So Christmas is looming - which means of course that we have been in this house for almost a year. One whole year and I'm still referring to it as the new house. It's not that I haven't settled in, because I have, or that it doesn't feel like home, because it does. So what is it then?

I actually think it's a state of mind. This past year has gone in such a flurry of activity, and I've been such a hive of industry, I almost haven't allowed myself to believe that a year has passed. I've written two whole books and made inroads into a third, decorated, weeded and done all the normal household stuff and yet I'm still wondering if I could have done more, been more industrious...

So on that note, I am making a plan. You know how I love a plan. Next year I will write Volume VIII of the Owners before I write any other books. This is a pivotal volume, for it starts to bring the story back to San and Loni and all the other characters we left in Volume I, because they still have so much to say, so much to do.

In Volume VIII therefore, we will see how Sophia became the leader of her people - what particular things happened in her life to bring her to the exact point at which she meets Little and Loni. We will find out about the tragedies that drive her forward and the challenges she has had to face.

Similarly, we will find out more about Rian, about his unhappy early life and how all that happens then, puts him on the very path that will one day ensure that he meets San.

This will be an emotional book; powerful and strong, full of resolve and purpose, just like its main characters, and I can't wait to start it. Both Rian and Sophia have been patient with me. They have waited in the back of my head for their time to emerge fully into the light. Next year will be their time.

And writing their tales will be no easy task. It will be draining and emotional, but I hope that it will be cathartic both for me, and for its readers. If nothing else, it will give Rian and Sophia the freedom they deserve.

So until then, and just in case I get caught up in Christmas and New Year and don't have a minute to blog again, let me say,

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR, READERS!

I hope 2016 has been great for you and that 2017 will be wonderful!

And if you get one of my books as a stocking filler, I hope you enjoy it. X

Wait and see

I'm actually intrigued to see who will become the next American President. Will it be the misogynist with 'the hair', or the 'cool' cat with the tomcat husband?

I guess I'll just have to wait and see, although I know who my money would be on...

Last night I met with a group of Birmingham writers called New Street Authors. All independently published and publishing, they were astute, knowledgeable and witty. They were also so much better at the technical side of things than I am [formatting etc.].

We talked for a long time about my self-published series, which went to press before I was signed up by traditional publishers for other books, and whether in future I would again tread the self-pub route to fame and fortune, or remain on the traditional publishing path.

The answer is that right now, there is no answer. Both have their merits. And big money can be made in both camps if you go about it the right way.

I love the autonomy that self-publishing gives, but there is a lot to be said too for having someone else fighting your corner side-by-side with you, their interest in seeing you succeed, as vested as your own. That said, the group were a pretty tight bunch, and I could see how they genuinely worked hard to help one another... and I wanted to be a part of that.

So for now readers I am waiting and watching.

Happy Reading!

Business as usual

If you have ever been to one of my talks, you will know how I write books - its an almost unconscious streaming of words and ideas - therefore plots can often take me by surprise.

That's exactly what's happening with this current book. I thought I knew everything there was to know about the main character's situation, but now she has completely taken me by surprise. In a good way, of course.

Then again that is exactly how real life is, isn't it? We amble along, thinking we know where we're going until something happens and we realise that we were deluded in thinking that we were in control in the first place...

Speaking of which, I have been working some more on my wayward house. I swear this house has a personality all of its own and that it is trying to confound my attempts to do it up. Just when I thought things were improving, we have developed a leak in the outside tap, another in a radiator and the patio has begun to disintegrate.

But I have managed to create a more homely feel, by applying paint ever more liberally to the walls, the dogs, myself and even in some cases, the furniture, as well as hanging pictures. One day it might resemble a finished project. Until then, dear readers,

Happy Reading!

Happy New You.

How has 2016 been treating you so far? Hmm, I thought so!

We expect so much of a new year, a sweeping away of old anxieties and problems, a laying-out of destiny's store, allowing us to cherry-pick the brightest moments to hook our hope onto, as if with the coming of a new calendar, we can instantly become different people living different lives. Or is that just me?

I love New Year and really do see it as a chance for change. I admit that this is lunacy. After all if I haven't managed a change for a duration of the entire previous year, how do I expect to do it in the course of one evening, from one split-second to another, as the clock strikes midnight? And yet I do.

So this year I did something completely different to what I would normally do at midnight. Did it affect a change - well it's a little early to tell, but the initial signs aren't bad, although they are somewhat far from actually being good... Suffice it to say that I'm still working on that!

If you are a reader of this blog, you will know that I purposely moved house just before Christmas so that I could be here for New Year. I also bought myself a new bed and new things to go with it. Psychologically it was a great thing to do as well as being so much better than the old bed.

I am still clearing things out of my old house and into my new one but soon even that too will be ended and a new era will have fully begun. Change happens whether we want it to or not in life and for so long I have been desperate for change, even whilst I was the very one preventing it. So some deep self-analysis has been required. If this sounds maudlin, be reassured, it is the very opposite!

Tomorrow I will pick up with my latest book which is only about eight chapters from completion. I can't wait to get stuck back into my writing.

So in the meantime, whilst you are waiting for news of the latest book,  you can always check out my Owners series or Split Decision by clicking on the links to the right of here.

Happy Reading! x

Happy New Year!

The main reason for my recent visit to Glasgow was to see my elderly father but I also set time aside to catch up with friends. As we only meet once a year, it is fairly easy to keep up the pretence that I am always well-groomed and presentable and that I never, ever answer the door to the postman in my pjs.

But I knew the day was going to go badly when, sitting perched on her side of the bed in the Travelodge room that I was sharing with her, my two sons and two large dogs, my daughter asked through mouthfuls of cornflakes why I had chosen to dye my hair ginger.

Ginger? Really? I shot up and examined myself to find that she was at least a little right. What I had thought to be a pleasing shade of mid-blonde was indeed rather gingery… which proved that not only was my hair turning white, but my eyesight was failing!

The rest of the day turned out to be different to my expectations too. I had carefully researched where I could meet my friend in the centre of Glasgow to have a drink, as I had not only three children in tow but also two dogs. Finally the internet provided an answer and I arranged the meeting after confirming that they did allow dogs in.

So the appointed day and time came and we made our way to the pub, only to be greeted by two men carrying large bundles of wood into the place.

Horrified, I asked if they had suddenly closed for refurbishment. But they hadn’t. Phew relief! They eyed up the dogs. Equally nervously, I stated that I had already phoned them to check that they allowed dogs in. They assured me they did. We were halfway down the steps into the basement bar before they called me back.

“What?” I asked rather tersely by now. “Aren’t you open yet?”

“Naw hen we’re open,” he said in a broad Glaswegian dialect. “An we’re no doin’ any renovations. An aye yer dugs are welcome in. But ye cannae take yer kids in here.” [Translation: “My dear we are open. There are no renovations being currently carried out and your dogs are most welcome here. But not your children, unfortunately.”]

Would you believe it?

Equally as strange, was the pub we ate at that night which turned out to be a deconsecrated church. The pulpit and area for the choir was still preserved, as was the vaulted ceiling and the stained glass windows. The place was incredibly beautiful and somehow very wrong.

So one pub which was licenced to allow dogs but not kids through the door, and another that had once been the site of religious worship and was now favouring a worship of an entirely different kind altogether? Absolutely! Only in Scotland folks, only in Scotland.

Happy New Year!