Saturday 5 December 2015

It's been a long time



Despite regularly tweeting photos of my dogs/cats/chickens, I don’t tend to write about personal stuff and I don’t plan to start now. However, my lack of blogging for an entire year needs to be explained, in case you all think I’m being opportunistic, putting up a new post in the same week as I publish a new book.

The past year has been horrible. My husband and I have experienced ill-health, sudden deaths of a friend and a relative, and business problems mainly brought about by an unscrupulous third party. We’ve even, reluctantly, put our house on the market. Something had to give, and I decided blogging was that thing.

Throughout all this, I’ve surprised myself by continuing to write my second book. I used to think I couldn’t write if I was troubled, but it turned out I was wrong. Some days I managed just a few words, others a lot more. I increased my daily word-count target from 500 to 1,000 and began to exceed that more often than I failed to meet it. Those words didn’t pour out, or even flow. It was more like a trickle, but it was a regular trickle. And Too Soon a Death gradually became more than the image of a body on the banks of the River Tweed I had started with.

Time passes, and things are looking a lot brighter on several fronts than they did at the end of 2014. I have not one but two books out. No Stranger to Death has a brand new cover to match its sequel, and as I write, both are in the Kindle Top 100 for Scottish crime fiction. And I’m already planning future blog posts.

I’m still looking forward to waving goodbye to 2015, though.


You can buy Too Soon a Death here.
(2015 pic courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

8 comments:

  1. I'm sorry to hear your year has been so difficult and you're selling your house. I hope you've both recovered and that next year will be better.

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    1. Thank you Margaret. Things are improving, and seeing those images of people's flooded houses this week makes me realise how lucky we really are.

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  2. Such a shame this has been a difficult year for you - but well done for keeping on with the writing - I wish I had your willpower. I look forward to reading your second novel very much indeed and wish you the very best with it. Here's to a far better 2016!

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    1. Thank you, Marina Sofia. As I said in my post, I surprised myself in being able to keep writing. Now all I have to do is use that willpower to overcome my sweet tooth!

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  3. I'm currently reading and very much enjoying Book 2. You should be proud of yourself, producing such a great read during such a s**t year. Here's to 2016.

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    1. Oh Tracey, thank you so much for telling me this and illustrating exactly what keeps me going: readers!

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  4. Hi Janet - I'm reading Too Soon A Death too and really enjoying it. What you wrote about keeping writing despite everything that's happening around you has been an inspiration for me - I realise I have no excuse for procrastination! I hope that 2016 will be a great year for you and your husband and hope to see you this year (in Newcastle? Bristol?) x

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  5. I've come late to this post, but just want to express the hope that 2016 is proving much better for you in every way.

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