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Missing My Characters

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I alternate between writing contemporary fiction with a dark edge and crime fiction. Currently, I am writing the former, but this morning I woke up missing my detectives, DI Eva Wednesday and DS Jacob Lennox.

The first novel in the crime series comes out this November, and I have already written and submitted to the publisher, the second one. Therefore, I have come to know the detectives well, and I am already witnessing their own personal journeys throughout the two novels. They both have complicated personal lives, where mental health issues, divorce and estranged family relationships can take their toll on Wednesday and Lennox.

They have become friends albeit sometimes irritating ones with the choices they make, but friends I cannot be without. I can feel their presence whether I am writing about them or not. I can see, smell and almost touch them, which is why I think I am missing them today. They are trying to grab my attention for a third novel in the series. I know there quirks, their likes and dislikes. For example, Lennox likes beer, malt whisky and will tolerate wine if there is nothing else. He likes black coffee with two sugars. Wednesday is sensitive, but passive aggressive and drives a cream VW Beetle. Lennox comes to know Wednesday’s personal life rather too intimately for her liking, in the first novel.

You see, I am rambling on about them to the point of obsession.

I am 70,000 words into the first draft of a contemporary novel, so the characters there are also real. But Wednesday and Lennox are distracting me today, and I want to know why. Perhaps a new story is burgeoning within me, but I do not want to notice it until I’ve finished my current WIP.

I hope if the characters feel so real to me, they feel real to the reader. After all, that is what we authors want. I have a feeling that Eva Wednesday and Jacob Lennox will be a recurring partnership in a few novels to come.

I hope your characters live with you in the same manner. I must say I am never lonely!

Happy Word Flow One & All.

Liebster Award

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Liebster Award

The lovely Louise Walters, 
author of ‘Mrs. Sinclair’s Suitcase’,  
for a Liebster award. Thank you, Louise!








The rules:
  • Thank Liebster Blog Award nominator on your blog 
  • and link back to the blogger who presented this award to you;
  • Answer the eleven questions from the nominator;
  • List eleven random facts about yourself;
  • Present the Liebster Blog Award to up to eleven blogs 
  • let them know they’ve been chosen;
  • Pass on the eleven questions to your nominees, 
  • or create new ones;
  • Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.
Here are my answers to Louise’s questions!

1. What’s your favourite novel and what
 do you love about it? 
Choosing one novel is very hard as I have 
favourite novel’s for
 various genre’s and moods. Therefore, I’ll choose
 ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’ by Lionel Shriver. 
I love it because it explores the dark side
 of motherhood,
 and the complexities of remorse, regret and parental
 love. I haven’t sen the film as I have such
 fond memories of the book and I sometimes find
 films spoil that love.

2. Do you have any pet peeves in fiction? 
I can’t say that I do. I either enjoy a book or 
I don’t, regardless of how it is received
 generally. The author’s voice is important

3. What are you most proud of?
 My daughters and their positive
 attitude to life and their future careers.

4. Your most and least favourite people in history?  
Emmeline Pankhurst is my favourite person. 
I always vote in elections because of her dedication 
to the cause, and my 18yr old has recently voted
 for the first time. My least favourite person is Hitler, 
who is a recurring choice amongst the nominees. 
Need I say more?

5. The country, city or other place you’d most
 like to visit? 
Canada looks stunning – but oh so far away.
 I’ve become a wimp where flying is concerned. 

6. Which five people would you like to meet
 (dead, alive or fictional)?
Audrey Hepburn, Lionel Shriver, Anita Brookner,
 Greg Davies, Ian Rankin.

7. What makes you laugh the most? 
I love watching ‘You’ve Been Framed’ with
 my daughters. I especially love the clips
 about children and weddings. I love hearing
 my eldest daughter’s tinkly laugh.

8. If you could know the future, what would you wish for? 
For my daughter’s to achieve happiness in their 
chosen careers, and for my husband and I to
 enjoy a happy, healthy and long retirement together. 

9. If you won the lottery and could donate money to charity, 
which charity would you choose and why?
 I’m going to be a rebel and choose two.
 The Multiple Sclerosis Society
 and The Guide Dog Trust.

10. Do you suffer from any little phobias or superstitions? 
Spiders (another common theme).

11. What’s your favourite guilty pleasure?
 Watching American crime shows.

Eleven random facts about me

1) I am addicted to chocolate with sea salt.
2) I have far too many scarfs.
3) I love singing karaoke.
4) I support West Ham and Norwich
 football teams, and have been to 
see both teams play several times.
5)  I passed my driving test the first time in France.
6)  I tend to wear floral and stripy clothes, often
 together much to my daughters’ chagrin.
7) I went through a hippie phase during and after 
my nurse training.
8) I used to write to a prisoner on death row
 through an Amnesty International scheme.
 He was eventually executed.
9) I can’t drink much as I quickly become giggly
 then sleepy.
10) I used to hate giving injections when I worked
 as a family planning nurse.
11) I always were perfume as it gives me confidence.

I am going to pass the Liebster Award to the following blogs:


Thank you again, Louise. 
Happy Word Flow One & All

10 More Things You Didn’t Know About Me

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A while back I wrote a similar post which seemed quite popular, so I thought I’d write a follow-up post.

1) I grew up with a golden Labrador named Seamus.

2) I was frightened of the dark until I was 13 years old. It’s bizarre that I now write novels with a dark edge. If ‘Attic of the Mind’ became a film, I would not be able to watch it!

3) I was a vegetarian for ten years. This was due to me waking up after a knee operation to find slabs of roast beef on the hospital menu. From then on I associated any form of meat akin to the flesh of my body.

4) My favourite garden bird is a blackbird; they have an amazing song.

5) My left ear is pierced twice.

6) I mute the adverts when they come on the TV, as I dislike them intensely. The ones about dieting and money are annoying, but the one where the husband doesn’t realise his wife dyes her hair, and wonders how she stays looking so young is ridiculous. Really?

7) I listen to Radio 2 (no advert!).

8) I have a (fun) hanging basket competition with my neighbour. I’m getting better at making them as the years go by.

9) I hate jazz and any discordant music.

10) I love watching bats fly around our garden in the evening.

I found this fun to write and I hope you found it fun to read. Welcome to the latest followers thanks for being here.

Happy Word Flow One & All.

When Doubts Start Flooding In.

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What do you do when the doubts start flooding in? Do you wear your lucky number seven pendant? Do you use your special pen? Whatever you do, one thing is for certain, all writers have moments of self doubt.

I have certainly had a few recently. My second novel came out in February and almost instantly I began worrying about how it would be received. I’m on several bookish sites where reviews are published, which is great if the reviews are favourable. But one has to remember that a novel cannot please everyone. For example, I’m currently reading and enjoying J.K.Rowling’s ‘A Casual Vacancy’ , but even she received some terrible reviews when it was first published.

But reviews are not the only doubt that hangs over my head. What about the topic of sales? Will I sell the novel beyond my circle of family and friends? Actually, I have had some reviews from people I don’t know, which is reassuring especially when their reviews are favourable. However, I’m waiting for my first humdinger      
which will surely come. How will my self-doubt survive that?

Another doubt is, will I be able to write one I feel is as good as ‘Attic of the Mind’. I say this, not to be conceited, but because ‘Attic’ almost wrote itself. The characters were alive and kicking, punching me with their words and actions. What if that was my best work and even that wasn’t good enough? But what is good enough? Why do we set ourselves unrealistic goals and judge ourselves against other authors?

Don’t laugh, but I do wear a lucky seven necklace and bracelet, plus a four-leaf clover bracelet. Have I achieved great success – not really – but I still won’t take them off! I use the same Parker pen to make notes and character cards. Yes, I do have my quirks and superstitions, but I imagine if you’re honest, you do too.

Welcome to the latest followers – lovely to have you here.

Happy Word Flow One & All.

I’m an organic writer.

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A couple of weeks ago, I met an author at a north London party. My husband was quick to tell him that I too was an author. He looked the part in his tweed jacket and sumptuous silk scarf. I, on the other hand, was wearing a polka dot dress, a black leather jacket and knee high Dr Marten boots.
        We began discussing writing and he asked what I wrote and how I went about the process of writing. “I write contemporary fiction and crime,” I told him. “And I’m an organic writer.” I couldn’t quite see his facial expression in the semi-dark room, nor could I hear any nuances in his voice over the sound of the live band. But I sensed he was unimpressed somehow.
        Undeterred, I told him that the beginning of a novel usually comes to me when day-dreaming or doing something mundane like washing-up. I jot down character details and start writing. Very soon I know the denouement which is always satisfying. What is terrifying, however, is that I don’t know how to get from start to finish.
        As ideas that come to me I plot out on a mind-map, but sometimes the ideas don’t come. Panic. Occasionally, I think that perhaps I should give up and start something new that would be easier to write. But the characters of the WIP fill my head with chatter and ideas until eventually I see my way through the fog.
        This suave-looking author, however, plotted every minuscule detail before writing. He knew every curve, dip and high the story would travel. I felt so inferior to him I wished the band would play even louder to drown out the possibility of further discussion. Needless to say, he came across as a highly intelligent man, using his knowledge of neuro-science in his novels.
        Thankfully, I was soon saved by the hostess of the party wanting to reacquaint me with people I had worked with over ten years ago. Saved.
        Don’t get me wrong, the author wasn’t arrogant or rude. The feelings holding me hostage were all my own. Would I have felt any better if I wrote high-brow literary works, or if I had a highly acclaimed method of planning and writing? Probably not. I’ve never been the kind of person to see myself as superior or an expert in anything I do, even in my professional career.
        On reflection, I don’t believe one method of writing is better than another; it’s down to the individual author to discover what works for them. And no one genre should be deemed better than another, there are plenty of readers out there for every style. 
        My new motto should be, I’m an organic writer and proud!
        What about you? Think how you’d respond in this situation. 
Welcome to the latest followers, it’s lovely to have you here.
Happy Word Flow One & All.