Corrie Weekly Update - Hair Like a Waterfall of Gravy

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here.

This week in Corrie included a wonderful line from writer David Isaac. Emma to Seb: "You've got lovely hair, it's a like a waterfall of gravy."

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Short Story on the Shortlist - Dorset Fiction Award

I'm over the moon to announce that I've got a short story on the shortlist for the Dorset Fiction Award 2018.

I can't say which one is mine, as they were all judged anonymously, but I really am chuffed!

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Researching a novel - when to start and stop?

Pre-research research

Today I had the synopsis approved for the third novel I'm going to write.

And before I set pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) there'll be two or three weeks of head-down, serious research to do.  Past experience tells me I'll enjoy every minute of this - and it's often hard to know when to stop because once I start, there are so many rabbit holes to fall into full of jewels and gems and things to make me go "Ooh!" (or in my case: "That's fantastic! I could wrap a whole chapter around that one paragraph/sentence/word!").

But before research proper begins in a couple of weeks' time, I'm doing a lot of reading right now. It's what I'm calling my pre-research research. This means that if you call round to see me and I'm sitting in the garden with my feet up on a lounger, iced lemonade by my side and sun-specs on, I'm not lazing around. I'm pre-research researching. Oh yes.

And in this, er, mode, I'm currently immersed in re-reading a book by Sheri Holman called The Dress Lodger. 

It's set in the muck and slums of Sunderland in 1831 and it's a book I've read before. But this time I'm reading it in order to peek into doorways and scamper down alleys. It's too early a book for me to base any of my own research on, as I set my novels after the end of WW1, from 1919 onwards. But it's a great read nonetheless and one I'm enjoying a lot.

I've also ordered a very unusual and out-of-print book to assist in my research of the era and the type of woman I'll be writing about in my third novel. But I won't tell you any more about the book - or the woman - but I'll tell you this much and no more... it's going to be a great few months of researching and writing ahead.

I'm just a bit excited - can you tell?

There's a good article on The Guardian website about researching a novel.

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Snippet in RNA news #amwriting

I'm given a (very) little mention in the summer newsletter of the Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA).

The RNA is an organisation I joined when I started writing my debut novel Belle of the Back Streets. 

It's a powerful organisation offering support, advice and social opportunities to members. I'm proud to be a part of it.

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Corrie weekly update: Baby battles and Salon wars

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here.

This week in Corrie included a baby battle - and a salon war began.

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Three short stories in Annuals for 2019

Christmas... too early to discuss?

Well, I'm excited!  The 2019 annuals have just gone up online to pre-order from The People's Friend and My Weekly and I've stories in both.

In The People's Friend annual 2019 I have a story called Next Door's Cat.

And in My Weekly annual 2019 I have two stories The Queen of Cosy Crime and Garden of Eden.

You can order both annuals here.

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Short Story in My Weekly Magazine: Rainbow's End

I've a short story in My Weekly magazine which is in the shops now.

The story is called Rainbow's End and it's written through the colours of the rainbow which every colour - red, orange, yellow - and so on, being given significance in the story.

If you read it, I do hope you enjoy it.

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Forget-me-not blues

A list of nots to do
A stream of words to keep quiet
A lifetime to never discuss
Half circle
Without heart or mind
Half squared that edges away
Until
Boxed in and silent
And biting, biting the words


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Corrie weekly update: She's not your girl

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here.

This week Corrie choked me with emotion in a way that it hasn't done in years.

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From Blog to Book Deal - interview with Writers' Forum

This month's Writers' Forum magazine features me in a double page spread: "From Blog to Book Deal". I'm really chuffed to be featured in this magazine, interviewed by writer Douglas McPherson.

Of course, From Blog to Book Deal makes my writing life sound an incredibly easy one when it's been anything but.  All I can say is - excuse the cliche - if I can do it, anyone can.

The full interview is a double page spread in this month's Writer's Forum magazine in the shops now.

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The photograph in the shed

There's a black and white photograph,  curled with age. And there's a woman wearing a straw hat, cheap as chips, kiss me quick. Behind her the sea, the sands, a deckchair. There's no mistaking her face, a young girl, but it's gran. I see who grandad fell for, I see the warmth in her smile as she lifts her head to the man who holds her image in his hands.

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Don't quit the day job? Yes, do!

With thanks to north-east writer Victoria Watson who interviews me on her blog today.

The theme of the blog post is 'Don't Quit the Day Job' and I explain why you should, right now.

You can read my blog post here.

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Corrie weekly update: Smooth Criminal

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here.

This week there was shameless ITV cross-promotion, again reminding us how much of a product Corrie is to the network.

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The many joys of being a writer #amwriting

Today I pressed the send button and my second novel - The Tuppenny Child - is winging its way to my publisher.

I know there'll be weeks of editing to get stuck into once my editor at Headline reads it. She'll come back to me with suggestions of how to make the book stronger, better.

I may not agree with all of the changes she suggests. But the beauty of having an editor you get along with, I've found, is that this isn't a painful process, there's negotiation on both sides. It's an insightful process and I learned a great deal from the editing process with my debut novel - Belle of the Back Streets.

I'm taking a breather from novel writing now, but just a little one. I've got a long list of short story ideas I'd like to get stuck into writing for women's magazines and I'll start on those next week.

More importantly, I've got the synopsis for novel number three to firm up and submit to my publisher. Then I can then start the whole delicious writing process again.

It'll start with at least two weeks of daily research. This will include visits to museums, records offices, archives and, er, pubs. I will talk to knowledgeable people, ask them questions, buy them lunch. I love the research bit of writing and sometimes it's hard to know when to stop. But stop I must, for writing must begin to bring book three to life.

And now I've pressed send and my second novel is on its way to my publisher, I'm taking the day off.

I'm spending it in a library, meeting another writer for lunch. She's a woman I met on an editing workshop weeks ago and it turned out we had a lot in common and even had a friend we both knew. Now that wouldn't be so unusual but this friend lives over the other side of the country.  After the editing workshop, the other writer got in touch and asked to meet up for coffee. I didn't hesitate to say yes.

There are many joys to being a writer.

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The Rock 'n' Roll Model

I've a short story in Take a Break's Fiction Feast that's out in the shops now with this cover.

The story's called Rock 'n' Roll Model and it's about a glamorous gran. It's a fun story and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

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