Growing a Book - the reality

I know – I know – I promised you ‘The End’ and then I got tangled up in the saggy middle. And that’s where I left it.

But that’s because this thing called writing got in the way, Or, to be honest, this thing called a deadline got in the way. And life. So far this week I have had – one dental appointment ( for me and one for Sid the Cat), one minor family crisis, one MIL visit (that one’s still ongoing), two birthdays and a blinding headache – and a deadline!

And yesterday I had one of those days when my characters decided to go on strike – I wrote something – hero looked at it and said, ‘Well, actually, I’d never say that.’ So I changed and I wrote some more and Heroine looked at it and said, ‘ No way! I’m not going to tell him that, not when he just . . .’

And Deadline is this week. And I have Hero 2 (Guido’s - Hero 1 's brother) standing in the wings and tapping his foot impatiently because he’s not holding back on telling me his story.

So, tempting as it is to relax my shoulders a little and come in here and chat about endings, the reality is that I have an ending to write. So that has to be my priority. So I’m up now at stupid o’clock (well, it was stupid o’clock before I fed the cats/made a mug of tea/wrote this blog) and I’m going to get on with it.

It’s going to be crammed in between taking MIL out and about for the day and seeing she gets home safe – and there are beds to change sheets to wash and towels . . . But I have in my head a quote that reminds me –

‘Writers write. Everyone else makes excuses.’ Jack M Bickham

It’s also on the mug I have my tea in – a gift from the Romance Writers of Australia when I spoke at their conference (was it really nearly 2 years ago?) So each time I look up, it’s staring me right in the face. So that’s what I’m doing today and tomorrow until it’s done – and then I’ll come back and chat again.


So in the meantime, if you want something to read, why not try The Italian's Forced Bride which is out now and available all over the UK. I apologise in advance if it makes you cry in the middle ! I now have three people who've told me that and it hasn't been out a week!

PS I just remembered that WHSmith have an offer of 5 for 4 on the current M&Bs so if you're out buying a copy of The Italian's Forced Bride and you need another 4 titles to go with them - then here's where my money would go this month:
Anne McAllister - The Antonides Marriage Deal
Liz Fielding - The Five-Year Baby Secret
Julie Cohen - Being a Bad Girl
Kate Hardy - The Cinderella Project

Well, I say that's where my money would go but all those lovely people have given me copies of their books (thank you all!). But I would have put my money where my mouth is and bought them if they hadn't been so generous. Now all I need to do is to find the time to read them - and to do that, I need to finish off this Sicilian. . .


Writers write – everyone else makes excuses