Inside The Author: Fifteen Years As A Writer: Where Next?

FIFTEEN YEARS AS A WRITER, WHERE NEXT?

When I think back to how it all began, to the day I sat down against my bed and pulled out THE FRIENDSHIP TRIANGLE (or rather, what it was in 2001 before I took it apart for the last time and made it an actual book), I can't really see how I got from there - nineteen, sick and being told I was "retired" and would probably never work a conventional job again - to here - thirty-four, sicker, and writing books having completed a university degree, with my ninth book about to be published.

I don't mean that I don't know how I got here, I do. Lots of time, energy, blood, sweat, tears, foul language and hard work. I mean that when I was that person whose world had just broken in front of them, I never saw it ending up like this. I had no idea that I would've written almost sixteen books and having released my ninth and I know that sounds stupid, or like I'm being falsely modest, but honestly, I'm not. Looking back, I can see that scared teenager in my mind's eye. Scared that she had finally found a job she loved (the job I was retired from), and was finally doing well, even excelling at something and then M.E came along and pulled the rug out from under her. I'd never been a well and healthy person, but suddenly going from the person I was before to the person I was after scared the hell out of me.

I never expected that the book I wrote as a thirteen year old, huddled in my school library, would end up on shelves and have people reading it. Oh, I dreamed and I dreamed big. I dreamed of being signed by a big publishing house and making enough money to spend holidays in the Maldives with my family and my friends' families, but I knew that it wasn't likely to happen. And it still really hasn't happened quite that way. I don't make a huge amount, I am certainly not making enough to pay for thirty people to spend two weeks on a sunny, isolated island, but I'm happy with what I do. I love what I do and I enjoy what I do, so I guess that's the main thing, right?

So, what's my next stop? Well, I plan to continue to write two books at a time, usually averaging a finishing time of about eighteen months from first word to last. I plan to continue to release one book a year until I run out of my backlog and then I plan to release as often as I'm able to. Hopefully that won't happen for a while yet though. I'd also like to be nominated for an award - winning one would be awesome and beyond my wildest dreams, but to be nominated would be enough for me right now. I'd also love to take the Bug Books label and launch it properly, opening it up to other authors looking for an indie publisher that will help them realise their dream of seeing their book on Amazon. Both of those are really long term goals though. 

Another long term goal is to finish the DYING THOUGHTS series and possibly start another string of books. One of my next projects is a book that may end up being a two-parter, or possibly even a trilogy. It really depends on length and plot. I know that left to my own devices I could write about it for a few hundred thousand words and while 150K is not unheard of for a YA book, I wouldn't like to push it too much over that, but I also don't want to risk cutting out parts of the story that need to be told. So, I'm waiting until I finish planning the book to see where it goes and how that pans out. I'd like to explore some other genres as well as sticking with my old favourites and I'd like to possibly branch out and explore other aspects of life for teenagers. I would love to write about more disabled characters because I feel that there is a lack of representation in the media for young disabled adults and teens to relate to; the same goes for those with chronic illnesses.

I guess I have a lot of plans and it wasn't until I sat down to write this piece that I realised exactly how many I did have! Mostly though, I want to continue to write as much as my health and life allows. I love telling stories and I love getting feedback from people - both readers and those in the field, so for now, my main goal is to keep doing what I love.

Follow Joey here on her blog, on Facebook, or Tumblr to be sure to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books

Inside The Author: Why Don't I Release All The Ones I've Written?

WHY DON'T I RELEASE ALL THE BOOKS I'VE WRITTEN?

For those of you who have been following either my blog, or this book blog tour, you'll have realised that I'm working on books that are further ahead than the number I've released. For example, DYING THOUGHTS - FOURTH WEEK is my eighth book and at the time of writing, I'm working on the first chapters of books fifteen and sixteen. I have had a number of people ask me why I haven't just done a mass release as I've obviously finished the books and if I just got them all edited and ready, I would have a bigger arsenal to my name.

There are a number of reasons why I don't do that. One of these is that when I was first published through AuthorHouse, I couldn't afford to get more than one book published, yet I kept writing. This led to me accumulating a "backlog", so to speak. When I started as an indie author under the Bug Books label, I did release a number of books at once. My first four were all released within the space of a few months. I then followed six months later with my fifth, LYNNE & HOPE and since then have done one a year. I did initially plan to release one in the summer and another the following winter and continue on that pattern, but the amount of time, effort and energy spent getting a book ready meant that I couldn't keep up with it, and neither could my editor.

I am chronically ill and my energy is closely guarded. I wanted to keep writing, and I am also terrified of getting to the point where I'm working on the book that is the next to be released. I know that everyone has to work to some kind of deadline, but since I got sick, I don't do well with them. I was the same with my uni work - I got ahead of the schedule so that when not feeling 100%, I could take time off without the added stress of falling behind and having to catch up. I spend a lot of time in the hospital and also in bed resting, as well as time spent when I am just too ill to even think about writing.

I work around it in some ways by having a tablet which I can use to write with when I'm in the hospital, or when I'm just stuck in bed. I'm usually well enough to at least sit in my wheelchair at my desk, but sometimes I just can't cope with the energy spent typing and thinking. I know it sounds weird to people who have no experience of this kind of chronic illness, but for me, it's a fact of life.

So, I choose to avoid the stress and worry of disappointing readers because I have not yet finished the latest book by having a backlog of books. It's another reason why I write two at once, not just because it works for me, but because when (and it will happen eventually) I get to the point where I am working on my latest release, I will hopefully also be working on the one that comes after it.

Another reason is the sheer amount of energy it takes for me to read through my first draft and get it ready to send to my editor. I also like to let my work sit and rest for a while before going back to it with fresh eyes and reading it through. It helps me to be more objective about what needs to be in the story and what doesn't and it means that I can read it as if I were a reader and not the author. I found that when I read and edit my first draft so soon after writing, I'm still in the whole "it's my baby and perfect, don't criticise" mindset, which some writers get after they've slaved away at a keyboard for a year or so.

On top of that, it allows me time to work out what design I want for the front cover, and gives my artist time to work on that. Both my cover designer and editor have other life commitments that mean it is not their full time job and while they both work very hard to bring their A game to the table, life sometimes gets in the way. Overall, it gives us all a bit of breathing space to make sure that when the book is released, it's the best it can be, with the best cover it can have and tells the story in the best way possible. So, while it may seem that it's a bit backward, it's the way I found allows for any ill health and also keeps me steadily releasing a book a year and still finding the time (and energy) to write more!

Follow Joey here on her blog, on Facebook, or Tumblr to be sure to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books

Inside The Author: How Long Will I Write For?

HOW LONG WILL I WRITE FOR?

I don't think any writer really ever plans how long their career will last. As I've said before, it all depends on how long they can keep the ideas going in addition to other real life commitments. Of course, many writers would prefer that their day job was writing, but it's not always possible for that to happen. Life has a way of getting in the way of the best laid plans, but I always had some idea as to how my writing career would go.

When I was first published, I planned to write ten books; five of the DYING THOUGHTS series and five standalones. It was only a year or so ago when I was writing the last words to my ninth and tenth books that I realised I still had more writing to do. I had plans for my next two books and so I decided I would aim for fifteen books, with the option of going to twenty if I ever hit that target. As it stands now, I have nearly finished my eleventh and twelfth books - in fact by the time this is published, I think I'll be in the beginning chapters of the next two - and I already have more than a small plan for the main plots of my next projects.

I've always said that I will write until I run out of ideas or until someone tells me to stop, and I think that even if someone did say that to me, I wouldn't actually be able to. I've been writing as a job now for the past thirteen years, published for almost ten years, and I'm nowhere near running out of steam. I figure that as long as my health allows it, then I will continue to write, because it's not just a job for me now, it's something I live and breathe for. It's my passion. I get my inspiration from everything and see ideas, characters and plot twists in everyday life, as I'm sure many other writers do. I feel like I still have a number of stories left to tell, a number of characters left to create and breathe life into, and until I get to the point where I'm no longer getting light bulb moments, I plan to keep going.

Of course, that doesn't mean that I'll be continuing the DYING THOUGHTS series forever. As it stands, I thought five  books would be enough to tell Tara's story, but it's turned into eight. All good things must come to an end and although Tara and Kaolin have been with me almost since the beginning of my career, there will come a time when I have to say that they have told all there is to tell and I must close the book on their lives and let them be. I have the idea that it'll be when Tara is in the police force as a paid and trained officer, but even then, I'm not too sure if I'll get to that point.

As for my others books, well I have plans and ideas and one of the projects I will start on soon has the potential to become a two book series or a trilogy. I don't want the book to be a brick, but at the same time I don't want to end it before it's ready, so I'll spend some serious time thinking about whether or not it can be told in one shot or if it needs to be spread out over two or three parts. I won't really know until I start writing and get some idea of how long it will be. That's another part that I really do like about the job, you don't know what's going to happen every day. You can plan and think ahead but sometimes it's not until you're knee deep in a scene that you realise things aren't going to go to plan and you have to take a left turn. It's constantly surprising me and while it continues to do that, I'll continue to write.


Follow Joey here on her blog, on Facebook, or Tumblr to be sure to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books.

From Joey's Instagram

Because a #writer never sleeps! #beingawriter #joeywrites #indieauthor #writerlife #authorsofinstagram #goals #jowrimogo #authorslife

A photo posted by Joey Paul (@joeybug) on Jul 8, 2016 at 10:57am PDT

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A square photo of a white door with a small rectangle sign hung on the door. It's held up with string and is white, with a page from book placed in the middle. On top of the page are the words "I'm not sleeping, I'm plottting!" The caption reads: Because a #writer never sleeps!]

Happy Release Day!! Destination: Unknown is live on Amazon!! #beingawriter #joeywrites #indieauthor #writerlife #authorsofinstagram #authorslife #joeyisanauthor #awesome #youngadultbooks #mysterybooks #paranormalbooks

A photo posted by Joey Paul (@joeybug) on Jul 9, 2016 at 3:12am PDT

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A square photo of a black phone screen. In the middle if the front cover for Destination: Unknown, which has two train tickets, one is orange and green and reads: "Destination: Unknown" while the other, underneath the right hand corner of the first is brown with "1910" on the edges as well as the words "Joey Paul" in the centre. On the edge of the screen is another cover for a book, though it is not clear what book. The caption reads: Happy Release Day!! Destination: Unknown is live on Amazon!]

So I'm on the writing train lately and feeling good about it. I feel like I'm actually an author today which is a feeling that comes and goes but to celebrate the good here's a #selfie of me after a hard day's work resting in bed with my tablet. Back to work tomorrow! #beingawriter #joeywrites #indieauthor #writerlife #authorsofinstagram #authorslife #joeyisanauthor #awesome #youngadultbooks #joeyhasagremlin #youngadultauthor

A photo posted by Joey Paul (@joeybug) on Jul 11, 2016 at 11:38am PDT

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A square photo of Joey Paul (me) a cis, female white woman sat up in bed against a rose coloured headboard. She has short brown hair, wire rimmed glasses and is smiling. The caption reads: So I'm on the writing train lately and feeling good about it. I feel like I'm actually an author today which is a feeling that comes and goes, but to celebrate the good here's a selfie of me after a hard day's work resting in bed with my tablet. Back to work tomorrow!]

As always,  I am just starting out with image descriptions, so please do jump in if I've made an error!

Inside The Author: Writing Waiting On You

WRITING WAITING ON YOU 

I started writing WAITING ON YOU in the spring of 2007, I had finished my last book and the idea for a new one was fresh in my mind. I was in a long distance relationship and with the success of the internet, it was becoming commonplace for people to meet online, date and even end up married. I wanted to write a book about two teenagers who came from different walks of life and met online. I wanted it to be my first foray into the world of romance fiction and although I had always stuck with crime plots, it was something I wanted to at least try.

Angelina lived in Keswick in Cumbria, her family were not as loving as they could have been, she had a difficult time with both her sisters and her mother. She also struggled with friends at school and they never had the money for her to do much of anything. She finds her solace and rescue in the form of a computer and internet connection from her Aunt who lives miles away. It's intended to just be a tool to help her with her school work, but it opens up a new world for her - a world of friends and the possibility of escaping her life.

In contrast, Zack is one of six children, living in London, with parents who are at work more than they're home. He has a mountain of responsibility on his shoulders, but has always been afforded the luxury of never worrying whether he will eat. He is surrounded by a loving family and has friends at school as well. He's sixteen, compared to Angelina's fourteen, and is well known in the chat room that they both use and ultimately end up meeting in. Zack takes a shine to Angelina, and eventually they get close and start to date. It's a whirlwind romance and all Zack wants to do is rescue Angelina from her horrific life. Only it's not as easy as it seems and despite his want and need to do the right thing, it doesn't all work out the way he planned.

It was while writing this book that I started to write a second book alongside, a practice I have since adopted as a way that works for me. I found that while I had a lot of ideas about how things could go with the book, getting them down on paper was harder than I had first realised. It did all come together (with a few breaks from writing here and there) and I finally finished the book in the Autumn of 2009. Looking back at the way my own long distance relationship worked out, I'm glad to say that although that relationship ended badly, the one between Angelina and Zack was not affected by that and has a somewhat happier ending... though maybe not the one they both hoped for.

Overall, I did enjoy getting to know both Angelina and Zack and seeing the world through their eyes. It was my first time writing from the point of view of a sixteen year old boy and while I may not have first-hand experience in that, I feel like I did a good job moulding Zack and giving him a voice. The same applies to Angelina. I may not have had the experience of a home life like hers, but I have been fourteen and feeling like the world is caving in around me and that no one would care if I wasn't there. I have also had the joy and relief that comes when you realise that someone does actually care and does want good things for you. For me, it was a friend, for Angelina is was Zack. I hope that in writing their story, I'm able to show that sometimes what you wish for can come true, but it doesn't always happen the way you thought it would. In other words, life gets better and it goes on getting better, you just have to hang on through the tough parts and hold on to people around you who care about you. There is always someone who cares, you may just not have met them yet.


Follow Joey here on her blog, on Facebook, or Tumblr to be sure to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books.

From Joey's Instagram: Bedrest Edition Part 2

All eight with space for book nine coming July 9th on Kindle and paperback! Something to be said about seeing your creation on a book shelf! #beingawriter #joeywrites #indieauthor #writerlife #authorsofinstagram #goals #bookrelease #authorslife #joeyisanauthor

A photo posted by Joey Paul (@joeybug) on Jun 26, 2016 at 9:11pm PDT

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A square photograph of a bookshelf with two metal bookends. From left to right, the books are: Dying Thoughts - First Touch; Dying Thoughts - Second Sight;  Dying Thoughts - Third Wish; Dying Thoughts - Fourth Week; Waiting On You; Lynne & Hope; The Friendship Triangle; Blackout. All eight books have the same author: Joey Paul. The caption reads: All eight with space for book nine coming July 9th on Kindle and paperback! Something to be said about seeing your creation on a book shelf!]

Pre order a copy now from Amazon! Following Harriet as she travels in time to right a wrong and solve a murder! #beingawriter #joeywrites #indieauthor #writerlife #authorsofinstagram #bookrelease #authorslife #joeyisanauthor

A photo posted by Joey Paul (@joeybug) on Jun 26, 2016 at 9:15pm PDT

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A square screenshot of an Amazon page with the book: Destination: Unknown and the words Pre-order price: £1.99. There is a long grey button that says: Pre-order this item today! The caption reads: Pre-order a copy now from Amazon! Following Harriet as she travels in time to right a wrong and solve a murder!]

Still on #bedrest but am ready to get another bonus chapter written! Got my window open and the cool air coming in lovely day to write! #beingawriter #joeywrites #indieauthor #amwriting #authorsofinstagram #writerlife #authorslife #surgery #spoonie #chronicillnessproblems #chronicillness

A photo posted by Joey Paul (@joeybug) on Jun 27, 2016 at 1:02am PDT

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A square photograph showing a polka dot duvet with four items positioned on top. A piece of A4 white chapter plan on the right. On the left are blue notecards and a small brown note book. In-between the two is one purple pen and a purple bulldog clip. The caption reads: Still on #bedrest but am ready to get another bonus chapter written! Got my window open and the cool air coming in lovely day to write!]

Last day of #bedrest and another chapter written! I have tomorrow to finish the bonus chapters and then a new month starts! I'll be taking it slow so may end up writing in bed again but we shall see! #beingawriter #writing #indieauthor #joeywrites #chronicillness #spoonie #authorslife #surgery #authorsofinstagram #goals #jowrimogo #joeyisanauthor

A photo posted by Joey Paul (@joeybug) on Jun 29, 2016 at 5:46am PDT

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A square photograph of a untidy bed cover with polkadots. On top of the cover to the right is a blank Kindle screen, next to that is an A4 white chapter plan. Balancing on top are a purple pen, a brown notepad and a small syringe pen. The caption reads: Last day of #bedrest and another chapter written! I have tomorrow to finish the bonus chapters and then a new month starts! I'll be taking it slow so may end up writing in bed again but we shall see!] 

Work today brought to you by: Tablet, bluetooth keyboard and a bed desk. Well worth the cost as I get so much done in bad days! #beingawriter #joeywrites #indieauthor #amwriting #authorsofinstagram #writerlife #authorslife #surgery #spoonie #chronicillnessproblems #chronicillness #bedrest

A photo posted by Joey Paul (@joeybug) on Jun 29, 2016 at 5:48am PDT

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A square photo showing a bluetooth black keyboard at the bottom of the frame, the edge of a black bed rest and the white glare of a tablet. The caption reads: Work today brought to you by: Tablet, bluetooth keyboard and a bed desk. Well worth the cost as I get so much done in bad days!] 

As always, I am still learning with image descriptions so any tips or criticisms are greatly appreciated!

Book Launch for Destination: Unknown

Come and join in the fun here at the #DarkerSideOfFiction2017 Facebook Group!

Inside The Author: Eight Down; How Many More To Go?

EIGHT DONE, HOW MANY MORE TO GO?

At the time of writing, I'm working on my fifteenth and sixteenth books, which are both only just started. To answer the question though, I'm not really sure how many books I’ll write before I lay down my keyboard and say that I'm done. I've always joked that I’ll keep writing until I run out of ideas or someone tells me to stop, and despite the fear that I will run out of ideas, it hasn't happened yet.

I usually start planning my next two books when I reach the point with the two I'm working on where I can see how they're going to end and how long it's going to take me to get there: I like to have an idea of where I'm going and what I'll need to do once I finish writing a book. I like being able to close the file on one, and open a new file pretty much immediately. The first words of the book may not be written straight away, but once I have my chapter plan and character notes done, along with any research that I need to do, I'm usually desperate to get started.

Initially, when I first started writing in 2001, I didn't think about how many books I would write. My goal was to write and then try to get one of the finished works published. When BLACKOUT hit the shelves in 2005, I set myself a goal of ten books total. Five of those would make up the DYING THOUGHTS series and another five would be standalone books. I would then release one a year so that I always had a backlog - though that backlog keeps getting smaller each time I release a book! However, when I started writing two books at the same time, I started to get closer and closer to that final number.

When I started writing my ninth and tenth books, I realised that I wasn't quite done with Tara's story and I also wasn't done with writing. I planned to increase the DYING THOUGHTS series to eight books, and continue to write my standalone books. I estimate that by the time this blog post is live, I will be writing the eighth book of Tara's journey. I don't really know where I'll go after that because I don't know how that book will end and if it will take me to the point where I feel that Tara has told her story and it's time to bring it to a close. Of course, since I write two at once, I'll write another handful of standalones which will bring me up to twenty books. I'll leave any decision making about whether or not I'll write more to when I get to that point.

So, the answer is that I really don't know how many more books I'll write. I do worry that one day I will run out of ideas and that Tara will be left waiting, and other characters will have been left in the dust. It's not just about being inspired, it's about having a plot line that can span a book. It's about having a story to tell. I know that I would like to write more books about disabled teens because as someone who became disabled in their late teens, I know how hard it is to find representation in books and I'd like to fix that. I would also like to explore new worlds and go down different paths and I can't do that if I don't write and bring my characters to life. Just as they get to tell their story, I get to go along for the ride, and I'm not done on this ride! Eight rollercoasters done, now onto the next adventure!

Follow Joey here on her blog, on Facebook, or Tumblr to be sure to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books.

From Joey's Instagram: Bedrest edition

Another day of bedrest but managed to get up a little this morning and plan to try and write tomorrow as well as getting the video for the 21st finally up and captioned! Hopefully I will manage it! #beingawriter #joeywrites #indieauthor #writerlife #authorsofinstagram #writing #chronicpain #chronicillness #spoonie #surgery #chronicillnessproblems #bedrest

A photo posted by Joey Paul (@joeybug) on Jun 23, 2016 at 5:42am PDT

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A square photo showing the view from Joey's bed. The window frame is slightly open and through the window you can see an old row of buildings with sun shining. At the end of the bed are the handles of a walker. Caption reads: Another day of bedrest, but managed to get up a little this morning and plan to try and write tomorrow as well as get the video for the 21st finally up and captioned! Hopefully I will manage it!]

I may be on #bedrest bug I'm still getting some #writing done today! #beingawriter #joeywrites #indieauthor #amwriting #authorsofinstagram #writerlife #authorslife #surgery #spoonie #chronicillnessproblems #chronicillness 😃👍📝

A photo posted by Joey Paul (@joeybug) on Jun 24, 2016 at 2:24am PDT

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A square photo with part of a pyjama covered leg in the bottom right hand corner. The majoirty of the photo is a tablet screen, showing the words: "Tara? I apologise if I'm calling at a bad time.." text moves out of the picture and then below it reads: "stiff and formal." The caption reads: I may be on #bedrest bug I'm still getting some #writing done today!]

So another day of bedrest and I had planned to write a little but the pain and nausea are too much to manage. I plan to spend it reading a good book instead! #beingawriter #joeywrites #indieauthor #writerlife #authorsofinstagram #writing #reading #amreading #chronicillnessproblems #chronicillness #spoonie

A photo posted by Joey Paul (@joeybug) on Jun 25, 2016 at 7:42am PDT

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A square black and white photo showing a spotted bedspread with items piled up on it. To the right is a Kindle showing unreadable text. In the middle is a sheet of A4 paper, on which rest a small square notepad, two pens and a bulldog clipped bundle of note cards. The caption reads: So another day of bedrest and I had planned to write a little but the pain and nausea are too much to manage. I plan to spent it reading a good book instead!]

Another day of bedrest but I managed to do some #writing! A bonus chapter has been written and I'm feeling good about it! Might even manage one tomorrow too! #beingawriter #joeywrites #indieauthor #amwriting #authorsofinstagram #writerlife #authorslife #surgery #spoonie #chronicillnessproblems #chronicillness

A photo posted by Joey Paul (@joeybug) on Jun 26, 2016 at 5:08am PDT

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A square full colour photo with a small brown notebook opened to a page balanced on a bluetooth keyboard which is just visible at the bottom of the photo. The page focused on the notepad reads: DTEE 6 X PAGES 24/06/16 and three lines below it: LO 1 x CHAPTER 26/06/16. The caption reads: Another day of bedrest but I managed to do some #writing! A bonus chapter has been written and I'm feeling good about it! Might even manage one tomorrow too!] 

*I am still learning about image descriptions and would welcome any feedback or insight so that I can make my photos and images accessible to everyone.  While for the time being I have focused on my Instagram feed, I will be adding image descriptions to all my images spoons permitting. Please do feel free to add your own should mine not be enough!*

Inside The Author: Why I Write Two Books At Once

WHY I WRITE TWO BOOKS AT ONCE 

For all of my adult life, I have been someone who likes to have things in reserve. I don't know whether or not it's linked to my chronic illnesses and my inability to predict from one day to the next how I'll be feeling, or if it's the organised planner in me, but I've always wanted to be ahead and to make sure that when someone asks for something, I have it ready for them. I’m the same with my university work; for every course I’ve done over the past five years, I’ve always gotten at least two weeks ahead of the schedule so that if I were to fall ill, or need to take a week off, I wouldn't spend it worrying about being late or behind with an assignment. I’m the same with my writing.

It didn't start out like that; in the beginning, I was more than happy to be writing one book, never mind two! If I was lucky, a book got written to my own schedule... and then something changed. It was when I was writing WAITING ON YOU. It was 2007 and I’d had the idea for about six months before I put pen to paper, or rather, fingers to keyboard. I got to about chapter eleven before I realised that I had no idea where to take it from there. Now, if you follow my blog, you'll know that I am a planner. I plan everything! I have a chapter plan that I try to follow and I always know where my story is going, or at least where I planned for it to go! Yet, I just sat there as the hours turned to days, and the days to weeks, with no idea how to get from the middle of chapter eleven to the beginning of chapter twelve. I was blocked!

It wasn't like the usual writer's block, or at least it wasn't like my usual writer's block. I had plenty of ideas, I was brimming with them...they just weren't for that book! As well as my standalone books, I write a series called DYING THOUGHTS. I had written the third one and finished it before starting WAITING ON YOU. I usually liked to take a break between those books and write a standalone, which I was doing. Yet, my brain was bombarded with ideas for the fourth DYING THOUGHTS book and I was more than inspired. I swear that I could have written it there and then if I wasn't so determined to finish what I had started.

You see, like any other writer, I had started pieces early on in my career that had never really gone anywhere. I guess I was trying to find my feet and because I'm organised and had never really thought the ideas were so bad they should be dumped, I'd filed them away to use at a later date. One of those because my fifth book, LYNNE & HOPE, and another one has morphed into a book I'm writing now. Anyway, I'm getting off track. So, I have all these ideas, but I'm telling myself that I can't write them because I HAVE to finish WAITING ON YOU. It was like talking to a wall because my brain did not seem to want to accept those messages.

So, I tried to compromise. I wrote out the chapter plan for the fourth DYING THOUGHTS book and put it to one side. I went back to WAITING ON YOU. Nope, wasn't happening. I spoke to friends about it, I called my parents and spoke at length about how this was a real dilemma and I was stuck with no idea what to do. It was my friend Libby who eventually found the answer. She said that I should write the first eleven chapters of the other book and then go back to WAITING ON YOU and see if that helped get the ideas out of my head, clearing the way for me to finish chapter eleven. I thought about it for only a minute or two before agreeing that it was the best way forward.

You know what happened after I wrote up to chapter eleven of the fourth DYING THOUGHTS book? The writer's block for WAITING ON YOU cleared up as if it was an infection and I'd thrown major antibiotics at it. It was GONE! So, I was finally able to write the ending to chapter eleven and start, and finish, chapter twelve. Problem solved, right?

WRONG! Once I got to chapter thirteen, I was dying to write some more of the other book. So, I went back to Libby and she told me to try writing them side by side. Do two chapters of one and then do two of another. At this point, my second book hadn't been published and so I was writing books seven and eight. I did as she suggested and bam! I was writing and writing, switching after two chapters and getting chapter after chapter written. I never got the plots mixed up. I never found myself desperate to write part of the other, and it worked for me.

So, when I finally finished the book, it was 2010 and I was just about to have book two published under the Bug Books indie label. I planned to release one book a year, but with so many in "standby" as it were, we decided to release books three and four in early 2012 with book five coming in the summer of 2012. After that I realised that with five books released, I had very little back up. As I said at the beginning of this piece, I like to have something in reserve and because it had worked so well before, and also because I had ideas for another two books banging around my head, I decided to continue to write two books at once.

I am now working on books eleven and twelve. I am happy with the arrangement, and although I still only release one book a year, that may change if I get to the point where I have a large backlog. It gives me a chance to work on a DYING THOUGHTS book alongside a standalone and although I still get writer's block, I usually find that switching after two chapters allows my mind to not get too far ahead of itself, and keep the ideas coming. I know that a lot of writers work on more than one piece of work at a time and I think that if it works for you, then why not do it? After all, as the saying goes, if it ain't broke, why change it?


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