Hurry up and Wait

Just finished reading Hurry Up and Wait by Isabel Ashdown. What a brilliant book! It had me gripped after the prologue, really keen to find out what would happen to main character Sarah, her often best friends Kate and Teen and various boys. Set in the 1980s it evokes that time, being in the fifth year at a seaside comp fabulously with lots of references to pop music, clothes, fashion etc and depicts the terrible insecurity of adolescents. Funny and touching, I absolutely loved it. Great read for a snowy weekend.

Writers: how to keep going!

Here's the thing, how do writers keep going? Solidly working away on something  that may never see the light of day and most likely be returned with a terse thank you but no note from agent or publisher. Here's some ideas:
- change your thoughts, ie not 'Why am I doing this?' but  'I choose to write because I enjoy it.' (mostly)
-train yourself not to think about what will happen to your story, just think about writing the best story you can for yourself
-sometimes I surround myself by things I have had published just to remind myself that I can do it
-I have an inspirational picture of a woman holding an old fashioned type writer with the words 'You have to finish it' stuck across it hung just where I can see it if I look up from my computer
- promise myself a trip to the shops/ a browse on ebay/ eat biscuits when you've done your quota.
- sometimes just resign yourself to having a bit of  bad session so plan or do research or go out for a walk
What about you? All ideas greatly received.

Smashwords v KDP

Just wondering how people find self publishing on Smashwords compared to KDP. This is the cover (or similar) to a short self help book that my sister and I published on Smashwords called 'Help I've got no dosh'. We found the process a bit dispiriting because sales were so poor. So for my next venture I'm going to try KPD. Does anyone have any thoughts or tips? I'd love to hear them.

World Book Day

World Book Day is here again. here's my tip for an easy outfit for your kids. Dye a cotton overall orange and go as Stanley Yelnats from Holes. Great outfit and actually a really great book too. Simples...

Just settling down to read Writers' News,  part of Writing Magazine. I find it full of all sorts of little gems, other members' experience and so on. It  always takes me a while to trawl through because the
magazine's so jam packed. Writing  Magazine itself is also good. This month there's lots of information about competitions and  always lots of useful articles about self publishing and the publishing industry.  But I always return to the Writers' News for all those  little morsels of information you don't seem to get anywhere else. Well worth a look!

Rooftoppers

Just part way through Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell about a girl called Sophie. She's the only female survivor of a shipwreck and was found floating in a cello case in The Channel. Sophie though is convinced that her mother is alive and when she grows, flees to Paris to find her, following the address in the cello case. There she takes up with a group of urchins who live on the rooftops of Paris and who help her search for her mother. So far, it's a brilliant read, really enjoying it, great characters, great atmosphere.