Two from rejections this week already! I think that’s the most agent interaction I’ve had in the last 12 months 🫠

It’s so helpful of bots to identify themselves by always asking about the genre.

Up to 23k words written in Woods WIP and I threw out a few more queries for the octopus book. Just keep swimming…

I have an author clock video account and have finally reached over 150 followers! 🥳 But my most popular short by a LONG way is not book related 😅

Tough going last night (had a little cry about publishing) but I still managed to add 500 words to Woods WIP. I’ll take it.

Had a fab evening out last night at Brian Bilston’s live tour. Poetry and a good laugh. Brilliant combination 😁

The Society of Authors still recommends sending a handful of queries and tweaking your query package based on feedback. The last time I received anything personalised from an agent was over a year ago, and I’m querying pretty much constantly 😅 Is anyone getting feedback?

Yesterday, the only school visit I managed to book - for early November - cancelled. I’m going to have to give up on this. Hours spent prepping materials, contacting schools, writing contracts; money spent on site listings & insurance. But I can’t get schools to book me 😓

Added another thousand words to Woods WIP last night, and finished the poem I began last week. Quietly productive.

3 years ago today, I finished the first draft of How NOT To Kiss A Prince. 19 days from now, it will have been published for one whole year!

Had to do an about-turn in the workshop I delivered today as the teens seemed really apathetic about the poetry workshop I had planned. Used the Jabberwocky as a bridge to writing battles, which they loved. Got to be flexible!

Okay so I went on a total side quest and wrote a poem instead. I guess my WIP needed a little more time to percolate 😅

Aiming to write another 1500 words on Woods WIP. Wish me luck!

It’s been so long since I got a full request/personalised response to a query I’ve forgotten what it feels like 🫠

Made it to the 20K words milestone! A third of the way through my cosy gothic YA WIP 🥳

This week I grabbed a coffee with the lovely Morgan H Owen and we talked about self and trad publishing, agents, marketing, character art, bookish events, author friends… some was positive but I left feeling as if this author gig might never take off for me 😮‍💨

Celebrating our wedding anniversary today 💜🥂 Have spent the day so far looking around a college open day for our oldest offspring. That’s romantic, right? 😅

This is such a great story! I was lucky enough to work with the author on polishing this amazing piece. Go and read it now!

Last night I added another 1700 words to Woods WIP so now it’s up to 19,700 🥳 I know I’ll break the 20k mark this weekend!

Why is the Worcester Hive library hosting a HP event in 2026?