Diary of a Pussycat – Words Worth Writing

18 July 2023

Tuesday 18 July 2023: I published a book

The problem with joining a workshop that takes place on the other side of the Atlantic is they’re a few hours behind me so much of the day may be spent twiddling one’s thumbs. One of the best things about joining a workshop that takes place on the other side of the Atlantic is that I’ll usually be ahead on...

writer at work

14 July 2023

Friday 14 July 2023: Horror stories give me nightmares

The last thing I did on Wednesday night was read another short story from the first set book for the fantasy thriller writing workshop. It was a horror story and I don’t really do horror stories. I thought I’d scanned the worst of it, but when I woke up on Thursday, the poet asked me what my nightmare was about…...

writer at work

11 July 2023

Tuesday 11 July 2023: A bit behind

The poet was up with the lark on Monday morning because he had a long drive south for a two-day business conference. And he really was driving to the bottom of the country almost. I did get up with him to see him off, then I went back to bed and set the alarm from just over an hour. I...

writer at work

7 July 2023

Friday 7 July 2023: 200 words a day

Wednesday didn’t turn out to be one of my better days. I hardly had any sleep Tuesday night and after my emergency run to the vet, I came home and crashed out on the bed. I didn’t wake up until the poet came home from work. It was already quite late by then and I hadn’t done any work. All...

writer at work

5 July 2023

Wednesday 5 July 2023: Cranking up the machine

I was having a slow and leisurely start to Tuesday, until I remembered it was the People’s Friend writing hour on Twitter at 11am. Usually I’m late or in a rush to get there or I completely forget about it. It *is* in the diary now, as a weekly event. But if I don’t check my diary, I still forget...

writer at work

4 July 2023

Tuesday 4 July 2023: Happy Fourth of July!

Happy 4th of July to all of my American friends and readers. Have a super day. Saturday On Saturday morning I hung out some washing, wrote our meal plan for the week and the shopping list, and off we went to get the shopping. We started at the butcher and moved on to the supermarket. When we got home we...

writer at work

28 June 2023

Wednesday 28 June 2023: The machine worked but the tech got me

I finished playing with Affinity Publisher on Sunday evening just as Elton John was finishing his set at Glastonbury. I will definitely use Publisher and I have used Affinity Photo in the past, when it was still called Serif. I’m not sure I’ll get much use out of Affinity Design, unless… I can use it to create maps of my...

writer at work

27 June 2023

Tuesday 27 June 2023: A shiny new toy

Friday was a bit of a lazy day in which I didn’t get through a lot of work, but I did do some things. Like hanging washing on the line, putting crocks in the dishwasher, that kind of thing. Friday I started to read the next book for NetGalley, alongside the Fiction River Pulse Pounders anthology I started for the writing...

writer at work

23 June 2023

Friday 23 June 2023: A bit worried…

I was starting to get a bit concerned about the Brevo thing. They didn’t respond to my last email. The email they sent before that was threatening to close my apparently inactive account. And the email I sent them first thing yesterday morning didn’t even garner an auto-response. Call me a bluff old cynic, but I’d say there’s something going...

writer at work

22 June 2023

Thursday 22 June 2023: Bumbling along

I slept really well on Tuesday night, and so did the dog. Which is probably why I slept so well. I had to wake him up he was in such a deep sleep. Once I’d done the usual social media and email stuff over dinner, I started to read the next book on my pile. I’m not allowed to discuss...

writer at work

21 June 2023

Wednesday 21 June 2023: More rain

Yesterday began with me checking social media and emails while I had breakfast, and then I went straight into finishing the current book for NetGalley. I really enjoyed this one and I’m looking forward to the second one in the series, which I also have from NetGalley. The night before I’d spotted a big black cat eating the chicken I’d...

writer at work

20 June 2023

Tuesday 20 June 2023: A thunderstorm at last

We had thunderstorms forecast for the entire weekend and, naturally, I was keeping a close eye on them all via my app. Saturday On Saturday I wanted to go to the Murder in the Rhubarb Triangle crime reading event in Wakefield. We even tentatively arranged for the MiL to look after the dog. But with the new bed arriving on...

writer at work

19 June 2023

Monday 19 June 2023: New bed, new bedding

We had to get up early on Friday because our new bed was coming. I asked if they could give me an idea of what time, and they said any time between 8am and 5pm, adding that it might actually be 8:30am onwards. So we got up early, stripped the bed, hung the bedding on the washing line to try and...

writer at work

13 October 2021

Less easy

(Image by mathey from Pixabay) After a relatively good start on Monday, Tuesday was harder. I wasn’t as late, but it was more of a chore. I struggled to get up, then I lingered over breakfast. But I did it. The biggest issue was that I only had my work to do yesterday and it was only by reminding myself that my...

writer at work

22 July 2021

Pomodoro time again

Image by harshal07 from Pixabay It’s another long-un, folks. Either save it for later or go get that coffee now! Tuesday At precisely 8:26 on Tuesday morning, the cat jumped on the bed and yelled at me to wake up. I must have slept well, but I was still feeling a little weary. However, I had a lot of work...

writer at work