Why Your Writing Journey Should Never Be a Lonely One

Yep, I look just like this when I’m working!

I thought today I’d tell you a bit about my writing journey. It’s not dramatic or unusual, but it might be of some small use to anyone else who’s just starting out and wondering if a writing career is for them, or if it’s even possible. What my story proves is that there’s a lot of hard work and determination involved, plus a bit of talent, and a whole load of luck! It also shows how much you need other people. You can’t do it all on your own. Well, you might be able to, but if my experience is anything to go by it will take a lot longer, be an awful lot harder, and you’ll have much less fun along the way.

Where it Began

It’s over eleven years since I published my first book, There Must Be an Angel, but my story starts long before that. In fact, it goes back to the very early years of my childhood, when I learned to read and quickly became besotted with books. By the time I was seven or eight I had started to write my own stories - fuelled by impatience from having to wait a whole week between issues of my favourite comic. My parents took me to the library regularly, bought me books for Christmas, and showed me by example that it was okay to ignore the television and sit with your head in a book every evening instead - even if Mum did worry that I spent way too much time in fictional words instead of the real one. Thanks, Mum and Dad!

Related Reading: How Reading Made Me a Writer

When I was around seven or eight years old, my great-uncle brought me a hardback writing book, complete with carbon paper - very grand! It was my very first writing book and from then on, there was no stopping me. I wrote a hundred page novel complete with illustrations in that book. Thanks, Uncle Len! When I ran out of pages I started to write on the backs of envelopes, on the backs of rolls of unused wallpaper, and yes (sorry!) even inside my story books. I’m embarrassed to even think about it now but, hey, I was desperate!

Encouragement is Everything

I was always destined to write a ghost story. I never imagined it would be for Boldwood!

At school I wrote lots of stories and received loads of encouragement about my writing. I once filled an entire exercise book with a single story. I’d even divided it up into chapters! Funnily enough, the assignment was to write a ghost story, so there’s a bit of foreshadowing, if you like.

I wasn’t even at school when the assignment was given out so didn’t have to do it. I’d been away ill, and when I got back I asked one of my friends what homework we’d been given. When she told me about the ghost story, I asked my English teacher for a new exercise book and set to work. By the time I’d handed it in a few days later, I had about two blank pages left, and I’d loved every minute of writing that story.

So many of my teachers were brilliant. They told me how much they loved reading my stories. They gave me the confidence I desperately needed and made me believe I could actually write. Thanks especially to Miss Storey, Mr Merriweather, Mr Escreet, Mr Hope, and Mr Day!

‘People Like Us’

At home my pocket money mostly went on books, but some weeks I’d buy writing pads instead, because I just had to have paper. I can’t even imagine how many times I wrote Chapter One on a clean page. I was always scribbling away, to the extent that from a very young age I developed a writer’s callus from having a pen pressed against my finger so much. I still have it and I’m quite proud of it!

But then I left school and the writing stopped. I’d learned to type at school and that seemed to be the way my “career” was heading. I well remember attending a careers guidance meeting and being asked, ‘Shop or office?’ Followed by an airy and completely dismissive, ‘Oh, you’ve done O levels and typing. Office work then.’ Great choices!

I remember clearly that my dad wanted me to go to university but my mum strongly believed that universities weren’t for ‘people like us’. I briefly toyed with the idea, but none of my friends were going to uni and it didn’t seem like a realistic option. I wasn’t even sure what happened at universities or what sort of careers higher level of study could lead to. (As it turned out, I enrolled on a Literature degree with the Open University when my children were older and finally achieved what my dad had hoped for - sadly, by then he wasn’t around to see it.)

I had no idea what I wanted to do after school and I was hardly ambitious. My first job was cleaning cars for a local car sales firm. Boyfriend. Marriage. Children. In all that time there was no time to think about writing. I still read voraciously, though, and sometimes ideas for stories would pop into my head. I never did anything about them. I didn’t believe writing was for me. Writing was something richer, posher adults did. The same old story. Not for ‘people like us’.

Inspiration and Determination

Where inspiration finally led me… My first ever book.

But then one day, years later, as we were on our way to Somerset for a holiday, three characters popped into my mind. I was half asleep at the time as my husband drove us from our home in East Yorkshire all the way down to the North Somerset coast. Yet those characters arrived with purpose and determination. I was going to write their story whether I wanted to or not!

Arriving in Somerset, I rushed out to buy a notebook and pen and that night I began to write.

Those characters became Lexi, Will, and Joe, and the story gradually evolved into There Must Be an Angel - the first in my Kearton Bay series. Lexi and Will were the couple I was focused on initially, but it eventually became clear that Lexi’s dad had his own story to tell first, and that the romance between Lexi and Will was going to be a slow burn friends to lovers story. In fact, their romance was eventually featured in the third Kearton Bay book, Once Upon a Long Ago. But I’m jumping ahead…

As I said earlier, I’d written so many Chapter Ones that had got no further. I didn’t want this to go the same way. There was something so different about it and I knew I had to finish this book. I found out about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) which took place every November. The idea was that you signed up to write just over 1600 words every day of the month, until you hit the 50,000 word goal on November 30th.

I duly enrolled and began writing. By the end of that month I’d written 120,000 words and had only one chapter left to write! I still, to this day, have no idea how I managed to write so many words in thirty days, but I was obsessed. And when I finally typed The End on that story… Oh wow! What an achievement. I was ecstatic. I’d done it! I’d written a book!

Of course, I hadn’t. I’d actually written a rough draft. A very, very rough draft. I put it away and left it alone for a month, then took it out and read it from start to finish. I saw at once that it needed a lot of work doing to it. But where to start?

I bought some how-to books and began to study them. In retrospect it would probably have been a good idea to do that before I began writing! However, to this day I think that rough draft had a decent structure. Sure it had its problems - mostly character motivation and integrity, too many points of view, and a few too many subplots. But generally, I’d structured it the way I was supposed to, and I honestly do believe that’s because of all the reading I’d done over the years. If you want to be a writer - read!

All my life I’ve read books in all different genres, and I knew roughly how a story should flow. I did it without consciously thinking about it. The how-to books helped me to see that, but they also gave advice on other aspects of my writing. Even so, I knew I needed more tailored help from someone who knew what they were doing. And that’s when I heard about the Romantic Novelists’ Association and its New Writer’s Scheme.

Stepping Up

Me, looking very hot and bothered with Lizzie at an RNA event!

How did I hear about it? I’d bought a copy of Writing Magazine and there was an article in it that included some advice about the RNA NWS from a writer called Lizzie Lamb. Apparently you sent your manuscript off and it would be read and critiqued by an experienced and published author. It sounded just what I was looking for, but was I right for the scheme?

Then I did something that I still can’t believe I had the nerve to do. I found Lizzie Lamb on Facebook and messaged her to ask the question. I am still pretty shy, but back then I was chronically shy. I never pushed myself forward in any way, so I have no idea what made me approach a total stranger for advice. I was lucky that it was Lizzie. She was then - and still is now - incredibly kind and helpful, and was more than happy to tell me more about the scheme and give me some advice. I duly applied and was accepted. Lizzie has been a lovely friend to me ever since. Thank you, Lizzie!

So there I was on the New Writers’ Scheme, busily refining my manuscript. But there were still problems, because I wasn’t entirely sure which direction this story should go. I’d started a blog by then - The Moongazing Hare - and was writing articles about my writing progress (or lack of). I asked for advice from other authors and I got it. Trouble was, opinions contradicted each other. I was growing more and more confused and was close to giving up on the whole thing.

Then I spotted an email on ROMNA. ROMNA was a sort of email chapter of the RNA. Back then, before there was a Facebook group, that was how its members communicated. There seemed to be so many rules about how to send those emails that I didn’t dare even try, but I lurked a lot and read all the emails that arrived. But reply to one? No fear!

But one day an email arrived that had been written by an author who - like me - was writing her first novel. She was writing a book that included magic, which immediately made my ears prick up, and best of all… It was set in Glastonbury!

Now, the book I was writing at the time didn’t have magic, but I’ve always loved stories that had magic in them. And Glastonbury is one of my favourite places, so I’d actually set There Must Be an Angel (which, incidentally, was then called Angel in the Marble) in that special little town. The writer’s name was Alex Weston, and - as with Lizzie - for some weird reason I found the courage to contact her. That decision literally changed my life.

We exchanged a few further emails and I told her about my struggles with the book I was writing and she told me how her work was progressing.

After a while I realised that Glastonbury (as magnificent as it is) wasn’t the right setting for my book. I knew there were going to be further books in the series (I’m still amazed at how confident I was of this, considering I couldn’t even get the first one right!) and I felt that it needed to be set in Yorkshire. I thought about all the favourite places I’d ever been to in the three Ridings and tried to visualise my characters in each of them. And that’s when I hit upon Robin Hood’s Bay and knew instantly that it was exactly the right place for my village. Now, what could I call it…?

Related Reading: The Inexact Science of Choosing a Book Setting

I’d been researching my family tree for ages at this point, and knew my lovely paternal grandma’s family name was Kearton. I wanted to pay tribute to her somehow, so Robin Hood’s Bay became Kearton Bay. Thanks, Nanna!

Then Alex got in touch with me. Did I fancy meeting up with her in person? And would I mind if she brought along a friend who was also a member of the RNA NWS? Her name was Julie.

Enter The Write Romantics

Clockwise from Top Left : Jo Bartlett, Me, Helen Rolfe, Jackie Ladbury, Julie Heslington (Jessica Redland), Deirdre Palmer (AKA Zara Thorne), Lynne Pardoe, Helen Phifer, Rachael Thomas, and Alex(andra) Weston (AKA Alys West).

Like I said, I’m a shy person. Back then the idea of meeting up with two total strangers to discuss our writing was the most horrific thing I could think of. Not only that, but I wasn’t in the best frame of mind. The Husband and I were having difficulties. Among the issues we were facing was my writing. He didn’t like that I was so distracted, and spent too much time on my computer. He felt that we were drifting apart. He had, he admitted, hoped it was “a phase I was going through”.

In a way it felt like an ultimatum - writing or him. Yet as much as I loved him I knew I couldn’t give it up. I’d waited too long. All those ideas I’d had over the years that I’d never even tried to pin down on paper - they were finally flowing and I didn’t want to stop them. It seemed there was no way around it. He says now that, although it was a shock when I refused to budge, it also made him see me in a new light. He couldn’t help but respect how determined I was to do something for myself for a change. In actual fact, my writing was to be the making of us and ended up greatly strengthening our relationship.

But at the time I didn’t know that, so as you can imagine, my self-esteem was at a low ebb and I really didn’t want to accept Alex’s invitation. My youngest daughter, Jemma, pushed me into it. She said if I didn’t go I’d regret it, and deep down, I knew she was right. I emailed Alex back and said yes, I’d be delighted to meet up with her and her friend. We arranged to meet at a pub in Bridlington and I was sooo scared! Even so, I knew it was the right thing to do. As it turned out, it was another life-changing moment and I’m so grateful my daughter made me do it. Thanks, Jemma!

Me and Jemma on a research trip to “Kearton Hall” (Burton Agnes Hall) all the way back in 2016.

Alex was lovely and welcoming, as was her friend, Julie. We sat and talked about writing for ages. I told them about Kearton Bay and I learned how Alex’s book was progressing, and about Julie’s work-in-progress which was, at that time, set in a place called Whitsborough. The Bay bit was added later! I admitted I was considering not sending my manuscript to the NWS for its critique because I didn’t know what I was doing with it. I’d had so much conflicting advice that I didn’t know where to start, and there was no way it would be finished in time for the August deadline.

Julie and Alex told me that I had to submit - even if it was a partial. After all, I’d paid for the critique already. They advised me to forget all the conflicting advice, go home and think about the story I wanted to tell. And that’s just what I did.

It’s odd, but with permission from them I felt as if my head cleared, and I knew exactly what I had to do with it. Out went the different points of view, leaving just two behind - the hero’s and heroine’s. I cut a lot of the subplots out and focused on Eliza’s and Gabriel’s story, and the words flowed again. I finished the book in time to send the completed manuscript to the NWS by the deadline. Phew! Thanks, Alex and Julie!

Alex(andra) Weston (AKA Alys West) and Julie Heslington (Jessica Redland)

The day my manuscript returned with its critique was my daughter’s wedding day. I decided not to open it until after the wedding, because if it was bad news I didn’t want that cloud hanging over me on such a special occasion. The Husband and I were about to move into a new house, and we’d earmarked a spare room for exclusive use as my office. As I tried to focus on the wedding and not think too much about the unopened envelope that was waiting for me at home, I couldn’t help wondering if there was there any point in having an office? Did my writing have a future? What did the critique say?

Well, it was very encouraging and gave me a whole list of things that were working well in the book. Crucially, it also pointed out what wasn’t working so well, and what I should consider doing to improve it. Overall, it was unbelievably positive and I was thrilled. It gave me the confidence and the understanding to set to work again, as I began the final edits on what was, by then, There Must Be an Angel. Thank you, anonymous author who critiqued my work!

With Angel finally as good as I could make it, Julie and Alex offered to beta read it for me. They also suggested I send it to someone else for them to read. The two of them had told me at our second meeting that they were members of a writing and blogging group called The Write Romantics, and said they thought their friend and fellow member, Jo Bartlett, would be a good beta reader for me. By then I was following The Write Romantics’ blog and commenting on and sharing their posts, so Jo knew about me.

In fact, within a few months I’d not only contributed a short story to their forthcoming Winter Tales anthology, but I’d been asked to join The Write Romantics. Apparently, this was Helen Rolfe’s idea. Thank you, Helen!

Being part of the group made such a difference to me. I no longer felt so alone, and now had nine fabulous friends who were ready to share information, congratulations, commiserations, and so much more with me. Our secret Facebook group flourished, and soon it felt as if I’d been with them for years. Thank you, Write Romantics!

Fabrian Books

A selection of Fabrian books by Pat Posner, Jo Bartlett, Zara Thorne (Deirdre Palmer), Jackie Ladbury, Alys West, Linda Huber and me! Happy days…

Jo readily agreed to read the book and I waited, biting my nails for the verdict. All three of them (Jo, Julie and Alex) loved the story! In fact, Jo loved it so much she offered to publish it for me. She’d decided to set up her own publishing company called Fabrian Books and wanted to sign me up for the four Kearton Bay books I had planned. I couldn’t believe it and was so excited. She paid for me to have a structural edit and then a copyedit and proofread, organised a cover for me, and formatted the book.

But then Jo had a change of heart about running her own publishing company. Would I, she asked, agree to being part of an author collective instead? We would self-publish our books but under the umbrella of Fabrian Books, and would cross-promote each other’s work. She had other authors lined up to join us and it made sense to co-operate, as we were all newbies. I paid Jo back for the edits and Fabrian Books was on its way. There Must Be an Angel was published on 28th March, 2015. I don’t know if I’d ever have dared to do it on my own, and I don’t know if I’d ever have figured out how to do it! Thank you, Jo!

Jessica, Jo and me at a get-together in Leeds

I’d organised a Facebook party for Winter Tales in November 2014, and now I did the same for Angel. It was a lot of fun and got people’s attention. Angel didn’t do massively well in the charts, but I wasn’t expecting it to. It was my first book. I was unknown. Things would build.

I was already working on the sequel, A Kiss From a Rose by then, and having great fun writing it. It was published six months after Angel, because both Jo and I thought that was the right thing to do. Knowing what I know now, I’d have written the entire series and then published them all in one year, but I had no idea about such things back then.

Rose did quite well at first, but sank quickly just like Angel. I made many mistakes at the time. For instance, I gave Angel away for free before Rose had even been put up for pre-order! Loads of people grabbed that freebie, but then what? I had nothing else for them to read. I didn’t even have a newsletter for them to sign up to. They had nowhere else to go from there. What a waste! Lesson learned.

New Ideas

In Kearton Country - Thwaite near Muker in Swaledale

I was supposed to write the third Kearton Bay novel after that, but this is where I began a pattern that is still with me today. After two books set in the same place I was itching for something new. I wanted to meet new characters and explore new settings. All these years later I’m just the same. (The hardest struggle I ever had was to write three Ghosts of Rowan Vale books in succession! I was sooo ready to divert to Kelsea Sands by the time I’d done that!) So I put Kearton Bay aside and began a new story set in the Yorkshire Dales.

I’d wanted to set a book in Kearton country (Thwaite and Muker in Swaledale, where wildlife writers and photographers Richard and Cherry Kearton hailed from) for ages. I’d even contemplated setting Angel there for a time, but I’d known instinctively that it wasn’t right. With my new book idea, though, I knew it was the perfect fit.

I’d had the inspiration, believe it or not, from one of my old pony books. Back when I was a pony mad child I devoured the Jill books by Ruby Ferguson, and one of my favourites in the series was a book called Jill and the Perfect Pony. Jill is asked by an acquaintance of hers - the haughty and rich Amanda Applewood - to take her place in a riding competition. Amanda simply can’t be bothered to go. It will mean staying with a family who will make up the rest of the team. Jill agrees when Amanda offers her the use of her perfect pony, the beautiful Plum. Plus it’s a chance to mingle with horsey people and pick up tips and have some fun in the school holidays. Only, when Jill gets there she discovers that Amanda hasn’t told them she isn’t going, and they all think she’s Amanda. Unfortunately for Jill, they’ve heard on the grapevine that Amanda is a spoilt, arrogant, and highly unlikeable person, and as Jill daren’t confess who she really is in case they throw her off the team, she has to act up and pretend to be this terrible girl who has tricked them all!

You never know where inspiration will come from!

I thought the basic premise of that book would make a great adult story, and that’s how the idea for what was then This Other Eden came about. Spoilt Honey Carmichael blackmails her employee, Eden Robinson, forcing her to spend the summer in the Yorkshire Dales on a sheep farm, taking care of farmer Eliot’s three young children in place of Honey. Poor Eden has to pretend to be the awful Honey, but before long she’s facing another blackmailer and falling in love with a man who thinks she’s horrible! The story is now called Summer Secrets at Wildflower Farm, and it’s one of my favourites. I absolutely loved writing it and still think the Skimmerdale/Wildflower Farm books are some of my best to this day. Thank you, Ruby Ferguson (for the inspiration and for all the pleasure your books gave me when I was a pony mad child).

Hard Times

By the time Eden was published, Angel had been out for just over a year and Rose for just over six months. How was it going? Not great, to be honest. There was one particular day that I recall all too well. I was sitting in my office and I clicked on my KDP dashboard to check my royalties for the month. Twenty pounds. Twenty pounds! That’s what I was making per month with two books out. The trouble was, I was spending way more than I was earning because I was paying for editing and proofreading, which meant I was dipping into our household budget. I didn’t feel comfortable doing that. I wasn’t earning much from my job at a medical centre and I didn’t think it was fair on my husband. Seeing my royalties that day was the final straw. I burst into tears and told him I was giving it all up.

‘I just can’t afford to do it,’ I sobbed. ‘I’m going to stop writing.’

Now, bear in mind that this was the man who’d more-or-less given me an ultimatum back at the start of my writing journey. Me or the writing. I’d chosen writing, remember? He had every reason to celebrate my decision and agree it was the best course of action. But he’d come a long way since those days, so do you know what he did?

He knelt beside me, put his arms around me, and told me firmly that I was not going to give up writing. He understood how much it meant to me and he believed in me completely. ‘Things will turn around,’ he promised me. ‘Don’t give up now. I won’t let you give up.’

My first royalty statement after This Other Eden was published was for six hundred pounds. I don’t even know how it happened. I’d jumped from twenty to six hundred pounds in the space of one single royalty payment. I never sank as low as double figures again and I never forgot how much faith my husband had shown in me that day. Thank you, Steve.

Becoming a Professional

Two years and several books later, I was earning more from my writing than from my day job (not a high bar!), and I was finally able to hand in my notice at the medical centre. Again, it was thanks to my husband, who’d understood how much I wanted to leave, sat with me while we worked out our finances, if it was doable, and how much I’d need to earn every month from my writing. He even suggested we move to a smaller house to leave more money in the budget. I mean, seriously, what a star! So that’s what we did, and I left my day job and began life as a full-time writer in March 2018.

Me with my lovely Boldwood editor, Francesca, in Betty’s, of all places. Get me!

Since then, I’ve published many more indie books (a total of twenty-seven so far with more to come), written a series called Tuppenny Bridge for Storm Publishing, and am now working my way through a twelve-book contract with Boldwood Books. Thank you, Storm, and thank you, Boldwood!

Unbelievably, last year I celebrated ten years of being a published author! As Jo and Jessica were also celebrating the same milestone, our publisher, Boldwood Books, hosted a Facebook Live event where the three of us chatted to each other about our writing journeys. I was scared stiff but I did it. I could never have imagined that all those years ago when my depression and anxiety were so bad I couldn’t even step into my own garden!

Related Reading: Ten Things I’ve Learned in Ten Years as a Published Author

Mistakes Made and Lessons Learned

As you can see, there were ups and downs along the way, and some steep learning curves. I made lots of mistakes: unsuitable covers, changing titles, perhaps not ‘staying in my lane’ with small town romances, but adding cosy fantasy books to my list. And I’ve often wondered if I should have written the cosy fantasy under a pseudonym, so as not to mess with the Amazon algorithm and to make marketing much easier. I’m pretty certain that I’d have been more successful if I’d stuck to small town romances, but the truth is, that would never have made me happy, and writing for me has to be a pleasure, not a slog, or I might as well have stayed at the medical centre working for someone else.

I’ve struggled a lot with how many middle class authors I’ve come into contact with. Being surrounded by people from more affluent backgrounds who speak without broad regional accents and went to university as par for the course has at times felt intimidating. For a long time I was afraid to open my mouth because I felt common and I thought they’d look down on me. But then I attended an event in York where Milly Johnson was the speaker. She gave the most heartwarming, funny, inspirational talk about the challenges and discrimination she’d faced due to her background and broad Yorkshire accent. She’d definitely had the last laugh! And for the first time I felt like I wasn’t alone, and it was okay to speak the way I did. I could still fit in with other writers. Thank you, Milly!

Me with Milly Johnson. I’m only 5’4” honestly!

There are lots of things I perhaps should have done differently, and there were times when I honestly did feel like giving up. But I had so much fun, too, and made so many friends who helped me along the way.

I do think that if you want to be a professional writer you need to be resilient, and I’m so sensitive that I’ve often said this is the worst possible job I could have chosen. Scathing reviews hurt me so much that I’ve stopped reading all of them. In fact, I haven’t read them for years unless they’re by bloggers who’ve tagged me in them, in which case it’s only polite to thank them. My friend has pointed out that by doing this I’ve missed out on some lovely comments, and I know she’s right. But I also know that a bad review could put me off writing for days and make me feel so worthless it just isn’t worth it. I’m far happier in blissful ignorance!

You need to really want it, because it’s not an easy career choice by any means, and there’s so much insecurity involved that it can be quite scary sometimes. You live month by month (or quarter by quarter, or bi-annually, or even annually depending on the publisher!) wondering how much you’ve earned and if you can pay all your bills this month.

It’s not a job you go into for the money. Things are even harder now than they were ten years ago. Everything has gone up - rents, mortgages, food, gas, electricity, water rates… You know what hasn’t gone up? The price of ebooks. People still expect to pay 99p or £1.99 for a full-length novel. Some people only grab books when they’re free. When Angel was published it was for sale at £1.99 and barely shifted any copies at all. When I put it up for free for a few days it shifted loads of copies. And my latest books with Boldwood are still priced at £1.99, so if you want to get rich I would not recommend writing - at least not as your main source of income.

You have to be prepared to learn new skills. You’re constantly pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. And it’s really hard, sometimes, to force yourself to sit behind your desk, open your document, and start writing.

Final Thoughts

Taking all that into account, is it worth it? Yes! I wouldn’t want to do anything else. I’ve gained confidence, travelled around the country, attended conferences, parties and book events, and made lots of new friends. I’ve also had some lovely messages from readers which have lifted my spirits and given me the emotional resilience needed to carry on. If you’ve ever wanted to contact an author to say how much you’ve enjoyed their book, don’t hesitate. You might be the person who stops them from quitting!

I feel so lucky to have got this far and to have had so many supportive and lovely people walking right beside me as I ventured along this path. I absolutely could not have done it without two, in particular.

I’ve just realised I’m nearly always on the right in all our photos together. We’re like Ant and Dec!

Julie (AKA Jessica Redland) who pushed me out of the house (not literally you understand) and encouraged me to attend all those conferences, social gatherings, meetings and events where I met all manner of lovely writerly folk. She also told me about Storm, and helped me submit to Boldwood, and she’s the one who sat across the table from me and listened patiently as I told her my latest story ideas, plot problems and writing dilemmas, chipping in with advice and offering possible solutions. She also trusted me enough to let me do the same for her. Thank you, Julie/Jessica!

And Steve. The Husband. He has come such a long way since the days he saw my writing as a threat and wanted me to give it up. I couldn’t ask for a more supportive partner in life these days, as he accompanies me on research trips, brings me coffee and snacks when I’m writing, cheers me up when I’m down and lets me (and everyone else) know how proud he is of me. Thank you, Steve!

I honestly couldn’t love him more…

And my final thanks? To my readers. Always. You made it all possible, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am. Thank you!

I hope this has been of interest to you, and maybe even of some help to some. If you’re planning to start writing yourself, or if you’ve already begun your journey, I wish you the very best of luck.

Have a great week!