Author: Diane
NaNoWriMo 2017 – Day One
Today I started NaNoWriMo 2017. I’m going to be a NaNoReBel again. I’m using the time to write the first draft of A History of Cadbury as it’s a contracted…
Diary of a non-fiction book: week 5 …
… Okay, so it’s not really week 5, but it’s the 5th week I’ve been able to allocate to the non-fiction book. I’ve honestly been so busy in the weeks since my…
News: new platform for digital editions
I have a new platform for my digital editions. At the moment, only Diary of a Scaredy Cat has been migrated over. But eventually, all of my ebooks in various…
52 books in 52 weeks: Be a Travel Writer, Live Your Dreams, Sell Your Features
I set myself the goal of reading and reviewing 52 writing guides over the year. Here is book 27. I have to say I loved this book. And I don’t…
52 books in 52 weeks: How to Start a Travel Blog and Make Money
I set myself the goal of reading and reviewing 52 writing guides over the year. Here is book 26. First of all, How to Start a Travel Blog and Make…
52 books in 52 weeks: How to Write a Novel
I set myself the goal of reading and reviewing 52 writing guides over the year. Here is book 25. I was a tad disappointed with How to Write a Novel by…
52 books in 52 weeks: Diary of a Scaredy Cat
*** shameless self-plug alert *** I set myself the goal of reading and reviewing 52 writing guides over the year. Here is book 24. I couldn’t complete a series on…
52 books in 52 weeks: Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook
I set myself the goal of reading and reviewing 52 writing guides over the year. Here is book 23. If there’s only one book on your shelf or ebook and…
Update: Busy few weeks
It’s been a whole month since my last post (before this morning’s 52 in 52, that is). I haven’t been lax, I’ve been very busy – as usual. First of…
52 books in 52 weeks: The Author Organizer
I set myself the goal of reading and reviewing 52 writing guides over the year. Here is book 22. The Author Organizer: How to anticipate, survive and master the whirlpool…
Diary of a non-fiction book: week 4 – day 2
Day 2 was actually on Wednesday when I went to the Cadbury archives again in Birmingham. What a day! I was late leaving in the first place and didn’t get…
Diary of a non-fiction book: week 4 – day 1
My first day back on the non-fiction book was yesterday. First of all I reviewed the list of storage material I’d compiled the last time I visited the company archives…
Diary of a non-fiction book: week 3 – day 2
I don’t know. You wait all week for a blog post, and then three come along at once … I didn’t get much done on the non-fiction book last week…
Why I read books about writing
Lots of writers advise other writers to stop reading books on writing and just crack on with the writing. But I love to read books on writing. I love to…
52 books in 52 weeks: Start Writing Your Book Today
I set myself the goal of reading and reviewing 52 writing guides over the year. Here is book 21. Start Writing Your book Today by Morgan Gist MacDonald is one…
52 books in 52 weeks: How to Write a Mystery Without Plotting it to Death
I set myself the goal of reading and reviewing 52 writing guides over the year. Here is book 20. I’m a plotter. When starting to write a book for the…
Diary of a non-fiction book: week 3 – day 1
Week three is still very much about research for me at the moment. I’m on chapter 3 of the research material and I’ve searched for and chosen my usual five…
Diary of a non-fiction book: week 2 – day 2
Wednesday was a very long and tiring but certainly worthwhile day. I set off at about 8:45am and got to my parents’ in good time to drop the dog off…
Diary of a non-fiction book: week 2 – day 1
I’ve not been taking additional days off. I’ve been doing normal work stuff. It still needs doing, even when I have a book to write. Today it was back to…
Normal work continues
Friday disappeared into the ether and I think I may have faffed a little. I know I did some reading for the non-fiction book as well as some regular research…
Diary of a non-fiction book: week 1 – day 4
Yesterday’s work session began with me updating the raw text version of this Diary of …that will be coming out after it’s all over. I added yesterday morning’s post, and formatted…
Diary of a non-fiction book: week 1 – day 3
By Wednesday I started to get into the swing of things and was beginning to feel like a proper writer again, writing for a living and all that. I was…
52 books in 52 weeks: Writing your non-fiction book
I set myself the goal of reading and reviewing 52 writing guides over the year. Here is book 19. Alex Gazzola is already very well-known by many of us writers…
Diary of a non-fiction book: week 1 – day 2
Tuesday was a much better, more productive day. I finished my chores thirty minutes earlier than usual, so was able to do some catch-up work from Monday. The first thing…
Publication: the People’s Friend annual 2018
I’m delighted to report that I have a short story in this 2018 annual from The People’s Friend, out now. This is the first short story I ever sold to…
Diary of a non-fiction book: week 1 – day 1
The day didn’t get off to a great start. I’ve been fighting a cold and a “bit of a throat” for a couple of weeks and at the end of…
Diary of a non-fiction book: week 1 – the story so far
A few weeks ago (on or around 12 June in fact, so it was longer ago than I thought), I was editing a book for lovely-already-boss and one chapter in…
A week of ups and downs
It’s been a week of ups and downs this week, and a very busy one as a result. But there’s some good news in here too. Some very good news….
I found my writing mojo
This time last week I was feeling a bit annoyed with myself. I’d not done any proper work for a few weeks. So I pulled up my socks and gave…
52 books in 52 weeks: The Literary Agent’s Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal
I set myself the goal of reading and reviewing 52 writing guides over the year. Here is book 18. The Literary Agent’s Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal by…