Thank you for dropping by my blog. I post about a variety of topics including book reviews, my author journey, the writing craft and more. All my blog posts are listed below, but if you fancy looking at a particular topic, you can check the drop down menu on 'blog' on my main site menu. New blog posts added weekly, Monday or Tuesday afternoons GMT. Hope you enjoy!
Hey everyone, this week on the blog I thought I’d talk about writing a new blurb. If you follow/interact with me on social media, you might have noticed me launch a new blurb for my first historical fiction novel, The Boy from the Snow. I thought I’d talk a bit more about blurbs in general and why I decided to rewrite my blurb in particular. First of all, without further ado, here’s my shiny new blurb! You can watch this trailer
This week on the blog, I’m excited to tell you my top ten indie books of 2021. Originally this was going to be my top 5, but I couldn’t choose between half of the books, so I extended it to a top 10. I’ll include Amazon links and links to any blog reviews under each book. Disclaimer that I have read any wonderful books this year – so if your book isn’t mentioned, it doesn’t mean I didn’t love it! Just
This week on the blog, I’m reviewing Where the Gulls Fall Slient by Lelita Baldock. This book was a breathtaking read that took me to a wonderful and poignant journey to the Cornish coast in the 1800s. I’m excited to share with you why I loved this book. A Flavour Kerensa lives with her mother Meliora on the outskirts of Porth Gwyn, a small fishing village on the Cornish coast. Meliora’s healing skills are met with gratitude, but also suspicion. Kerensa
Happy New Year, everyone! It seems fitting to do my first blog post of 2022 about my upcoming goals for the year. So without further ado, here’s what I’d love to be doing in 2022. 1. Have my 3rd Historical Fiction Novel published My first goal for 2022 is to have my third Celtic era novel published! I submitted it to them back in March and it was accepted at the end of May 2021. I don’t have a provisional date
This week on the blog, I thought I’d have a look at my goals! It’s almost at the end of 2021 (this year seems to have both sped by and lasted forever). So I thought it would be good to check with the goals I set at the end of the year. Here were my goals for 2021: 1. Proofread my 3rd historical fiction novel and get it ready for submission I’m so excited to say I hit this goal! I
Hey everyone, this week on the blog I thought I’d talk about resolution. On Saturday I wrote the ending scenes to my 4th Celtic era historical fiction novel! I have some scenes to finish in the middle of my novel before I can call this draft done, but I’m so excited to have gotten the end of my story written. This got me thinking about the resolution stage of a story and what this involves. 1. The resolution wraps up loose
This week on the blog, I review Songbird by Karen Heenan. I actually read this book back in November, but as the author re-released this novel in this past week, I’ve pressed paused on writing a blog review till now. So excited to share this book with you! Songbird – A Flavour This stunning novel is set in Tudor era England and tells the story of Bess, a girl who comes to the court of Henry VIII as a minstrel. As
Well, I did it – I won NaNoWriMo 2021! I hit the 50k mark around 11am on the 30th November. By the time I typed ‘the end’, I had a final word count of 51,122. What I wrote for NaNoWriMo I really enjoyed writing this story! It was set in Edwardian times (specifically 1909). It’s a historical mystery romance, that starts out with my main character Penelope having just got married to David as part of an arranged marriage. They once
This week on the blog, I thought I’d discuss using humour in writing. As is becoming a regular habit for me, I’m basing my post on something I’ve been thinking about in my own writing. It’s become a trait for one of my secondary characters to keep making wry sarcastic comments. This made me wonder about the ways humour can be effective in writing. 1. It develops your skills as a writer Putting humour in your scene is a great fun
Storytellers by Bjorn Larssen has taken me on a wonderful journey this week. I haven’t been able to put it down and it’s probably gone right up there as one of one of the best books I’ve ever read. I’m excited to share with you why. Here’s the blurb for more of a flavour. Storytellers: The Blurb On a long, cold Icelandic night in March 1920, Gunnar, a hermit blacksmith, finds himself with an unwanted lodger – Sigurd, an injured stranger