October 2023 – Words Worth Writing

31 October 2023

Tuesday 31 October 2023: Happy Halloween!

Monday started well. I was up on time and I was at my desk on time. And then I started work. First job was yesterday’s blog post. I should have started it last Friday, but it kept slipping to the bottom of the to-do list, so I started and finished it yesterday. The second job was starting today’s blog post....

writer at work

30 October 2023

Monday 30 October 2023: Improvement all round

I finished the bibliography work on Friday and I drafted an email in response to the author’s latest email sending yet more material. We’re, like, 4 *working* days away from this job having to be done and he starts sending new material! Well, I had a right old rant, but I didn’t send it. First of all I put it...

writer at work

27 October 2023

Friday 27 October 2023: What day off?

Today was supposed to be another day off. But because I’ve only been doing half-days this week, I’ll probably squeeze in some more work time. Mostly just so I can get a particularly nasty job off my desk and gone. The day didn’t start well yesterday. We’re both still feeling the effects of this cold/flu thing. We’ve both tested negative...

writer at work

26 October 2023

Thursday 26 October 2023: Dear Universe… A word, please…

Today was supposed to be a day off, but we moved the day off to next Wednesday and now I have to work today. I don’t mind. I need to work. I have a lot of catching up to do. And this time, it’s not through laziness. I was doing all right on Tuesday. Indeed, I’d done all right all...

writer at work

25 October 2023

Wednesday 25 October 2023: Migraine…

The day started with an email off ClickUp trying to fix my recurring task problem on my calendar view. I had to take some screen shots and circle the issue with big arrows pointing to where it works and where it doesn’t work. The techie said it’s not a feature at the moment, so I showed him that, actually, it...

writer at work

24 October 2023

Tuesday 24 October 2023: I finished something!

Yay! I actually finished something. Just over a week ago I had a job request land in my in box. My first instinct was to say ‘sorry, I’m full’, but this looked like a quick and interesting job I could easily turn around in a week. I pitched for it, without too much expectation. And I was selected! The job...

writer at work

23 October 2023

Monday 23 October 2023: A 4-day week

The rain came on Thursday night and stayed all the way through Friday and into the weekend. I had to go and collect our prescriptions on Friday morning and I got drenched. It was too windy to take an umbrella, so I just went for it, got wet, and changed as soon as I got home again. While I was...

writer at work

20 October 2023

Friday 20 October 2023: Ahead of the storm

So I’m back to writing up the blog post in real time and scheduling it to post the next working day. Let’s see how long it lasts… I updated my word and page count spreadsheets with the projects I decided to keep. Two editing projects for the rest of October and three writing projects. (A writers’ guide and two short...

writer at work

19 October 2023

Thursday 19 October 2023: One project at a time

The last thing I did at my desk before closing down yesterday was create the cover for the NaNoWriMo diary. I’m writing a diary by hand as I complete each day’s session and the plan is to get the diary typed up, with exercises for readers to try for themselves, and perhaps the finished product as a bonus. All being...

writer at work

18 October 2023

Wednesday 18 October 2023: Floodgates open

Once I’d wiped the slate clean yesterday, the floodgates opened. I started to work on just one project of my own, and that project was The Secret of Whitehorse Farm for NaNoWriMo 2023. After tea I sat down to scribble in my journal. I scribbled and scribbled and scribbled and came up with the names for the members of the two...

writer at work

17 October 2023

Tuesday 17 October 2023: The art of not finishing

Well, I call it an ‘art’, but really, and as I was reminded in my Zoom class last week, not finishing things is a very bad habit, and I am clearly getting into a Very Bad habit. I have all of these good intentions and I plan them all meticulously in my diary and then… I don’t finish any of them....

writer at work

16 October 2023

Monday 16 October 2023: A bit green around the gills…

We didn’t move any furniture at the weekend, or swap any rooms around. We did the shopping and the band had a gig. But we didn’t do much else. At about teatime on Friday I suddenly took ill, and I got steadily worse as the weekend progressed. We don’t know whether I’d eaten something, picked up a stomach chill, or...

writer at work

13 October 2023

Friday 13 October 2023: Friday the 13th! 😱

I don’t actually mind Friday the 13th at all. To me, it’s nothing special. It’s just another day. I know people who fear it and I know someone who welcomes it with open arms. But to me, it’s just another day. I was up bright and early yesterday, so I was ready in good time to join the Zoom...

writer at work

12 October 2023

Thursday 12 October 2023: Free images

Cinnamon is poured into a cappuccino cup – depositphotos.com I’ve been toying with taking out a subscription to DepositPhotos. I know a lot of other writers who use them and I do like the selection they have. While I’ve been umming and ahhing, they’ve sent me several special offers, one of which I may actually accept. But yesterday they also...

writer at work

11 October 2023

Wednesday 11 October 2023: Reading and writing

I was up bright and early yesterday, getting up when the poet left for work. Before breakfast I played one of my side hustle games. Over breakfast I read more of Write Novels Fast. By 10am, I was at my desk and working on The Secret of Whitehorse Farm, watching Jessica Brody’s course on writing a novel in 15 beats for...

writer at work

10 October 2023

Tuesday 10 October 2023: Some stuff done + Book review

Yesterday’s jobs started with me finishing the latest book for NetGalley. I wrote and posted yesterday’s blog post and opened up today’s blog post to get it started. Then I opened Canva to create the ‘book review’ graphic for today, and the ‘currently reading’ graphic for tomorrow. I updated my handwritten notes in my NetGalley exercise book, and started work...

writer at work

9 October 2023

Monday 9 October 2023: a new week

I spent a lot of time on Friday revisiting my workload and my diary. I’ve been filling my days with so much stuff, I’ve not been starting all of it, let alone finishing any of it. So now I’m dedicating mornings to writing, blogging, admin, etc, and the afternoons to the last client I chose to keep, household chores, etc....

writer at work

6 October 2023

Friday 6 October 2023: The weekend already…

So the weekend has crept up on me again and I’ve hardly done any of the things I hoped to do this week. I did manage to compose and send out a newsletter. I thought my last one was in July, but it was in June. The July newsletter on file was just a template I’d saved for when I...

writer at work

5 October 2023

Thursday 5 October 2023: “Have you written anything?”

Him: “Who’s the musician in the house?” Me: “That’s my husband.” Him: “What do you do?” Me: “I’m a writer.” Him: “Really? Have you written anything?” [beat] Me: “What do you do?” Him: “I’m a building inspector.” Me: “Really? Have you inspected any buildings?” Him: [nervous laughter] Me: [Smiles sweetly] And that, folks, is how my day started yesterday. Honestly,...

writer at work

4 October 2023

Wednesday 4 October 2023: Hiding at the back

One of the best things of taking part in something online, preferably without cameras, is that when you’re late you can sneak in the back, hope no one notices, and still be in your dressing gown. I was so carried away with some Probate stuff yesterday morning, that I first forgot to go and get dressed, and then I forgot...

writer at work

3 October 2023

Tuesday 3 October 2023: The month ahead

After a lovely week off where we actually had some quality time off together, it was back to work for both of us yesterday. It was the first working day of the month, so that meant new spreadsheets. I also scheduled the next three books I’ll be publishing, between now and 1 January. The January publication will be the next...

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2 October 2023

Monday 2 October 2023: Publication Day!

It’s publication day today for the rebranded and reissued Words Worth Reading. When it originally came out in October 2021, it was numbered issue 1. This time it’s been numbered issue 0. Words Worth Reading is my new quarterly fiction collection. In the near future it will include at least two brand-new short stories, a brand-new novella, the second part in...

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