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Back To School





Yep, it’s that time again. I’m so not ready. I’ve been lazing around the house, reading, watching iPlayer and doing a bit of writing here and there.  Okay, I haven’t been doing that much writing. The majority of my summer has been about the final edit of my YA SciFi Sequel.  The main reason for this is that this book is due out in December. Just in time for Christmas presents right.


 I finished the final edit of When Rainbows Cry 2 weeks before the end of August so the book is now with the proof reader and my editor for the last bits of tweaking.  As you can see, the cover is also sorted thanks to the magnificent assistance of Jaya Prime in getting me rights for use of the original picture. I can now adapt it to my heart’s content for this and the final book in the series which I’ll start working on next year. More of that later.


There has been the odd bit of new writing but it’s mainly been notes for the future when I can focus on projects sitting in the wings.  I store all these in a folder called The Vault.  My mind is always spinning through various ideas but when I forget an idea I just check to see what treasure I’ve got safely stowed away in the vault.


Works in progress for the rest of this year and the start of next year consist of:

  1. Editing Palindrome - the prequel to Six Dead Men [SDM]. This is a novella which charts the influences and reasons why the main character from SDM becomes a policeman.
  2. Writing the bulk of the 3rd book in the YA SciFi series. This series was just crying out to be a trilogy. I couldn’t resist the call of peripheral characters asking me to tell their story too. I’m a sucker for a voice which needs to be heard.
  3. Getting stuck into the sequel to The Lonely Dragon. This is taking a bit longer than planned as it’s requiring a substantial amount of research.
  4. Playing around with side projects which tie in to The Lonely Dragon and its sequel

I’m also getting myself ready to resume my annual tutoring routine. Bizarrely, I often produce more writing in this period than I do during the 2 months I have off in the summer. I think this is because my time is limited and I know I have to get words on the page or I won’t meet deadlines. They’re all self-imposed but somehow that doesn’t matter much.  There is the immense pleasure of knowing I’ve finished a task to the highest possible standard. That’s what I’m always striving for.

The other thing which I believe spurs my writing on is that I get to mix with a whole bunch of insanely creative students who constantly provide me with new ideas and insights into how children think and behave. This is invaluable when it comes to working on the children’s books I do.

So while I’m mourning the end of the summer holidays I’m also quietly celebrating the fact I’m about to be energised and exhausted in equal measure by my assorted bag of students. 

Plans prepared and printed. Prizes at the ready. It’s back to school we go.


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