Don’t Ask How the Novel is Going

 

So, it’s July.

August is a week away. How did this happen? Now seems as good a time as any to have a writing existential crisis.

I was meant to be HALFWAY through the first draft of my novel by now, but it’s lying abandoned in a folder on my desk and I’m too scared to open it. NOVELS ARE HARD. I have a newfound respect even for the shit ones.  There’s so much advice on how to plot (or not), how to organise notes, characterisation, formatting and titles but relatively nothing on how not to smash your face into your computer screen whilst sobbing recklessly.

I’ll tell you how bad it’s been: I updated my LinkedIn instead.

LINKED-FUCKING-IN.  The only thing that LinkedIn has shown me is how boring other people’s jobs sound. I did have one message asking if I’d write a few posts for a fitness blog but it all went silent when I asked what the rate of payment was. I bet the guy asking doesn’t work for free.

But I now write blog posts for a fab company called EarHugz. They design and make sweat-resistant headphone covers. It’s a fantastic product, and I’m really enjoying writing about fitness, headphones and gym tech. 

I’ve also been paired with Rubery Reading Group as part of the West Midlands’ Readers Network.  It’s where a local writer and reading group meet, discuss what the group enjoys in a good book and then the writer goes away and writes something with that group in mind.  I was absolutely thrilled to be asked to participate this year. I met the reading group in late June to discuss what it was that they enjoyed (or didn’t enjoy) reading, and they were all very friendly and welcoming with lots of interesting thoughts on what works and what doesn’t work for them. They gave me the names of a couple of books to give me an idea of what’s gone down well, so I’m working my way through those before I start my piece.

 

I’ve also become a cat-mum.  I’m obsessed with her.  She’s a rescue cat who didn’t have the best start in life but arrived with the most amazing personality.  She’s a massive (but welcome) distraction when I’m trying to work but I’ve managed to train her to walk around my laptop and not over it.  

I’ve had a short story accepted for publication but I haven’t heard anything about edits yet so as soon as I do I’ll post the link up on here.  The story was partially set in Chernobyl which is cool because I’m actually going there next month 🙂