My Goals of 2015 - Did I Succeed?

It's time to say goodbye to 2015 and hello to a new writing year.

As usual, at the beginning of the year, I sat down with writing chum Tracy Fells over teacakes and set myself some writing goals for the year - you can read the full post here.

So how did I do?

Below are the goals in brief and whether or not I achieved them.

Goal: To continue to write one short story a week.
Achieved? Sort of. I can't say that I wrote a story absolutely every week for the whole year (due to holidays etc.) but I did manage to keep up the output most weeks even while writing the novel.

Goal: Write at least 40,000 words of my novel by the end of August to submit to the RNA New Writers' scheme reader.
Achieved? Yes! I sent 54,000 words to the reader and completed the novel (85,000 words) in September.

Goal: Go to the RNA conference
Achieved? Yes! I went, I saw... I conquered (my tube phobia). It was a great weekend and you can read all about it here.

Goal: To self-publish another collection of magazine stories.
Achieved? Yes! I published The Last Rose (Stories of family and Friendship) in March. This collection contains stories from The People's Friend, Take a Break Fiction Feast and Woman's Weekly and I am thrilled with it.

Which leads me very nicely to my end of year present to you. The last Rose is on Kindle Countdown for one week only at a bargain price of 99p! So if you had a new e-reader for Christmas, it might be a welcome addition to your collection. You can buy it here from Amazon.

All that's left is to wish you all  a very Happy New Year and I hope you will continue to enjoy my blog in 2016.

My Writing Year 2015

Today I am going to be looking back at all the lovely things that have happened in 2015 (excluding general story sales or publications).

January - The year started as usual with teacakes and goal setting with writing chum, Tracy Fells. I joined the RNA New Writers' Scheme and author Ben Adams wrote a guest  post.

February - Met Karen Aldous in London for a celebrity make-over with daughter Gemma as a prize win.

March - A fanfare to celebrate the Publication and Launch party for story collection The Last Rose. As part of my bog tour I was guest on these  blogs The Write Romantics, Anne Harvey, Write Minds Write Place, Karen Aldous, Ben Adams, Never too Late to Write.

April - My first serial, Charlotte's War, was published in The People's Friend. I had an article published in Writing Magazine on writing serials. Patsy Collins and Samantha Tonge were blog guests. Went to the Riot Jive Weekend on Hayling Island.

May - Had a wonderful holiday to Vengen in Switzerland and a weekend at Corfe Castle. Alison May was my blog guest. I am guest on A Woman's Wisdom blog.

June - Had three lovely guests on my blog: Julie Shackman, Malcolm Welshman and The People's Friend Fiction editor, Shirley Blair talking about writing serials for the magazine.

July - I attended my first RNA Writers' Conference in London. Deirdre Palmer was my blog guest and I had a lovely boating holiday on the Kennet and Avon Canal.

August - Entered the #PitchCB contest and had two agents 'favourite' my novel pitch. Had a story in The People's Friend Annual 2016. Merryn Allingham was my blog guest. I was asked to be competition judge for the SWWJ John Walter Salver award.

September - Had my second serial, Life at Babcock published in The People's Friend magazine. I was interviewed by Doug McPherson for his article on breaking into serials in Writers' Forum. Writing chum Tracy Fells and I joined forces to discuss writing buddies in Lyn Hackles' 'Novel Ideas' column in writing Magazine. I was featured author on the Writing and Wellness blog. Had a weekend in Bordeaux with my girlfriends. Went on a wonderful research trip to Skopelos and Alonissos and finally finished my novel.

October - Sold my 100th story to The People's Friend. Samantha Tonge and Julia Gibbs were guests on my blog.

November - Went to the RNA Winter Party in London. Patsy Collins and Leonora Frances were my blog guests. I was guest on Elaina James' and Susanna Bavin's blogs. Had my novel back from my RNA NWS reader.

December - I was special guest at the SWWJ Christmas tea in London, along with Sir Tim Rice, where I awarded the prizes for the story competition. Had four Christmas stories published in magazines. I was guest on Rachel Brimble's  blog.

Now I'm off to have a sherry and a mince pie so all that's left is to wish all you lovely readers a very Happy Christmas and thank you all for supporting my blog through another year!

To Blog or Not to Blog

Today's blog post is inspired by Carol hedges' post A Blog about Blogs in which she discusses why she continues to blog when so many writers are giving up. It's well worth a read.

The funny thing is, I read it at just the right time. You see I'd had a bit of a blank about my own blog. For the first time in a long while, the act of writing and promoting it seemed quite a chore. It occurred to me that if I was struggling to think of a topic, then whatever I wrote would be just for the sake of updating the blog rather than because I was enjoying the writing or adding value to it.

I've been writing my blog since 2012. At first I wrote three times a week (how did I manage that!) but I soon began to settle into a once a week pattern. I've always enjoyed writing it, have made some good friends through it and have had some fabulous guests. Recently, though, I've been questioning why I am doing it. This is partly because blogging is a two-way process. It's no good just being a blog writer - you need to be out there reading other people's blogs and commenting. You also need to promote your blog if you've any hope of having a healthy readership (the whole point of writing, unless you want to talk to yourself). 

All this is time-consuming.

When I started Wendy's Writing Now, I was at a very different stage in my writing career. I'd just had my first story published and the idea of the blog was to chart my journey from that point. There was no pressure, to be witty, informative or entertaining as there weren't very many people reading it. Now, 150 story publications later, with my first novel written and a high number of pageviews per post, I'm wondering as to the purpose of my blog. 

I looked at the list of blogs I follow and realised that there are only about a third of these blogs still active. These writers have moved away from their blogs but I still see them on Facebook or Twitter. Others resurrect their blogs when they have a book out... then fall silent again. I'd like to ask them why they stopped - or more importantly whether they are glad they did. Also, it made me wonder about those of you who continue. Is it because you love writing it? Is it because you hope it will promote sales? Is it because you're scared to stop? If you feel inclined to tell me - please be honest.

One of  the things that was worrying me was the fact that my blog isn't a 'How to Write Better' or even a particularly serious blog. When I looked back at my old posts, I saw that there was a lot more about my bad step-dog, Bonnie, my dancing and singing and even my holidays. Not exactly a serious writer's blog.

Did it matter though?

Through the simple act of writing this post, I've realised that maybe it doesn't matter. Wendy's Writing Now was never meant to be serious and I must stop thinking it must be. I don't want to teach or preach. I want to enjoy my blog and allow it to show the reader a little bit more about me. My blog post To Read of Not to Read  (where I talked about not reading the magazines I write for) has become legendary and garnered some of my highest number of comments and pageviews! That post was me just being honest.

Over on Carol's blog, book blogger Rosie Amber, says that she loves writing her blog but 'when she gets fed up, she'll hang up her hat and walk away'. Clever lady. 

Giving up on my Wendy's Writing Now would be like saying goodbye to an old friend... and I'm not ready to do that but if that time ever comes, I hope I shall have the courage to do the same. 

Please let me know your thoughts.

The SWWJ Christmas Tea... and Meeting Sir Tim Rice

Many of you will know that it's been a difficult time for me recently with two bereavements in the space of just a few days. I made the decision not to update my blog last week and retreated from social media for a while (sorry if yours was one of the blogs I didn't comment on) but there was one shining event to brighten up my week - the SWWJ Christmas Celebration.

You might think I'm looking rather pleased with myself in the photograph and that's because I never in a million years thought I'd have double billing with Sir Tim Rice of 'Joseph' and 'Evita' fame. I even have the programme to prove it. Okay, so my name is slightly smaller than his but I won't hold that against him.

So why was it that at 2.20 pm on a Thursday afternoon I was standing at a lectern, speaking into a microphone to a roomful of writers? It's not as if public speaking is something I do a lot. Being a typical writer, I don't particularly like being in the spotlight and, as a former teacher, I'm more comfortable speaking to a classroom full of children. The answer is, I was presenting the prizes for the John Walter Salver short story competition which I adjudicated. Sir Tim was there because he is one of the society's patrons.

That I was even at this lovely event was due to fellow magazine writer Vivien Brown (Hampshire) as it was she who asked me to be the competition judge. What an honour. It was a pleasure to read everyone's stories when the entries were sent to me and it was nice to have the chance to meet the winners. First prize winner, Carloline Aukland, is in the photograph above.

The event took place in a beautiful room at the National Liberal Club in Whitehall Place, London. It was a very grand venue - finding the cloakroom in the maze of corridors was an event in itself!

I was quite relieved that I would be reading my judge's report and presenting the prizes at the start of the afternoon which left me no time to get nervous.

After a lovely introduction by Viv (thank you for making me sound so important!) it was time for me to take my place at the lectern. Luckily, once I'd started speaking, it wasn't nearly as nerve wracking as I'd imagined it would be - it's amazing what can be achieved when you picture your audience as a class of seven year olds! It was also nice that a few of my RNA writing friends had come to the tea to support me. I was thrilled when it turned out that one of them, Margaret Mounsdon, was the third place winner (she'd kept it quiet that she was a member and an entrant). Here I am presenting Margaret with her prize. People were so lovely and said such nice things afterwards - I'll certainly feel more confident if I have to do something like this again.

The presentation was followed by a delicious tea with sandwiches, cakes and scones. I'd been a little worried about what I might talk to Sir Tim about as I was slightly star-struck (in junior school I was in a school production of Joseph and since that time, have seen every one of his musicals except Chess) but I needn't have worried as he was warm and friendly, praising my short story success and 'meteoric rise' in the market. Gulp! I only just managed to stop myself from blurting out, 'You've done pretty well yourself'. If you're reading this, Sir Tim, I'd like to thank you for making me feel so at ease - I hope I didn't bore you too much with stories of my children!

After the tea, there was the chance to talk to some of the other guests and then it was time for Sir Tim's speech. Amongst other things, I found out that he started his career wanting to be a pop singer and that his favourite out of his songs is 'Another Suitcase in Another Hall'. It was a great speech to bring the lovely celebrations to an end.

Wouldn't it be lovely if  next time I speak to an audience it's to introduce my debut novel. Well, you know what Sir Tim Rice would say... Any Dream Will Do!

Sorry, everyone - I just couldn't resist it :)

If any of you are thinking of joining the SWWJ, their website is here

The RNA Winter Party - a week to celebrate!

This is me at the RNA winter party. It may look as though I'm smiling but in fact I am grimacing due to the ridiculous height of my heels! In fact, from the moment I arrived I was unable move from this spot and had to wait for people to come to me (a bit like the queen) for fear of toppling into someone if I worked the room. I seem to remember the same thing happening at my first party (there's a picture  of them in a post about it called 'I Went to the RNA Winter Party... Well Done ME!' which you can read here).

It was  a lovely evening, especially as I got to meet Viv Brown (who writes as Vivian Hampshire). It's always great to meet another magazine writer in 'real life' and we had lots to chat about as Viv has also been writing a novel alongside her short stories.

Talking of novels, it was due to the other two people in the photo, Natalie Kleinman and Elaine Roberts, that I even have a novel. At last year's winter party I went as a guest, not as a member, and I have these lovely ladies to thank for persuading me to join the RNA New Writers' Scheme which in turn made me get on with writing my book. It was certainly nice to be there this year as a novelist as well as a magazine writer.

I'd show you all my  wonderful photos if only  I'd remembered to take any! This one is courtesy of Francesca Capaldi Burgess... thanks, Francesca!

I had this great plan that during the evening I would make sure that I would stalk chat to some lovely agents and plug tell them about my amazing debut novel. When it came to it, though, the room was so packed and loud that even if I had managed to collar introduce myself to one of them, we would have been shouting and using sign language. I did manage to have a chat with Rebecca Lloyd from Accent Press though (who I'd had a one-to-one with at the conference). It was nice to see her again and she was very happy to answer some of my (probably rather naive) questions.

My biggest disappointment of the evening was not being able to meet up with half the people I wanted to. In fact, some people I didn't even see or saw so briefly that all I could say was a quick hello. I can probably blame my shoes again for that! Still, as someone said to me - there's always next year.

Now that's the the RNA party covered but what is it I'm celebrating I hear you ask. Well, it's two things really. The first is that I have a story in both The People's Friend weekly and the Christmas special.

... and the second is that since I started my blog three years ago it has had 150,000 pageviews WHOOP!

Who'd Have Thought? - Quick Fire Guest Patsy Collins

Last week, writing chum Tracy Fells and I were lucky enough to meet up with fellow magazine writer and author Patsy Collins for a considerable amount of cake. I even had a tour of her campervan (she must like me). With Patsy cornered in the cafe, it was the perfect opportunity to ask her some quick fire questions. Of course it was a bit of a risk as, with Patsy, you can never be certain what the answers might be! I shall now unveil them.

Hi Wendy and thanks for inviting me onto your blog to answer some easy questions. I just hope they don't involve decisions. I'm not good at making decisions.

Black or pink?

If the pink is bright then pink, otherwise black. Pale pink doesn’t really go with purple. Actually I’m not sure bright pink does either. So black. 

I thought you said these were going to be easy?

Strictly or X Factor

Nope.

Kindle or paperback?

Both. I don’t want to rule out a good book which is only available as a paperback or vice versa.

Fireman or paramedic?

Fireman. They know how to handle hot stuff ;-) 

Night in or night out?

A night out in the camper van. 

Camping or glamping?

If that’s your idea of a trick question you need to buck up my girl. Campervanning, obviously!

Jane Eyre or Frankenstein?

Jayne Eyre. The plot relies on coincidence a little too much for my liking, but otherwise it’s a great story.

Letter or email?

Email, although I feel just slightly guilty about that.

Beer or champagne?

Champagne. Or Cava. Or Cremant de Alsace. Or Prosecco. If my drink has bubbles I want it to be white and to taste of wine. Unless it’s a gin and tonic.

Cats or dogs?

Dogs. I like to be loved.

Heels or slippers?

Why aren’t boots an option? I have slipper boots, high heeled boots, hiking boots, wellies, even rigger boots. I could have answered a question on boots.

Boiled or poached?

That one’s easy. Poached. Spiced pears poached in port or poached eggs on a buttered muffin v boiled cabbage or socks.

Thank you, Patsy. That was... erm... interesting! 

Alice has a fantasy. It starts with being rescued by a hunky fireman, involves the kiss of life and ends in him not needing his uniform. At the New Forest Show, Alice is offered an innocent version of her dream. Reluctantly she turns down fireman Hamish's invitation.

Despite Alice's blameless behaviour, boyfriend Tony's obsessive jealousy kicks in. Hamish wants to take Tony's place, but a hoaxer ensures Alice already sees far too much of Hampshire Fire Service. The threat of an explosive sprout surprise, her mum's baking, sister Kate's mind boggling pep talks and the peculiar behaviour of Alice's boss Miles provide distractions.

Is Alice really in danger? What is Kate up to? Can Hamish possibly be as perfect as he seems? It takes Alice masses of wonderful food, disgusting wine, smelly mud, red footed crows and steamy Welsh passion, but she finds the answers. And rethinks her fantasy.

You can buy Firestarter here

Patsy's website

Patsy's blog

Womagwriter's website

Facebook page

Not Just a Shaggy Dog Story...

Someone said to me the other day that they hadn't seen much of my bad step-dog Bonnie on my blog recently - or Bob cat for that matter. Well, today I am going to remedy that by telling you the inspiration behind last week's story in The People's Friend, 'For Better For Worse'.

I've always been a 'cat person' and my sister a 'dog person'. I think it started the first year I found a cat calendar in my stocking on Christmas morning and my sister found a dog one. The same happened every year until I left home, so it's no surprise that when I eventually had a house of my own, I got a cat... and my sister a dog!

I've had many cats over the years and they've all been lovely but I have a very soft spot for my cat of the moment, Bob. He's fifteen years old, a great lap lover and a great dribbler. After my divorce, he, my daughter and I lived happily for several years - not expecting anything to upset our little family. But as John Lennon so cleverly put it - life is what happens when you are making other plans. What I hadn't expected was that life was going to be a whole new family - a husband, three step-children and... a step dog. 

A new husband was a blessing, my step-children a blessing also - but a dog? I knew nothing about dogs - except that they were big, hairy and often smelly. When I visited my sister, I would ignore her dog and refer to it as 'the hound'. Now I was going to be expected to live with one. Would I cope? More to the point... would Bob cope? 

'We'll have a trial,' I said, 'and if Bob is traumatized and leaves home then Bonnie will have to go.' Except that it wasn't as simple as that. When I told my colleague at work (who is a dog lover) what I had said, she warned me that the bond between a man and dog is a strong one. If Bonnie went, so might my future husband (although he insists this wouldn't have been the case). Also I felt sorry for Bon - she was, after all, the innocent party in all this. We would just have to try our hardest to make it work. 

Bonnie started by coming on day visits and then for sleepovers. She wasn't allowed upstairs, so Bob had a safe place to escape to, and we kept her on the lead in the first instance until Bob got used to her. And, you know what? It worked. The fights and the stand-offs never happened. For the first few days Bob stayed upstairs and then he gradually came down. Now they play together like the best of friends and if Bob gets agitated by something (like the cat next door) Bonnie comes to find me to let me know!

So what about me? How am I getting on? Well, for a start, a lot of the scrapes Cindy the dog gets into in 'For Better for Worse' are inspired by ones that Bonnie also got into. One of them is shown in the video below (which I know some of you have seen before but I just had to show it!).

TIme for dog-divorce? Actually no. The truth is, after five years, it is me who walks her and me who worries about her. I moan about Bonnie but I know I'd be the one to miss her if she wasn't there. My story is a tribute to my furry family.

Hmm...I wonder what calendar I'll be getting in my Christmas stocking this year?