Life is for living…

I don't usually do a mid week blog but you may have gathered there is nothing 'usual' about me.

Unfortunately the silly woman who caused trouble for Wes four days before his GCSE exams reared her ugly head again this week. Honestly you block them from social media and they use twitter tools to track your hashtags and even generic hashtags are supposed to be personally directed at them. I would have thought she would have admitted defeat graciously bearing in mind I’m still writing and Wes is still playing rugby and going to University. There you go, some people have too much time on their hands.

It did make me smile though and made me think how far we have come over the last twelve months. My book is selling in the USA and UK and is available in Australia. I have finished and submitted a screenplay, I have another screenplay on the go and a full length book that I am editing. In addition I have over twelve new book/script ideas and a PhD proposal to try and get some funding for. That’s not bad going really.

On top of that the boys are doing really well in school and Wes is in pre-season for the 2016 campaign. It proves that if you work hard, anything is possible and probable. Let’s face it we all know people who believe they have a sense of entitlement without putting any effort in but when you get to the crux of success, the biggest attribute is rolling your sleeves up and grafting.  It takes time to build up a new career and I, as much as everyone else, have to accept that. The fact my first ever work, which was not perfect, was published, gives me great hope for my new work. 

People keep telling me I should not be as honest as I am but why not? I am so sick of this ‘you should be’, ‘you shouldn’t be’, ‘it’s done this way’, ‘we have always done it that way’. Really and how has that worked for you? Maybe, just maybe, it is time for a change. I am not afraid of change in anyway – Meniere’s does that for you but so many people are. They live a stagnant life and moan that they don’t get what they deserve. Actually, success is not given to anyone, it is earned – like respect. 

I am inspired by innovation and stepping outside of the ‘norm’. I see challenge as an essential part of a fulfilled life and I like constructive criticism. Even personal insults no longer upset me, they inspire me. I read them and think ‘yep, I’ll keep going’. There are only three opinions that truly matter – my two boys and mine. I will make mistakes, I will get things wrong and I will think ‘bloody idiot’ but I will keep going. Just watch me…

Work Projects

 Beyond the Past

Have you had the chance to read it yet? Would you like to review it for me?

Read the first three chapters FREE on my website
Available from:
Pegasus Publishers
Amazon UK
Kindle
Amazon US
Or you can order from your local bookshop. The ISBN number is : 978-1-84386-789-0 

Streetwise

            “Life’s path can change in the blink of an eye or the detonation of a bomb. Rob Kennedy should have been planning a wedding not a funeral. Consumed with guilt and grief, suicide seemed his only escape from his perpetual nightmare until a single act of kindness by a real life guardian angel, saves him from himself.

Twelve months on, unable to trace each other, Rob and Kate’s paths are about to cross once more in extraordinarily circumstances.”

I've not heard anything as yet but I live in hope. These things take time and I have learnt how to be patient even though my Bank Manager doesn't understand the concept!

The Nanny

Loving writing this. It's really moving yet incredibly exciting.

“Sometimes the past cannot be laid to rest without direct intervention. John and Martha O’Grady were victims of the conflict in Ireland. They may have survived but witnessing the death of their parents and grandparents at the hands of the IRA had left indelible horror on their young minds. Orphaned, they were split up. Martha was sent to a convent and John adopted and moved to Manchester.

Thirty years on they are about to be reunited only to find the horrors of their past re-appear with potentially fatal consequences.”

LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! Can you tell I’m a little excited about this piece of work?

It is such an incredibly powerful subject so close to my heart. Watch this space…

Behind the Painted Smile 

 

This is a new idea formulating this week and I thought I would share the thought process with you. DCI Fisher and DS Davies appear in Beyond the Past, obviously it's sequel, Beyond the Lies and I have been looking at ways of using these two characters in other works. They are possibly going to run The Nanny investigation but this book will track their lives after the Mark Smith and Annie Swift saga.  It will be set in Wetherby and centre around a number of unexplained murders, linked to the misuse of social media. It fascinates me how people set up numerous accounts under aliases then use the same language and images they have used on other accounts. It got me thinking about multiple personality disorders and then gave me the idea for this storyline. An incite into how my mind works!!

In the last two days, I have over twenty pages of the new draft...I have to get them down on paper as soon as the ideas materialise, then I come back to it after I have finished the project I am working on. Damn Meniere's means sometimes my memory is short!! 

It is a very exciting life I lead and it will be so much more rewarding when the pennies start to roll in... give it time.

Have a fabulous week and stay warm, it's a bit naff and foggy in parts of northern England - reminds me of a Sherlock Holmes or Jack the Ripper story. Stay safe everyone.