Hi everyone. I see that I wrote on here several months ago that I had finished my novel. Well...er...I've just finished it again. I don't really know what has happened in the interim, but it's basically the same old story. I have bursts of writing activity, get totally immersed, then find that I need to turn my attention elsewhere - to the family, invariably - and the writing goes on the back-burner.
I spend a fair amount of time these days looking after my mum, and when I'm not actually with her I'm thinking about her. She's pretty poorly. Then there are the dogs, who have been a handful recently. We have a new puppy (it's a long story and I'm not in the mood right now, but that brings the total number of canines in our family to three). And then of course, the children, who are growing up beautifully (Paul and I are very lucky indeed) but they do still need care and attention and when I am focused on my writing family life invariably gets out of balance. And there's the house - we moved last year and have had a lot of building work done and it's ongoing. I don't do any hands-on work - Paul doesn't trust me and I don't blame him. I try to do things too fast and mess them up. But I have done a lot of organising and it takes more time and creates more trouble than you would imagine. I have to get three quotes for every single thing we have done and getting people to quote is unbelievably difficult. Then I have to be here to look after the builders - I am far too attentive, bringing them numerous cups of tea all day, but I feel it's necessary to keep them onside after all the trouble I have persuading them to do the work in the first place.
Anyway, I have edited the novel again recently and it's been read by a number of friends and acquaintances who have all given really helpful feedback. I've also asked the cover designer who created the cover for both my memoirs to work on the novel. She's very good, but very busy, and obviously although it's my priority to publish the book as soon as possible, it's not hers. Hopefully it won't be long now though. Exciting!
I've also made a good start on the next book, so I have been more productive than I give myself credit for. I'm going to write a series: they're mysteries, a la Agatha Christie. That's the plan, anyway. But of course, you never know what's around the corner. And so I've decided not to stress about it - I'll do my best to make the books happen, but looking after the family is my main and most important job, so for the next few years at least the writing will continue to play second fiddle. I'd love to make a proper career of it though...in September when our youngest starts secondary school I should have more time but I'm not counting of it.
Anyway, the reason I'm blogging now is, as usual, to order my thoughts. I'm going to publish the novel under my married name. The memoirs are written under my maiden name and I am considering re-publishing them. I would take the 'schizophrenia' out of the title and call the first memoir 'Joined-up Writing.' Because that's what I would be doing - joining up all my writing, bringing it under one umbrella, one name. I have also written other, shorter, fictional books, some of which have got surprisingly good reviews on Amazon and Goodreads and I'm thinking of editing those and doing the same with them. They're all written under different pen names! Partly because as an author it helps if you stick with one genre and I've flitted from self-help to chick lit to children's fiction (I had a brief foray into romance but it was not a success). And now mystery/psychological fiction. Hopefully I'll stick with this one for a while, although I have been hankering to try my hand at writing for young adults...
I might wait with the name change though. I like the idea of changing the title of the memoir - the schizophrenia word doesn't deserve to be aired - but it might be better to do it later down the line. When (if) my writing career is better established. At the moment, if you search 'schizophrenia' you have a chance of finding the memoir - and the reason it's out there is to help people who themselves have been held back and damaged by that hideous label. Anyway, it's not a straightforward process to change an author name when you publish on Amazon.
I can't concentrate any more, there's too much noise in the house right now. I have to see to the puppy and the children. Youngest has been off school the last couple of days. I can't put my finger on what's wrong with him - he hasn't got a temperature and yesterday was just sneezing occasionally and coughing a bit. Today though, he's got stomach ache and feels weak. He hasn't eaten anything since this morning and normally he's ravenous, so I am getting a bit worried. Hopefully he'll have a good sleep and be fine in the morning.
Right...I feel a bit clearer about the way ahead regarding my other books - do nothing for now. As for the new book I really hope that I can announce its publication soon. Au revoir, all.
