The Last Ever ARC Winner...

... is Clover, who blogs at Fluttering Butterflies. Congrats, Clover! Please get in touch with your address and let me know if you want the ARC signed or not.

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest. I've had word from the publisher that we have now officially run out of shiny pink ARCs. Awwwww. Never mind, they'll soon be replaced with actual, real books with purdy covers and final final final text.

I hope you all have fun plans for the weekend. I'll be writing. NaFiNoWriMo continues. Can you sense my enthusiasm oozing out onto the keyboard? No? Oh.

NEWS!

Today is the official launch of an exciting new business venture. Editor extraordinaire Sarah Stewart and I have joined forces to form The Lighthouse Children's Literary Consultancy. Feel free to have a mooch around our shiny new webite.

You can find us on Twitter and on Facebook and you can email us at lighthouseliterary@gmail.com

If you want to find out more, or you've got any questions, please get in touch!

Now where are those champagne glasses?

Go somewhere else!

Morning, folks. Just to let you know that there's a guest blog by me over on the Quercus site. I talk about book covers. Go have a look here, if you fancy it.

I'm very busy writing wurdz, so I must dash. TTFN.

NaFiNoWriMo update

Greetings. NaFiNoWriMo (National Finish Writing Novel Month) is progressing well. But I keep reading about amazing NaNoers who've written 25,000 words in a week. I bow down to their awesomeness. My progress has been much more modest, but at least there has been progress, which is more than I can say for the previous few months.

I'm on course to finish the first draft by the end of the month. In fact, I only have four or five major scenes to write, but they're biggies. I've done something entirely out of character and PLANNED them. Next to my desk is a big sheet of paper with character names and bullet points and headings like 'Things to add in' and 'Things to check' and 'The end'. I even used coloured pens. Fun times indeed. I'd love to post a picture for you, but then you'd know all the sekrits, and we can't be having that, can we?

In other non-news, I've started watching The Walking Dead. Anyone else watching?

Anyone got any NaNo progress to report?

The Last Ever ARC contest... probably (UK only)

Happy Friday! I've decided to give away my last ARC of ENTANGLED. The finished book avec gorgeous cover should be ready soon, so I figured the pink loveliness that is the ARC should go to a good home. I'm not saying it will be easy to part with  - we've been through a lot together.

The ARC is very easy to care for, requires minimal watering (no watering at all, actually). All it asks is that you read it once or more and tell all your friends about it.

To enter the contest:

1. You must live in the UK. (Sorry, international peeps!)
2. You have to be a follower of this here blog.
3. Please complete the following sentence...

I would be the ideal ENTANGLED ARC owner because...

Closing date is Friday 12th November. Good luck!

A dangerous obsession

I remember the good old days. They were happy, carefree and full of candyfloss and toffee apples. *sighs wistfully* Ah, those were the days. I wish I could turn back the clock and appreciate each and every moment for what it was: pure freedom.

Of course, that was B.W.C.O. You know what I'm talking about, don't you? What?! YOU DON'T! Oh my. Before Word Count Obsession, of course.

Those heady days spent writing ENTANGLED, when I only looked at the word count when I'd finished writing for the day - and sometimes not even then. It just wasn't important to me. I didn't even think I'd reach the end of the novel, so word count was irrelevant. Such innocent times.

Alas, those days are long gone. Now my eyes are drawn to that number on the bottom of my word doc every couple of minutes. That number that refuses to rise as rapidly as I want it to. Every hundred words is noted...

Just... got... to.... reach... one thousand...

N.B. Imagine this in the manner of a certain cartoon character who always seemed to be talking to himself while struggling to climb a huge mountain. Here he is:

Lion-O! Thundercats! Hooooooooooooooo!

But I digress (yet still add to my word count, so who cares?!)... The point is that I wish I could free myself from Word Count Obsession. If only there was a cure. NaNoWriMo isn't exactly helping, even though I'm not participating. When you read on twitter that someone has written 1000 words in ten minutes, which happens to be the exact word count it's taken you all day to achieve, it's somewhat grrrrrrr-making to say the least.

Please tell me I'm not alone. Perhaps we could form some kind of support group.



Happy Hallers!

I hope you're spending the day doing something suitably spooky. I'll be writing, but I promise I'll be writing something extra creepy. And in a concession to Halloween, I'm reading a horror book:

I'm enjoying it so far, and hoping to get to the scary bit just in time to freak myself out tonight. I used to read a lot of horror, mainly Richard Laymon and Stephen King. I think I might start reading more, so if you've got any recommendations, do let me know.

I might watch The Descent tonight. Have you seen it? If not, WHY NOT?

So what are you up to for Hallers? Carving a pumpkin? Going to a fancy-dress party? Ignoring it completely?