Umm hello, anyone there?

Oh my days, I'm so relieved that I've remembered how to log into my blog! Stumbling block one over with. It's been a long time bloggers, it's been too long and I've missed this. My personal life descended into chaos roughly a year ago and the spiral kept getting deeper. When I get my blog mojo back, I think I will reveal a little more. Put it this way, I was just 'doing' life rather than living it. I was getting up, eating, trying to hold down a job and that was it. I remember my friend asking six months ago how my writing was going and thinking how alien it felt now that I'd let my writing/reading hobby take a backseat in life. I went on a six month NHS dynamic psychotherapy treatment course and the counsellor was impressed that I read a book on average every 2 days. 'What, but that's not an achievement or impressive...it's what I do, doesnt everyone?' Now that I have my life back I've got more and more time for reading and it's been great. I've branched out from chicklit and now like to read about different cultures, or different parts of history. I'm studying for my PhD still and that demands a ton of reading. In short, there's no getting away from it!

I felt so guilty about coming back to blog here. Like a relative that you've not seen for ages and you feel guilty, so you avoid them a bit longer. And then you feel even worse, so you definitely need to avoid them.

So I'm back; I'm a book junkie and there's no better place for me. Plus I miss the literary blog community! I'll blog away and see what happens.

Free Kate Atkinson short story to download!

waterstone's are allowing readers free access to one of Kate Atkinson's short stories, to promote her new book freedom.

Enjoy!

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/navigate.do?pPageID=1920&utm_source=September%2Bnewsletter1&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=September%2Bnewsletter1

Checking in and catching up

Ahhh I feel so much better after a holiday and a short techno-break. I've blown week old dust off my laptop. Normally it's scorching red hot through over use, but I've behaved very saintly over the past two weeks and devoted all my time to my lovely family. They say couples fall in love all over again on holiday and you can see the logic: take away the washing up/loo seat arguments and bam, the romance comes back.

Gossip update: - Feel awful after slating Jane Green's latest, Beach House - she's now following me on twitter. Must stress again that I am a massive Jane Green fan, I just prefer her earlier works. Spellbound here I come!

Adele Parks has just sent me a blank email! Hope she resends one with a message! Contacted her to say how much I was enjoying Love Lies. Adele must be the luckiest lady alive right now. Not only does she live in domestic bliss with the top job of a chick lit novelist, but she got a team of scantily clad muscle men to hand out magnum ice creams to ladies on the streets of london. Somehow this promotes Adele's new book. Not sure I get the link, but nice work!

Top holiday read: -Melissa Hill, Before I forget

Romance of a character with head injury - all is not what it seems. Melissa Hill has the knack of bluffing and double bluffing, I love the way it's impossible to second guess where the plot is going. Plenty of surprises along the way. She's top of the literary charts for a reason, and it's on offer at Asda for £3 as part of their book club

OH is working this weekend, leaving me free to visit my fave dress agency. Designer-clad lovelies of my home town bring in designer clothes to be sold in the shop on a 50:50 basis. On my budget, it's a great way of getting affordable quality clothes and accessories (My eye is on a Mulberry) and not having to worry about Topshop syndrome (bumping into a constant stream of girls wearing the same piece).

Laters!

Holiday!!!

To get myself into the holiday mood, I read Jane Green's, The Beach House, set in the beautiful US island of Nantucket. The story follows three love stories (one gay, oh how modern!) and an older bohemian-esque lady who owns the house. The three love stories entwine. A bit conveniently, I thought, but it's a nice enough read if you are looking for a nice enough read. Not that many people are. The drama is short lived.

I absolutely loved one of Jane's earliest novels, Jemima J, a hillarious tale of an overweight girl who photoshops a picture of herself to send to a hottie she's met on the internet. All goes well until he suggests she visits him in California. She sheds weight to become that girl, the answer to all her problems, or so she thinks. The ending is shocking, and I'm not one to blanche at drama easily! Beach House and Jemima J are poles apart. I know it's inevitable that ones writing style changes over the years, it's just a shame because I love the raw, breezy and comical style that propelled her to the top of chick lit.

Assuming this flu shifts in the next 24 hours, I'll be holidaying in Cornwall. on my reading list: -

• the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Anne Schaffer


• Stephanie Meyer's Twilight saga books - I do chick lit, I do pop fantasy, but never ever do I combine the two as vampire chick lit is wrong.

So I'll be away for the week - enjoy yourselves!

How to...

...write a better blog. I've noticed a few apology posts around the Blog World for blog neglect as of late.

Check out bubble cow's fab-uuuu-llll-ousss how to blog tips

http://www.bubblecow.co.uk/2009/07/5-ways-to-write-a-better-writer%e2%80%99s-blog/

Am I a weird writer?

I mean, weird in terms of writing style, not content??

My job is mainly office based and sometimes it feels as though I'm glued to the computer 24/7. I know I'm supposed to get away from the screen for breaks, I just don't do it. I would have to set an alarm on my phone to tell me to get up and away, and sometimes I do and it's successful, but most of the time it's just Another Thing I Have To Do.

Emails pop onto my screen like a monsoon between the hours of 9.30 and 18.30. There I am, sat there as if compulsively watching a train crash over and over. Perhaps the next email might explode in my face if I don't answer it in the next twenty seconds? hmm

I have a test-dummy style headache by the time I get home. The last thing I want to do when I get home is to pull open the laptop. But I do. And I blog, I twitter, I facebook. Addictive and entertaining, but neither of which are going to help me write my novel.

So, I pull open a beautiful notepad with a pretty and uplifting cover. Bargain or value note pads are the stuff of the devil as far as I am concerned. I'm a note pad conossieur and only Paperchase, Smith's or Waterstone's finest arty pads will do.

My technique is probably also a bit weird to some of you. I write the plot at a fast pace, getting the main points down first - like an extended synopsis. I'm addicted to the drama and I feel closer to the characters when I'm concentrating on the juicy bits first of all.

I number the parts of my 'extended synopsis'. I read and re-read, then read some more.

I add 'flesh' to the novel by matching each sub-scene to the part of my extended synopsis, kind of like writing by numbers.

This system allows me to revisit earlier parts and cut/add as I wish. It works for me because I need to be able to see the beginning, middle and end to decide which bits are just filler, and are likely to bore the reader to death.

I came up with this system through trial and error and it suits my needs. I don't think my book would get written if I had to use a laptop everynight. And day.

Obviously, I will have to type it up at some stage. I know writers like to be noticed by publishers/agents, but a handwritten novel isn't going to make the cut!

Credit Crunch Writer's retreats

Looking for a fix for flagging motivation, or semi-writer's block? It's time to step away from the computer...just for now.

Laterooms.com
Find a last minute spa or boutique hotel for peanuts on my favourite website. I also use this website for booking spur of the moment weekend breaks

Lastminute.com
A well-known website, but do check out the 'Top Secret' hotels and get a 5 star hotel room for next to nothing. The name of the hotel isn't revealed until your booking is confirmed, but you can check out the hotel facilities, user reviews and location beforehand. So fun!

Lit Fests
Hit the peak district and visit Buxton Lit Fest at the same time. Gorgeous location and a great line up of authors.

Can only do a staycation?
Try these imagination-boosting retreats: -

• Lock the bathroom and soak in a tub filled with Sainsbury's coconut bath foam
• A Yoga class. Try the Yoga DVD for dummies, if you're scared but curious.
• Only have an hour? A spa pedicure. Check the internet for offers as nearly all beauty salons are promoting summer offers