November has felt like a whirlwind, but in the best way possible. Most of my focus this month was on Novel-November, where I worked almost exclusively on my vampire romantasy, KISS ME AFTER THE KILL — and I’m thrilled to say I wrote almost 54,000 words! It’s the first time in years that I’ve taken part in a NaNo-style challenge and actually won, which feels incredibly motivating.

I’m not quite finished with the draft yet. I still have about three chapters and several spicy scenes left to write, but after such an intense month, I can feel the burnout creeping in. Instead of forcing myself to reach my original goal of 62k, I’m taking a break until January. Then I’ll dive back in with the plan to finish the first draft by the end of the month and begin revisions with Hubby in February. That said, I’ve already sneaked into some early revisions because I woke up with the urge to polish things — so the timing has worked out nicely!

Alongside KMATK, a few new story ideas have been growing. For the Snowy Wings Publishing nursery-rhyme anthology, I’m returning to my original concept: a YA story about a girl marked for death who falls in love with a fae grim reaper. It matches my preferred tone perfectly and feels much more manageable than the cozy sapphic magical-school idea I briefly considered.

I’m also planning ahead for my next big project for 2026: an enemies-to-lovers fae romance featuring a masked, shadow-drenched Prince. I’m desperate to write it already, but I’m keeping myself disciplined — planning only, until KMATK is done.

This month also brought a major personal and career realisation: I’m stepping away from self-publishing. My spicy Christmas short, A Winter’s Kiss (out December 2nd!), will be my last self-pubbed project for the foreseeable future. I have nothing against self-publishing, but it no longer feels like the right path for me creatively. I want to focus the next few years on querying romantasy, fantasy-romance, and paranormal-romance, which feel like my truest writing home.

On the health side, things are looking brighter. My PMDD has been the mildest it’s been in years — hopefully a good sign that my HRT patches are doing their job. I’m also still waiting to hear from Psychiatry UK about ADHD medication, but overall I feel like I’m moving in the right direction. This new stability has inspired me to reach out to my ADHD coach about helping me take the Kindred Creativity Club to the next level in 2025.

Outside writing, November was quieter. Hubby was ill for part of the month, Oldest started his new job, and we didn’t get out much — though I did buy a dancing gecko that sings “Feliz Navidad,” which genuinely brings me joy every time I look at it. Holiday prep is mostly done, Youngest’s gifts are on the way from Japan, and we’re figuring out plans for Oldest’s partner depending on her dog’s health.

It’s wild to think December is here already, and that I’ll be posting both a December wrap-up and a yearly one soon. If you’d like to read the full, detailed version of this month’s update, including all my writing reflections and holiday plans, you can find it here:

👉 [Read the full November wrap-up blog post]

Thanks for joining me this month! 💜

The October That Needed an Exorcism (and a Nap) — AKA My October Update

 

Remember last month when I said, “This month wasn’t as bad as previous ones,” about the PMDD situation?

Famous last words. 😅

A few days later, PMDD hit hard — right as I started HRT to treat it. I’m sure it’ll help long-term, but right now I’m just adjusting to the hormonal chaos.

I actually wrote a longer post about my experience as a neurodivergent woman seeking treatment for PMDD — spoiler alert: some doctors seriously suck!

➡️ The Day I Realised Patients Shouldn’t Have to Fact-Check Their Doctor

As if that wasn’t enough, Oldest managed to knock over a candle and ended up in A&E with burns. He’s healing well now, thanks to Hubby being an absolute saint with all the hospital trips, but it was a rough few days.

So yes — not the most productive month. But I did reach my October goal: hitting 20k words on Kiss Me After the Kill before heading into Novel November.

Now I’m diving into my annual NaNoWriMo alternative, Write On!

It’s a kinder, more flexible version of the challenge — community, accountability, and creativity without the pressure. This year, it’s happening across the Kindred Creativity Club spaces, with:

✨ Weekly live sprints (via Google Meet)

✨ Daily check-ins and Celebrate Your Wins posts

✨ Motivational prompts and reflections

✨ A special 50% discount on Write Here, Write Now membership from Karen Sanders Editing (use code KINDRED50).

I’ve also shared a free November calendar and word tracker, plus sneak peeks from KMATK and art by N.S. Armstrong, available to all newsletter subscribers.

💌 Subscribe here for the freebies and bonus shorts!

In other news, my Frosty-the-Snowman-inspired spicy romantasy short is returning!

A WINTER’S KISS (formerly part of the Step Into Christmas anthology) will be re-released on December 2.

Sign up for the cover reveal and pre-order announcement on November 5 here:

👉 https://forms.gle/dxPUpzjEYjKfLNhLA

Between hormone changes, vampire writing, and planning Write On!, I even got a new story idea — a cozy, sapphic rivals-to-lovers fantasy I’ll work on next year for a Snowy Wings Publishing anthology.

Oh, and I rage-quit Pokémon Legends: Z-A because I hate fighting mega evolutions. 😂

For the full, chaotic saga (plus my current reads and behind-the-scenes updates), visit the full post on my website:

➡️ The October That Needed an Exorcism (and a Nap)

That’s everything for this month — and it’s about time to go make dinner, so I’ll leave it here.

Until next time — stay safe, keep creating, and may your words flow as freely as your imagination.

T.T.F.N.

An Update and Book Funnel Swaps for October 11, 2024

 Greetings Readers!

This edition, I only have one Book Funnel Swap for you, so I thought I'd also offer an update on what I've been working on and any news from me you might have missed.

Keep reading for all the details...

Introducing Write On - my alternative to NaNoWriMo

 Earlier this month, in my post The Importance of Finding Your People I talked about the recent discourse involving NaNoWriMo, and how many people I'd seen online expressed their sadness at the loss of community leaving NaNoWriMo created.

Of course, this got the wheels in my head turning.

If you know me, you know I'm a huge advocate for doing NaNoWriMo at least once in your life. If circumstances had been different, I would have been doing it this November...

We've already discussed the problems with the well-known website, but another spanner in the 'write 50k words in November' works is the fact E.A Games has decided to ruin my life by releasing BOTH Dragon Age: The VeilGuard and Sims 4: Life and Death on October 31, so I won't be doing much writing in November.

But I need to finish THE STARLIGHT PRINCE and I have another StorytellerPublisher22 submission to work on, so I thought, why not try to write as much as I can in October, instead? And I don't want to do it alone...

That's why I'm inviting you all to join my new venture Write On: Writing in Tandem with Encouragement & Nurturing.

The aim is to set a goal for October and then work towards that goal throughout the month.

The twist is that you don't have to aim for the 'traditional; 50k words.

You can aim for 30k, or 100k or whatever you want. And you don't have to write EVERY DAY. You can write on just Mondays, or every day except for Sundays. Or whatever works for you.

And of course, while you're getting your butt in your seat to write however many words you're aiming for, you have a community of other writers there to cheer you on, and share you woes with. There will be daily check-in posts and a spreadsheet for everyone to keep track of their words, and if you're also a member of the Write Here, Write Now Community I will be doing regular writing sprints in addition to the usual one sprint per week the group typically hosts.

Now is the perfect time to join WH,WN, because not only will there be more sprints than usual in October, but we're also doing a 'Face Your Fears' event where we're pushing ourselves to move out of our comfort zones, and complete a bingo board of challenges such as going live on Facebook, writing outside your usual genre, and writing more words than you typically do.

And to sweeten the deal, this month anyone who joins Write On: Writing in Tandem with Encouragement & Nurturing will be sent a 50% discount code for one month's membership over at Write Here, Write Now!

To begin with, I plan on keeping Write On to Facebook only, as that's where I do most of my writerly connecting, but if there's lots of people interested in joining, but who don't use Facebook, I may consider alternatives like Discord etc.

If you're interested in taking part in my NaNoWriMo alternative, I'd love for you to join me over at the Write On Facebook Group.

If you have any issues joining the group, please leave a comment on this entry, or send me an email at claredugmore@gmail.com.

I'll be back on Monday with the cover reveal for the WH,WN Christmas anthology, so until then,

Take care & Stay Creative!

T.T.F.N

The Importance of Finding Your People

With the recent (deserved) backlash against NaNoWriMo.Org, now it's more important than ever for all writers to find their people, and I have a recommendation for you.

Wings, Witches and Wonder Chapter Seven and Some Other Updates

Happy Friday, everyone.

First, chapter seven of Wings, Witches and Wonder is now available on ReamStories to all members of Apprentice Tier and above.

Secondly, I have made chapters 1-3 of Wings, Witches and Wonder available (and free) to all tiers, as well as chapters 1-3 of Seeking the Truth.

Over the next few weeks/ months, I'm going to be experimenting with ways of making my stories more available, in the hope of growing my community.

This might mean I move to an "early" access period, where paid subscribers will get chapters weeks or months in advance of non-paid subscribers.

Additionally, I am working on another story alongside Wings, which has a sexy witch/vampire pairing.

Here's a little peek!

Whenever I start a new project, I can't help but make the character on something. This time Sims 4. Any guesses who inspired my vampires, Antares?

Another thing I am considering adding to my subscription is contemporary romance stories, including my previously published on Amazon and now unavailable MMA romance ALL IT TAKES, and my queer romance TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY, as well as any new stories I write (I may have ideas for an age-gap rock-star romance!)

Be sure to follow me for regular updates, so you know what's coming, and when a new chapter is released.

https://reamstories.com/claredugmore/public

Finally, for those who were following my NaNoWriMo progress, I decided to stop. I added almost 17k to Wings, which means I have a decent backlog of chapters for you. But I've come to realize I am no longer able to write daily, especially with a specific target (i.e 1667 words a day for NaNoWriMo), and it was actually having the opposite effect and making me LESS motivated. Go figure. Anyway, rather than forcing it and coming to hate writing, I decided to stop. 

Now I'm free to work on what I want and when I want, as well as devoting time to setting up my proofreading business and co-writing a contemporary romance with Kyra Lennon.

All that to say, while I dropped out of NaNoWriMo, I don't see it as a failure, and you should expect lots of fun things from me next year!

Until next week. Stay safe, and read on!

Wings, Witches and Wonder Chapter Five is Live, and NaNoWriMo Progress

Chapter five of my serial, paranormal-romance, web-fiction WINGS, WITCHES AND WONDER is now live, and available to all Ream Stories subscribers of Apprentice Tier and above. You can find my Ream Stories profile here:

https://reamstories.com/claredugmore/public

My progress on NaNoWriMo is going well, and I'm perfectly on target. Not only that, but I discussed the story with my hubby (who is my number one sounding board and editor) and I figured out the conflict and ending. I then made a brief chapter plan, and promprtly went off the rails during a writing sprint last night! But that's NaNo for you! lol

I'm taking today off to spend some time with my mom, but I'll be back at it tomorrow, continuing to write Wings, Witches and Wonder, and of course, I'll have chapter six for you next Friday!

Until then, stay safe and read on!

T.T.F.N

NaNo-a-go-go

 

Today is the first day of NaNoWriMo, and I'll be using the event to finish Wings, Witches and Wonder.

I've gotten off to a good start, with 1760 words added to the story.

I'm currently trying to iron out some plot points. I'm a bit of a plantster when it comes to writing. I can't just write by the seat of my pants, but a too-rigid outline stifles me. Right now, I know my ending, I'm just trying to figure out the conflict and how I get to the planned ending.

I also edited and scheduled chapter five on Ream Stories ahead of its release on Friday. Here's a quick teaser for you all.

I'll be back tomorrow with another NaNoWriMo update, and maybe another sneaky peak at chapter five! ;)

Until then, stay safe and write on!

T.T.F.N

Wings Witches and Wonder Chapter Four Preview, and NaNoWriMo

Hey all,

I have a little sneak peek of chapter four of WINGS, WITCHES AND WONDER for you all ahead of its release on Friday.

-- I wanted to get dressed and rush to Chanctonbury Ring there and then, but I knew my duties to the Ancile and my promise to Janine came first. Plus, after the way Janine’s father had reacted the previous day, I’d never forgive myself if he did something to prevent his daughter from getting the help she wanted, and I wasn’t there to stop him.

Soon, I whispered on the wind, hoping that the alabaster man heard my promise.

I headed through to the ensuite bathroom to shower, and then after getting dressed, I made my way downstairs to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.

By nine a.m., I’d already had a large fried breakfast with sausage and bacon, as well as a stack of blueberry pancakes drenched in butter and syrup, and consumed four cups of tea. Using my abilities always made me hungry, but I was jittery too. 

On edge.

I wanted to go straight to the Goddard house and check if Janine was okay, but I knew showing up early might only antagonize her father.

So, instead, I did the only sensible thing I could do. I called Joseph. --

We're getting closer to Maddie actually going to Chanctonbury Ring, but first, one last visit to Janine.

If you want to read Wings, Witches and Wonder, chapter-by-chapter each week, you can do so on ReamStories for just $5 a month. The money will support me as a writer, and enable me to produce things like paperbacks.

Head over to ReamStories for full details of the tiers and perks I offer.

I'm taking a small writing break for the rest of the month, both so that I can focus a little more time on my proofreading course, but also because I have decided to devote ALL of November to completing Wings, Witches and Wonder by taking part in NaNoWriMo.

For those who don't know NaNoWriMo is a yearly event (with two camps in the summer) where writers come together, either online or in-person to write 50k in one month. Some do this by writing about 1500 words a day, others do bigger chunks to fit in with their lives/free time. But the basic aim is to use the month to get into a writing habit, make writing your focus and by writing 50k you get a jump start on a story.

Usually, participants write the beginning of their stories in NaNoWriMo, but I'm rebelling a little by already having 45k written. My aim is to add an extra 50k to what I already have, which will bring Wings, Witches and Wonder to ~95k and complete the story.

With the story complete, I can focus on editing the weekly chapters, getting the whole book ready for publication on Amazon etc. and working on book two of the Ancile Series.

If you're interested in following my progress, my NaNoWriMo profile can be found here. And if you're a fellow writer taking part, I'd love to add you as a buddy so we can cheer each other on.

That's all for now, but I'll be back on Friday with chapter four!

Until then, stay safe and read on.

NaNoWrimo 2019

I did start my own mini-NaNoWriMo back in September. I managed about 10k, before life and such got in the way, so I want to give it another crack for the official NaNoWriMo. Only with a different story. I do like the story I started in September, but I like this story more, and I'm hoping to be able to complete it in November. Fingers crossed.

Be sure to follow me on the NaNoWriMo site and/or social media for updates.

Here's the blurb.

NaNoWriMo 2019 | Only It's September

I recently got inspired to write a new contemporary romance, and I was planning on starting Sept. 2 as the kids are back in school/ college.

When I realised September has 30 days, like November, I started thinking about doing my own version of NaNoWriMo, and it works out quite nicely as I currently don't have any ghost-writing projects, but I hopefully will have by September.

In the name of staying sane, I'm only writing for 20 day, which will be Monday - Friday from September 2 - 27, with a word-count goal of 35,000. That's 1750 words per day, which is a little over the usual NaNo target, but it's what I've planned out for chapter length of my new WIP. If I complete Sept. NaNo, I should be halfway through my WIP by the end of the month. Then I can look at my workflow and decide when it's best to complete the story. 

As mentioned above, I will be working on a new contemporary romance (if you're curious about my full reasoning and status of my other projects, head over to my website), and at the same time posting updates for #WIPJoy on my social medias.

Here's the blurb for the new project *subject to change as the story develops.*

When Jessica Logan returns to her hometown after being exiled ten-years previously, her hopes are to reconcile with her estranged parents, introduce them to her daughter, Lily, and build a better life for herself and her little girl.

What she doesn’t count on is reuniting with high school best friend Erik Jansen.

Erik is also returning home, hoping to heal from discovering his long-term girlfriend has been married for the duration of their relationship. 

The two friends soon pick up where they left off when teens, but when Erik unexpectedly kisses Jessica, it throws her life into confusion. She didn’t come home to find love, and certainly not with her best friend. How can she give herself to someone when ninety percent of her life is such a mess? 

Matters are made worse when Jessica’s baby daddy, who was previously uninterested in having a relationship with his daughter, arrives on the scene and starts throwing his weight around. 


All Jessica wants is a quite life, but when Erik’s ex also arrives in town, claiming she’s divorcing her husband and wants to make a go of things with Erik, Jessica has to act, or risk losing the man she’s started to fall for. 

Looking Back: Eight Years After My 'first novel'.

Facebook kindly reminded me today is the eight year anniversary of me receiving the proof copy of my first original novel. Before then, I'd only ever written fan fiction. But in November 2010, I took part in NaNoWriMo for the first time, and then spent the following months getting the story to just under 70k, then editing and formatting it ready to take advantage of my prize for winning NaNoWriMo, which was a free proof copy of my book.

You can read the original post here (pics of the proof copy included).

I was so excited and full of plans for the future, and seeing this now, eight years later, has really inspired me.

Back then I was determined to be traditionally published, with an agent. Now I think there's advantages to traditional publishing, but also advantages to self-publishing, and honestly there's no one right answer for each author. Plus what's best to do greatly varies from book to book.

In the eight years since my first novel, I've written many more and played around with fantasy, paranormal and romance. I've come to accept I will always love and want to write multiple genres, just as I love and enjoy reading multiple genres.

I've published one full book and one short-story, as well as having one ghost-written story published, with a second in the works. 

To some people that might not seem like a lot, and there are authors who've been writing for the same amount of time as me, or for less time than me, who've written and published more.

But that's something else I learned along the way. You shouldn't compare yourself to others. Be inspired and motivated by others, of course, but everyone is different, and all you can strive to do is focus on becoming the best version of yourself you can be.

For me, that's trying different stories, re-writing stories, jumping from project-to-project, but always learning and improving.

Right now I'm happy with my writing life - guys, I get paid to write books. How awesome is that? - but I've been inspired to do more. 

If you've read my blog you'll know I've had health issues for a while, and I'm still dealing with those, as well as mental health issues, but things are getting better and I'm hoping I can devote time to my own writing, as well as ghostwriting. I have so many stories I want to share with the world.

It might take another eight years, it might take less (maybe even more - who knows?) but I'm never going to stop writing, and working toward finishing something I feel is worth putting out there in the world.

So, to all my fellow writers out there, don't give up. Keep chasing your dream, and never lose sight of that excitement that first inspired you to put words on a page. 

It's Been A Long Time...

So, as you've likely noticed I haven't been around much since October. 

Those of you I'm friends with on Facebook will know why, but for the sake of recapping, here's what's been going on in the last few months... 

[more under the cut]

NaNoWriMo 2018 and Writing Update

Due to various reasons, I haven't done much in the way of writing the last few months. 

I did add a bit more to Choosing Sides, and I now have about 12, 000 words/ eight chapters left until completion.

Additionally, I decided to serialize it on Wattpad. You can check it out here: ​www.wattpad.com/633473780-choosing-sides-author%27s-notes

Kyra and I resumed work on our co-novel, and decided to make some changes. 

The story we wrote in part last year, is now going to be book two in a series focused on a UK wrestling company. Book one will introduce the male lead for book two, but also follow two best friends, who're debuting in the company. 

It's a story Kyra and I have drafted a couple of times over the years, and we now feel it's the right time to really work on it and get it out there. 

It was going well, but we've had to put it on hiatus for a few weeks, so Kyra can work on her solo novel, Say What You Feel (Chaos and Consent #2), as she's on a tight deadline for it, because of it being due for release on November 6. 

Once her book is out, and she's had a break, we'll get back to it.

I spoke about re-writing my 2012 novel, Cupid, and I did start work on that, getting about 5k down, before illness hit. Then I lost my motivation to write ... until NaNoWriMo was approaching.

I've been conflicted on what to write in November, as I recently had an excellent idea for a young-adult, high fantasy book/ possible series. 

But, after much deliberation, I feel Cupid is the best choice to go with. It's more developed that the high fantasy, which I'm still working out the details of, and with less fantasy world-building needed. 

I think both could be excellent stories, but the high-fantasy probably isn't the right thing to write during NaNoWriMo, and I need to give myself more time to iron out the plot, and nail down all the world building aspects.

So I will be sticking with Cupid, and after re-reading the 5000 words I wrote in September, I'm certain it's the right choice. Damn it, I love that story, even if I do say so myself and what I've written so far is excellent. I'm so excited to work on it again once NaNoWriMo starts. 

If you're interested in following my NaNWriMo progress, or learning more about Cupid, please check out my profile here.

That's it in the way of writing updates, but if you want a more personal update, please check out my recent blog post over on my website. http://www.claredugmore.com/blog/october-update

Until next time. T.T.F.N ...

Camp NaNoWriMo July 18: Week ThreeUpdate

One week of CampNaNoWrimo left to go, and I'm only 5k away from meeting my self-set target of 20k in the month of July.

I'm so pleased with how things are going. 5k a week Mon-Fri was the exact right amount for me. I don't feel burned out, I'm still enjoying the story, and I feel like I'm making good progress, instead of feeling like I've achieved nothing.

This week's highlight was the repercussions of the twist at the end of act two leading to some interesting developments for one of my main characters. I'm also setting up conflicts for the other two MCs to battle with before the climax. I'm so excited to finish this story.

And I only have another 15-20k to go, as I broke the 70k mark today. My aim is 95k max for the story, and I will probably work on the final 20k in September. I say this as I'm taking August off not only to avoid burn-out, but to enjoy the summer school break with my sons, and head to the beach for a vacation! 

So that was my positive writing week. How are things going for everyone else? Let me know in the comments, and until next week (when I'll hopefully be reporting making it to 20k) have an excellent week!

Camp NaNoWriMo July 18: Week Two Update

Hey everyone!

I'm back with another update on my CampNaNoWriMo progress.

I didn't meet my self-set 5k target this week, because I took Thursday and Friday off, but because of my efforts in week one, I'm still on target to make 20k by the end of July. I just need to make sure I don't slack off next week, or all fall behind.

Week two was mostly focused on the transition from act two to act three; dealing with the fall out of the thing that happened at the end of act two, and then setting up the building blocks for act three and the climax. It was some good stuff, but I'm excited to get back into more action-y type stuff as act three gets into full swing. 

Is anyone else doing CampNaNoWriMo or working on something? If so, let me know in the comments. I'd love to know how you're getting on.

Until next week, hope y'all have an awesome week!

Camp NaNoWriMo July 18: Week One Update

The first week of July's Camp NaNoWriMo has finished, and I'm slightly ahead of my self-set target of 5k words per week. 

This time around I'm only writing Monday to Friday, and taking weekends off, for the sake of my own sanity. Though I did take Thursday off this week (as I wasn't in a good headspace) and instead made up my word count on Saturday afternoon. That's it for this weekend though, once I've finished this post I plan on spending the rest of my weekend playing Elder Scrolls Online! 

The highlight of the week was an unexpected twist near the end of act two. I have a loose chapter plan and I know how I want the end to play out, but I still have some blanks on the way there. This was one of these blanks. Recently, I'd decided to give my healing witch Esmee an additional ability, and this manifested towards the end of act two, with some interesting consequences, which led to me writing one of my favourite chapters to date. I have one more chapter in act two to write, and I have a plan in mind for that. Then I'm moving onto act three, for which I have a handful of chapters in mind ... then nothing for nine chapters, until I start building towards the climax. So it will be interesting to see where the majority of act three takes me.

I'll be back next week to update on my week two progress, but if you want daily updates, check out social media.

Until next week, take care and have a great week ahead!

Camp NaNoWriMo July 18

Hey all!

I'm back with an update about my writing life.

I did well for Camp NaNo in April. I added almost 35k to my work-in-progress urban-fantasy Choosing Sides. But then in May and June I did very little - perhaps adding a couple of thousand words here and there. 

I want this first draft complete and ready to send to beta readers by the end of the year. By my calculations I have just under 36k left to write (I'm aiming for a 90k novel, and currently have just over 55k written). 

It SHOULD NOT take me six months to write 36k!! So, I've signed up for Camp NaNo again in July, with the aim of writing 20k. That's 1k a day, Mon-Fri for the duration of July. I can do that. I won't be writing in August. The kids will be off school, and we have plans to go to Weston Super-mare for a few days, so I'll take the month off to relax. 

But there's absolutely no reason I shouldn't be able to write the remaining 16k, go through it myself to make sure it's all correct, and then go through it with Hubby for edits/ beta reading, before sending it to others, by the end of the year. 

 There are other projects I've also been thinking about ... Kyra Lennon wants us to get back to work on our co-written novel, so that we can publish it before the end of the year. I will have to find time to fit that into my schedule. 

I've also been thinking of polishing and publishing Every Moment With You, and Seeking The Truth, which are both complete, but just need a good editing. I don't want to put too much on my plate/ take my focus off of Choosing Sides, so I plan on revisiting those other projects in a few months when I'm in a better routine, and I'm close to completing Choosing Sides.

I'll try to post weekly updates with my progress here, but for those who want to see daily update, snippets, and titbits (in July I'll also be doing the WIP Joy challenge again) please feel free to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

And for anyone interested in what's being going on in my personal/ non-writing life recently, feel free to head over to my website blog for an update. 

NONE NaNoWriMo? WTF Am I Even Doing?

This year's NaNoWriMo has been a weird one for me.

I started off working on a young-adult, fantasy-romance. I managed 13, 498 words before deciding I wasn't feeling the story. Something wasn't clicking in my head.

So, I switched to an adult, contemporary romance. That went a little better. I managed 11, 912 words. But then after a week of writing, that story wasn't clicking with me either.

I decided to just give up on NaNoWriMo this year. I obviously wasn't in a writing heads pace.

I took a week out, played some Skyrim, and then suddenly I started thinking about this story I conceived years ago. I've considered working on it a few times, and had jotted down some ideas and notes for it. Inspired by a different story idea, I'd also filed away for a later date, I decided to combine elements of the two and began in earnest ...

In the space of two and a half days, I've written 9000 words, and this story just won't leave me alone. Whenever I'm not working on it, I'm thinking about it, and wishing I was working on it. I'm excited to share it with other people, and see what they think. This is the story that needs to be written right now. This is the one that's clicked for me.

So ... I'm aiming to complete NaNoWriMo with 50k on a hodgepodge of three different stories. I might come back to the first two in the future. But right now, my focus is on the new, third story and for the first time since finishing All It Takes, and sending it to Kyra Lennon for editing, I feel excited about writing!!

I guess the moral of the story is, if something doesn't feel write, put it aside for a while. But don't give up writing entirely, because eventually, something will click.

How is everyone else getting on. Are those of you doing NaNoWriMo on track? How about this working on other things? I'd love to hear your news!

NaNoWriMo 2016: The Lost Princess

It's been a while since I did NaNoWriMo, but as November is looking less busy for me, I decided to give it a go this year, with a YA fantasy-romance story that's been knocking around in my head for a few months.

Feel free to add me on the NaNoWriMo site if you want to be NaNo buddies!

And for those who're interested, there's more about my story, THE LOST PRINCESS, under the cut ...