My Facebook memory today was a freshly-opened box of books – my own books! What a moment. Holding a book, penned by my own hands and brain and coffee addiction – and with quite a lot of help from writers and editors and friends and family – was simply incredible.

Still is, if I’m honest. Flicking my thumb across the pages, feeling the solid, tangible weight of this REAL thing I made, and of course the smell…

Four titles deep now, it’s been a massive year. My most recent release was a short-ish story, The Artist and the Attorney, which was a part of the One Kiss is Never Enough anthology last year.

And then there was my Persuasion retelling, Within My Reach.

And of course there are the three ‘Have Heart, Will Travel’ books…

I’m working on book 4, squirreling away a couple of nights a week and half of Saturday, making some good progress on What’s Italian for…? Yeah, I’m stuck on the title. My family torment me with hundreds of terrible possibilities. I’m hoping that the book itself will tell me, just like What’s Irish for Encore? did.

What have I learned in this massive year? To trust the process, for starters. As I write, I diverge from my plan, I get carried fifteen pages deep into a scene that was only supposed to be short, I drop whole plot points, I research a place and let Google Street View take me on a ride, I look up a word and re-route a conversation for a laugh… and it seems to work. It didn’t used to. I guess, the good news is that writing fifteen books is a good way to get a little better at writing. The pacing and flow come more naturally than they once did.

I’ve also learned not to force the writing. I don’t write every day. I used to. It genuinely worked for me, once upon a time. But I don’t at the moment. I’m tempted to say I can’t a the moment, but I probably could if I decided I needed to. I could set my alarm an hour earlier and make it happen, but I don’t. I do a couple of evenings a week, to varying success – teaching teenagers all day doesn’t leave me with a heap of energy in reserve come 8.30pm. I do Saturdays for a stint, and neglect my house and garden and family… for a bit.

They’re fine.

Probably one of the most helpful things I’ve learned is to hand-write my way in. I journal a bit in the morning, get half a scene, or three lines, or even just a plan, in barely-legible, half-conscious scrawl. And come 9pm, when the kids finally stop requesting water bottles and back scratches and audio books, all I have to do is copy.

More often than not, when I start copying, I don’t stop when I run out of words to copy. By then, I’m into the writing. And the writing itself is energising. I’m not too tired to write, most evenings, I’m just too tired to choose to start. It’s not the easiest thing on offer. Copying, though… copying is easier than choosing something to watch on Netflix.

Copying, for the win!

And this kind of obstacle-removing, excuses-obliterating, let’s-do-this attitude is helping me with other things: I have a bad hip. I hobble like a woman twice my age. I have pain. I’m one of the lucky ones: the source of the pain is evident and there are probable solutions if I’m prepared to do my physio exercises and get a bit more exercise. I have friends with chronic pain and I’m not going into that shit-show, eyes open. So, long story short, I’m now someone who does a spin class.

And I walk. I walk to work. i walk around the neighbourhood. I’m working my way through every steamy romantic comedy on audio book. It’s very motivating.

Oh, that’s something else I’ve found helpful: reading a lot. Reading when I’m genuinely too past-it to string a sentence together. Reading-on-the-go with audio. Reading in class – giving the first 15-20 minutes of a lesson to silent reading, so that I have to be a good teacher by modeling it… ie. sitting on my arse and reading

How does reading help? I want to write books that give my readers a great adventure, satisfying and surprising and well-written. Reading other people’s books inspires and motivates me, but I also learn from other people mistakes, and from their successes.

Oh, and I deleted some of the social media apps off my phone. That helps. The reading apps are all still on there – kindle, audible, school and city libraries… I’m trying to stack the odds in favour of the things I want to do.

In short, I need to know two things to get a book written:

• why I want to write it (often several reasons, including a really great ending…)
• why I won’t write it (boring life logistics and shit)

Same for reading:

• why I want to read (so many health and well being reasons, plus fun!)
• and why I don’t (boring life logistics and shit)

And maybe it’s the same for anything. For all that, I’m not pushing myself super hard at the moment. I haven’t set myself a deadline for What’s Italian for… Licked? (Maybe? I don’t hate Licked – she’s a pastry chef, he’s a rugby player. They both get licked in more ways than one…)

I haven’t put up a pre-order for What’s Italian for… Busted? (Could work – he keeps his rugby career a secret because she hates the sport – she has history, and then he gets caught out, and their hearts get a bit busted too… I don’t know though.)

I have a cover… almost. I have more than half a book, in its current version, and a really old manuscript with a similar story line, so I’m well on my way.

Not having a title is certainly part of why I haven’t set up a pre-order, and therefore given myself a deadline. But I’ve also found that the pace of putting out 4 books a year was sapping a little of my joy in the process.

What’s Italian for Score? Tempting? Instinct? Longshot? I really want a word that can be said alone, as a one-word sentence people actually say, eg. Oops! Damn. Encore! Tragic…? And it has to fit the story. It doesn’t have to alliterate, but it has to sound good. I’m just a bit fussy. Yes.

So, if you were hanging out for the next title in the series, the bad news is I don’t have a definite date. The good news is that it’s coming! Progress is being made! And also, that I tend to throw a bunch of free review copies (e-books) at anyone keen to read it just before release day and post reviews. Jump on my mailing list to make sure you don’t miss out!

The other good news is that a 4th story is already out – The Artist and the Attorney is about Kate’s ex – Kate from What’s Dutch for Damn?

If you haven’t read any f/f stories before, this would be a perfect taster. It’s a short story, probably an hour-or-so of reading, and easily the most fast-paced story I’ve ever written, with lots of intrigue and suspense. And it’s only 99 cents.