I've tried to write novels for around the last 25 years - plus I wrote short stories before then. But somehow I never got far enough to move from writing, to writing a novel. That changed in February 2020. My daughter, The Angelic One, asked me to join her at an event at Waterstones in Liverpool that was featuring 3 women authors. As one of the writers works in a genre I enjoy, I agreed. What transpired was that Mama Bear bought tea at Pizza Express before the evening event, and Mama Bear bought all 3 books of the authors, with one of them being specifically for The Angelic One, and Mama Bear asked a question that lead to tips number 1 and 2 that kickstarted me writing my novel. Since then I've listened to podcasts and Instagram Live sessions, and I have found that 5 tips resonate with me, so I thought I'd share them with you in case you find them helpful too. Just write, have a go. You can't write something if you don't get started. This is a valid point - ...

Since school days, when my love for writing and reading started to mature under the tutelage of Mrs Hymers, I've been told to write what I know. Let's face it, though, you're not really that interested in a novel about an NHS programme manager. Silly though it sounds, I've only recently attuned to what the phrase means. It's not referring to my profession or what I do, but rather it's about writing from a place of knowing. If you know Liverpool like the back of your hand, then write about it, but if you've never been there it's maybe better to concentrate a place that you do know. However I realise there is something else about 'write what you know' and this place of knowing, and that's the role of research. It's ok for me to research something to the point where when I write about it, you think I have written about what I know. Take the photograph at the top of this post. Flowers in a jug sitting on hessian. What do you know about ...

A few years ago I did a creative writing course. At the time, I didn't enjoy it at all that much. It annoyed me. When I reflect back on it now, with the gift of hindsight and a few extra wrinkles, I realise I was expecting it to deliver something that it never promised me it would do. I thought I'd learn how to write a novel. Instead, the tutor was teaching me how to chisel and carve and polish words. It was up to me what I did with them later. It's obvious to say it now, but a creative writing course is never going to teach us to write a novel. Maybe a 'how to write your novel' course will do that - but even then (having attended one of those workshops, too) I'm not convinced. Any course or workshop can only whet your appetite and nudge you along the way. What, then, did I learn? Stating the obvious here, I learned firstly that I am creative regardless of the fact I'd convinced myself I was nothing of the sort, and secondly, I learned how to use...

I'm not a full-time writer, so during the week my work has to take priority. And there are times I find that a complete shame, with ideas trying so hard to escape onto the page. My writing room turns into an office (at least, during this lockdown period it does - usually I spend a lot of time on the road) with the work laptop open and the work phone pinned to my ear for big chunks of the day. That means nothing gets written for my novel between the hours of 8am and 6pm. Some days I'm then too tired to get any more ideas out of my head, having spent the day thinking, listening and writing for work. Often I will write early in the morning or later at night, but Scouse Lad has been ill (yes, he's had the lurgy) so I'm doing more around the house than usual. That means I'll be squeezing writing time in for another week. These are the days I have to be kind to myself, though. I set realistic targets for work days - 500-1,000 words - and if I don't hit that targ...

My mojo has taken a hike. There's a good reason for it. My husband, Scouse Lad, has been rushed into hospital with chest pains and breathing difficulties. With the whole lockdown and CoViD-19 I'm not allowed to go with him, so I sit patiently (not really) at home, waiting to hear how things are going. So I can be forgiven for losing my mojo. But for me, having no mojo, that's a time to write, particularly with these circumstances. I need a distraction. So write I will. The reason for this, I find that when I'm struggling to write I need to simply let the words flow. It doesn't have to be good writing, it simply has to be words. I can go back later and edit. It really doesn't matter if this is an Eric Morecambe/Andre Previn moment - remember that? In this context it's 'all the right words, just not necessarily in the right order". Did you know that editing is writing? I heard that on a podcast and realised that I'm someone who uses editing ...

I'm nearly 60 (well, 58, so two years to go!) and this is my life.  I can't believe I've lived so much of it and I still have so much to do, so much to learn.  The angelic one, my daughter for the last 28 years and hopefully for many more, broke my heart when she buggered off to university broke it again when she got married, and then proceeded to sew it all back together when she developed a stronger bond with us than we'd ever had before.  It's her turn, time for her to test the water and jump in. But that doesn't mean my time is over - yet! A little bit about me, I'll be 60 in the first week of 2022 - not that long off really - and yet I don't feel much over 30! In my head I'm only 26 - so I don't know who that old lady is who looks back at me with wrinkles and saggy skin when I glance in the mirror.  I'm a Northern Lass, born in a small market town on the outskirts of Liverpool, a town not sure if it belongs to Liverpool or Lanca...

Are you a writer? you ask. I've always loved to read, I say, but a writer? No, n ot me. Then I wrote down a word, and  another joined in, with more to follow from who knows where. Soon I had a sentence, a second, and then one more. A paragraph no less, that flowed with ease into another. And there, right there, a page was formed. A writer, you say? I look down at my page of words and nod. A writer, I am.

Ideas can come from anywhere. The important thing is to capture those ideas when they hit you. The problem I find is that ideas have this mean habit of landing on you in the most inconvenient places. I can be there in the shower and a great thought flits into my head, or I'm in the middle of a run and there it is, an idea bouncing around inside my brain. There have been times when I wake up with a sentence or even a paragraph, and I have to capture it straight away. If I don't, it's in danger of doing a kangaroo hop into the world of forgotten words. I now carry a notebook with me everywhere - just a little one. Then when I'm watching TV, overhearing a conversation, reading an article, or just finding something  weaves itself into my mind, I can capture enough to be able to work it up into a usable titbit later. Where, then, can you get your ideas from? Here's a few thoughts that might help you: A news article - the website kind that is used for click bait ...