a 6 week thing instead of a month-long one like NaNo every November.

It's the first couple of chapters I struggle with so I'm going to write those today and have 1st January off instead, then keep writing throughout January... just need to get into Lisa's head today and 2nd January!  lol

Friday 16 December 2016

Just had another MS rejected, so...

Instead of getting upset about it, I put the details in my spreadsheet and sent off another MS to another agency.

I know that they are rejecting the MS, not me, but each rejection used to really upset me.

Since coming up with the idea of querying the next agent on my spreadsheet straight away, I haven't shed a single tear.

It hurts, but I'm doing my best not to let it get to me any more and by querying another agent straight away means that I'm making use of my brain damage too!

Tuesday 13 December 2016

Toni's Flibble Wibble was rejected this afternoon, so...

I've sent Speckles Diary to the next agent on my spreadsheet.  The site says to give her 4 weeks to get back to me so I'll give her until the end of January 2017 to get back to me then move on to the next one!  I know that's 6 weeks, but I'm factoring in the festive season too!

Saturday 3 December 2016

In fact...

How many steps are there usually in a spiral staircase please?

For example, house stairs are usually somewhere between 10 and 15 steps, offices are about 20 steps between floors and shops stairs are between 0 and 10... is there a standard for a spiral staircase please?

Ideas for early chapter books please?

Fancy trying my hand at writing an early chapter book, but I'm totally out of ideas!

I stole the idea of a spiral staircase from D on SCBWI, but don't know what else to include in it now!

I had loads of ideas spinning around my head when I first read those two words, but the brain damage has totally made me loose them all now  :-(  Should have written them down before I got the permission to use it!

Friday 2 December 2016

Just nudged another couple of agents

I queried a couple of agents back at the end of June this year, but haven't heard anything back from either of them, so SCBWI recommended that I sent them an email to see what's going on.

I got an automated email reply from one of them giving another email address to send it to because she's on honeymoon atm.

Third person correctly hopefully!

Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me!  :-)