No more food. PLEASE.

I had a very busy weekend. Not that every weekend isn't busy in some way, but I felt this particular one was especially so.

AND FILLED WITH FOOD.

Saturday started off with a belly-busting breakfast for me and DH. It was so big and so filling I had to pass on the toast and hash-browns. No, really, I did.

Saturday afternoon found me at the cinema in Bolton. Oh, how those places have changed since I was a girl! Number One cinema where my son had booked tickets has only plush, reclining, push-button electric seats with a foot-rest that you adjust to your requirements. As I lay there in luxury still replete from my breakfast, not one of the Maltesers or Revels offered to me passed my lips. Well, maybe just one.

When we got home to the sight of a freshly lit barbecue fired up by DH my eyes lit up too. And, yes, this is the same man who had taken me for the belly-busting breakfast earlier.

Chicken, Pork, Sausages all lay prepared, ready to be thrown on the barbecue, with new potatoes, fresh bread, salads, coleslaw, etc etc to accompany the meat.

Phew.

Sunday morning came, and now ravenously hungry, we booked Sunday lunch in the cosy little gastro-pub just around the corner. Youngest son was out walking in the hills with his girlfriend, so it was just me, DH and eldest son. His girlfriend had been invited to a colleague's wedding and from her pictures on Instagram, there was plenty of food on offer there, too.

We'd talked about what we were going to have, and that surely we couldn't fit anything large in our tummies after the orgy of eating over the weekend, so then why did we find ourselves ordering our favourite dish - steamed steak suet pudding with chips and mushy peas?

Believe me we've eaten this many times. It is simply not possible to eat this main course having had a starter first, because we've tried.

So we were very good, or so we thought - we ordered our main course only. Whilst eldest son (who has a huge appetite) was tucking into some other three course menu, we struggled with the pudding. And struggled.

But we managed. We came out on top, and almost managed to finish, which is why it is now 10.30 pm on Sunday evening and not another morsel has touched my lips.

Bread and water all this week. It has to be. Although I could need sustenance whilst planning my new novel, I reckon.

Until next time

Kim xx

So, what have I been up to in July?

Nearly the end of a glorious month weather wise. Unfortunately, over the last few days the rain seems to have returned, but I am reliably informed (I am the stalker of several different weather sites) that the sun is on its way back to Lancashire. I do hope so. Blues skies are much more preferable to the grey ones we usually get.

The RNA conference seems like a dim and distant memory now, although in reality it's only two weeks since I returned home from Leeds. This year, due to some new medication I'd been put on, I felt rather under the weather for the whole time there, so in a way that spoilt things for me as I missed several of the talks due to feeling so ill, but as ever I did come away with my usual sense of wanting to crack on, and with some very encouraging words from the marvellous Kate Walker that's what I've done. Whilst there I also picked up a copy of her new updated 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance which has always been a great inspiration to me. I forgot to ask Kate to sign it, but she's promised to do this for me the next time we meet - either at the RNA York afternoon tea, or on her next writing course in November at Lilleshall Conference Centre in Shropshire. 

So, as a result of cracking on, my current WIP is now finished, and being read, as I speak, by my very kind sister. She'll be the one to spot any glaringly obvious gaffes, and afterwards, with a few more tweaks, I'll be submitting once again to Mills and Boon. Watch this space for details of my next WIP which I have already started to plan.

This month I also met up with some very dear friends who I used to work with back in the 70's, and our last stop for a delicious cocktail whilst in Manchester was 20 stories in Spinningfields. Pay a visit if you can. The lift to the roof garden whisks you up there in about 10 seconds and the views are so worth it. If you don't have a head for heights, though ... beware ...

My son works in the area, and gets really rather worried when I visit, especially when I threaten to turn up for a visit to his very shiny tower block. Oh, the shame, having your mother turn up with her mates! Ha, ha!

And, I know I've said this before, but I really do intend to blog on a monthly basis now, if not more.

Until next time.

Kim xx

P E R F E C T I O N

I've been trying to think of a word that describes the weekend I've just had. And here it is: Perfection

View from my window on the sixth floor

Was it really only yesterday that I said goodbye to friends, repacked my bulging suitcase and returned back home to Lancashire? 

What am I talking about here? Well, I think you might have guessed. It's the #RNAConf18 held at Leeds Trinity University.

Over the weekend of 13-15 July 2018, when around 250 of us writers descended upon the town of Horsfirth for our yearly RNA conference, it didn't disappoint.

Leeds Trinity - 6 miles from the city of Leeds, two miles from Leeds Bradford Airport - oh, yes, we saw the aircraft - 

surrounded by 40 acres of stunning countryside, is where  the brilliant talks, the one-to-ones with industry professionals and the camaraderie and un-ending support took place and came together. 

#RNAConf18:

Pleasing

Entertaining

Raucous (at times)

Fun

Enjoyable

Crowded

Tiring

Invigorating

Outstanding

Needed 

Yes, #RNAConf18 was very much needed. Thank you to everyone.

Until next time

Kim x

Student accommodation

I promise to be better.

It's as if the gremlins have got into the system, as my last blog shows my lovely New Year table, but the actual date on the blog reads the 14 February! Hmm …

Anyway, I thought it was high time I got organised, and told you what I’d been up to since my last blog. So, what have I been doing? Well ...

1. I’ve entered the #TheGreatBritishWriteOff with Harper Impulse.
2. I prepared for, and attended Kate Walker’s Advanced writing course at Fishguard, Wales for the third time, and had a fabulous time.
3. I’ve entered the Good Housekeeping novel competition.
4. I’ve submitted a manuscript to the RNA New Writers’ Scheme.
5. I’ve completely re-planned my latest book, after going completely wrong with it. Huge thanks to my friend, Vasiliki Scurfield, for opening my eyes to The Snowflake method.
6. I've now written the first chapter of said book.

It looks a lot. Well, I think it does. Especially as during that time I celebrated a major birthday (a week of celebrations) and then had a couple of health issues which, thankfully, were okay.

Taken at 7.00 am. View from Fishguard Hotel

The Fishguard Hotel

And, although icy cold at Fishguard back in February, the weather was spectacular! I managed to get my steps in before breakfast on all three mornings, which was good because I'm sure I came back five pounds heavier! What a beautiful place it is. We are looked after so well by all the staff there, and if you ever get the chance to go, I'd highly recommend it.

The next job on my to-do list is to book my place at the RNA Conference at Leeds Trinity university in July. I've booked the day off work, so now I just need to fill in the form. 

And as for updating my blog, I promise I'll be better.

Until next time

Kim xx

Shall I, or shan't I?

So, once again it’s been and gone. 

I'm talking about Christmas, of course. Today, we ate our delicious New Year’s Day dinner, and had yet another Christmas pudding to finish our meal - bought, I hasten to add, half-price from the Co-op around the corner in-between Christmas and New Year for £1.50!

Before the fun began

We even had crackers, and did an excellent job of setting fire to the pudding (boys will be boys!) just like we did on Christmas Day. For our family, New Year's day is another chance to celebrate together, but, now, alas, it’s time to take down the decorations and pack them away for another year.

I’ve often thought this about my writing. Packing it away, I mean. As an unpublished (but ever-aspiring writer) I do sometimes wonder about packing it all in. Giving it up. Putting it away - so to speak - after all, if I was going to be published, surely it would have happened by now, wouldn’t it?

But, whenever I think about not writing again, I come out in a hot sweat. I mean, I’ve just had the email from the lovely Janice Preston of the RNA telling me I’ve successfully held on to my place on the NWS, so I can’t waste that, now, can I?

And, I’ve also spent a lot of the Christmas period preparing for Kate Walker’s Advanced Writing course in Fishguard in February. There will be more preparation to do before I arrive at Fishguard in the form of reading Kate’s new book A Proposal To Secure His Vengeance so having done all that, I will have wasted my money if I give it all up, won't I?

And then there are the competitions I intend to enter this year - the closing date for one of them - #TheGreatBritishWriteOff - is 15 January, and the preparation for that will have gone down the drain, too. There's also a chance to win a publishing contract in the Good Housekeeping Novel Competition this year so wasting that opportunity seems foolhardy.

So, whenever I think about giving up writing, I say to myself - what will you do instead? 

Well, maybe 2018 will be the year I'll take up the golf lessons I've been promising myself, or walking more - doing my 10,000 steps a day and more at the weekends - or putting the house up for sale? Yes, this could be the year we do that, too.

Yeah, right. 

You see, if I do any of those things at all, I will fit them in around my writing.

Giving up for me is not an option. Even if the desired publication deal never comes my way, I will always write. It's part of who I am, and always will be.

Happy New Year.

Until next time.

Kim x

I'm revising the story!

Oh dear. I seem to be pondering a bit at the moment.

Whenever this happens I tend not to sleep. I have no problem falling asleep, but then  after a couple of hours I wake up and can't get back over. This is fine on the days when I don't have to go to the day job, but when it happens on a work night - like it did last Thursday - it irritates and exhausts.

And, it can't be the festive season on my mind, because apart from the food stuff my shopping is done and dusted (and wrapped) and my new story for Harlequin M&B is now complete (I'm still biting my nails awaiting a reply) so what can be bothering me?  

Well, a couple of months ago I did stumble across an old manuscript I'd submitted to Mills and Boon back in 1991 when I was 33. It got rejected, and after re-reading it, I can see the reasons why. But the story is still there - circling around my head, slithering into all the nooks and crannies in my brain and refusing to move. So, what did I decide to do this week? Yes, start it again from the beginning! Even though if you look in the body of the letter from Mills and Boon, the editor advised me not to revise that story but to start something new! Does that still apply 27 years later?

I can't remember what happened back in 1991 when I received that rejection. To be honest I can hardly remember writing the story! And, rejections hurt, of course they do, but did it hurt so much that I decided to stop writing and to stop submitting for all of that time? Oh, I know life gets in the way and we had two lively boys to bring up, but it turns out I didn't submit again to Harlequin M&B until 2015, when I got through to the last fifty of their global writing contest SYTYCW15. After that my first chapter was accepted by them, but when I submitted the full manuscript, rejected. 

I've also had the email from Kate Walker giving me homework for her Advanced writing course in Fishguard in February. And today, my dear friend, Andrea, who I met on Kate's course some years ago texted me with a reminder that there are a couple of writing competitions/submission opportunities out there at the moment that I really should think about.

My brain hurts.

Until next time

Kim xx

London calling!

So, in my endeavour to be a much better, much more regular blogger, here I am again!

I'm slightly jaded after a super weekend away in London. We ventured south for my sister-in-law's 50th birthday party which she held in style at a lovely little Italian restaurant around the corner from where they live in Marylebone. They already had a houseful of guests for the celebrations so we stayed at The Frontline Club with its gorgeous rooms and exceptionally tasteful bathrooms. Lovely! We were at the very top of the building so had a slightly quirky view over the chimneys and rooftops of London. Very Mary Poppins! 

View from our room at The Frontline Club

Our pretty little bathroom

The weather in London was horribly cold, and we had little inclination to do any of the usual touristy stuff because, well (a) we'd done it all before, and (b) we had very little time, but we did have a little bit of a wander, and I was shocked at the amount of scaffolding wrapped around Big Ben! Apparently, it will look like this until 2021! I know the repairs have to be done but I felt sad not to see it.

Big Ben clock, or is it?

It was great to see our family, but our weekend away meant I got very little writing done. What I do need to mention is that after much encouragement from Kate Walker - having attended her recent writing weekend in Keele - I've submitted the first three chapters of my new story - Signed, Sealed and Delivered of Twins - to Harlequin M&B. 

So, cue much biting of fingernails and gnashing of teeth over the next couple of months until I hear from M&B.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Until next time

Kim xxx