Oops, forgot to give it a title!
Dog walk The dog and I once again attempted to find the circular path the three-legged dog and its humans had used, this time armed with the poet. Last week,…
Where to hide a body
Sorry for the “click bait”, but I didn’t know what else to call it today! 😇 This picture was originally tucked inside an envelope and given to me on my…
Proofreading and writing
This picture is a magazine mock-up that my Smoggie snapper (Teesside photographer) made for me when I left Corus/Tata. The front cover image is of a blowout and I wanted…
Decluttering the cluttered computer
This clock was made for me by a friend many moons ago, possibly in the mid-90s. Her boyfriend was just setting up in business making and selling dolls houses and…
Writing a stream of consciousness + permissions
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. (Qualifying links updated at 11:50am UK time on Monday 14 September 2020.) Last week we were watching an episode of…
My new office
I always wanted one of those offices that were next to the front door, at the bottom of the stairs. And now I have one. (See first picture.) The room…
Book review: Fall Down Dead
This feature is in association with NetGalley. Fall Down Dead, Stephen Booth Thanks to NetGalley and to Little, Brown Book Group UK for an advance copy of Fall Down Dead…
Using a murder board
The murder board My murder board isn’t up yet, but every time I open this tin of bits that go with the murder board, it cheers me up no end….
Getting back into a routine
I had a lot of admin work to do yesterday in the end, and there’s still a load more to do. First job, of course, right after writing yesterday’s blog…
Hello, Finningley!
For the past two weeks we’ve been moving house (again!), and now we’re in the village of Finningley, which used to be in Nottinghamshire but is now in South Yorkshire….
The rainy day account
Something I try to maintain during this self-employment of mine is a rainy day account. I’ve been stuck so many times in the past with no savings and suddenly faced…
Squeezing the work in
This morning I finally started the next book for NetGalley. Well, actually, I re-started it as I’d already read a couple of chapters and I wanted to refresh my memory….
Clearing the decks
I realised that we get the keys to the new house next Wednesday. That’s just over a week away. So I’ve decided to close the office on Tuesday. I won’t…
Purging and packing
The end of last week was mostly spent on a client job, which I got back to the client during Friday evening. We had a discussion too about either me…
Pitching for work + Creating mockups
Pitching for work I don’t actually need more work at the moment, but I still like to keep an eye on what’s available, and I still keep looking because you…
I published a book
I didn’t get around to writing any of Catch the Rainbow yesterday, but I did sort some of the rest of the material into some sort of order. This one may…
Managing the diary
A light week last week followed by an uncluttered weekend meant I could devote some time to scheduling the diary a little more efficiently and adding a price list to…
It’s okay to take a sick day
Ever since the poet went back to work on 1 July, we’ve both had cold upon cold upon cold. And yesterday, I was finally flattened. Unusually, it seems that the…
Publishing short stories
Today’s faff, then, has been all about re-publishing standalone short e-stories. Once upon a time, I discovered CreateSpace, a wonderful self-publishing tool from Amazon. The best thing about it, for…
Do you need a logo?
So I’ve been reading this series about making money from home (Make Money from Home series by Sally Miller), and I’m finding it very interesting and informative. I’m trying a…
August 2020: Plan for the month (lists alert!)
After basking in my Camp NaNoWriMo winner glory for a moment or two, I finished work late on Friday. It was about 9pm here, so about 11pm for my client….
Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 20 (last day)
With me finishing the revisions of Twee Tales Too on Wednesday, I already had an extra hour today. Then when I checked in to the content-editing workroom, there was no work,…
Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 19 of 20 (in the end)
So this great plan of mine to be at my desk by 9am and write for 4 hours was foiled before I even got there. The poet was working from…
Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 18
As well as arriving very late to my desk this morning, I then got distracted. Three times. First of all, I saw that Martin Lewis, our money saving expert, has…











