Wednesday 20 September 2017

The Readers of Tomorrow...

It was way back in the mists of time, all the way back to when I was a little girl - so many, many moons ago - that I first developed my intense love of books and reading.

Nothing gave me greater pleasure than the weekly visit to our local library where I exchanged a handful of clammy library tickets for a teetering pile of storybooks. Heaven!

The Secret Seven. The Famous Five. The Rilloby Fair and other 'R' Mysteries (Enid Blyton was a major she-ro of mine! I was absolutely gutted when I found out she was dead!) These were the books I devoured, often well into the 'silent watches of the night'* (* Shamelessly snaffled(!) from  A-Pony-For-Jill.)

If we want our children to choose books over today's vast range of electronic gadgetry, then those stories had better be Harry-Potter-H. O. T.

However, (You sensed one of those was coming, right?) if, on the other hand, we'd prefer our children to turn away from the written word forever and plug into the matrix, instead, then school home-reading books are definitely the right way to go.

For little folk, the love of reading can be a fragile flame, all too easy to snuff out...

So here's an example of the stimulating[/sarcasm]reading matter I retrieved from my daughter's school bag tonight.

She's eight, in case you were wondering. Eight!!!





'Find out what scaffolding is made from, what else it's used for, * and what it's like being a scaffolder...'

(Er, let's not, eh?)

Remember that episode of Peppa Pig where Daddy Pig keeps banging on about a book about Adventures With Concrete? Yes, it's THAT dull!


Sunday 10 September 2017

On Writing On ...

While writing isn't the hardest job in the world - not by a long shot - it's not all Barbara-Cartland-swanning-about-whilst-dictating-wearing-a-floaty-pastel-chiffon-gown, either.

Honestly? Sometimes it's a flipping hard slog.

So do I have advice for any would-be authors? Indeed I do. 


Always show up at your keyboard/notebook at the same time every day, especially on those days when you're just not feeling 'inspired'. Few of us can afford to wait until that elusive Muse decided to put in an appearance. In my case, she usually shows up a few minutes after I do... and what a glorious rush that can be. Sheer bliss!

I'm not ashamed to admit that I'll get up and happy-dance about my kitchen - with the cat, poor thing! - when I've managed to nail a particular sentence/paragraph/chapter. Oh, yeah, baby! 

On some days I might hammer down 3k words, on other days I might only manage 300, but that's fine. Any forward momentum is good momentum, imo. You just have to keep your wagon rolling forward at a reasonable clip so that the uphill stretches are that much bit easier to tackle.

Keep on keeping on. That's the key!


That mountain is miiine!!!

The Winners of This Month's Giveaway...

Once again the mighty Randomizer has spoken. 

Congratulations go to ...

Deborah Hill 
&
Kitty Garley

Nice work, ladies. You've just won yourselves a signed paperback copy of one of my books. Easy as pie, wasn't it?

More exclusive subscriber giveaways very soon.


Have YOU signed up as a super secret subscriber yet?



Thursday 7 September 2017

Tuesday 5 September 2017

You Have To Be In It To Win It...

Hello, everyone.

Just to let you know I'll be giving away two signed paperback copies of my books this month to two lucky newsletter subscribers.

To be in with a chance of winning a copy, simply sign-up HERE.  Not only that, but you'll also be able to download a couple of free stories. Just my small way of saying thank you!

:)


Happy 4th of July!

Hope you all have a safe, happy, and wonderful day!