The Creative Writer

Country Cat Blues Blog Tour and Book Review

With thanks to Red Dog Press and Alison O’Leary

Synopsis

Country Cat Blues is the second book of a series about Aubrey, a former street cat who has taken to solving crime. You can read about Aubrey’s first adventure in Street Cat Blues.

Synopsis

For the second book, Aubrey moves away from the town and into a sleepy rural village called Fallowfield, where he meets a whole new cast of characters, both human and cat. The story neatly runs both cat crime and human crime side by side and the cats are very useful in helping to solve both because they can slip through cat flaps and slide into houses unnoticed in a way that we humans cannot.

Book Review

I really enjoyed this book. Although it seems a little unusual to have a cat narrating the story, you soon get used to his voice and he can see things that humans might miss. I found it well-written, with some nice comic touches and some great characters, both cat and human. I have not read the first book but found the family easy to get to know with some true-to-life connections between teens and parents. I was less clever than Aubrey as I did not know who the murderer was until near the end of the book, but there were red herrings along the way (much to the delight of the cats).

If you like crime novels and cats and never knew that you could read a book about both, then you will enjoy this book and getting to know Aubrey and his family.

Country Cat Blues is available from 23^rd February at Amazon and on Kindle.

An Interview with the Author

woman-sitting-in-high-backed-chair-author — Alison O’ Leary

I asked author, Alison O’Leary some questions about how she came to write Country Cat Blues and the prequel. She was kind enough to answer them:

How long did it take you to write your first book?

I think it was about two years. It was written in longhand and, to be honest, it wasn’t very good. I only submitted it to one or two agents before stuffing it to the back of the cupboard. For me, the real achievement was in actually finishing it. I felt that I’d accomplished something and that I’d taken the first steps on my journey as a writer.

How many unread but written books do you have in a drawer somewhere at home?

I have three, including the first one, but I’m considering revising one of them. It did attract some attention from agents but didn’t ultimately make it through to publication. I looked at it again the other day and, while it needs some work, I still like the basic idea. It’s a stand-alone psychological thriller which revolves around four women and one secret. Its working title is A Choice Of Enemies. As Oscar Wilde said: ‘A man cannot be too careful in his choice of enemies’ …

tabby-cat-with-white-nose — The real Aubrey -Country Cat Blues

Aubrey is a very knowing cat. Who was the inspiration for him?

The real Aubrey was a rescue cat, just like his namesake. He was named Aubrey because my partner was reading John Aubrey’s Brief Lives at the time. As Aubrey once said to me, it could have been worse – he could have been called Brief!

Aubrey was a large male tabby and he had been at the rescue centre far longer than any of the other cats. I’m not sure why, perhaps it was because he wasn’t cute like the kittens. We took to him immediately and it was a choice that we never regretted. He was the most loving, affectionate animal although it would be true to say that he never missed a food opportunity. When he used to stroll about the garden he often had a very purposeful look. The idea for the book came when my partner turned to me and said, ‘that cat always looks as though he’s got a bit of admin to sort out’. Or, maybe, a crime to solve …

What is your process when beginning to write a book?

Once I have an idea, I usually start by making notes, often on scrappy bits of paper, just odd bits and pieces as they occur to me. Then I make a rough plan, just an outline sketch of who does what and when. Once I start writing, I refer back to the notes and keep adding more. What I usually find though is that the book takes a direction of its own so that what started as a minor character develops into something much more significant. Sometimes things just come out of nowhere. For example, in Country Cat Blues there is a ghost called Maudie. I have no idea where she appeared from. She just sort of turned up and started joining in!

Which crime author is your must-read immediately-the-book-comes-out favourite and why?

That’s quite difficult to answer – there are so many good crime writers out there! At one time I would have said Ruth Rendell and in fact I do go back and re-read some of hers from time to time. Now it’s quite eclectic. Elizabeth Haynes is very good, as is Erin Kelly. I used to teach law and criminology so I do read quite a lot of true crime as well. The most recent was The Fatal Passion of Alma Rattenbury by Sean O’Connor which concerned a notorious murder trial in the 1930’s.

Which crime book do you wish you had written and why?

Probably The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. It was first published in 1926 and was a real ground-breaker at the time.

Thank to you to Alison for such great answers. I always enjoy talking to authors and learning more about their process when they write a book and also their inspiration.

Country Cat Blues Book Cover Reveal

With thanks to Red Dog Press and author Alison O’Leary

This week on the blog, I am excited to bring you the cover reveal of a book that is released next week. Country Cat Blues by Alison O’Leary will be available to buy on 23^rd February 2021. It is the second book in the series, but the story will stand on its own. You do not need to have read the first book to enjoy it.

Ta Daa!

On Saturday 27^th February, this blog will be taking part in the book tour for the book. You will be able to read my review of the book. I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you.

If you would like to catch up with the first adventures of Aubrey, the book is called Street Cat Blues by the same author and it can be found on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle.

Here is a synopsis of the book:

Country Cat Blues

When former rescue cat Aubrey moves to the picturesque village of Fallowfield with his owners and their foster son Carlos, he is keen to explore the delights of the English countryside.

However, all is not as it seems among the villagers. The idyllic peace is shattered when a gruesome murder takes place at the village fete.

Tensions run high as spectres from the past begin to emerge, and Aubrey is particularly upset when suspicion falls on Morris, who may be almost permanently drunk, but is also a good friend to the local cat population…

Can Aubrey restore the peace in the village and help clear Morris’s name?

Buying Information:

Red Dog Shop: https://www.reddogpress.co.uk/product-page/country-cat-blues

Amazon: mybook.to/CountryCat

Publication Date: 23^rd February 2021

Author Bio – Alison O’Leary

I was born in London and spent my teenage years in Hertfordshire where I spent large amounts of time reading novels, watching daytime television and avoiding school. Failing to gain any qualifications in science whatsoever, the dream of being a forensic scientist collided with reality when a careers teacher suggested that I might like to work in a shop. I don’t think she meant Harrods. Later studying law, I decided to teach rather than go into practice and have spent many years teaching mainly criminal law and criminology to young people and adults.

I enjoy reading crime novels, doing crosswords, and drinking wine. Not necessarily in that order.

Disclaimer: Although I have received an advance copy of the book for review purposes, all opinions are my own and have not been influenced in any way. I have also not been paid to take part in the book tour.

PixelScrapper – the Digital Way to Put a Photo Album Together

In the UK, we have all had to stay home more, thanks to Covid-19 but this has created more opportunities for creative hobbies. I have enjoyed reading more books, written more short stories and discovered how to make a digital scrapbook.

I was looking for images for a children’s worksheet when I came across PixelScrapper. This free-to-join website has a wide variety of images. This community offers a wide variety of patterns and pictures, similar to real life scrapbook papers and elements. You can use them in your digital scrapbook but rather than using glue, you can just paste on a screen. You can also choose to print them out.

Membership

There are two types of membership. A free membership allows you to download a digital kit for free. The kits contain elements, which tend to be single images of a flower or a butterfly, an alphabet font, sayings or mottos and papers which are similar to the papers that you buy to put in a scrapbook. These have all been designed by the members of the site. You can download kits, mini-kits or individual elements or papers. The kits tend to be a collection of digital scrapping items linked by a theme or colour scheme. Every day you visit the website, you can earn download credits which you can then exchange for more items. There is also a paid membership option which supports the website and enables patrons to download as many kits as they want.

Opportunities

The website offers incentives and opportunities to use the items you can download. You can download free items from a monthly blog train. The designers can opt in and offer digital kits. A palette of colours is offered every month as well as some ideas for themes. There is a number of ways to obtain kits. Some can be downloaded from their own websites, some from Facebook pages and some from the website itself. You can take part in challenges to achieve a certain number of pages. There is an active forum community and help available in the form of videos and posts to the forum.

So, what do you need in order to start digital scrapping?

It is a good idea to have a copy of Adobe Elements to help you achieve the images you want. Other free design software is available but most of the posts are aimed at helping you use Elements. You will also want some way of storing the images. These can be memory-intensive, so investing in an external hard drive or even a good quality SD card can be a good idea. You may wish to buy two so that you can have a double back-up. The sheet size you use may depend on the size that you wish to print. You can send these to a printing company or you can print them out yourself.

Glossary of Terms:

Digital Scrapping – the ability to use digital elements to enhance your scrapbook or journal

Kit/Mini-Kit – a collection of digital items for the use of scrapbooking digitally. Can include papers, individual elements, sayings and alphabet fonts

Papers – patterned and/or textured papers which can come in colour or pattern themes

Elements – individual small digital images. Could include ribbons, buttons, butterflies or flowers

Layout –Enhancing a photo in a digital or real-life scrapbook or journal. Usually includes 2, 3 or 4 elements or papers

If you want to learn more about digital scrapping then do check out PixelScrapper. Let me know if you have already tried it in the comments.

What is Plagiarism and How Do You Avoid it?

Definition of ‘Plagarism” from Etymology Online:

plagiarism (n.)

“the purloining or wrongful appropriation of another’s ideas, writing, artistic designs, etc., and giving them forth as one’s own,” 1620s, from -ism + plagiary (n.) “plagiarist, literary thief” (c. 1600), from Latin plagiarius “kidnapper, seducer, plunderer, one who kidnaps the child or slave of another,” used by Martial in the sense of “literary thief,” from plagiare “to kidnap,” plagium “kidnapping,” from plaga “snare, hunting net” (also “open expanse, territory”), which is perhaps from PIE *plag- (on notion of “something extended”), variant form of root *plak- (1) “to be flat.” De Vaan tentatively compares Greek plagia “sides, flanks,” Old High German flah “flat,” Old Saxon flaka “sole of the foot.” (Accessed 19/1/2021)

https://www.etymonline.com/word/plagiarism

green-frog-swimming-in-green-pond -with-butterfly-on-head — Image by Frank Winkler from Pixabay

Starting an article on plagiarism with a copied definition from another website may be an unusual way to start an article, but there is a reason for it. This quote is within quote marks or inverted commas, it is attributed and referenced correctly. The copying of another’s work or plagiarism seems to be growing more common. It seems that where there are websites, there are people willing to create tools to copy them. It can happen to blog posts, e-books and pictures too.

Examples of Plagiarism

I came across this topic while attending an online business group as a guest. I arrived, was deposited into a Zoom breakout room and was asked a question. A business had had a former client set up their own business in the same field which involved renovating properties. The original business had a gallery as a form of testimonials of the work that they had done. The former client had chosen to copy all the photos from the original website which seemed to indicate that they had done the work. It is illegal to copy another’s work, but also dishonest. Those photographs are a means of persuading potential customers to hire them as a renovator. What if their skills are not up to par? The original owner had tried to get them to take it down but had so far been ignored.

I have also known blog owners who have found their blog posts on someone else’s website and mailing list owners finding their content copied across onto other mailing lists. If you post content regularly, then it is worth checking regularly that no one else is taking it and passing it off as their own.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer nor trained in any form of law. If you are thinking of taking action against someone who has stolen your intellectual property, then please consult a legal professional.

Why do We Need to Add Fresh Content Regularly?

Business websites add content to their websites for several reasons: to

Show testimonials and pictures from satisfied clients

Raise their business blog in the search engines, so they update content regularly

Communicate with their customers and indicate that they are a live business.

They may also update promotions and offers to their customers.

If there is duplicate content on the internet and Big G finds it, then it can do one of two things: it may determine which is the older content and penalise the newer website or it might penalise both.

Consequences of Plagiarism

Consequences of plagiarism can include a loss of reputation among peers, a legal challenge and even a lawsuit for damages. Copyright laws differ in the countries of the world, so the actions a plagiariser faces may depend on the country where the original creator lives.

Intellectual Property

In the UK intellectual property such as a story, book, drawings or photographs are automatically covered by copyright. You do not need to do anything further to protect them and you can take legal action against anyone who steals them. It is wise to put a copyright protection signature on your intellectual works, particularly photographs. You can add a watermark while editing if needed. It is possible to read an overview on intellectual property. Make sure that you use images that you have permission to use or are Creative Commons on your website.

Protecting Your Words and Images

If you become aware that someone is using your intellectual property, then you can send a ‘cease and desist’ letter as a first resort. You can ask legal advice before sending it. There are examples available on the internet. You will need to send it to the owner of the blog. Some people advise to send an invoice for the use of the property. Your aim is to get them to take it down. If that doesn’t work, then get legal advice. Quite often, a legal letter from a solicitor is enough to get the content removed. You could contact their hosting platform if you get no answer from the person, themselves.

Writers’ Code of Conduct

Writers also need to protect ourselves from allegations of plagiarism. Following a code of conduct will help to protect you.

Top Tips

Use a range of sources so that you can find evidence for your writing and back up the facts

Never just copy a chunk of writing or cut and paste

You CAN describe what other people have said and talk about the relevance to what you are writing about

Quoting what is said (using quote marks and an attribution to the author, usually with a date) is an acceptable way to use other people’s work

If you are not sure how to reference correctly, ask the person you are writing for as there is usually a guide

Keep notes on your sources. This enables you to prove that you used them. Helpful when putting a bibliography together too or to help add footnotes or appendices

Businesses, what is the best way to protect your intellectual property and have you ever had to warn someone off? Leave comments below.

Blast through Writers’ Block by using Writing Prompts

New Year, new goals.

Has the shine tarnished on your New Year resolutions already? Or have you decided that it is best to leave resolutions alone this year? After all, look at how last year turned out…

notepad-pencil-computer-tablet-on-white-wooden-table — Image by DarkmoonArt_de from Pixabay

If you have decided that THIS is the year that you are going to start writing again, then this is the blog for you. We are going to talk about writing prompts and how they can help writers’ block. Here is a usual recipe for writing:

Ingredients:

One brand-new shiny notebook, preferably really cute

One pen

Time

Take your brand-new shiny, cute notebook and open it. Pick up your pen…

OK, stop there! If you haven’t had an idea running round your head for the past week and you don’t know where to start, how do you begin to fill that blank white page with a story?

A good place to start is a writing prompt.

Writing Prompt

A writing prompt is usually a short idea or picture that is designed to get your brain thinking about a story. There are many websites that offer writing prompts that can help get you started writing.

You can treat writing prompts as a writing exercise. Come up with a short story outline which could be turned into a full story. Spend 10 minutes writing and see what you come up with. A writing prompt enables you to have something to write about straight away, it avoids the blank page syndrome where you stare at a blank page and have a blank brain to match.

Tips for Using a Writing Prompt

Put aside some time to write – even just 15 minutes will do
Plan ahead to write – send the family out for a walk
Find a place to write and make sure that your tools of choice (laptop, pen and paper or old-fashioned typewriter) are available.
Just write based on the prompt. You may not know immediately what you are going to write but begin by writing a sentence and see what comes up.
Don’t worry about editing. You can edit your story once it is finished. No story is ever finished after a first draft and every story can be improved. Just focus on getting the words down on paper/screen.
When your story is finished, give it some space. Wait 24 hours before taking a look at the editing
Not every story can be a best seller, but when you write one that you are really proud of, then I encourage you to ask someone else to read it and give you constructive feedback. Preferably someone you trust. It is important to get used to the idea of someone else reading your stories if you want to do more with them
Know that your writing brain acts like a muscle. The more you write, the more ideas and inspiration will come to you and the more you will have to write. Ideas are all around us, you just have to tune your brain in to them.

Where can I find Writing Prompts?

A Story a Day

I have recently discovered Julie and she offers a lot for writers. She offers a free planning tool, lots of help and information as well as courses and of course, writing prompts.

Daily Prompt App

Currently on Apple only but Android is planned. You pick a time of day when you are most likely to write and you will receive an alert and a writing prompt at that time. This app is a gateway to a community where you can receive feedback on your story and enter competitions.

Writer Igniter

This is a fun tool that can turn up some quite diverse ideas. It is also a blog with lots of ideas about writing.

Social Media Writing Prompts

You can find writing prompts on your social media of choice. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr and Reddit all offer writing prompts. Search using the hashtag #writingprompts or #writingpromptsdaily

Poets & Writers Website & Magazine

Sign up for fiction, non-fiction and poetry prompts. The magazine is based in the US and runs programmes and courses for poets and writers.

Toasted Cheese

Offers a list of daily writing prompts and is also a literary journal

Literacy Ideas

Offers some pictorial ideas as well as hints on writing your own writing prompts. Could also be useful for teachers of students.

Reedsy

Reedsy are a great writing blog which offer a sign up for 5 writing prompts a week. It also offers a writing competition with a $50 prize every week.

Writers’ Digest Online Workshops

Picture and written writing prompts to help get you writing. Lots of information on writing, too.

Christopher Fielden

A great way to start writing is to write flash fiction which requires precision and imagination. Christopher Fielden offers a great resource to writers. He offers hints and tips and a regularly updated source of writing competitions, but it is in writing challenges that he excels.

He publishes a number of anthologies for charity, based on short 100-200 word stories. To enter you can either email your story to him or fill in the contact form with your story. You will need to write a short bio and your story, and that’s it. As long as it meets the brief then Christopher will include it in the anthology. There is also a Facebook for authors who contribute to the anthologies. A community can really help you keep writing.

So there you have it. If you have decided that 2021 is the year that you want to start writing and get past your writers’ block, then here are a selection of good resources to get you going.

Please do drop a line in the comments if this article has given you a push to get writing.

Business Owner – How to Improve your Website

Have you been thinking that it’s time to improve your website?

It’s been years since you did anything with your business website. The About information is out of date and the last blog post is dated 2018. Perhaps you have some products that you should add, but you never seem to have any time. The website needs a good makeover, or at least to take part in a TV show where you will get several areas made over in 60 minutes by Laurence Llewelyn Bowen.

Your website is an important tool that will help your business if you keep it updated. The first thing that you should do, is to put aside some time to work on it. There are several areas to look at which should help it improve:

Theme

Images

Feature Image

SEO

Navigation of the website

Information about your business

Blog Content

Links to social media – making content easy to share

Improve Your Website Theme

The theme is the first big decision. You may have had your theme for a very long time and it is starting to date. Keeping your theme up-to-date is important for security, If you use a WordPress blog, then changing your theme is easy. You can browse the themes and just pick one. Each theme has an option to preview. This means that you can see how your website would look before making the move.

You can also buy a custom theme from a developer for WordPress, although you may need some support to make the website work as you want. Most of the themes are able to use custom colours and you can add your own banners. Make sure that you have saved your website to back up before changing the theme.

Which Theme?

When looking for a new theme, I take into account the ratio of content to images, the blocks available to add badges or other things linked to my work. I also look for navigation of the website and how easy it is to locate the important pages and the ability to add social media. The theme should look clean and work well with any plugins. It should also support mobile devices.

The current trend is for image-heavy themes, but I prefer more space for content as I am a writer. My current theme is 2015 for WordPress. I have used it for over a year and I like how it looks and it is easy to set up to my specifications. I do keep an eye on new themes and I will change if I find I like a theme better, or if my theme stops being supported. So choose a theme that works for you and your business and helps to improve your brand.

Images

Using the right images help to improve your website. How you find your images depends on your budget. There are a number of free websites out there that will enable you to find topical images to suit your subject. If you are writing about a generic topic, then you will usually manage to find an image using a free website. Examples include Pixabay, Unsplash and Pexels. Many will allow you to donate the price of a cup of coffee in order to help support the website. You are also sometimes asked to attribute the image. Make sure you read the terms of use and follow them.

Some businesses take out a monthly subscription to one of the big image websites such as iStockPhoto. This can give you access to a huge amount of images, including graphics, on any subject you can imagine. I have previously used this method and it is important to choose your image carefully. Look for ones that seem natural rather than posed and make sure that the detail that you want is positioned correctly in the image. Some websites use small photos and you need to ensure that the image can be seen.

Feature Image

Do use the ‘Feature Image’ if available. This will put a thumbnail blog post image to represent the blog post. This is a feature of WordPress, which can be found on the right hand side page of the post in edit mode. The button tells you to “Set Feature Image” and gives you instructions to do so. I would always use the image that I have chosen to illustrate the blog post.

SEO

There are some great plug-ins to help you improve the search engine optimisation (SEO) of your website. I use Yoast. There is both a free and a premium version. Yoast combines the ability to adjust your SEO to help your website, with links to great information that explains why you are asked to take these steps. It gives you pointers on readability, passive voice and length of sentences. It also enables you to edit the snippet that can be seen if your blog post comes up in a search. It enables you to think about SEO while you are editing the post and this can help your website move higher in the search results. I can disagree with Yoast, but at least I know that if I am ignoring its advice, that I may be limiting my search engine ranking. The advice it gives is sound.

Yoast can cause a problem if you are running Google XML sitemaps. I found this blog by Winning WP which explains the problem clearly and what to do about it.

Easy Navigation to Improve Your Website

How the users navigate your website is key.

Can they find your ‘About’ page?

Can they find out how to contact you?

Do you need a landing page to sell a new product?

Or are you selling a service and you need to highlight the skills you offer?

Answer these questions and set up your website to highlight these services and your website will really be improved.

Readability on a Mobile Device

Can users navigate your website on a mobile device? It is good practice to check out how your website looks on a mobile device and how easy it is to navigate. You may change the navigation of your website according to offers you are promoting, or if you have a new product coming out that you wish to promote.

Think through where visitors land when they visit your website. Is it clear where they go for offers? For your blog, news or events? To learn more about your company? If it is not obvious where to go for this information, then change your website so that it is more user-friendly. Your theme should enable you to make this kind of change without too much technical knowledge.

Tip: Ask a friend to go on your website and see what they think about the navigation of it. A fresh pair of eyes can help you find where improvements to your website are needed.

Information about your Business

Is your website getting your message across? Can visitors to your website understand what your business does? Does your website enable visitors to do what they want to do?

Customers want to know about the company they are dealing with. The information about your business should be up-to-date. It should be clear to website visitors what the business does. Include a short statement that explicitly explains what you do and what actions potential customers can take to contact you. Make it easy for them to contact you – include phone number and email if needed.

Blog Content

Writing a blog for your business is one of the best ways to improve your website. Regularly adding content can help your position in the search engines. Blog posts can be short and pithy or they can be long useful content. You can write a mix of evergreen content or content which does not date. You can also write news-type content where it is only relevant for a short space of time. Your blog should reflect your business and written for your audience. It is important that it contains subjects of interest and useful information. Blog posts can also contain a call to action that encourages the reader to respond in some way.

Thinking up subjects for blog posts can be hard at first, but the more you do it, the better you get. You can include interviews, news, events, how to posts and more. It is best to post a regular blog, but how regularly is up to you. You can also ask people to post guest blogs if they are of particular interest.

Check out this retro post from 2016 on 30 Ways to Find Blog Post Ideas

Links to Social Media

If you use social media to promote your business, then do include it on your website. Only include social media where your company is active. There’s nothing worse than a potential customer clicking on a link and the last post was 2017. If your company is active then retweeting blog post links can help bring potential customers to your website, increasing traffic.

Be careful and do have someone monitor your social media regularly. Often customers can use it as a place to get your attention and complain. If you get a complaint on social media, it is not necessarily a blot on your company. However you will want to pick up on it quickly and resolve it.

Have you improved your website recently? Which elements did you take note of? How important is it that your website gets your message across?

Book Review: Mamaji by Elisheba Haqq

Release date: October 2020

Mamaji by Elisheba Haqq, is a sometimes heartbreaking, but ultimately uplifting memoir about self-discovery and a child’s journey from babyhood to being an adult without the guiding influence of a mother.

The loss of her mother at 3 years old provides a poignant counterpoint to the love and laughter that fills Elisheba’s life from her six older siblings. The family have moved to Minnesota from India, and the children find it hard to fit in at school. A year after Mamaji dies, her father marries again and the children have a new stepmother in their lives. Sadly, she is not much interested in taking over the role of mother, appearing disinterested and selfish. The children of the family have a roof over their heads, but very little else and there is no love and affection for the children, apart from the love they have for each other.

Growing up without a Mother

Elisheba tells the story from her own point of view, honestly acknowledging her inability at 3 to understand what has happened, throughout her school years where she must try to fit into a school where she is an outsider, and into college and marriage, eventually having children of her own. Throughout the book, she tries her best to get on with her stepmother and maintain her relationship with her father. When Elisheba is able to visit Chandigarh, the place where her parents had spent their early married years and talk to relatives, she is able to find remnants of her mother and answers to the many questions that she has had. The book is filled with family photographs, which are memories of happy times.

The strength of a mother’s love for her daughter and that of a daughter for her mother, will stay with you long after you have closed this book.

Do you enjoy writing book reviews? Try NetGalley

I have always enjoyed reading books. I am a member of a local book club and we meet up monthly to review and discuss books we have read. Reading a variety of books and authors is a really good way to improve your own writing.

An author whose blog I follow, mentioned NetGalley, so I checked it out and liked what I saw.

Read and Review

NetGalley is a website where publishers allow book reviewers and bloggers to read books before they are published, in order to get reviews. It is a UK website where you will need to create a log-in and undertake to review the books you get to read. As part of the profile creation, you are asked where you will review the books, whether on the website or on a blog. You are expected to review the book as part of it being made available to you.

There are a wide range of publishers registered there, including Faber and Faber Ltd, HarperCollins, Hodder & Stoughton and Mills & Boon. All kinds of books are there, including children’s books, non-fiction, fiction, autobiographical books and comics and graphic novels.

For the more popular authors or publishers, you might have to be approved before being offered a book to read and review, but there are also free books that anyone registered can access and read.

Digital Reviews

The downloads offered are known as digital review copies and they are similar to galley proofs. The text has been edited and corrected and proofread too. It is hoped that there are very few errors left as it is almost time to print the book. You might find one or two mistakes, but generally, the book is being offered as if it were an e-book. The aim is to bring the books to the attention of influencers in the book world and people encouraged to become a reader, include librarians, teachers, journalists and booksellers as well as reviewers and bloggers. You are encouraged to link your account to your social media, Goodreads and to verified industry organisations. The website used a NetGalley Shelf app to make the books available but other devices and apps are supported.

Readers and reviewers do not pay to use NetGalley, but publishers do. The website will also work with independent authors and marketing and PR companies. The aim is promote books and help with marketing and promotions.

My first book review for NetGalley will follow shortly. If you have a book blog or enjoy reviewing books, do check them out.

Stronger Fiction: Should you write every day?

One of those pieces of advice given out to every writer is:

Write every day

It is given out so often that we are in danger of feeling that we are not writers if we don’t write every day. What if you find it hard to find time to write every day, however? What if you are at home with work emailing you, your children asking for help with school work and your partner locked away in another room constantly in another Zoom meeting? How can you possibly find time to write every day?

The fact is that we are not super-women (or men). We have a lot going on at the moment and that may mean that some things do not happen. But should the thing that gives, be your writing?

To be honest, it depends on how you feel about it.

The thing about writing is that it’s like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the more easily it comes to you. So if you can find some time to write as often as you can, then your writing will flow better and you will find more ideas for inspiration coming to you. If you are on the look out for ideas, they will come. Many writers carry small notebooks around just to jot down ideas as they happen, although in these days of smartphones, it is just as easy to make notes on that.

Perceived wisdom has suggested that it takes 100,000 words of practice to make a novelist. That’s a lot of words, you had better get going now. Seriously, though, most successful novelists have a rough novel or two, hiding somewhere in their house, which they have sworn will never see the light of day. That’s a lot of work for something that people will never read, but it was important to achieve to find out how a novel is structured, how you manage to sit down and write words by the thousands and whether you can actually do it. Until you try, you will never know.

Do you need to write?

When you have been away from your notebook or laptop for a few days, do you find that you are itching to write? If you find that you are missing writing, then it will be important to find time for it.

Equally, if you are in the middle of writing something and you have got stuck, then you may avoid writing. You may open up the document, stare at it for a moment and close it again, without any idea of what you want to say. It can be hard to know where to take a story, when the characters seem to have a mind of their own.

If you want to write but just can not find time:

Write down your daily routine for a few days, then look for times when you might be able to fit writing in. Look for quiet times, times when the children are busy and times when the partner is in a meeting.

You could get up earlier, when the children are not expecting to be working, and take 15 minutes for writing

Why not write at a point when you are normally slumped in front of the TV in the evening?

You may have a small amount of time between when the children are finished schoolwork and it’s time to start cooking dinner. Why not ask your partner to cook dinner occasionally to give you a bit more time?

Your writing time does not have to be every day, but it does have to be regular. It is no good just finding time to write once a month. Writing more regularly than that will help improve your skills. However if you are not working on something that you want to get done, then you may be happy writing 3 or 4 times a week.

Plan to write

If you are working on something that you expect to finish at some point, things may take a little more planning. You will want to snatch 15 minutes here and half an hour there so that you can finish your work. You will find that you do not have time for writers’ block, and that your need to finish the piece might outweigh all other considerations.

If you are stuck at a point and you are not sure where to go from there, then leave it for a few days and come back to it. Pick up something else for a short while.

Go for a walk or a run to clear your head.

You may decide to carry on with the story for now and then come back to it. This may help you decide what happens next.

Try plotting out what happens next to help you get past the place where you are unsure where to go

If you are not happy with the direction your story is going in, you can always change it.

So should you “write every day”?

I suggest that you take this advice as a guideline. It depends on the jobs that you have got to get completed and how busy you are. Writing every day will certainly help you to feel more like a writer, but far more important is that you are happy with your writing life. You need to be comfortable with what you are achieving.

What are you writing at the moment? Are you finding it possible to write every day? Let me know in the comments below.

Maintaining Mental Health as a Freelancer

My mental health is very volatile at the moment. One moment I am calm and enjoying the peace, the next, I am feeling sad, then angry in a never-ending circle. Mental health is a very important issue right now because of the unusual times we are currently living in. Pandemics happen approximately once every 100 years and the living conditions that they impose on those who are living through them are not easy.

Here are some thoughts about how you can help to maintain your mental health in lockdown times.

Attitude of Gratitude

Try to find the positive thought. Although for many people, normal life has been put on pause, this has meant that people have suddenly found the time to catch up on many things in life. People are putting this extra time, that they have never had before, to good use. People are spending time with their families, they are cooking more healthy food and they are taking more exercise than they did before, because to do so, means that they can get away from the four walls for a while. Be thankful for what you have. Do you have your family around you? Be thankful. Have you been able to cook more regularly? Be thankful. Have you saved some money because you no longer have to travel to work? That’s a good thing. We have been blessed with this time, so enjoy it.

Acknowledge the hurt

There are some families that have lost a lot during lockdown and it is important to acknowledge that and if it is within your power to help someone then you should do it. Whether it is sending a card to keep in touch, a gift to remember a birthday or for some other reason, it can help you to feel better about yourself and it can help someone else to feel better too.

Everyone is having off-days at the moment. The most important thing to do is to own the feelings and allow yourself to feel sad for a while. The second most important thing you can do is not to wallow in them. There will come a point when you feel better and take pleasure in something again. Finding ways to comfort other people will help your own feelings too.

As a freelancer, you may have lost some clients as the lockdown took hold. Believe that you will be able to replace them with better clients. Keep reaching out, sensitively to potential clients, keep networking and following up potential leads.

Enjoy the time off!

Craft your way to mental health

Our family have enjoyed finding time to try new crafts. Our daughter, who has had to deal with the abrupt end of her second uni year, has crafted a paper sloth, done some colouring and doodling and this week we have tie-dyed some T-shirts. We have enjoyed finding new things to try and found it peaceful to create some craft.

Home-schooling to suit your children

Children who have had to find new ways to do their school work, will not have been the poorer for it. It will help their independence as learners to work out which way to revise suits them best, to have to ask their teachers questions about the work required and to manage deadlines. Although the UK Government is hoping that children go back to school soon, the fact is that many will not go back straight away, because of the reduced numbers involved and the importance of keeping them safe. I have enjoyed working with my son and encouraging him to get his work done. It’s hard to hide at the back of the class when it’s one-to-one.

Find new ways to connect

One of the best things to come out of this time, is the way that we have found new ways to meet up with others. People who are very unconfident with technology have found themselves able to meet up in Zoom rooms, virtual pubs and virtual pub quizzes have become a thing and churches and other religious organisations have had to find new ways to connect. My parents have successfully navigated the world of online supermarket shopping, but they have not tried FaceTime yet – one thing at a time!

Which new ways have you found to connect with others? My book group have met more regularly during the lockdown. We just talk about the books we are reading at the time. The church I attend has prayer telephone conference calls and services for download on YouTube via the website. We can also hold deacons’ meetings on Zoom. I notice that both Facebook and Google have started offering meeting options – more help for us to stay in touch.

Get in touch with Mother Nature

One of the most amazing things about this lockdown has been the weather in the UK – it has been gorgeous most of the time. You have to ask whether it would have been quite so nice, had things been normal!

The lovely weather has meant that it has been quite pleasant to get out for a walk every day. I am lucky enough to have a garden and have enjoyed having some time to go in it and do some work there. But what if you don’t have a garden and cannot enjoy going for a walk because you live in a city?

There is some research to suggest that even houseplants can enhance your living space, so do some research and find a plant or two that you can live with.

Now that we can go further away to exercise (in England), find a green space to head to and enjoy. Look for the unusual places, look on maps for small paths and ways to exercise away from the crowd, find some new favourite spots to go to. Think outside the box and find canal paths, disused railways, ride a bike, go for a run.

Find a way out

Some people are finding it hard to be in lockdown because their home is not a safe place to be. If this is you, then find a way to reach out. People are aware that this could be the case. Find a way to talk to someone about your worries and try to find a way out.

Some UK numbers for you:

The National Domestic Abuse Network can be called any time, day or night, by all women or concerned family and friends:

0808 2000 247

You can leave a voicemail and a good time to call you back. There is also support information available on the website.

If it is an emergency, call 999.

Plan your next move

As a freelancer, you should always be planning what to do to keep the jobs rolling in, but it can be too easy to lose sight of this when you are just trying to get the work done. Many people have had some jobs cancelled or slowed, but this time is not going to last forever, so look out for courses to enhance your skills, overhaul your website and improve the SEO and make sure that you continue to network online.

Now could be a good time to change tack, change what you want to do in your business or plan to take it up a notch. Planning for your business can only enhance what you offer and help you to reach your business goals.