Jacqueline Hodder's Blog

Determined to be more active here and so I've been updating my reading list and now my blog!

I've had a wonderful time these past few months reading some old favourites and some new - you can check out my recommendations and favourites on my page.

I've also redesigned my website and newsletter @ www.jacquelinehodder.com
Here you'll find updates, including my recent shortlist award and a fun InstaStory I wrote.

Most recent read:
'All the Light We Cannot See' 4/5 stars

Happy reading!
Jacqui

Hi Everyone
This is really a 'Welcome Back!' to me.
I've been very absent from this website. There's been no good reason for this except being away and then busy and then focusing on other areas which is a shame because this is where the readers are and I'm very happy to be back amongst you all!

If you want to check out some recent writing, please have a look at my Substack newsletter and consider subscribing (it's free!). You can find me at www.substack.com/@jacquihodder

Otherwise, stay tuned, I'll try to be a bit more regular with updates on writing/books/recommendations.
Take care for now,
Jacqui

Today I'm giving readers a sneak peek at Edition 1 & 2 of my newsletter.

Have a look - there are writing tips, reviews and snippets from works-in-progress.

Thanks & enjoy.
Jacqui

https://jacquelinehodder.com/2021/09/...

What’s your writing personality?
Hi Everyone,

When you’re writing your masterpieces, how do you plan, edit and publish your work? Are you a pantser? A reviewer or an indie author? Or are you organised and plan using spreadsheets and Gantt charts? Do you revise once you’ve completed your work-in-progress and do you use agents or traditional publishers?


As you start your writing journey, you’ll find yourself contending with these three major workflow issues at some point. Let’s look at them in a bit more detail.

Your planning personality.
Planner or Pantser
In the bookstagram world (the author world of Youtube & Instagram), your style of plotting falls into two categories: Planner or Pantser.

A ‘plotter’ is someone who plans every detail of their book before writing it while a ‘pantser’ is more of a ‘go-with-the flow’ type writer. A pantser will wait to see what develops as they write because they’re using the writing itself as a way to work out their plot.

Personally, I’m not sure if plotting a novel falls neatly along these two lines. I plan as much as I can before beginning to write but I will change my outline when new ideas emerge during the writing.

Whatever your system is, and whether you’re a ‘plotter’ or a ‘pantser’ or something in-between, plotting a cohesive novel with a clear structure is probably one of the hardest jobs you will have. I’d encourage you to keep writing, keep thinking and don’t give up. You will find a way through.

2. Your editing personality.
Do you re-read the previous session’s writing and edit this before starting on a new scene or do you complete your work-in-progress and then edit?

As I’ve talked about before (here), I have a very messy writing process. I write a first draft without editing or re-reading but halfway through I might come up against a block. What I’ll do then is revisit the first chapters to help me work out what I want to say. If I’m still stuck, I’ll go back to the whiteboard and re-configure the three-act structure diagram I use to plan my work. I’ll also revisit the plot outline to see if I can rework the structure.

Another part of editing is how to deal with the internal editor that talks to you while you write. Many writer’s struggle to quiet this voice during their initial writing but it’s vital to do this. The internal editor can come later – it has a job to do but not now.

For now, the main job of the editing process is to fix the plot holes and make the book’s overall structure work. Then, and only then, should the internal editor be invited to the editing task.

3. Your publishing personality.
Are you the type of writer who longs for the status of traditional publishing? Or do you want to have more control over your finished product? Are you an ‘authorpreneur’ who is willing to do what it takes to learn the business of writing or would you rather have an agent/publisher take care of this?

There are two main ways to publishing and each depends on your own personality and what you want to achieve out of your writing. Let’s have a look at the pros and cons of each.

Traditional publishing
Pros
The status of being chosen by a publishing house
Much of the preparation is done for you
Easy access to booksellers (online & bricks and mortar)
Cons
Highly competitive
Lengthy lag times between submission and publication
May require agent submission/see dot points above
Indie publishing
Pros
Control over process including sourcing a team of experts (Author service providers)
Once expenses are accounted for, profits belong with the author
Timeline deliveries rest solely with the author (no waiting months for submission results)
Cons
Project management requires individual contractual arrangements with multiple suppliers
Time-consuming. Time that could be spent on writing is now spent on managing the publishing process
Responsibility for costs, project, marketing falls solely with the author
Indie (or self) publishing has become much easier with the advent of e-books and programs like Vellum but it still requires a lot of hard work. You will find there is no right or wrong answer to the conundrum of traditional v indie publishing. My most important piece of advice is to do your research into the pros and cons of each and make an informed decision that suits you best.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post.

Like and follow if you did,

Until next time,

Jacqui.

Hi Everyone

Today we’ll explore the concept of ‘La Flaneuse’. The term originates in the 19th Century with wealthy literary types, ie. rich men (Le Flaneur) who had the time and money to stroll the city streets observing and writing about the life they saw around them.

The Flaneur is an urban explorer who inhabits, but is detached from, city life. For women, the freedom to stroll the city at will was denied them until writers such as George Sand and Virginia Woolf took on the role of ‘La Flaneuse’.

Virginia Woolf described moving about the city encompassed by the “champagne brightness of the air and the sociability of the streets”. She went on to write about the joy she found in joining the surging mass of people, and of how she left the comforts of home to become “part of that vast republican army of anonymous trampers”. (You can read an article on Female Flaneurs in the Guardian).

Lauren Elkin, in her beautiful recount of ‘idle strolling’ (also in the Guardian), reclaims the notion of urban explorer for herself and all women who are disenfranchised by the city streets. She calls for the ‘determined, resourceful individual keenly attuned to the creative potential of the city, and the liberating possibilities of a good walk’.

So, where does that leave us in our blog post today?

It’s desperately hard in lockdown, I know, but the dream of returning to the city remains.


And what is it about that dream? I think it’s the chance to wander, to be free to follow a path I’ve not trodden before, to be lost in a world that is vibrant, diverse and absorbing.

I hope you have the chance to become a Flaneur/Flaneuse when the world opens up again.

Until next time,

Jacqui.

Hi Everyone

How’s your writing going?

Flowing? Stuck? Plot holes? Invigorating? In its early stages, its final stages?

No matter where you are in your writing journey there is a psychology to writing that can help or hinder your creative process.

Let’s break it down.


Writing is hard work.
This is probably a truth universally acknowledged however, until I actually finished my first book, I don’t think I truly understood the nature of what ‘hard work’ meant. Now I understand the first draft is not the last, and there are probably upwards of 4 – 104 drafts in between these two stages. By drafting I mean re-shaping and refining. Then there are the peripheral activities: writing a blog, promotion, articulating new ideas, keeping accounts, keeping track of submissions, as well as the writing itself. The psychology I need to deal with the reality of the writing process is to understand the nature of what I’ve taken on and commit myself to completing it. Which means, turning up to the page, actually finishing a draft and being brave enough to seek feedback. Each step is daunting but one step at a time, it is possible to finish a writing project.

2. Why do you write? I think understanding your underlying motivations can help you through difficult times in your creative journey.

Do you write for 1 of the 4 reasons Orwell suggests: Egoism, Aesthetic enthusiasm, Historical impulse, or Political purpose?

Or is it, perhaps, as Louisa May Alcott so adroitly says:

I want to do something splendid…

Something heroic or wonderful that

won’t be forgotten after I’m dead…

I think I shall write books.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

Knowing your motivations can not only help you when the writing gets hard but can also help you understand the kind of stories you want to tell. Do you want to entertain? Enlighten? Educate or Astound? Do you want to write serials that keep people wanting to read more or would you rather dwell on a book for a year or more, seeking to fathom its depths and produce more literary works? Knowing the reasons you write can help you see through the long-term commitment that creating a work requires.

3. Doubts are a normal part of the creative process but how best to manage them?

The doubts are always going to be there (‘I can’t write’, ‘I don’t want to write’, ‘This is supposed to be fun’, ‘Why am I doing this?’ ‘Will anyone a) ever read this b) enjoy it if they do?’). Doubts are a writer’s worst enemy but they can be diminished if we remember to treasure the fact that we are willing to make something out of nothing. What a wonderful thing! The more we appreciate that the act of creating itself is worthwhile and magical, the more we flourish.


And, to finish, a quote from Hanif Kureishi which sums up so much of what the psychology of writing and becoming a writer is about:

I was afraid to write because I was ashamed of my feelings and beliefs. The practice of any art can be a good excuse for self-loathing. You require a certain shamelessness to be any kind of artist. But to be shameless you need not to mind who you are.

Sometimes writers like to imagine that the difficulty of becoming a writer resides in convincing others that that is what you are. But really the problem is in convincing yourself.

Dreaming and Becoming: Reflections on Writing and Politics
Happy writing – I can’t wait to hear what you’ve created!

Until next time,

Jacqui.

Hi Everyone

Recently I was a guest author on the ‘Hayley Walsh Author’ blog. Here’s a link to Hayley’s website https://www.hayleywalshauthor.com/

Hayley’s an Australian author and blogger and regularly interviews writers as well as reviews books and gives out helpful writing advice.

It’s a fun experience being interviewed. It’s a chance to share my joys (and frustrations) with the writing & publishing process, as well as background information to the stories I write.

I thought I’d share the interview with you below.

Enjoy, and if you have any questions, please feel free to email me (jacquihodder@gmail.com) or comment below.

Tell me about yourself

Hi, my name’s Jacqui Hodder. I live on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia, with my little family, my husband, son, and daughter. I work as a teacher in a local high school and enjoy bushwalking and photography, as well as writing. I’ve wanted to be a published author since forever and, last October, I finally realised my dream when my debut novel, ‘The Sentinel’, was released.

How long have you been writing?

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing. I won a small competition when I was young (the Mary Grant Bruce Award for Children’s Literature) and this spurred me on to complete a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Professional Writing. I kept writing over the years (I was employed to write for a public relations firm interviewing athletes on scholarships) and I’ve also dabbled in radio (I wrote an episode for the ABC Science Show examining the amazing desert tree, ‘Acacia Peuce’) but fiction is my first love.

Did you have a favourite book as a child?

When I was a child I adored the ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ by C.S. Lewis. I loved the magical realism of the novels and how the stories transported me to a world full of wonderful characters. I loved them so much I named my daughter, Lucy, after one of the main characters. Other favourites were ‘Swallows & Amazons’ and ‘A Wizard of Earthsea’.

What do you love about writing historical fiction?

What I love most about writing historical fiction is being transported to another time and place. A bit like my experience of reading the Narnia books as a child, when I write historical fiction, I lose myself in that world. I hope to transport my readers in the same way.

When I researched ‘The Sentinel’, I took myself to the State Library of Victoria (and my local library) every Saturday for months. I loved learning about life in 1880s Victoria and researching schooling, lighthouses, lighthouse keepers’ lives and what Melbourne was like in its glory days. Researching lighthouses also gave me an excuse to travel to lighthouses up and down the Victorian coastline.

I’ll never forget going to the State Library one day and asking to see the original diaries of the Cape Otway lighthouse keeper, Henry Bayles Ford. Bayles Ford was the lightkeeper at this station for almost thirty years and is famous in the district for his service to the lighthouse, the boats who sailed the waters, and the local community. I was in awe as I waited, fingers twitching, for the librarian to bring out the diaries. As I took the first journal out of its plastic casing, I thought how special this moment was because I was touching history. I opened the journals to reveal Bayles Ford’s towering lettering – magnificent curling arcs and determined downstrokes – which I found difficult to read at first. After I deciphered the writing, I became engrossed in Bayles Ford’s everyday life; daily tasks such as, ‘employed in caring for the gear of the Lantern’, and ‘employed in painting the railing of the balcony’, mixed in with weather and shipping reports. I was intrigued though, to read of his conflict with his assistant keepers and the difficulty he had controlling them. Such conflicts became the heart of my own novel, ‘The Sentinel’.

Can you tell me about your book titled ‘The Sentinel’?

‘The Sentinel’ is my first full-length novel and I am so proud of it. The idea for the book came to me when my husband, son and I did a three-day hike to the southern tip of mainland Australia, a place that is loved by Victorians, called Wilson’s Promontory. It’s possible to stay at the lighthouse at the tip of the ‘Prom’ but the only way in is to walk – and it’s an 18km walk one way! The isolation as well as the landscape is an overwhelming experience but so worth it.

We were privileged to have the current keepers (they are Parks Victoria employees) take us on a tour of the lighthouse and lighthouse station. They explained that a school had operated at the Prom for two months during the 1880s when the arrival of a new keeper and his multitude of children necessitated the appointment of a teacher. Then, something happened and the keeper was dismissed which meant the school was not viable anymore, and the teacher and the keeper’s family had to leave. That set me thinking: What could have happened to make a keeper leave? What would the teacher have thought?

That was the spark which led to my book. It’s a gothic tale of isolation, strength, despair, and redemption. Here is the blurb:

Escaping from a disastrous relationship, Kathleen Devine flees to an isolated lighthouse off the Victorian coastline. Taking up the position of Head Teacher to the lighthouse keepers’ children, she is ensnared in the lives of those marooned on the lonely outpost and soon realises no-one can escape their past. When the fearsome Head Lightkeeper, Mr Johannsson forms an unlikely friendship with the daughter of one of the keepers, it threatens to destroy their fragile peace. Can Kathleen find the strength to survive?

Describe your perfect hero or heroine

Great question! My perfect hero or heroine must be someone who struggles, makes mistakes, cries, laughs and experiences moments of desperation, and joy. In other words, a hero or heroine that is as human as possible. I like the hero of my novel, Mr Johannsson, the Head Lightkeeper of the Sentinel. He has a fearsome reputation; authoritarian, disciplined, and strict, but this has come at a cost to his personal life. The choices he makes in the book raise questions about his integrity but I don’t think he’d compromise himself, he has too much moral fibre for that, and I respect him for the way he keeps a watch over his charges.

Can you describe your writing process?

It’s not pretty. I wish I had a more organised approach but I don’t. When I have an idea, I work on fleshing it out to see if it’s strong enough to carry me through the years it takes to finish a book. Then I’ll work on a story outline and graph the plot points on a three-act structure diagram I have on my whiteboard. From there, I use the Guardian’s ‘How to write a novel in 30 days’ worksheets which help me develop the characters, story, themes, background, research questions and dialogue. Once I’ve been through those, I’ll start working on the first draft. While I’m writing, I plaster my walls in visuals of the story – pictures I print out from the internet – of what I think my characters look like, the setting, symbols and motifs and anything else I think is relevant. I may also work on a Spotify playlist to help me write. The other thing I do is to brainstorm each chapter or scene before I write it.

Another thing I do, either before or after the first draft, is to write every single scene on cue cards and put them on display. This gives me a visual check of the novel’s structure. I can move the cards around to figure out which scene should come where and it also helps me discover if I need to delete any scenes or write some more.

I may go back and adjust my plotting diagram at this point but the main thing now is to finish the first draft. Once I’ve completed a draft, I’ll most likely rewrite it from scratch, bringing in the new scenes, deleting old ones or reworking the structure. This part of the process takes forever. While I’m doing the rewriting I’m also trying to make sure the point of view of the narrator is as strong as possible.

My next draft is what I call the ‘layering process’. By this I mean, I’ll go back and check the worksheets I completed earlier, and use these to layer in the characters motivations (external and internal), their characteristics, foreshadowing devices (now I know where the novel is going) and anything else I think is vital to the story.

My last few drafts are about tightening the narrative, tying up loose ends and doing a comprehensive read through of the whole book. At this point I may print it out and read it aloud. Then, and only then, will I think about sending it to an editor for an assessment.

How do you approach conducting research for your stories?

There are lots of questions to answer when writing historical fiction, but it’s often not the big historical events which ground an audience in the world the author’s creating, but the details. For instance, what did people eat for breakfast in 1880’s Victoria, what did the children write on, what readers did they use, what clothes did people wear, and how did a lighthouse work? Once I know what questions to ask, I use libraries, online searches, books, and visits to find the answers. I was fortunate that an exhibition of Victorian era clothing was on at Sovereign Hill in Ballarat when I was in the middle of researching my novel. The exhibition helped me visualise the dresses my main character wore compared with her lower-class compatriots and it helped me understand how bonnets were constructed.

As I said earlier, I spent a lot of time in the State Library of Victoria researching, but I also discovered their wonderful online resource called ‘Ask a Librarian’. You ask your research question through this service and, within a few days, the librarian has responded with a detailed answer which includes follow up resources and links. It’s such a great help and a valuable tool for any researcher.

A fun part of the research was, of course, visiting lighthouses. The story initially came from a visit I made with my family to the Wilson’s Prom lighthouse but I also visited other lighthouses so that I could immerse myself in the landscape. One of the most beautiful places I visited was the Cape Schanck Lighthouse on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. I based the lantern room of the Sentinel on the beautiful room at the top of this little lighthouse.

Describe your writing space

I grab opportunities to write where I can as I work full-time but, when I’m at home, I have a nook tucked away near the back of the house where I’ve set up a writing space. I put an armchair in there and a desk. The desk sits over the heater vent so I can’t use the excuse of being cold not to write!

I have my favourite childhood books in a little bookcase near the door. I’ve also put other special mementoes around the room, including my landscape photography books, my framed flamenco prints, and other favourite books.

What advice would you give a new author?

One of my biggest regrets is that I thought publication equalled success. Of course, I want people to read my work, that’s a large part of why I write but when I failed to find a publisher when I was in my 20s and 30s, I pretty much gave up. Finally, I decided, if I was going to do this thing (i.e. write a book), I needed to commit to the process with everything I had.

My biggest piece of advice for a new author would be, to always remember why you write. Write because you love it, because it helps you, because you want to tell a story, not because you want to be published. This may happen but don’t let the lack of publication spoil your love for writing. Never lose the joy it brings you and do everything in your power to protect this most precious part of who you are.

What do you like to do when you are not writing?

I adore flamenco dancing. I discovered it after watching the film ‘Strictly Ballroom’ and continued with it for close to 25 years. I still get out my castanets from time to time and am planning to fulfil a long-held dream to live in Granada, Spain.

I also love landscape photography. I love that it combines two great passions of mine: being in nature and being creative. I love getting lost in the process of photographing an awe-inspiring scene and it helps me remember what a wonderful world we live in.

Until next time,

Jacqui.

Hi Everyone

Are you lucky enough to have a writing space of your very own?

If you’re like me and share your home with multiple generations/people, it might be hard to find a dedicated writing place.

You may have to find a corner of a table or perch on a chair by a sunny window, or you may find a place outside your home works best for you. A local library or a favourite cafe, perhaps…

Wherever you write, it is important that the place you choose to use has what you need.

Do you prefer noisy envrionments where the world can pass you by while you idly stare into space, enjoying the anonymity and the opportunity to people watch?

Or do you prefer church-like silence where your thoughts can wander in peace and without fear of interruption?

Even if you don’t have a dedicated space, I hope you can find a corner somewhere to call your own where are you left to daydream in glorious seclusion.

What is it that makes your writing space yours? Is it a bookshelf for your favourite books or a snug place next to a window or underneath a special picture that you can look at and disappear into?

I recently read a book about the Danish concept of ‘hygge’. It is hard to translate into English but, as I understand it, hygge is very close to being cosy, an atmosphere where someone feels warm and snug.

Writers need hygge. We need to feel like we’ve retreated from the world for a little while so that we can bring something wonderful to life.

I’ve seen pictures of incredible writing spaces. There was one just the other day of Karin Slaughter’s writing cabin in the woods. Just look at the window seat, the wall-lined shelves of books and the harmonious mix of wood and green furnishings.

Not everyone can afford a space like this but it’s fun to dream.

I have a nook in a corner of my house. It’s a little room with an armchair, a little bookcase, and a window that looks out on my garden. But, best of all, it has a wall where I can blu tac scenes and pictures that help me visualise key elements from my novel.

What does your space look like? Or what do you wish it looked like?

I’d love to know – tell me in the comments below.

Until next time,

Jacqui.

Hi Everyone,

In today’s blog, we’re going travelling!

We may not be able to travel physically but there’s nothing to stop our imaginations taking flight.

To that end, I’ve put together some of my favourite travel-related novels and stories. I hope they might inspire you as the world teeters and give you hope for a future when travel is possible again.

In the meantime, sit back, relax and read…

In no particular order, here are some books that will transport you to another time, another place, another world:

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee. This is what Lee actually did – he walked out the door of his home and a year later finished his journey in Spain having been caught in the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. On the way he describes the lives of those he meets with great empathy. His writing is evocative and mesmerising. This is a glimpse into a Spain that has disappeared but it is also a rendering of deep longing and a celebration of a life lived unconventially.

Riding the Iron Rooster by Paul Theroux. Theroux’s son may be more famous now but in the 1980s, Paul Theroux’s travel writings were lauded by those fortunate enough to read them. Theroux’s wonderfully descriptive writing of his travels by train across China inspired my own journey a few years later.

Tracks by Robyn Davidson. One of my all-time favourite travel reads. Davidson had an idea, a dream, to walk across the western half of the Australian continent with camels. Even before she left Alice Springs on her majestic adventure, she had dealt with wayward cameleers and her own lack of money and experience. She stuck with it though. Her journey is worth reading for the grit she demonstrates in her epic trek.

Bad Lands – A Tourist on the Axis of Evil by Tony Wheeler. Wheeler, of Lonely Planet guidebook fame, goes on an extraordinary trip visiting the ‘bad lands’ of the world (at that time these were Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba and North Korea, amongst others). What he finds are the stories behind the regimes.

Maiden Voyage by Tania Aebi and Bernadette Brennan. I fell in love with sailing memoirs when I read the inspiring story of Robin Lee Graham who was the youngest person to sail around the world solo. In the wake of his achievements, others have attempted the record like Tania Aebi. Aebi leaves her home in New York after after a tumultuous upbringing and finds the courage and strength to continue to sail the world *mostly* by herself. Full of journeying, life and discovery.

Australian Grace by Grace Lee – a delightful story told in cartoon form of an Australian moving to Japan and what it was really like. Small but engrossing. Here’s the link to her story - https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/movin...

Any of the Bill Bryson travel books!

A couple on my TBR (To Be Read) pile: Bewildered by Laura Waters (similar to Wild by Cheryl Strayed) but a journey along the spine of New Zealand rather than the west coast of mainland USA; Step by Step written by Simon Reeve: a well-known TV presenter writing about his life in travel.

Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes. A touch of magic as Mayes restores an old villa in the Tuscan countryside and experiences local life. Told with great delight and whimsy.

In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin. Chatwin must take responsibility for the wanderlust of a generation with his engaging travels told with a deeply insightful eye.
What are your favourite travel books? Let me know below.

Happy *virtual* travelling,

Jacqui.

Hi Everyone

In a busy world, how do you find the time to write?

The luxury of time and space is afforded to very few; perhaps those talented/fortunate enough to win a writing space and/or time to write.

For most of us, the reality of day-to-day work/family/responsibility that is life impacts our ability to write. And yet, being both out in the world and being able to seclude oneself from the world are the twin arbiters of a writer’s life. We need stimulation – things to write about, but we also need time when the thoughts can jumble around freely without distraction.

I’ve tried many different systems of writing over the years. I can’t give a foolproof answer to how someone finds the time but what I can do is offer some insights and tips that have helped me.


I find I need a balance of time to ponder, time to recuperate, intense writing time and lots and lots of time for editing/revising. For me, it’s not as straightforward as ‘write everyday’ although I am trying to keep up with a minimum of 300 words on my current work-in-progress.

When I’m in a solid writing phase though I do need the high word count that the practice of writing everyday brings. What helps me then is a 1000 word per day goal, that’s the only way I know to get the writing down.

Which brings me to the point of this post.

It’s hard work drafting and revising and editing a piece of writing to publication but impossible if nothing’s down on paper/computer to begin with.

In other words, write something, anything. It doesn’t matter how bad it is, how much you hate it, how much you want to toss it, at least you have something. Something’s better than nothing. You can work with it; use it, change it, ditch it but you have the choice if there’s something there to begin with.

You don’t have to begin at the beginning either, especially if you’re tackling a novel or large piece of work, just start somewhere. You’ll be amazed what you can work with once you have something down.


At the end of 2019 I took part in my first ever NaNoWriMo.

For those who haven’t heard of it, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It’s a US based ‘competition’ that anyone in the world can complete. The ‘competition’ is really you pitting yourself against you – ie. you challenge yourself to complete a novel, or part of a novel in November each year. You set the goal and if you meet it, you ‘win’ the competition.

It’s really useful if you need to kickstart yourself with your writing or to just get those words down.

I’ve been busy for the past 18 months finishing ‘The Sentinel’, promoting it and writing some other pieces but I’m about ready to revisit what I wrote in November, 2019. I had a look at some of it the other day and it’s OK-ish.

But the best part?

I have something. Something I can work with now. Something I can reshape and, hopefully, publish in the not-too-distant future.

Happy writing.

Until next time,

Jacqui.