I’m In The Query Trenches !!

It’s been a while since I last logged in and wrote a blog post. In the past, I have talked about writing my book and revising it, but last month I started my querying journey to try and find someone who will love my not-so-little dragon book as much as I do. I won’t lie, it hasn’t been easy and while I’ve tried my hardest to manage the stress, it caused me to enter into a big reading slump and I kind of disconnected from my blog for a little bit. Not to mention my revision process took up all my energy as I took on the advice and suggestions of my beta readers.

At the beginning of the month, on the 8th to be precise, I passed the one year anniversary since I got the idea for Beneath the Empty. A book I love with all my heart filled with dragons, magic, family, romance and darker themes about dealing with loss and overcoming prejudices. It’s changed quite a bit in places from that first draft, but the help I have received from my critique partners and beta readers has made it even better. Then it was time to query.

Once I had my query letter written, first few chapters polished and synopsis ready, a bundle of nerves hit me in the stomach. As I prepared myself to press send on the first letter, a hundred thoughts rushed my mind. What if I wasn’t ready? What if my writing isn’t good enough? What if no one likes my story? But if I didn’t take the leap, I would never know if it was good enough or if there is an agent out there who will love it as much as I do.

Since mid-May, I have sent out 20 queries altogether and have received 5 rejections, one of them being a no-reply. The best rejection was from an agent who said my book isn’t something they are currently looking for, but they hope I query them again if I find myself with another book to query. I’m taking that as meaning they liked my style of writing, but the dragon book isn’t right for them. Nearly all the rejections have been form rejections apart from that one, so it’s hard to know what’s gone wrong. Is it truly just not the right book for them? Did they think the query letter was bad, is the first chapter or the first 5-10 pages boring/not good enough? Unless I receive a personal rejection, I’ll never know.

Something I did after I started getting the first few rejections back was to send out my first chapter and query to another writer who helped me tweak it a little. She also assured me that she would want to read more just based on those things. Now that I’ve done that, I’ve recently sent out more queries in the hopes of *maybe* getting a full or partial manuscript request. It’s the most I can hope for.

It’s gotten a little bit easier to send out the queries now, although I still have that small knot in my stomach whenever I press send on an email. It’s hard to put yourself and your work out there. You have to detach yourself from it and realise that rejection of the book doesn’t reflect onto you as a writer. So far I think I am handling it. At least I haven’t cried, so maybe I’m stronger and tougher than I think.

I might write a more in-depth post soon about how I am dealing with being in the query trenches, mainly by working out a lot and starting to write a new book (which I am super excited about and already have 25k words written). As nerve-wracking as querying is, it’s also exciting! I’m quite an optimistic person, often daydreaming about what I would do if I got a request or offer of representation, so that’s what I’m hoping for. Until then, I’m going to keep sending queries out and work on my next book in case this one doesn’t pan out.

Any other writers out there querying their book? Let me know in the comments below.

Let’s Catch Up…

So, if you’ve been following my blog for a while now you may have noticed that for the majority of July I was pretty absent. The last blog post I sent out was the 11th, and while I wished I had the motivation to blog…I just didn’t. I’m writing this post to explain a couple of the reasons why I disappeared and how I’m going to try my best to make this blog what it used to be. If not better.

July was a really tough month for me and a lot happened in such a short space of time that I lost a lot of motivation, not just with my blog, but also with my writing (which you all know is something I love). In the first half of the month I was ill twice, which really zapped it out of me, and towards the second half I had some personal issues to deal with, as well as being made redundant. That last one was the hardest to deal with as it happened suddenly and I didn’t have a lot of time to adjust.

Luckily, I had an amazing manager who helped me make my CV and cover letter the best it could be and I managed to get 3 interviews before my notice period was even over. I also have another one to go to this week and I’m waiting to hear back from two on whether I am being offered the job. It’s been so stressful because I’m not living at home anymore and there are a lot of bills to pay, so ideally I need someone to offer me a job this week. Somehow I’m managing to hold it together, but while all this has happened I let all my hobbies slide to the side.

I only read two books throughout the whole month, which is very unlike me and I am behind on reviewing 5 books (which probably won’t get reviewed now but I might do mini ones instead). The books I read (and that I absolutely loved) were:

However, I managed to work on my drawings as well, as I am hoping to open up a website and take commissions soon. So, if any of you are interested in that be sure to drop me a message! Here are the two pieces I worked on, one of which is completed and I gave to my mum for her 50th birthday (she cried):

In terms of my writing, it started off really well in the month and my WIP currently stands at 50,000 words. It is the story of my heart and is so special to me in so many ways. I adore the characters that I have created and I genuinely feel proud of the story, which is something I have never felt before. Then everything went bad and I stalled once I’d reached the major conflict in the novel. However, I started re-reading my work that I’ve written so far to make notes for each chapter (because I have a brain like a sieve) and it’s given me so many ideas to progress the story.

One amazing thing that came out of July is that I found myself an incredible critique partner (CP) called Noelle, and honestly, she is amazing (it just sucks that she lives in Florida). Working through my first five chapters with her has made them 100 times better and she pushes me to work harder because she knows I can do better sometimes. It’s also been incredible to get another persons viewpoint on my story and to hear that it’s amazing and has so much potential is the best thing ever. My confidence as a writer has grown and I truly believe that I could one day publish this book.

I suppose another great thing that happened recently was that I met Tomi Adeyemi, author of Children of Blood and Bone! I won’t talk about that too much as I want to write a blog post on the experience but it was amazing! I’ll just show off one picture of the book that she signed for me and the motivational words she wrote.

There we have it! Everything that has happened over the last month or so. I just wanted to get all this off my chest and explain to you why I was gone, especially when I didn’t post that I was taking a hiatus. Also, seeing the fact that I have over 350 followers is giving me the motivation to bring you quality content. No, it may not always be book tags and book reviews, there might be the odd post thrown in about my art, my writing and how life is going in general, but that’s what I want this blog to be about.

A great way to also keep up with me is on Twitter (over here) because I am very active there and it’s the perfect place to keep up with my writing and see weekly snippets.

I can’t wait to dive back in the blogging world and catch up with all that I’ve missed!

ARC Review: Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

Title: Ash Princess

Author: Laura Sebastian

Publisher: Delacorte Books (Macmillan Children’s Books in UK)

Date: 24th April 2018 (14th June 2018 for UK)

I was lucky enough to have been approved to read an ARC of Ash Princess from Macmillan Children’s Books on NetGalley. While this book doesn’t come out until June, I thought it best to post my review now for those who are in the US and those who can buy the book on Book Depository. I was drawn to this because it sounded like some other YA fantasy books that I loved in the past and I wanted to see if it would live up to them. In the end I found myself really enjoying Ash Princess and while it had a few tropes (love triangle anyone?) I didn’t actually mind them. If anything, I thought it was quite refreshing.

When she was six years old, Theodosia saw her mother brutally murdered when her kingdom was invaded by a tyrant known as the Kaiser. Since then he has kept her captive and either slaughtered or enslaved her people. Whenever they tried to start rebellions he took it out on her, whipping and beating her to send a message to her people. To them she is just the Ash Princess, a mockery, but she can only keep up the pretence for so long. When her last hope dies, she seeks out revenge and with the help of her people she concocts a plan to murder the Prinz. But as she grows close to him she realises that her feelings may not be as fake as she wants them to be. In the end, only she can decide what she will do to save her people.

There are a few traits of this story that relate to another famous series, but it was also unique in its own way. It starts off a little slow, as most fantasies do, but the world is slowly built up and we gain an understanding of what happened to Theo’s home, Astrea. Sebastian creates a brutal world where there is no hope until one girl decides to fight back. Throughout the book we find out more about the world, but one aspect I enjoyed was the magic and how it came about. Some Astreans have magical powers gifted from their Gods and they are enhanced with gems that come from the mines, which of course the Kaiser would harvest for himself, even though they cannot wield the magic in the same way.

I will warn you that there are some tough topics in this book, which include abuse, slavery and hints of rape. There were scenes that were tense and horrible to read, especially towards the end of the book, but they led to Theo’s penultimate decisions. Race plays a part as well, as the Kaiser and his people are fair haired with pale skin and the Astreans have olive skin with dark hair, something that is pointed out a few times within the book.

Unable to keep the name Theodosia, she became known as Thora, as the Kaiser wouldn’t allow her to use her royal name, and instantly we know that her life is one that has been spent walking on eggshells, cowering from the Kaiser and his men, and one that was torturous. But as the story goes on we see her finding the willpower to fight back and to be stronger than she has been. There was definitely some great character development and I enjoyed seeing her embrace her heritage.

The other characters in this story were likeable, especially Cress, the daughter of the man who killed Theo’s mother, but who treated her like a sister. Their friendship was sweet in places, especially in the beginning. However, as Theo became closer to the Prinz, you could see cracks start to form. Soren, the Prinz was a complicated character. I wanted to like him, but at the same time I was always waiting for him to become his father. The love triangle enters the story with Blaise, an Astrean who lived at the palace when Theo was young. As far as love triangles go, this one wasn’t hard to stomach and I’m looking forward to the second book where I’m sure it will feature more.

Overall, I found myself flying through Ash Princess and when I was past 75% I didn’t want to stop reading! The ending was great and sets up the second book up perfectly. It will be intriguing to see what happens to all the characters and how their stories will weave in to each other. Ash Princess was a great debut and manages to reach four stars in my opinion.

Wrapping Up The Week (26th February – 4th March)

Looks like 2018 is flying by already! This week has been a bit all over the place thanks to the snow that hit the UK. I had to work from home for three days and I ended up getting ill just before the weekend. Luckily I’m doing a lot better now, and something exciting happened…I finished the first draft of my book, which I posted about in a blog post here.

Unfortunately, because I was so focused on finishing my book, and being so ill with a cold that I couldn’t concentrate, I haven’t read a lot this week. I didn’t even finish a book, but it’s okay. I am looking to change that this week and hopefully finish the two I am halfway through (although one will be more difficult to get through than the other).

Books I read and reviewed…

None. Nada. Zilch.

Trying to ignore the feeling of failure right now and tell myself it’s okay not to have finished a book. I’ll do better next week. I hope.

I am currently reading…

Once again I am still reading this book (I hate getting ill), but I am determined to read some more tonight once I settle down for the evening. I am enjoying this book and really want to get a review up before its release date on the 8th. Wish me luck!

Also, I will try my best to finish Zenith. Hopefully.

Posts from the week…

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Would Read Again

WWW Wednesday – IT’S A SNOW DAY!

Wrapping Up February ’18 – Time Flies

I Finished My Book!

This week was a great one for blogging and I got more done than I originally thought I would. Now that I’m getting into the flow of writing/editing on my lunch breaks at work, I can dedicate my evenings to blogging and reading (as well as watching my fave TV shows).

My WIP…

You all know that I have now finished the first draft, but that doesn’t mean I stop there. Oh no, I’ve already started the editing process by reading over the first two chapters of my book. Then I opened up a new document and I am re-writing it. Not completely, but there are descriptions I want to add, take away, dialogue that needs changing, and I need more mystery, I want to hook my readers and with the ideas still in my head, I have to jot them down. Already I have done over 3,000 words (who knew I could edit it that quickly), but this is only the first of many.

Other Fun Stuff…

The boyfriend and I finally got around to catching up with Lucifer, which was incredible as always, but apart from that I didn’t do a lot of fun stuff. The snow really halted everything and I think I ended up getting cabin fever in the end. Luckily it has all melted now and work can resume as normal tomorrow, which I am very happy about because I don’t like working from home. Too many distractions.

I feel like I’m on cloud nine at the moment and I am hoping I can ride that momentum into the next week. I hope that you all had a great week as well and hopefully you read more than I did!

Wrapping Up The Week (4th Dec – 10th Dec)

This week has felt like the longest one in a while. If you didn’t know, I took a week off from blogging due to my boyfriend being admitted to hospital for an operation on Tuesday and I’ve been helping him recover since (you can read more about it here). For that reason I haven’t really got a lot to show on this weeks wrap up.

My brain has been all over the place and the stress I’ve been feeling hasn’t helped at all. I even took a couple days off from writing because I literally couldn’t form a sentence in my head. I needed it though and I am feeling a lot better. So fingers crossed I can get back to blogging more from now on, even if it’s just 3 posts a week until things get back to normal.

Some good news though is that I start my new job tomorrow, which I am super excited about. Now that my boyfriend is able to move around on his own, I can safely go to work knowing he won’t hurt himself. Starting the new job will also offer me a distraction from all the anxiety I’ve been feeling lately (although I know I’ll still worry about him).

As I haven’t done a lot of reading there are no reviews to show, so I’ll go straight onto the next section…

I am currently reading…

For the first time in a while I am actually reading 3 books at once. This is due to the fact that I am still reading Glass Sword and Angelfall, but I also got accepted for a book on Netgalley that I couldn’t wait to read. And the book is…

I can’t put this book down, I am absolutely loving it and whenever I get a chance I am switching to the kindle app on my phone (until I buy a kindle at Christmas) and I am reading as much as I can. I’m over halfway now and should probably finish it tomorrow if I’m lucky. It is due to come out on January 2nd and is being published by HarperTeen. Also, look how gorgeous that cover is!

Other Fun Stuff…

I wouldn’t say that I’ve had a lot of fun stuff going on for me this week. It’s mainly been filled with trips to the hospital and doctors, giving medication to my boyfriend and generally running around for him like a headless chicken. Not that I’m complaining, it makes a change me looking after him, and I definitely feel that it’s brought us closer.

My writing is getting back on track and so far I have 42,000 words, something I am so proud of. I worked out that I’m about halfway through the story I want to tell and the next few chapters that I’ve planned have me excited. Fingers crossed I can have a first draft done before my birthday (which is in March, so quite a while away).

I hope that your week has been going well and you got lots of reading done! Hopefully you’ll be seeing a little more of me over the next week (as long as work doesn’t take up all my time).

Wrapping Up November & Getting Excited For Christmas!

We can officially get excited for Christmas now!

I have no idea where the last four weeks went, how is it the last month of 2017 already?! It seems that I filled my November with so many different activities that I didn’t notice it passing by at all. Not only was I searching for a new job (which I will be starting next month), my dad also came to visit and I decided to really knuckle down with my writing efforts.

While I didn’t take part of NaNoWriMo, I was writing throughout the whole month and the last week or so is when I really started churning out my novel at a rapid pace. I started the month with rewriting my first 15,000 words, as it was in first person POV and I wanted it to be third person (btw, so glad I made the change) and at this moment I am nearing 33,000 words. I am very happy with that and worked out that I am about a third of the way through writing (I have an ending in mind, it’s just filling in the gaps). So November has been a very successful month.

I also went ahead and deleted my old twitter account to set up a new one, which you can find here. It would be great if I could connect with more people, especially on different platforms. Also, I reached over 100 followers on my blog in less than two months which is great. While the numbers don’t matter too much, it is great to see that people enjoy what I am putting out there into the world.

Unfortunately, I haven’t done a lot of reading this month (but I am currently reading two books that should have reviews up next week if I’m lucky). So, here are the books I reviewed this November.

Books I Read…

Throne Of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

It was so easy to give this book 5 stars after I read it. I cannot believe it took me so long to pick up this series and now I am waiting on the second one to be delivered to me. You can check out my review here.

A Darker Shade Of Magic by V. E. Schwab

Again, another series I had heard so much about and finally picked up. Once again, I gave a book five stars because this was a perfect read and made me fall even more in love with the fantasy genre. If you want to read my thoughts, you can see my review here.

Like I said, I didn’t read a lot this month and if I hadn’t hit a reading slump I’m sure I could have managed more (or at least finished Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard). Sometimes life gets in the way and I’m learning to accept that it’s okay. I’m just glad that I haven’t had a writer’s block on my novel in a while (I hope I haven’t jinxed myself).

Now that the holidays are coming up (and I’m away at the end of December in Ireland) I should have some more time to get reading when work finishes for the year.

How has your month been? Let me know in the comments below!

Wrapping Up The Week (20th Nov – 26th Nov)

Why do the weekends always go by so quickly? I cannot wait for the Christmas holidays to come around so we can lounge about doing very little and eating as much as we want (food coma anyone?).

Once again I had a very busy week. I heard back from a couple of jobs who offered me the positions, but I am still holding out on one that I’m hoping will contact me within the next few days. Fingers crossed, because that is the job I want (and it pays really well, too, which always helps).

As well as that I have been getting stuck into my writing and I couldn’t be happier. All of a sudden I have these great ideas pouring into my head, I have come up with the ending of my first book (dramatic twist lined up that no one will see coming…check) and I am so excited. Last night I didn’t get to sleep until half 1 because I was typing away and managed to write 3,300 words, way more than the 1,000 I set myself to write each day. My brain is a little tired today so I’m not expecting to write nearly as much as that.

Books I read and reviewed…

If you are looking for a book review…I don’t have any to offer this week and I can only apologise for that. I am still making my way through Glass Sword and for some reason I am struggling. The book isn’t bad by any means, but I’m just not in the right frame of mind to read it at the moment. I might take a pause with it and start something a little lighter.

I am currently reading…

Like I said in the above section, I am still reading this, but I am going to take a break from it. Maybe letting my own writing takeover isn’t the best thing, but you gotta go with the flow sometimes. I’m sure I will get back into it eventually as I do want to finish these books for when the final instalment is released next year.

Posts from the week…

Having A Huge Book Clear Out

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’m Thankful For

What Are You Reading Wednesday And Getting My Writing Mojo Back

First Lines Fridays

Writing And Pinterest: An Epic Love Story

I feel that even though I’ve not read a lot this week, I have still stayed quite productive with my blog. Five blog posts isn’t too bad and I enjoyed writing all of them.

Other Fun Stuff…

Now that it is less than a week until we can begin to open our advent calendars (mine is a Thornton’s Continental one) and I figured it was time to get my little fibre-optic Christmas tree out. I even bought brand new red and gold baubles, and I still have to head out and buy some tinsel for my bookshelf and mirror. Who else is getting excited? I even changed the background of my laptop to become more festive and I love it!

I am a self-declared foodie and will try anything as long as it is tasty! Indian is one of my favourite cuisines (nothing beats Italian though) and my boyfriend decided to treat us to my favourite Indian takeaway from MaCh. It is a little out of town, but it is definitely worth the trek! We will often eat at the restaurant itself, but as we were a little tired from our late night we settled for eating in. My favourite dish is Sag Aloo, a mixture of spinach and potatoes which is just divine!

I hope you enjoyed reading about what I’ve been getting up to and that you are getting into the festive spirit as well!

Writing And Pinterest: An Epic Love Story

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend so far. Personally, the weekend is the best time for me to really get to work on my novel as I am not up to much else (apart from doing a bit of shopping here and there). Last night I was up late typing away at my keyboard and I was so deep into it that I didn’t want to stop. In fact, I ended up writing a total of 2,700 ish words in total, which is way more than the 1,000 that I set myself to reach every time I sit down at my laptop. So you can say I was ecstatic, especially after feeling weighed down with writer’s block for the week beforehand.

Me and writers block don’t get along. Whenever it sets in I can find it very difficult to escape and let the creativity flow again, something I have mention in my previous posts. I don’t have a lot of ways to get around it, that is, until I watched a video by Sasha Alsberg on her YouTube channel abookutopia and she mentioned that Pinterest really helps her when it comes to receiving inspiration.

I created a Pinterest account a while ago, but it was mainly to look for images that I could use to draw from or even some workout ideas (I do a lot of at home workouts), but I had never thought to use it for my story. So, the other day I set up a secret board that only I could see and I got to work searching for images that reminded me of what I had created in my mind.

In the screenshot above you can see a few of the images that relate to the town that my main characters lives in and the type of landscape that surrounds it. It’s very rural, with a giant forest and mountains, lots of cobbled stones and beautiful scenery. Of course, I have multiple boards for different places that will be in my story (but they would give away some key details so I’ll keep them to myself.)

When it comes to actually writing the descriptive scenes, Pinterest and these images, have been particularly helpful. While I am not writing exactly what I see in the pictures, there are elements of all in my story. And it is obviously working because I have been on a role!

Inspiration is all around us and we only have to look to find it. So for me, writing and Pinterest work together perfectly and I can’t wait to explore it some more!

Do you like to use Pinterest as well? Let me know in the comments below.

When Life Gets Stressful And The Writing Halts

 

This is a visual representation of how I am feeling.

You know that feeling when life is so crazy and stressful that you just wish you could sleep and have everything be okay when you wake up? That’s me at the moment.

The last week has been so busy that my brain feels fried. I’m currently looking for a new job which involves attending a lot of job interviews (I had 4 in a week), researching the companies and registering with recruitment agencies (which means filling out lots of paperwork). I feel that all my spare time is being taken up by those activities and I have no energy left for my writing.

Somehow I have managed to keep writing blog posts over the last week (how, I don’t know, but I won’t question it). Unfortunately, my novel has fallen to the wayside because I simply don’t have the energy. My brain doesn’t want to work and it’s frustrating. I have all these ideas that I keep writing down on little notepads and the story is coming together perfectly in my head. Just not on my open Word document. Which is constantly open.

I’m sure a lot of you have felt this way at some point when it comes to your own writing. Last night I managed to write a little, but as I was forcing the words out I felt that they weren’t working for me. So for the next couple of days I’m going to try and rest my brain. I will plonk myself down to watch some Outlander, exercise to get my blood pumping and pray that my motivation returns.

I wish I could say it was just my writing that was suffering, but I haven’t wanted to pick up a book to read either. It could be that I’m just not that into the one I currently have so I may be changing it soon. Either way, it’s not a great situation.

This may have been a little bit ranty (something I wasn’t sure I should post, but maybe you all have some advice for me), however I feel so much better talking about it. It’s amazing how easy it is to fall into a slump, but I am determined to get myself out of it.

How has your week been going? I would love to know so leave me a little comment down below so we can chat!

The Writer’s Tag

I love seeing new tags pop up and when I saw this over on The Orangutan Librarian I just knew I had to take part. And if you like the look of the questions and want to give it a go, you can always take part as well!

While I am not taking part in NaNoWriMo (I’m unable to commit to something like that at this moment in time) I am currently writing a novel, one that I hope to be able to publish one day.

WHAT GENRES, STYLES, AND TOPICS DO YOU WRITE ABOUT?

All the books that I’ve written and completed (a total of 3) have been Young Adult and all had elements that were supernatural to some degree.

The first novel I ever wrote was about Angels and Demons (and a girl stuck between the worlds) although if I read it back now I would probably cringe myself to death. My second novel was about ghosts and the afterlife, with a girl dying and being able to see the other side (I even had a sequel in the works). The last one I finished was partly dystopian as well, with the main character being able to control the elements and being whisked off to a secret site to train with the best to fight the evil in the world.

So as you can see, there’s a mixture. My current novel will be Fantasy as that is what I am loving at the moment and I cannot wait to get more into it.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING?

I first started writing when I was 14, as I was 15 when I finished my first novel. Before then I had written short stories, until one day my mum challenged me during the summer holidays to write my own novel (she even wrote her own so you could say it runs in the family). I’ve always been a fan of the make believe when I would play dress up with my sister and pretend we were witches in a special school (like Hogwarts but better in our opinion).

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO WRITE?

For some reason I always get the urge to write at night, which isn’t the best as I get tired quickly. Coffee is my best companion at that point. I’m trying to train myself to write when it’s still light outside but it’s not really working for me.

WHAT PARTS OF WRITING DO YOU LOVE AND HATE?

I love…

• The beginning. When I’ve just started to create the world that I am picturing in my head and introducing my characters, putting a little bit of my soul into each. While they are never a true reflection of myself there are always elements in them, making them unique to me.
• When I can clearly see where the story is going to go, the growth of the characters, the twists and turns that they will encounter. It makes writing so much easier when it’s clear.
• The feeling I get when I write, like I’m doing something that matters. I’m not saying that I’m going to change the world, but I want people to one day read my work and love it as much as I do. I want to see my name on a bookshelf in Waterstones or on the Book Depository and know that I made it.
• When I don’t have to think too much and by that, I mean the words just flow and they sound right. When I get to that point I can write for hours.

I dislike (because hate is a strong word)…

• Writer’s block. And for some reason it always happens to me and it is so difficult to get out of.
• When I can’t get it perfect the first time round. I know that the first draft you write is never the one that gets published, but I am a perfectionist and it’s the worst.
• Never being able to commit to one novel. I am trying to break the habit of me writing a finished novel, forgetting about editing it and moving on to another because I got a brand new idea. That way of thinking won’t make me a published author.
• When I get embarrassed. I don’t know why I do because I am proud of my work but whenever my boyfriend reads it over my shoulder I can’t help but try and hide it. I need to work on my confidence.

HOW DO YOU OVERCOME WRITER’S BLOCK?

I can’t. I just have to wait it out or read over what I’ve already written, hoping for a light bulb to go off in my head and the ideas to spring forth. I need a better way of dealing with it and if anyone has any suggestions I will be eternally grateful!

ARE YOU WORKING ON SOMETHING AT THE MOMENT?

Yes, my new fantasy novel (with a twist). And it isn’t actually Young Adult. I’m having a go at the New Adult genre and my reason for this is that I am the age of my characters. I don’t want them to be 16 and having their first kiss or first boyfriend. My female protagonist is living her life, going out for drinks with her best friend, having one night stands and making mistakes. I want her to be strong, independent, imperfect and fearless. Something she will have to be to survive in a strange world. I hope I’ve piqued your interests.

WHAT ARE YOUR WRITING GOALS THIS YEAR?

Considering 2017 is almost over (how has it gone by so quickly?) I’m going to do them for 2018. I want to finish my current novel, edit it, send it off to an editor and get it published. While that last one may not be accomplished within a year (stranger things have happened though) I have the drive to do the rest. I am feeling motivated like I never have before. This is my dream and I want it.

I’m not sure who to tag really, but if you are a writer and want to take part then make sure to link back to me and comment your answers for me to see. I love reading what other people put so have fun!