September roundup: festival events, sponsored writes, and animal sidekicks

Hello friends. It looks as though my September mini-blog is very long this month, however, don’t be fooled. I am simply using a bigger font. Hope you enjoy all my news, writer life tidbits and cat pics. Onwards!

Storytale Festival

I’m so excited to be taking part in Storytale Festival again this year. Come and find me in Storysmith, Bristol on 23rd October 2022 for a free event where I’ll be helping you to dream up your own fantastical creatures like those in my book, Mountainfell. hope to see you there!

Meet the Sponsored Writers

I’m taking part in this year’s Sponsored Write in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support again this year in October, as I’ve mentioned, and would love it if you could support us with a few quid. In return for your generosity you’ll get our collection of short stories delivered to your inbox 48 hours later. Perfect! What’s more, you can now read Q&As with all of us Sponsored Writers who’re taking part this year, and learn the individual reasons why each of us are doing it, right here.

Mountainfell’s animal sidekick

I love animal sidekicks in stories. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing that an animal sidekick can’t massively improve (films, books, life… the list goes on). So of course I couldn’t wait to put one into Mountainfell.

Scrat is Erskin’s pet cat, but with a difference. Firstly, he’s a secret, because people in Erskin’s village of Lofotby do NOT keep pets. Secondly, he’s a bit… strange. He’s very big. His teeth are very long. And he has silver markings that seem to change (although surely that’s just a trick of the light…). Sometimes Erskin could swear he knows exactly what she’s thinking, too.

When I was writing about Scrat I took more than a little inspiration from a beloved pet I used to have. She was a rescue cat who we called Kitty Boobins, and she looked like this.

She was the quirkiest, most demanding cat who ever lived, and when she decided she was going to sit on your chest and purr in your face when you really ought to have been getting out of bed, there really was nothing else for it but to lie there. An electrician who was fixing our fuse box called her ‘the loudest cat I have heard in my life’. And she once shouted so much at a friend who’d been looking after her for the weekend, that she made him ill (don’t worry, he was fine after a rest).

A lot of my love for my legendary Kitty Boobins went into writing Scrat, and I hope you’ll love his funny little personality as much as I do – and as much as I loved Kitty Boobins.

Finally, I wanted to share this brilliant clip of a crab swimming that I found on the internet the other day. If ever you wondered where the ideas came from for Mountainfell’s weird and wonderful magical creatures, look no further than nature itself:

A crab runs across the sea bed, then begins to swim using little flippers on its back.

What REALLY goes in to writing a book - plus news and reviews

Hi everyone.

I hope you’re all well and that, if you’re in the UK, you’ve managed to stay cool in the extreme heat. Welcome to a rollercoaster mini-blog of first reviews, Sponsored Writes, and the cold hard realities of writing a book. Onwards!

Mountainfell’s first review

First up it was fantastic to see the brilliant Stephanie Burgis (author of The Raven Heir, The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart and many more) post such lovely things about Mountainfell on Twitter and give it its very first review. Hooray! It can be scary sending a new book out into the world, so early recommendations like this are to be treasured.

Green Ink Sponsored Write 2022 kicks off soon

Every year I take part in the Green Ink Sponsored Write, where published authors come together with Green Ink’s amazing writing students to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support. How? By each of us spending one chosen day in October writing a short story, which will become part of an anthology sent exclusively to our Just Giving supporters 48 hours later. If you’d like to be one of those supporters, you can donate your chosen amount here. Thank you!

The reality of writing a book

Finally, ever wondered what really goes in to writing a book? Well, I’m here to tell you the WHOLE truth. In list form. (As it’s a mini- and not a maxi- blog). Get ready, here goes:

  • You have an idea and it’s EPIC

  • Idea grows. You plan and plan until planning gets too boring and YOU’RE IN

  • Wow. This is the best thing you’ve ever written!

  • Time to reflect. Oh, God. This is the worst thing you’ve ever written

  • This is the worst thing written, ever

  • Time to rewrite

  • Actually, this isn’t too shabby… you can relax

  • Editor has questions. Time to rewrite

  • The rewriting continues

  • Get a pressing deadline. Everyone gets covid

  • The book is, finally, finished. You press send and instantly fall asleep

  • Nope, it isn’t finished. Wake up. Editor has questions. Time to rewrite

  • Eye starts to twitch every time book is mentioned

  • The rewriting does not end

  • Existential crisis

  • You are stuck in a time loop where all you do is edit

  • You are done with this book. DONE

  • You are never going to put yourself through this, ever again

  • Where am I? What is time? Who is “book”?

  • Finally book is written, rewritten, edited, polished. You read it with dread… and are pleasantly surprised to find that you don’t hate it

  • Actually, you quite like it

  • You might even be a little proud…

  • Are you?

  • Yes, you think so. All that work might have been worth it after all.

  • Press send and cross fingers. Time to sleep and play Hollow Knight

  • You promise yourself it’ll be a long time before you attempt to write anything else. A long, long time.

  • A seriously long time. You need a break from writing. A proper one.

  • Except, wait! You’ve just had an idea, and it’s EPIC…

Well, there you have it - and although every book is different, there always seems to be a decent dose of all or most of the above, at least for me. Do you relate to this if you’re a writer? Or does anything surprise you if you aren’t one?

Mountainfell available to pre order

If you’d like to read the product of all that work and polishing, you can pre order my new book, Mountainfell, now :-)

Green Ink Sponsored Write 2019

Calling all short story lovers and good cause supporters!

This year I’m taking part in the ‘Green Ink Sponsored Write’, raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support by setting aside time to write brand new material - which will then be emailed to all sponsors who’ve supplied their contact details. Both emerging and experienced writers are taking part, and we’ll be beavering away from cafes, bookshops and sofas all over the UK to create work inspired by Macmillan’s mission: to improve the quality of life for everyone affected by cancer. This year’s theme is ‘Time Being’.

My Nan died earlier this year, which will no doubt be on my mind as I write. Perhaps I may even draw inspiration from her sparkling, rebellious, adventure-filled life.

We’ll be writing from 10.30am on the 28th September, and the resulting anthology of work will be emailed to sponsors on the 30th as a massive ‘thank you’. To be one of those sponsors, you can donate here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/greeninksponsoredwrite2019

And you can find out more about the organisers, Green Ink, here.

Remember to leave us your contact details so you get our stories when they’re done. And thank you!