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My Writing Process Leith MacArthur

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Leith MacArthur, author, writerMy Writing Routine:

I write every day for 2-4 hours, from roughly 8am to 11am, depending on how open my creative flow remains. I consider the “flow” to be a kind of pathway or conduit to the Infinite, where all events, thoughts, problems, solutions, lives and deaths occur, whether past, present, or future.

A Bit About Me:

I began writing when I was about ten years old. Short stories, poems, and a children’s book about a germ who saves the world. When I was introduced to alcohol and drugs at the age of fourteen, I became instantly addicted and my internal writer went into a coma. I wrote not another word until my mid-thirties when a novel burst out of me. I continued to write novels, but everything I expressed, whether it was through writing or raging, was being forced through a translation device, fueled and energized by drugs and booze. I drank, drugged and wrote for a total of forty-seven years. When, at the age of 66, I finally got clean, my writing began to take on a life of its own: it began to mature in the process. In essence, the act of writing became “natural” and, for the first time in my life, I realized I had been born with the gift of expression. My recently released novel, The Death of Harry Crow, is my best work. I’m now hard at work on the sequel, and the writing continues to flow with ease and assurance. 

What I Have Written, Past and Present:

Various poems and short stories; a children’s book called, Gerry the Germ; a supernatural thriller called, The Duplicating Man;  a book specifically for women called How To Buy An Excellent Used Car; a biographical novel (part memoir) about my life called, An Artificial Life;  five novels in The William Snow Series, Beneath the Bridge, The Stones of Mirabella, The Barnes and Blackwell Affair, The Finding Man, and (the only one published from the series) The Death of Harry Crow. I am currently at work putting the finishing touches on the sequel to Harry Crow, called The Man in the Moon. It’s good stuff.

What I Am Promoting Now:

The Death of Harry Crow

A bit about the process of writing:

I write directly from my thoughts. No plan. If I don’t happen to have any interesting thoughts that are worthy of words, I put down words anyway. Random words. Misspelled words. Incomplete sentences. It doesn’t matter. Eventually, something readable comes out.

How Do I Do My Structure:

These days I write only novels. I have no plan and I use no outline. Because I write straight out of the Infinite, I have no real structure; I just write until the work announces to me that it’s done. However, because I write thrillers, I do prefer to write short, impactful chapters that keep the action going, a bit like a Gatling gun.

What Do I Find Hard About Writing:

The toughest thing for me is dealing with Creep, the ungrateful primate who lives in a cave at the back of my skull. When Creep comes lumbering out of his cave with his knuckles dragging along my brain pan, he has but one purpose: to keep me from becoming a self-supporting writer. Creep came close to killing me (his true objective) by convincing me, across a span of 47 years, that drugs were the only way to deal with pain. Creep almost won, but when I learned that expressing pain is the only way to heal it, he lost most of his power over me. He’s still there, but I know how to deal with him now: I write.

What Do I Love About Writing:

I love that I can leave. When I write, I leave the world behind me: it’s only me, the words, and the fantasy in my head. I have unlimited power. I can do anything.

Advice For Other Writers:

Do these three things: read, read, and read. If you are meant to write, the words will follow.

The Death of Harry Crow by Leith MacArthur available in paperback, £9.99, via Amazon or to order in any good bookshop. 

 

Five Books That Changed Me By Yousra Imran, author of Hijab and Red Lipstick

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Headscarves and Hymens by Mona El Tahawy

“The most subversive thing a woman can do is talk about her life as if it really matters.” This was the line in Headscarves and Hymens that gave me the affirmation I needed to use my passion for writing to talk about the subjects that mattered most to me and not to feel a sense of “shame” for writing openly about life experiences. This was the first time I read a book which spoke so closely to my own thoughts as a Muslim Arab feminist, and I was nodding along every page of the way. Headscarves and Hymens is feminist journalist Mona El Tahawy’s first non-fiction book, and an in-depth look at the multi-faceted injustices women face across the Middle East.

It’s Not About the Burqa by Mariam Khan

It’s Not About the Burqa is an anthology of essays written by a long list of female British Muslim writers including BBC journalist Saima Mir, Jeremy Vine on 5 co-presenter Salma-El Wardany and award-winning author Sufiya Ahmed. They write unabashedly about their own experiences and on a range of topics people think Muslim women aren’t interested in – sexuality, feminism, politics, the law and queerness to name a few. This is a life-changing read because it proves that Muslim women are not a monolithic and there is no “one type” of Muslim woman. It also proves that we are extremely successful and have made incredible contributions in British society. Everyone needs to read this book.

Two Women in One by Nawaal El Saadawi

As well as being a famous Egyptian feminist, Nawaal El Saadawi writes novels and her husband has translated most of them into English. She writes about everyday Egyptian women, including working class women and women in rural areas. My favourite novel of hers is Two Women in One, probably because I can resonate with the protagonist Bahiah. Bahiah is a medical student in Cairo who is trying her hardest to reconcile the two women she is: the quiet, studious, obedient Bahiah at home, and the shameless, strong Bahiah who wears trousers, stands with one leg up on her stool in the lab and experiences intimacy outside of wedlock. The book is set in the early ‘80s, yet little has changed for women in Egypt today.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

I read Little Women for the first time when Mum bought it for me as a gift when I was 11 years old, and until this day the part where Beth dies makes me blubber like a baby. Reading it again as an adult I can see that Alcott was a feminist – it wasn’t something that I digested as a young girl. If I was to do a postgraduate degree in feminist literature I would probably choose Little Women for my thesis, as there are just so many references to gender injustice. Marmi is a feminist and so is Jo March. I had thought Jo March was based on Alcott but I recently read Alcott had based Jo’s youngest sister Amy on herself.

The Mill on the Floss by George Elliot 

The Mill on the Floss was the 19th century novel I studied for my English Literature A-Level. It was a complete eye-opener, particularly as a teenager living in the Arab Gulf. I remember underlining so many passages in the book and telling my teacher that Victorian society was just like Qatari society; it was mad that the customs were so similar despite the 150-year gap! I could also see myself in the protagonist Maggie – the internal struggle between wanting to be pious and modest, but also be passionate and love and be loved. As an adult I now know I can be both – I don’t have to choose one or the other.

About the Author

Yousra S Imran is an English-Egyptian hybrid who works and lives in West Yorkshire. She has been writing from the moment she learned how to hold a pen and works full time in marketing and events in the education sector.
Yousra grew up between the UK and the Middle East and has a BA Hons in International Relations. She is passionate about women’s rights and gender justice. Yousra lives with her husband in Bradford, Yorkshire.

The surprising Scandinavian approaches to child-rearing by Alex Dahl

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alex dahl, author, writer, childrearing, playdate‘Playdate’ by Alex Dahl is published on 1st October by Head of Zeus 

 In the Scandinavian countries, children are raised quite differently than in the UK and most of the rest of the world, where fear culture feels more prevalent- fear of strangers, accidents, legal action, bad weather- the list goes on. The Scandi approach is rather less fussy and children are given an almost baffling level of freedom. They are expected to get to and from school alone, often from the age of six, sometimes walking a considerable distance, come rain or shine (or more likely, blizzards.) In the winter it is pitch-black dark when they leave home. 

When I was a child growing up in Norway, my mother’s policy was- spend most of your time outdoors, and if there’s a problem- fix it. I had a pocket full of band-aids and a bus pass, plus a few tried-and-tested recipes for afternoon snacks.

As an adult, and a domestic-noir/psychological thriller writer, I draw inspiration from the Scandinavian countries’ laissez-faire attitude, and will gladly admit that it’s rather convenient that certain plotlines, which may seem unlikely to happen in the UK are perfectly feasible in Norway. Like being asked to take a little boy home on a stormy evening, whose parents have failed to turn up- the very premise for my debut thriller, The Boy at the Door. It’s happened to me, more than once, and I’ve also turned up to pick up my kids from somewhere, only to be told that they’ve already been collected by ‘so-and-so’s dad’ or random uncle, whom I’ve never met. Or like sending your child on a sleepover when you’ve only briefly met the parents once, a decision that has disastrous consequences in my new thriller, Playdate.

I ended up doing some involuntary research when my own daughter went briefly missing during the edits of Playdate. I had recently returned to Norway and was adjusting to the Scandinavian style of parenting after a stint in London. I allowed my then nine-year-old daughter to take a bus alone home with a friend to the friend’s house after school. I was in my office, working on the book, when the mother of the friend called, several hours later. She asked whether the girls had gone to ours. Floored by panic, I explained they had definitely gone to theirs, and she said- well, they can’t have as the alarm was activated and the dog shut away in one room, and the first thing the girls would do when they get home is deactivate the alarm and let the dog out. 

The other mother immediately started to comb the neighborhood for them while I rushed over. We were about to phone the police, when she went into a local shop to ask whether the girls had been in, and another customer overheard, saying he’d seen two little girls in the nearby forest, trying to free a ride-on pink Barbie truck from thick mud. The girls had refused offers of help, having been drilled on the dangers of strangers… I got my girl home, but had never known such fear, and I went back over Playdate and infused it into the mother of the missing girl.

Playdate by Alex Dahl is available here. 

 

My Writing Process Alex Hart

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Alex Hart, my writing routine, my writing process, author, writer, Take Me Home, My Writing Routine:

I’ve written since an early age, whether it was short stories, poems (dreadful ones!), or novels. I read voraciously and love many genres. I have worked in the film and television industry for over twenty five years and have always felt passionate about story telling whether on screen or in books. To be able to disappear into someone else’s world, even temporarily and experience a different life is something that will never lose its thrill.

What you have written, past and present.

I’m currently working on a couple of novels, one which is the next in the series of Take Me Home, and another which is a standalone thriller. 

What you are promoting now.

Take Me Home is a mystery thriller. The main character Harper finds a young girl left alone in a New York store and sets out to find out where she has come from. No one has reported her missing yet the little girl May says she misses her mom. Harper is someone who is strong and feisty. She paints outside of the lines, yet relentlessly strives for the truth. Despite her outwardly spiky edges, she is sensitive and warm-hearted. I hope she is someone the reader enjoys spending time with, along with her friends TJ and Reggie (the yin to her yang, the cheese to her macaroni) as they try to unravel the mystery along with her. It raises the questions, ‘What would we do in that situation?’ ‘How far would we go for strangers and those we love?’ and ‘What constitutes family?’ 

A bit about your process of writing.

I’m pretty disciplined when I have a project I’m working on. My day usually starts at the gym (before Covid!) where I am waking up my brain and beginning to think about the task ahead. Once I am at my desk, I often turn off my phone so there are less distractions and set to on that day’s goal. If I have the book planned out, I’ll always aim to write a chapter a day; even if I know what I’m writing is trash. If I started to edit as I went along, I think I would come to a grinding halt. If there is something on the page, I at least have words to play with. 

Do you plan or just write?

I always plan. I don’t know any other way. For me, a plan is a safe way of being able to go off piste sometimes, as I know I can always refer back to it. Things often change when you’re writing; either something you are sure was going to work, suddenly falls apart in your hands, or you get further inspiration meaning the story changes direction. I think, so long as you have a plan you can explore these options without going off on a tangent too much. 

What about word count?

I really don’t think about it in the first draft. I just want to get the bones of the story down and I’ll worry about word count later. Often or not, it just works out at the right length. 

How do you do your structure?

I always work with paper and pen at the beginning, just writing down notes, random thoughts, character traits etc and once I am able to formulate a basic beginning, middle and end, I begin to scratch out a structure. If I get stuck, I always refer back to the usual; Joseph Campbell, Christopher Vogler, Robert McKee, Syd Field, Dan Harman. I’ll re-read what they’re saying and think how my story and characters fit and start penning out a potential paradigm. 

What do you find hard about writing?

When I lose confidence! There’s nothing worse than facing the day thinking ‘something isn’t working’, ‘I’m the worst writer known to man’, ‘what was I thinking even attempting this?!’ I think this happens to all writers at some point of their journey. You’re all alone in this room, with your imaginary characters (who you have become close to and feel you are letting down) and you only have yourself to argue with. When those days come, (and they do!) rather than give up and beat myself up further, I make myself write 100 words. Often or not, I’ll end up writing more and suddenly you’re up and running again. 

What do you love about writing?

Everything except for the above days! 

Advice for other writers.

The same any writer gives, read, read, read, write, write, write. For me, there is no other way. My motto has always been, ‘Get it down, then get it done. Get it written, then get it right.’

 

TAKE ME HOME by Alex Hart is published by Orion (Paperback, £7.99) on 1st October.

 

My Writing Process Diane Allen, author of The Girl in the Tanners Yard

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I was born into a farming family that had a sheep farm which was very remote within the Yorkshire Dales. My early years were spent roaming the fells and dales, often by myself as I was the youngest of four and my older siblings had already spread their wings leaving me as an only child. I made my own entertainment and had a good imagination but also had a great love of losing myself in a good book which I still do to this day. The love of reading continued into my teenage years and could often be found reading to the early hours of the morning. When I left school I found a job in the local glass engraving firm, which I did enjoy but left to marry my husband, Ronnie who after forty-eight years I am still married to. After raising a family of two and nursing an ill father, I finally found my true niche in life at a local large print book firm. I soon rose through the firm and eventually became manager, negotiating rights with authors and agent and loving every minute especially when the books I had chosen came into the warehouse to be distributed to the libraries we supplied. It was that which started me thinking that I could perhaps be lucky enough to be able to write myself and the rest is history. 

I have written nine books now for Pan Macmillan. All are based in the Yorkshire Dales and I hope to portray the Dales and the people within them. I have family connections with the Settle to Carlisle Railway so that features quite a bit in my books. For A Mother’s Sin’s was a fictional account of the building of the line, featuring the building of the Ribble Head viaduct, while the Windfell trilogy is set around Settle and the Cotton Mills. 

My latest title is THE GIRL FROM THE TANNER’S YARD, this is set in West Yorkshire, around Haworth and Keighley. It tells the tale of lowly born Lucy Bancroft and ex-military man Adam Brooksbank and the unlikely love affair that springs up between them. Adam lives on the wild moors above Keighley and employs Lucy as his maid and finds just how strong and caring she is when he befalls an accident. Lucy thinks her love can never be returned by Adam, she comes from the Tanner’s Yard, a filthy dirty place and thinks that he will never treat her as an equal. However, with a little help from Adam’s old friend Ivy loves blooms, and Lucy’s dreams will be fulfilled despite what life puts between them. 

In the morning after breakfast, I usually disappear into my office, answering e-mails and promotional things and then go on to edit the previous day’s writing. After lunch I write for a solid four hours, trying to write at least 2,000 words. Sometimes it does not always go to plan, I feel I can’t write or I get stuck in a plot. Walking around my garden usually helps out along with plenty of cups of coffee supplied by my husband. 

Usually, when I’m nearly finishing my latest title I start thinking about the next. I visit where the book is to be set, research the area, picking up any history so that I can include it in my writing. I have notebooks that include loads of my scribbles within them just noting anything that I think would be interesting to be included. I then plot a rough start, middle, and end, this may alter as I once get writing. I let the characters take me where I should go as they develop in the book. 

My officially set word count is 100, 000 words, however, I usually find this hard to reach, so most of my books are around the 95,000 mark. I can’t see the point of padding a book out with things that have not relevance to the story.

When structuring my book, I give most though to the two main characters within the story, their occupations, and the setting of the book. I then make a note of their age, their looks, their hair and eye colour and any unusual features. Their surrounding is also noted along with any place names and local names to the area.

Some days you just can’t write and those days you are better walking away from your keyboard. Your characters will draw you back to them when the time is right. My biggest failing is following timelines, no matter how I try, I always seem to be out with age or length of a pregnancy. I get too carried away in the plot. 

I love writing, I can’t live without it now. If I give myself a fortnight break between books by the end of it I am the most frustrated person on the planet. I’m always hatching a plan in my head and looking for new ideas. It is a break from the real world, I can be where I want and who I want. Through these hard months of COVID, it’s been a welcome escape, I can go back to more simpler Victorian times and forget the heartache outside in the real world.   

The Girl From Tanners Yard is available here.

 

My Writing Process Paul McCartney

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Paul McCartney, interview, book, author, children's book

© MPL Communications/Paul McCartney & Kathryn Durst

My Writing Routine

 Where did the idea for the book come from?

One day one of my grandkids, instead of calling me Grandad, called me Grandude: “Grandude, can we do this . . . ?” I thought, Well, that’s nice, I like that, so I started to think of stories about this character Grandude. I thought, I’ll make him magical. The kids say, “Hey Grandude, can we go somewhere?” and he takes them on magical adventures. That’s how it started – one of my grandkids just called me Grandude one day, and that was it.

Will there be more adventures of Grandude?

Well, you know, maybe we’ll see how this goes. If people like it, then I’ve definitely got a few more adventures up my sleeve – or Grandude has – so it would be quite nice to continue. I’m ready to write more if people do like it.

Paul McCartney, interview, book, author, children's book

© MPL Communications/Paul McCartney & Kathryn Durst

How did you collaborate with Kathryn Durst?

I was shown the work of a few illustrators, and because I read a lot of children’s books to my own kids when they were growing up, I know the styles that are out there and I liked her style very much. I thought it suited Grandude perfectly. It was slightly unusual and bohemian, and she made him a bit of an eccentric character, so she was really good. But there was one thing that happened during the making of the book. She’d do an illustration and it would come to me to approve it, and I’d say, “Oh yeah, it’s great.” I loved what she was doing. There was just one funny little detail: in one of the adventures the kids and Grandude were all riding horses and their stirrups were just hanging down – their feet weren’t in the stirrups. So I said to the publishers, “They’re riding horses – their feet should be in the stirrups, shouldn’t they?” And they said, “You know, that’s funny – the American publishers picked up on that too,” so we had to ring Kathryn and say, “Could you just stick their feet in the stirrups?” If you look, you will note that they’ve all got their feet in the stirrups now!

Is writing a picture book for children anything like writing a song?

Well, you know, it is a little bit like that, in as much as you’ve gotta use your imagination – you’re making something up. If it’s a song, you’re making up words and music, and maybe a story. If it’s a children’s book, then obviously you don’t need the music but you still gotta have the imagination, and that’s actually what’s fun about it: you’re making stuff up, but if you’re writing a children’s book your story tends to go to more far out places. You can rub a compass and go to Zanzibar – you can go wherever you like. You could do that in a song, but you tend to keep it a little bit more feet-on-the-ground.

The paperback of Hey Grandude! comes out on 17th September and includes a story CD, featuring narration and instrumental music by Paul. 

Niall Edworthy: My Writing Process

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Niall Edworthy

I have been writing in one capacity or another since I finished studying thirty years ago. I worked as a reporter for broadsheet newspapers and international news agencies Reuters and AFP in the 1990s. In 1996 I was commissioned to write the Official History of the England football team. The following year I was invited to ghostwrite a travelogue for actor David Jason. Soon after I gave up journalism and focussed on books. I live in the Downs above Chichester, commuting down 14 steps to my, ahem, fancy office (converted shed, no sun after 11). When I’m not writing, I tend to be reading although I’m suffering a little reader’s block right now, unable to settle on a title and bouncing back and forth between half a dozen on my Kindle. I pursue all the boring middle-aged activities, sometimes with passion, more often with relief after a day at the computer. I cycle a lot up in the hills, and I have grown to love gardening and cooking – semi-mindless activities that allow my brain to drain after writing. If the Test cricket’s on, I have to chain myself to the desk and resist the temptation.

What you have written, past and present.

I have written over 40 books, roughly half of them ghosted for well-known public figures or ‘ordinary’ people who have had extraordinary experiences. I have written memoirs, military history, sport, humour and natural history.

What you are promoting now. 

My first novel, Otto Eckhart’s Ordeal. It is hard to slot into a genre but if you were in a bookshop (remember them?), you’d probably find it in Historical Fiction. Set in 1937 and based on a true premise, it tells the story of an aimless, young historian dispatched by the Nazis to go fetch the Holy Grail for the glory of Germany. It is a coming-of-age, adventure story with a dash of romance and, dealing with some grim characters at a grim period of history, I have tried to write it with dark humour.

A bit about your process of writing. 

I’m reasonably methodical. Once all the research is done and the story laid out loosely but with direction, I go at it every day if I can. I need momentum and I need to be deeply immersed in the world I am describing or creating. It’s no good grabbing an hour here or there. I need a good long stretch for each session. I start early, between 7 and 8, and tend to work through to a late lunch. If I have written a good amount I often feel drained and don’t go back to my computer. If it’s been a frustrating effort and I haven’t got much down, panic propels me back to my keyboard.

Do you plan or just write?

I am a planner, but the plan changes a little every day. I think it’s important not to plot too hard, and to keep all options open. I read a good description recently that sums up my approach: Starting a book, you are at John O’Groats heading for Land’s End but not entirely sure of the route you are going to take.

What about word count?

Big difference between fiction and non-fiction. If all the research is at my fingertips, I average about 1,500 words a day for non-fiction, but can push to 2,500. With fiction, I’m delighted if I have 1,000 words in the bank at the end of a session.

How do you do your structure?

As clearly as possible. Structure is everything in building a story. You are reminded of the challenges facing the architects and engineers of skyscrapers – if they are an inch out at the bottom, it won’t be long before the building starts to lean and they have to demolish it and start again. In fiction, structure is more flexible because the characters will soon start to take you to places and scenarios you hadn’t foreseen.

What do you find hard about writing?

Where to start? Lack of company – not being able to wander over to the water-cooler for a good moan from time to time. Anxiety about money – it’s not the path to fabulous wealth. Fretting about the next project while I’m deep in the current one. The time it takes to set up new projects, writing proposals, pushing them on publishers, knowing all the effort may come to nothing. (The writing itself is the easiest and most enjoyable part of the process.) The occasional jerk on Amazon, who writes an ignorant, cowardly and malicious review. Why bother torpedoing someone’s huge effort to produce a book? It’s not personal.

What do you love about writing? 

Again, where to start? I like the independence. I like not having to commute, to set my own agenda. I’m writing this in my shorts and slippers with very un-combed hair wondering where I might cycle this afternoon in the glorious autumn sunshine. On the actual writing, it’s a great feeling when you know in your bones you have written a passage that will stand the reader’s scrutiny. A cricketer who has played the perfect cover drive will recognise the feeling.

 

Advice for other writers. 

Know what you want to say before you write. Short sentences. Be bold. Find your voice. Get up early. Trial & error is the only way to learn – most writing is more effort than inspiration. If you have a setback, dust yourself down and keep going. Have a second source of income. Read as much as you can to immerse yourself in words and expand your range of reference.

 

My Writing Process Taryn Leigh

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writerMy Writing Routine

I try to write whenever I can have moments alone, which are long enough for me to take my mind into the world of my characters.

Because writing currently isn’t my full time profession, this means that I cannot have a formal writing routine, but instead have to write when I get the chance.

My name is Taryn Leigh, and I’m a South African based Author, whose first book was published in the UK.

Although I write books that are considered to be romance or contemporary fiction novels, I try to ensure the reader can walk away with something of value after reading the book. Because of that, my books deal with real life struggles that women endure.

My first book was called Perfect Imperfections, and is available in Paperback, Audiobook and on Kindle.

My current book is called The Secret Letters and launched on 09 August in Paperback and Kindle.

What you are promoting now. 

My latest novel, The Secret Letters, which deal’s with real topics of gender based violence, and the mental battle that comes with that.

It’s also a story of love and hope, and how to overcome your worst nightmares, especially in the arms of someone who loves you.

A bit about your process of writing. 

I look out for stories that peak my interest, and then I let them mull over in my mind for a while, as I start to imagine the lives of the characters, as if they are real people. Only once I feel that they feel real to me do I start to put pen to paper and plan things more formally.

Do you plan or just write?

I have a very broad plan. Mostly the main characters and main events. I normally know how it should start, when the big reveal should be, and how it should end.

The rest, I just write and see how the characters develop over time, who they meet, and what additional relationships are formed.

What about word count?

I am conscious of it, but more towards the end of the book, because if I worry about it the whole time, I won’t get the story out.

I aim for 80,000 words or more, that can then be edited down during the editing process.

What do you find hard about writing?

Finding time to be alone, the rest, I absolutely look forward to.

The other part is editing and writing a blurb. It seems so hard to condense over 400 pages into a few lines.

What do you love about writing? 

Meeting my characters. Might sound strange, but they feel like real people to me. They make me laugh and cry as I write their stories. They take me on adventures, I just love it.

Advice for other writers

Find your own voice and be authentic. Don’t try to write for the mainstream. You need to believe in what you are writing and the story will just flow.

Also dont give up, even when you feel stuck in the book, just keep going, it will all come together eventually.