April 30, 2022

Easter eggs – a slippery slope for a sugar addict

Easter is over and I’ve gained 8lbs to show for it. That’s 8lbs in 2 weeks, by the way. Considering it took me 3 months to lose those 8lbs in the first place, it’s not so great, huh? Yep, that’s the reality of insulin resistance, carb intolerance and sugar addiction. I overindulged on Easter eggs, desserts at the hotel during a spa break away and binged on starchy carbs generally. I’m not perfect – far from it. When I stop keto I really have disordered eating. I go from very strict to bingeing with no gauge (I don’t get sugar rushes or crashes like a normal person, I could stuff my face on chocolate all day). I’ll be honest, I’m at a loss about how to manage my sugar addiction in the long term. For now, I’m doing what I can. Back on the bacon since 24th April and I’m not beating myself up either. Guilt is a useless emotion.

At low moments when I’ve had to put on my social face at work or elsewhere in public, at times I’ve made light of my sugar addiction. I’ve joked about why can’t I be addicted to broccoli or celery; why do I have to be addicted to something as devilishly delicious as chocolate? The truth is, giving in to self pity just before my 2 weeks off work for Easter break (I work in a grammar school) was what got me into trouble. I had been on strict keto since 25th January and had successfully made it through both Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day without any cravings, when suddenly I felt that life was unfair; why shouldn’t I be able to have a little piece of chocolate egg. Just a teensy bit. You can guess what happened once I had myself convinced. One piece is never enough.

Where does it end? Yes, I am self aware enough to know that this battle will be a lifelong struggle and – cheesy spring pun intended – I’m no spring chicken. The older I get the more my hormones will be against me. I need to find a balance between managing my sugar addiction and allowing myself treats on social occasions. This is good in theory, but how it will work in reality is another thing. Nevertheless, I have had to eat a huge slice of humble (chocolate) pie this month since I had only recently been celebrating my 2 year keto anniversary and feeling proud of how far I have come. Whilst that remains true, I still have a long way to go on the road to sugar addiction recovery.

Posted by on April 30, 2022 in Health: Keto diet and sugar addiction.

Leave a comment

April 26, 2022

A still life of my messy writing desk

Lately I’ve seen so many beautifully arranged pictures on social media of authors showing their picture perfect writing spaces, so I thought I’d show you the reality of mine. Here it is, in all its messy glory. This isn’t to denigrate those writers out there with their aesthetically pleasing laptop and coffee arrangements, maybe with a photogenic dog in the picture, or a serene fireplace. It’s purely to confess that I’m messy.

Yep, I’m messy, disorganised and forgetful. There, I said it. I keep multiple notebooks and sticky notes of lists to remember all the things I need to do on any given day. I could have tidied up the desk above; chucked the notebooks and stationery organisers on the floor simply to take an artistically displayed photo of my writing space. But that wouldn’t have reflected the reality. I had a productive writing morning on this day; I’m up to 29k words in my current manuscript, novel WIP#5. It’s more important to get drafting than arrange a perfect photo.

I draw the line at a writing selfie, however. You really don’t need to see a photo of me in my PJs and dressing gown with greasy hair and pink eye. Reading about that reality is quite enough!

Posted by on April 26, 2022 in Writing.

2 Comments

April 23, 2022

Getting book reviews: effective methods and how to find reviewers

If you’re an Indie or small press author, chances are you can relate when I say that getting reviews of your book is hard work. If I had a review for every sale of my second novel, The Buddha’s Bone, I’d be absolutely chuffed. If you’re a reader, not a writer, then chances are you read plenty of books, but may not necessarily write reviews for every book you buy – or might not leave reviews at all.

Everyone knows that books with reviews make more sales. Think about it: how often do you take a chance on a product if there are no reviews for it? As a reader as well as a writer, I tend to read reviews of books before deciding to buy, whether it’s a new author or someone I’ve read before. I look up the reviews before making up my mind.

So, how does an Indie author get reviews? In my experience, I’ve tried a few things, to varying degrees of success. Here are my thoughts on organic reviews, effective ways to get reviews, ways that have been ineffective for me and why I’ll never pay for reviews.

Continue reading →

Posted by on April 23, 2022 in reviews and tagged , , , , , , .

2 Comments

April 18, 2022

April reading update

Back in January I set myself a reading target of 20 books on the Goodreads Challenge. So far I’ve finished 5 books towards that goal.

I’ve mainly been reading horror and psychological, though I’ve tried to branch out a bit with my current reads, which are YA dystopian and contemporary women’s romance – both genres I don’t normally read.

Frieda McFadden, who writes psychological thrillers, has become somewhat of a go-to lately on Kindle as I can always guarantee her books are great and page-turning reads. She is a doctor by day, so I find the medical angle of many of her books intriguing. Suicide Med, one that I read a few months ago, focused on medical students and the one I’m currently reading, The Locked Door (pictured above) follows a surgeon who is escaping the stigma of her past as her father was a convicted serial killer.

Of course, this year I also mixed in a few classics that I still can’t believe I hadn’t read: Heart of Darkness, very different to the film Apocalypse Now, and The Great God Pan, which included 3 novellas. My favourite of those three was the titular story; I liked the Shining Pyramid and the White People less. Overall though, a good and creepy read.

Having read five books by April is not that many, but when you factor in editing a finished novel manuscript, writing another novel work in progress, reading submissions for Bindweed Magazine: Midsummer Madness Anthology 2022, full time day job work and looking after an extremely energetic preschooler, that number suddenly doesn’t seem so shabby anymore. 😅

Posted by on April 18, 2022 in Reading and tagged , , , , , , .

Leave a comment

April 13, 2022

Read, write, edit, repeat

My life recently has been a steady juggle of balancing day work with literary time and family life. Since family life takes priority, I tend to squeeze in writing and editing time on breaks at work or for half an hour after school ends (I work in a grammar school – although I’m currently on Easter break) and reading time while I’m having breakfast or after my wee bookworm has gone to bed. Simply put, there aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything I’d like to do – but I make the most of the time I have.

Reading time:

I subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, so I try to read as much as I can and I’ve been getting into writing more reviews lately too. Although I prefer reading paperbacks, ebooks are handy as I can read on my phone, which is helpful in bed at night or if I have a moment to spare during the day. Of course, I make reading with the little literary lad a priority too. Thankfully he loves books as much as we do, and has even hoarded many of our books, which he stuffs onto his own book shelf.

Writing time:

I’m chipping away at novel WIP#5, which is currently at around 26.5k words. Anyone at work who sees me in the staffroom after school always comments on how industrious I am. I try my best…

Editing:

My next novel is due for release later this year, so I’m in between editing projects at the moment. I’ll be busy again soon though with Bindweed Magazine, the literary journal that my hubby and I run. Submissions will close at the end of April for our forthcoming anthology, Midsummer Madness 2022, so I’ll have a lot on my plate with editing and formatting the ebook and (if time permits) typesetting the paperback version.

Repeat:

Besides all of the above, did you know I’m a fan of bad movies? My hubby and I love Mystery Science Theatre 3000 and Rifftrax. There is much to be learned from watching terrible, cheesy B movies as a writer – I find it helps sharpen my editing skills, particularly in finding plot holes in my own work. And so, the cycle of read, write, edit continues. ☺️

Posted by on April 13, 2022 in Writing and tagged , , , , .

Leave a comment

April 10, 2022

Celebrating two years of my keto lifestyle

The first covid lockdown seems like another lifetime ago these days. Back in 2020, as the UK entered the first one on 23rd March, I had reached my heaviest weight ever and my BMI was 31, which is obese. Before pregnancy, I had taken for granted that I was of slim to medium build. I didn’t have a sweet tooth, or eat carb-heavy meals generally. During pregnancy I developed an insatiable sugar and carb craving. I binged on cake, chocolate, ice cream, pancakes and multipacks of crisps. I allowed myself by using excuses: I was eating for two, or that I would indulge myself and go back on track after the baby was born.

But my cravings didn’t subside after the birth of my child: I continued eating sugary junk when I was on maternity leave and even after I had gone back to work and my little one was in childcare. At work, I pigged out on cookies and biscuits in the school staffroom. My bad habits had become a lifestyle.

Before lockdown happened, I knew I was having health problems from being overweight. My heart raced as I walked upstairs. My ankles, hips and back ached constantly. I couldn’t run after my child. I knew that if I continued I would end up with diabetes, or even bowel cancer, which runs in my family. As a person who can’t do moderation, I knew it was a case of all or nothing. So, I researched the keto diet and went cold turkey from my high carb diet, keeping to under 20g a day.

It took me 5 months to lose 3 stone/ 42lbs. Finally when I reached my pre-pregnancy weight, a healthy BMI of 24, I stopped. Since then I have maintained the weight I lost. It hasn’t been easy; I have had to go back to keto intermittently in order to control my cravings. In January this year I made the decision to stay low carb permanently as a lifestyle choice, instead of slipping back into bad habits with cake and chocolate, putting on up to 14lbs, and having to go through keto flu all over again. This way, I know I won’t have yo-yoing weight as I’ll be staying on track all the time.

I’ll admit, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Easter and birthdays are tough as the temptation to binge on chocolate is all around. But, being able to play with my child and have an active lifestyle is more important to me – much more motivating than a quick fix of sugar.

Posted by on April 10, 2022 in Biography, Health: Keto diet and sugar addiction and tagged , , , , , , .

Leave a comment

April 8, 2022

Promo samples of The Buddha’s Bone

I’m really chuffed with these sample excerpts of The Buddha’s Bone. They arrived in the post from Lulu a couple of days ago. Basically, they contain just the first chapter, synopsis as published on all of the online retailers and a few reviews from Goodreads.

Why did I do this, then? Well, it’s much easier than carrying around a copy of my book at all times, which isn’t practical. But on a few occasions, both business and social, there have been times when my writing has come up and I’ve found myself empty-handed. Not any more. These pamphlet-sized excerpts are easy to pack in my work bag, handbag, or just to grab on the go for any occasions that require a dose of promotion. Writers, what do you think? Handy, or not?

Posted by on April 8, 2022 in Novels and tagged , , , , .

Leave a comment

April 4, 2022

Forthcoming novel ready for my beta readers

After another round of edits I have printed a third version of my final manuscript from Lulu, ready for my beta readers. The two copies arrived on Saturday, and I’m keeping my fingers, toes and everything crossed that my beta readers will give it the double thumbs up so that it’s really, truly finished this time and ready for the next stage: typesetting.

I always use Lulu for printing as I find it handy. Some writers use KDP for printing drafts to proof read; the upside of this is that personally, I think the paper quality and binding through Amazon printing is of better quality than Lulu, but the downside is that you need to have the book available on pre-order, or already published to avail of author print copies. As I’m not at that stage yet – I haven’t yet properly formatted and typeset my manuscript – using KDP wouldn’t be suitable at this stage for me. Lulu allows you to either print privately, which is available only to you, or to enable public distribution, which requires an ISBN. I definitely recommend Lulu if you’re looking for a good quality printer to proof check your manuscript; it’s straightforward to use and relatively inexpensive to order a few personal copies.

So what’s next for my book? If my beta readers approve it, hopefully I can go ahead with typesetting and have it ready for ARC reviewers by summer. My anticipated release date will be in October this year. You can follow updates on my current projects page.

Posted by on April 4, 2022 in Novels and tagged , , , , , .

Leave a comment

March 31, 2022

Update on supernatural novel manuscripts 5 and 6

I’m happy to say that after a couple of weeks of writer’s block because of anxiety at world events, I have been back to chipping away at both novel drafts #5 and #6. Both are supernatural manuscripts; as you may know, book 1 in the series (Title and cover reveal later in the summer this year) is forthcoming in October 2022. My two current projects are at 18,386 words for novel WIP#5 and 5691 words for novel WIP#6. Novel WIP#6 would have been more than 6k, except I decided I didn’t like the first chapter and cut it completely. I felt it was irrelevant to the plot and character development of my protagonist, so I scrapped the whole thing. I have no qualms about cutting out huge sections of a draft if they serve no purpose and I never write filler chapters just to get my word count up – every chapter should serve the story arc.

Novel WIP#5 is going well. I also cut a section, though not an entire chapter, as I felt it wasn’t motivated; the character acted in a way that simply didn’t fit the direction the plot was going. A bit of tweaking after the cut sorted that issue and the story is back on track. I’ve been powering ahead with this one mainly because the story is more straightforward than WIP#6, which requires research into medieval Ireland (spoiler alert – apologies).

Writing a novel is hard work. I rely on my chapter outlines heavily to remind myself of where I’m up to in the story. The further into a book I go, the more I tend to forget what happened earlier and need my notes to make sure there are no continuity errors. My chapter plan notebook is always open with a red pen handy as I type. If I lost it, well, that doesn’t bear thinking about…

I will keep you posted on how it’s all going as one – or both – novel drafts progress. Though at this stage, it’s looking like it would be a better use of my time to keep going with WIP#5. One way or another, rest assured I’ll be writing many more updates on this.

Posted by on March 31, 2022 in Writing and tagged , , , .

Leave a comment

March 26, 2022

Novel insanity: I write therefore I am

Lately I’ve been asked on a few occasions about how long I’ve been writing and where I get my ideas. I told them that I’ve been writing since I was little. It’s one of the first jobs I wanted to do, apart from being an astronaut and a palaeontologist. I wrote my first short story when I was nine and had my first poem published at 13 in the Write and Shine Anthology.

The bottom line is, if I didn’t write, I wouldn’t be me. I’ve always written. In fact, I honestly think it keeps me sane. Above is a visual representation of what I think would happen to my brain if I didn’t write. The words would have to come out of my head somehow; they would simply bleed out through my skin. As for my ideas, they pop in there seemingly randomly, and come from everywhere and everything. It’s usually sparked by something in the real world, rather than TV or books though. For example, my current horror novel WIP#6 was inspired by the Christmas lights I was hanging up in my house in December that kept malfunctioning. Before I realised they were broken, I was left feeling seriously spooked. Those things put me through one hell of a major gaslighting session, I’ll say that!

Writing every day takes effort – and discipline. The hardest part I find is fitting it into a busy schedule. In order to keep myself motivated, I have learned to change my outlook over the decades: when I was younger I focused on word count targets. Nowadays, I’m happy if I even get one sentence written and don’t set rigid targets each day, week or month. Any progress on a manuscript draft counts, even if that means cutting out parts that no longer fit the story. Improving and moving forwards is the flexible destination I like to reach with my writing now; when I stick to this mindset then, voila, I find myself with a finished book in no time. Well, maybe a year or so at any rate (ha, ha!)

Posted by on March 26, 2022 in Writing and tagged , , , .

Leave a comment