Quest to find signs of spring

Primroses

I'm always happy to see the first signs of spring, and I'm fortunate that my daily walk to work incorporates a brisk stroll through a park estate. Trees are budding and spring flowers are in bloom.

Writing-wise, I've been in hibernation mode over the winter, but sometimes it's necessary to take time out; creative seeds need time to germinate. Now a new season is underway, I'm emerging from my writing hibernation. Time to start plotting my next book!

Do you sometimes hibernate from writing, too?

An expanded version of The Emotion Thesaurus

I've long been a fan of the Thesaurus series of books by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, and I'm delighted to help them launch their new book, The Emotion Thesaurus (Second Edition)!

You might know about The Emotion Thesaurus or even have it on your shelf. But chances are, you may not have known a second edition was in the works. Becca and Angela decided to keep it a surprise and only recently announced the book was releasing!

Your Favorite Book Is Now Bigger & Better

The Emotion Thesaurus is known for its powerful lists that help writers show (rather than tell) character emotion through body language, thoughts, visceral sensations, dialogue cues, and behavior. This second edition gives writers more of what they love: more emotions (55 more to be exact!) more teaching content, and more writing tips.

Here are three of the new entries: Euphoria, Vindicated, and Schadenfreude. This book is almost twice the size of the original, so it's almost two books in one.

Anyway, if you'd like to check into it, Goodreads has some reviews up, and you can find more information here. 

 

 

One More Thing...Want to Attend a FREE Writing Conference?

Or a writing retreat? A workshop? Or even have your yearly membership to a professional writer's organization suddenly paid for? 

OF COURSE YOU DO!

Angela and Becca have a giveaway on right now to celebrate their release, and one lucky winner will get their choice of the above, up to a $500 US value. There are some conditions so check that out, but this is the giveaway of a lifetime, so hurry over to enter. And good luck!

 

How many books did I read in 2018?

Tiverton Library

Time for my annual round-up of the books I've read in the previous year!

Once again I concentrated on clearing my huge TBR pile and read a whopping 101 books of my own this year, 46 of which were e-books (I was determined to make a dent in that particular pile). I borrowed a book from a friend, plus twelve from libraries and also did three beta reads, bringing my grand total to 117 books for 2018. Very respectable!

I didn't get in many visits to libraries this year as I have in previous years, but I was able to add a new one to my 'collection' - Tiverton Library - when I visited friends in Devon in September.

I still have quite a few books left in my TBR pile (& several more I have my eye on to buy), so I'll concentrate on clearing those once again for 2019.

How about you? How many books did you read in 2018?

Merry Christmas 2018!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers!

Happy NaNoWriMo!

Autumn is a wonderful time to hunker down and write; mornings seem magical with their low-lying mists and pastel sunrises to inspire creativity.

November is deemed National Novel Writing Month, and writers all around the world are trying to hit daily targets to achieve a word count of 50,000 words in their new manuscripts by the end of the month.

I'm not participating, but I wish every success in achieving your writing goals to those of you who are!

Quest to take the Bizarre Bath comedy walk

If you're ever at a loss for something to do one evening whilst in Bath, I highly recommend you take the Bizarre Bath comedy walk. It takes place every evening at 8pm for approximately 90 minutes during late March to late October and starts off at the Huntsman Inn on North Parade Passage. Don't worry - you're not walking the whole time as you take in an irreverent look around Bath. Fun guaranteed!

On the Gromit trail - 2018 version! Part Two

Gnome Sweet Gnome

Before the Gromit sculpture trail closed, I took a break from fine-tuning the last few pages of my manuscript and ventured into Bristol to see how many sculptures I could find.

Enjoy!

One in a Minion

Cracking Build Gromit

Boss

Tropi-canis

The Emperor

Ferne

Caractacus Paws

Fangs McGraw

Wallace

Prima Featherina

Long John Wallace

A Grand Tribute

The Wallace Collection

Oceans 1: Deep Blue

Feathertron 3000

Bristol's Own

Honeydew

Gromitronic

Oceans 2: Yellow Sub

Alex the Lion