Bella Roane's Blog

April kicked off with my third book signing and this time it was on my home turf, Yorkshire. Having lived away from my family for nearly twenty-five years, it was so lovely to come back and have the support of my mum, sister and oldest friends. These ambassadors of mine promoted Confide in Me around the local area so most of the book signing was spent meeting and making new friends. Here’s hoping the book will be enjoyed and passed on across the region.
I was inspired by a local social media group promoting random acts of kindness and decided to spend April planting free copies of my book for people to find in strange places. I had some real fun with the challenge and tagging clues on my own social media. The most irregular place had to be on Old Pale Hill in Delamere Forest at 6am. I’d love to know where these books have ended up and if their owners loved the story, if that’s you, please let me know!
On 20th April, I waved off Mr K (hubbie) to take part in the run of his life, the Marathon des Sables in Morocco. Just over six months ago we lost his father John and so he set about training for the ultimate foot race. As he had already completed many regular marathons and ultra marathons over the years, the challenge had to be epic therefore 251km across the Sahara in 6 days ticked the box.
He prepared so well, even training in heat chamber in Manchester at 40 degrees to prepare for the harsh environment and as I write this I will be leaving shortly to pick him up, I can’t wait and am so proud to announce that he absolutely smashed the challenge coming in 69th position out of a field of over 1000 and raising nearly £6000 for the British Heart Foundation, amazing!
After soring out my plantar fasciitis with a new pair of trainers, my own running picked up again so the 80-mile challenge is back on for June. The training is helping me think of plots for the new book so not only am I getting fitter, but I’m also working too!
Special thanks to my friend Chiz who I interviewed informally for some character research and her brilliant answers have kick started my creativity, book 2 is well on the way! Hurrah! I’m hoping to keep up the momentum and meet my deadline of finishing in the summer…

They say March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, and I was hoping that my writing would do the same; ideas would surge, the creative juices would flow and by the end of the month I’d be settled into a nice pattern of regular, good storytelling. Much like the weather, the second book has not settled and I’m still battling with the first few stormy chapters. Second time around, I’ve got to keep the momentum of the first story going and the pressure to perform is weighing heavily on my words. However, if I’ve learnt anything from this past year, it is to redraft, rewrite and edit until you get the polished result so that is what I’ll do for as long as it takes. Wish me luck!
In other news, I started training for an ultrarun (80+ miles in 3 days) with my bestie but we both suffered setbacks in our training (hers more serious than mine to be fair) but as we see out March, we are both picking up the pace (excuse the pun!) to be ready for this huge challenge in June. Look out for more posts about this as we more closer to the summer.
A trip to Liverpool for a good friend’s special birthday, enabled us to explore @merseymade, a gem of a shop on Parliament Street showcasing local authors, artists and makers to Merseyside, Cheshire and surround. I was lucky enough to be selected by TAUK publishing to boost my book there and I’ll never tire of the thrill of seeing my own work displayed proudly on the shelf. Please pop into Merseymade, the artists working on site are exceptionally talented and the products they have for sale are unique. While you’re at it, sample their mouth-watering menu and you won’t be able to resist the array of cakes they have on offer!
Finally, I have booked myself on a little mini break back to my home county to do a third book signing (!!) and hammer out more chapters of book 2, as well as pop in and see a few friends along the way. Hopefully, the signing will be as successful as the last two and I’ll make some new #brauthorfans. Every little helps, after all, from tiny acorns, mighty oaks grow, this proverb has stuck with me throughout my writing journey so far and strengthens my belief that the best is yet to come.

Fabulous February kicked off on the 1st with an interview by Estelle at TAUK publishing. This was an excellent opportunity for me to explain the work that they do and how they guided me through the dauting process of self-publishing along with introducing me to the local talented writing community. I hope my interview and the others Estelle has recorded on the website, will help other aspiring writers to just go for it like I did a year ago.
February is supposed to bring the thaw but not for me as I was lucky enough to go skiing with three other mums craving a bit of ‘me’ time. We hit Le Grand Bornand hard as we only had the weekend, so we skied, drank and laughed all the way, sweeping up my book, Confide in Me, along the way, posting it at 1800m up in various exciting poses!
Half term was a welcome break with the family and was supposed to mean some writing time too. Time spent with the family is so precious as everyone leads such busy lives day to day therefore book two was put on the back burner again. However, with March suddenly upon us, I have vowed to myself to prioritise my writing so onwards and upwards into Spring.

I used to hate January and was convinced for years that I suffered from SAD. This January however has been kind and thrown all sorts of exciting events my way.
Starting with my interview for our village paper, The Norley News, was such a positive experience. Reflecting on my journey as an author over the past six months helped me gain perspective on just how far I’d come and how far I wanted to go!
Next came me being “the guest of honour” – ahem! At the cheat sheet book club in Manchester. This was a truly wonderful evening hosted my good friend Dr Hina Abbas, who even grilled me on the way into town on the book club questions! I’m afraid I failed the first question as my ‘book brain’ is too invested in Book 2 at the minute! Ha ha! The gorgeous ladies really helped me appreciate my book from a different perspective and offered excellent ideas and plot twists for the next one. Thanks #cheatsheet.
The fabulous Bob Stone @writeblendbooks in Waterloo, Liverpool, hosted my second book signing which was a great success mid-way through the month and helped to inject some fresh interest into Confide in me with his clientele. Loyal as ever, Bob has spent the month promoting indie authors such as myself and encouraging customers to take a chance on unknowns. Thank you, Bob, for your continued support!
TAUK Publishing hosted an author celebration for all their friends and collaborators, and I felt very privileged to be invited. It was sad to say goodbye to Sue Miller, who even in our short time working together was a huge support with the production of Confide in Me. From the send-off she was given, I could clearly see what an impact she has made with fellow authors and illustrators; she will be sorely missed. However, this had led to an exciting opportunity for the superb Estelle Maher to steer @TAUK into a new era and I’m excited to work with them again on my second book.
I was fortunate enough to have a lunch ‘date’ with two immensely interesting local authors from completely different genres to my own and at different stages of their writing careers. Firstly, established and hugely successful author Sally-Anne Martyn (The Clinic) gave me some valuable tips about marketing and getting more involved in the writing community. She told me about her own journey into writing and the peaks and troughs she has found over the years. Put simply, don’t listen to the haters and keep doing what you’re doing as your books will always resonate with someone. The links to festivals and other writers on social media will help build my brand and confidence in what I’m doing hopefully! Nicola Bartley (aka nicolaawrites) was an absolute joy to meet too! She is a flash fiction writer on the cusp of making that leap into publishing her first novel. Hearing her experiences was reassuring to me as a debutant and her bustling enthusiasm assured me that this was a profession I should be a part of. I do hope that this will become a regular catch up as I learnt a huge amount in that hour and a half, and it was lovely to feel I have more allies in the writing world.
My own reading has moved up a notch too since joining the local book group! I do think it's hilarious that I'm known as 'the author'. We also have a 'script writer' in our group too so we do feel quite superior! Ha ha!
Currently reading White teeth for pleasure but it's not proving to be at times. A good book however, not an easy one! Book group want to read Taste by Stanley Tucci which I'm quite excited about so we'll see how we get on.
So that’s January done, Wow! It was busy. What will February bring?...