Tag Archives: tips

Frost Loves: Roccabox Beauty Box + Tia Roqaa’s tips on Nighttime Skincare

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I love Roccabox. It is a fabulous box of carefully chosen goodies that brighten every single month. January’s box includes products that are all about cleaning up your beauty act with products that are as clean in their formula as they are in their imprint on the planet. February’s is all about getting a good night’s sleep. January’s box contents are worth £81, but available for £15 on roccabox.co.uk and includes the following:

Tia Roqaa, Founder, Roccabox
Roccabox’s ‘Perfect Night’s Sleep’ box goes on sale 1st February

How does skin work when we sleep? And why is it important to have a good night skincare routine?

When we’re asleep our skin goes into recovery mode, a time of intense repair and regeneration. Dermatologists consider the hours of 9 to 11pm to be the time when skin is at its most optimum for absorbing – making evenings such a prime opportunity to use your topical treatments. Throughout the night while your skin is warmer your skin is also more permeable, allowing it to absorb products more effectively. This is also the time when DNA repair is boosted. An effective nighttime skincare routine should create the perfect environment to allow all this to happen most effectively. The rise of melatonin, the ‘sleep hormone’ that occurs at night, also plays an important role in your skin’s repair: it helps to balance out the damage caused in the day by aggressors such as UV light, Blue Light and pollution. Finally, HGH – Human Growth Hormone – also kicks in overnight, and this helps to increase the skin’s cell regeneration process. A good quality and effective skincare routine works in two ways: it prepares your skin by creating the conditions that will allow it to optimise these processes. Secondly, a regular skincare ritual at night will help create a sense of calm, that our bodies start to associate with winding down and preparing for a good night’s sleep. Better still, a routine that incorporates some form of facial massage will really help to alleviate tension in the face and neck muscles and encourage a deeper sleep.

Order to use skincare at night?

Firstly, you need a thorough cleanse to detoxify the skin and remove traces of make-up, daytime products, SPF, environmental pollutants, grime – pretty much most of what has accumulated throughout the day. This will prepare the skin for the topical products that should come next: these could be retinol, to boost collagen production and support the cell renewal process; or glycolic acid if you’re looking to exfoliate and remove dead dull layers. These should be fairly light formulas: lightweight lotions or serums. Next you need to compensate for the moisture loss that occurs at night – your skin loses water overnight thanks to its increased temperature, which is why you’ll often notice skin is at its driest first thing on a morning. A hyaluronic acid will deeply hydrate to counteract this effect, although drier skin types will really benefit from a nourishing skin oil as well as or instead of. ‘Locking in’ these ingredients with a night cream or overnight mask will be the final step in your nightly routine. This should be your thickest formula of the routine.

What happens to skin, mood, body if we don’t get enough sleep?

I think we can all agree the effects of just one bad night’s sleep are pretty instant and noticeable on everything, from your complexion to your mood! If skin can’t go through its usual repair process due to interrupted sleep or a lack of sleep, and if this then happens on a regular basis, it will lead to an increase in fine lines and reduced elasticity. Skin starts to look dull and loses its glow and ‘bounce’. Cortisol levels in your body can then become dysregulated following a lack of sleep or poor quality sleep: which puts your body into a state of ‘stress’, where your blood

sugar levels struggle to stay balanced and you lack energy. Over time this can lead to increased appetite, weight gain etc, as well as poor mood, bad concentration etc.

What’s your bedtime routine to ensure you get a good night’s sleep? Any rituals, what do you recommend, skincare tips etc?

For me, avoiding my phone from 7pm is crucial. It’s not easy at all, but if I make sure it’s in another room it makes it easier. Avoiding the blue light from your phone screen is so important for allowing your body to fall into its natural sleep state. My aim this year is also to start setting a regular bed and wake time, as I can be guilty of lying in on a weekend or staying up too late bingeing on Netflix, and I do notice that regular sleep and wake-up time over time drastically improves my ability to fall asleep and rise naturally. My evening routine is really designed to encourage better sleep, so I indulge in a long hot soak, at least an hour before bedtime (your body needs to be able to cool down properly afterwards – this is what encourages sleep mode, not the heat, which people often incorrectly think!) and I will ideally elevate that bath with some bath salts or a bath oil that contain magnesium, to ease muscle tension and induce calm. At the moment I really love Skin and Tonic’s Bath Soak. I will burn my favorite Neom Sleep candle as I massage in Paul Yacomine’s really indulgent body oil. I find the whole process of massage so meditative. Next, on double-cleansed skin I’ll use my ‘nightime’ wardrobe of products: I switch between retinol, which my skin loves, and salicylic acid, if my skin is going through a hormonal outbreak, followed by a nourishing facial oil, as my skin can get particularly dry overnight. Finally, I like to spritz Feather & Down’s Pillow Spray – which contains a dreamy blend of calming ingredients – onto my bedding and whatever I’m wearing for bed. Only then do I feel truly ready to sleep!

 

How I got a Literary Agent.

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In January this year one of the most amazing things happened to me: I got a literary agent. Having an agent was always something beyond my wildest dreams, more than that, my agent is the amazing Susan Yearwood. Champagne popping time indeed.

I spent the months in the run up to Christmas researching agents and sending off submissions. I went through The Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook with precision, choosing ten agents to send my book off to. I researched every agent heavily and Susan called to me. There are a few interviews I found in which Susan and her ethos resonated with me. I knew she was The One.  In fact, before her email asking to schedule a call with her, I had a dream she was my agent and we were being interviewed at a literary festival together.

In the end I sent my first novel off to a lot of agents and publishers. I got a lot of good feedback and a few full manuscript requests. I also got a wonderful rejection from Harper Collins, who read the entire thing and sent me four paragraphs of feedback. They even asked me to send them anything else I wrote. In the end Susan passed on my first novel, but she liked my writing enough to ask if I had anything else I could send her. Thankfully I did. I always write a first draft of a book and then get started on another one while I let the other one sit. Then I go back to it with fresh eyes, alternating my drafts. I did not think the other book was ready and had spent hundreds sending it off to a professional editing agency for feedback. By the time the feedback came back Susan had been my agent for three months! It may have been a waste of money, but I have no complaints.

Susan loved the book and took my on as a client after our phone call. I was a true pinch me moment. For anyone who wants an agent and does not have one yet I would say the following things:

  • Write a good book. Send off the first three chapters, along with a synopsis that really grabs.
  • Collate all of the writing you have done and any awards you have won. Write a paragraph about yourself that sells all you have to offer. Covering letters are important.
  • Get a copy of The Write”s and Artists’ Yearbook and research what agents work in your genre.
  • Start submitting.
  • Keep submitting.
  • Take rejection in your stride.
  • Listen to all feedback.
  • Redo your submission to suit various agents.
  • Start writing your new book.

 

Good luck!

 

Susannah Wise: My Writing Process

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  • Susannah Wise: My Writing Process
      What you have written, past and present

 Like so many authors, I have always written stories, poems, and the beginnings of ‘novels’ that remained forever unfinished. As a young child these were complete with messy felt-tip illustrations and growing up, pieces of my work would appear in the school magazine each term. I’m still not sure of their merit, but Mum always thought they were great, and she obviously wasn’t biased. 

    In my late teens, I found myself in a long relationship with a playwright and screenwriter, and encouraged by him, began a regular writing practice between acting jobs: short stories, plays, more poetry than I can recall; always poetry – I have an engraved Moleskine at home full of these personal noodlings. When I die, I dread to think of my family going through them. 

     In my thirties, frustrated with the quality of scripts I was reading (I am also an actor), I began to write screenplays and comedy pilots of my own. These would garner modest amounts of interest from the powers that be at television channels, but never reached fruition and they are now consigned to my ‘oh well’ drawer.

    In truth, it was only shock, when my father was given a terminal cancer diagnosis back in 2015, that propelled me into writing seriously. I think it made me reassess what my life and what I was waiting for. I tentatively started the novel that was to become This Fragile Earth, and discovered I loved everything about the daily practice of writing: the space and time long-form prose gave me in my head, the agency I had over my characters and the world-building. I haven’t stopped writing since.

     What are you promoting now?

    This Fragile Earth is my debut, and the hardback is out on 24th June of this year. It’s a post-apocalyptic survival story about a mother, Signy, and her six-year-old son, Jed, who following a tragic event, are forced to flee near-future London and travel to the Midlands to seek out the protagonist’s mother. When they get there, however, things are far worse than they could ever have imagined. The book is a grounded science fiction thriller, with at its centre, the beating heart between the two main characters.

If you’re a fan of John Wyndham, or perhaps Emily St Mandel’s Station Eleven, this is the book for you.

Susannah Wise: My Writing Process, my fragile earth

A bit about your process of writing, how do you do your structure, and do you plan or just write?

 I find it very hard to talk about ‘process’ when discussing art of any kind. I know some people are good at it, I’m not. I’ve written three books and for each one the process has been different. With This Fragile Earth the plot came to me quickly over the course of one night. With only a few small tweaks, I set about writing it directly from the ideas bubbling in my head. I already had a decent grounding in some of the themes in the book, although I made up almost all the ‘science’ myself. I even dreamt one of the main coding theories in there! In the course of completing it though, I did more research, attending lectures and reading books on the subject and so on. 

    My second novel, out next year, is a dark comedy about grief. When I set out writing it, I had no idea what it would be about, barring the bare bones. I had no plot, only two characters and not a clue what the ending would be. I took part in the Faber Academy novel-writing course over six months in 2018 and completed an entire first draft. I really loved the ‘pants-ing’ rather than ‘planning’ nature of this book, though it did mean rather a lot of editing once finished, of course!

    My third novel is set around some dodgy goings-on in a small village in Cumbria. Before I began, I had a plot, all the characters, and a location, and wrote out each point at the start. I did research on some elements in the book (I can’t say what they are here without giving the game away!), but the setting is a place very familiar to me, so that helped a lot. A few plot points have moved within the process of writing it, but basically, I am sticking to my initial ideas. I began during lockdown in April last year and am still going strong: I was hoping the first draft would be about 75K words, but I think it will be closer to 100K. Its completion has been hampered by home-schooling, preparing This Fragile Earth for publication, editing my second book, and the fact my partner has been away for seven months for work since January. It’s been slow-going, but I’m hoping the book is no worse for it. 

    I tend to write in the morning for two hours if I can, either at 9.30 straight after dropping my son at school, or after a walk or some sort of exercise, around 11. I find it very hard to write in the afternoon for some reason but will force myself to if I’ve been unable to complete my daily words beforehand. I’m also an actor, and auditioning and learning lines, as well as acting work itself, eats into a vast amount of writing time. Saying that, there is a lot of hanging around when one is filming, so I always take my laptop with me and use the time to catch up on my word count. It’s a brilliant and unexpected bonus and has made me far less resentful about all the ‘wasted’ hours actors endure.

Most of the time I am not filming and will write at the kitchen table (without music) or kneeling on the rug in our living room, using the coffee table as a desk. I get terrible dead feet after I stand up and will often hobble around comically for half an hour trying to eradicate the pins and needles. I have a special foam support for my wrists too, as I tend to get RSI after a long period of typing. My eyes do go a bit squiffy after a long session of intense focus. Basically, I’m falling to pieces.

What about word count?

    I tend to set myself a very achievable 500 words per day (five days a week) when I’m drafting. This will take me around an hour to an hour and a half. Then another hour perhaps of reviewing the previous day’s words. I prefer to set a low bar as I find I work better if I’m hitting my target than setting unrealistic goals, then spending the rest of the day beating myself up for my failures. This helps me stay motivated, which is important when undertaking such a vast piece of work. 

    When I’m editing a completed draft, I can easily spend three or four hours at my desk and hardly even notice where the time has gone. Even more if I have line edits back from my publisher. I once spent ten hours working on notes from my agent. I would strongly advise against this. 

What do you find hard about writing?

Ha. Well, this is a tricky one to answer, because without meaning to sound like a plonker, I really feel – for me at least – that writing is the best job in the world. I guess if I had to say a couple of things, one would be the loneliness (though ironically, this is also one of the things I love about writing). It can be a little isolating spending all day with only the people in your head for company, before going out for a walk alone. Sometimes 24 hours can pass and the only person I will have spoken to is my 11- year-old son. Love him as I do, he’s not a great dinner table conversationalist. 

The other thing I find difficult is the mental responsibility. By this I mean that like the expression ‘this book isn’t going to write itself’, the completion of any book is entirely in the hands of the author. The manuscript sits like a patient pet waiting for attention, but if there happen to be other things going on in life, it requires huge amounts of discipline and mental energy to carve out time to honour this. Some days the words fly out, some they are like sticks in a muddy dam. It’s important to know when to just close the computer and get one with something else

What do you love about writing?

What’s not to love?! I love that no one else is there making me write, it is entirely my own work, that ‘being left alone’ feeling. I love that it allows time for introspection. I gain a great sense of inner peace from its practice. On top of this, having a whole world in the palm of one’s hand is just the greatest feeling. There is huge satisfaction in putting words in order so that they have rhythm and cadence, just like music. The joy when one reads back a passage and thinks ‘hmm, that isn’t half bad,’ is like nothing else. 

More than this though, is the vast pride and sense of achievement from completing a novel, especially when one gets to see it type-set, or in its proof form, or better still the actual finished version. It is an object created outside oneself, to be held in the hands of others, taking them to new places, and will it live on long after the author is dead and gone. I still can’t quite get my head around this concept. 

This Fragile Earth by Susannah Wise is out now in hardback by Gollancz.

 

How to Keep Your Child Motivated to Learn at Home

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homeschooling, home learning, lockdown, lockdown three, lockdown 3, remote learning, schooling, education, coronavirus, covid 19, After parents stepped into the shoes of a teacher in the first lockdown, there was a sigh of relief as children were finally welcomed back through the school gates in June.

But, as the virus has rapidly spread over the Christmas period, millions of primary school children will not return to education until after the February half-term, meaning it’s time for parents to re-tackle home learning once again. 

The Office for National Statistics found that the majority of British children struggled to learn from home during the first lockdown, with three-quarters of parents giving a lack of motivation as the reason why. So how can we keep our children focused this second time around? 

The team over at Essential Living have worked with Counsellor Kerry Quigley on this handy guide for parents to help keep your children motivated whilst learning from home. Kerry Quigley has been a counsellor for over 17 years, here she offers tips on keeping children mentally engaged and helping them to learn under difficult circumstances. 

 

Start and stick to a routine

 

A routine is extremely important, as not only does it give structure to your day but is also mentally beneficial. A recent study found that children feel safer and more secure when their lives have a predictable routine. 

 

Having a routine can also have a positive impact on mental wellbeing, no matter what your age (cause we’re still talking about kids here right).

 

Counsellor Kerry Quigley, who is accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy said: “Children learn better in a structured routine. Where possible maintain a consistent sleep pattern, meal times and regular breaks. This will help to support your child’s concentration and energy levels.”

Your routine should be similar to a normal school day, including going outdoors, different types of skills learning and regular breaks. Here is an example you can follow: 

Or if your child’s school uploads tasks for them to complete every day, ensure they know what they have to do and that they have the equipment to complete them.

Create a rewards-based system

 

A rewards system is a great motivational tool used by teachers to encourage children to do something they may not enjoy by rewarding them for hard work and good behaviour.

 

 

Not only does it motivate but also helps improve behaviour. By deducting points for bad behaviour, this is a good alternative to another form of punishment like being sent to the naughty step. All this does is interrupts your routine and distracts workflow.

 

Counsellor Quigley believes, “It is important to remember to praise and reward their achievements. This will build upon your child’s self-esteem and encourage independence.” 

 

Unsure where to start? Here is a tutorial example with parental tips for creating a rewards system for your child: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQqGUCguWyY&feature=emb_logo 

 

Young children can benefit from sticker charts and it’s a good idea to get them involved with creating and keeping the chart up to date. Allow your child to decorate a piece of paper themselves to use as their own personal rewards chart. Let them choose different coloured stickers and give them a target to achieve per day. Giving daily targets will help increase a sense of self-confidence and motivate them to reach their goal. 

For older children, try offering other types of incentives such as an extra hour of television or a small gift for their efforts.

Introduce cooking

 

Younger children love to help out around the home, and take pride in seeing something they have helped to create. So, take pride in seeing something they have helped to create. 

 

Often we focus on one learning area like maths or science, but we forget that we can choose activities that incorporate several learning concepts.

 

Choose a recipe every day including different ingredients like flour or eggs. Use scales and ask them to weigh out different measurements. This will help them to understand concepts such as weights and fractions.

 

Through cooking, you can also teach a number of other skills such as:

  • Hygiene skills issues such as the importance of washing hands 
  • Reading labels for nutritional information
  • The importance of a balanced diet and the different food groups
  • Basic safety skills such as preventing burns from hot pans and the stove
  • and making sure food is not spoiled or contaminated by reading the labels

 

Counsellor Quigley believes: “Whilst it is important to give clear instructions and expectations, this will help motivate your child and build upon your child’s self-esteem and encourage independence.”

 

Here are some Lockdown friendly recipes for kids to help you get started: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Kydl6dQIBk&feature=emb_logo

Encourage your children to stay connected to the outside world

Your child mustn’t become too disconnected from the outside world. During the first lockdown, parents became increasingly concerned that not attending school or social events would hold back their child’s development at such an early age. If your child is still struggling to adjust to this new, isolated environment reassure them that it is temporary. 

 

To help provide normality, allow them to interact online with peers. Try scheduling regular calls with a school teacher or a member of the family to discuss the progress of learning and other activities during their day. Knowing they will be speaking with someone on the outside world can give them that boost they might have needed. 

 

Counsellor Quigley said: “By empathising with your child’s feelings this will help them to feel heard and understood, and also support a positive relationship between you and your child.”

 

For any more advice or guidance from Counsellor Quigley, you can contact her through the Glister Counselling website: https://glister.uk.com/contact-us/

 

Thanks to Essential Living: https://www.essentialliving.co.uk/

 

My Writing Process Terence Gallagher

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My writing routine:

I spend a lot of time working out in my head what I am going to write before I commit anything to my iPad which is my preferred writing tool. Only one to two hours a day is spent typing. I like to work out phrases and dialogue while I’m out walking my two Irish Setters or riding my bike. I also do a fair amount of research while I’m on the go. I use my iPhone in coffee shops to surf the web as I nail down the details of locales I am using, or to check historical facts. 

A bit about me:

I am Irish. I grew up in Dublin in the sixties. I am a proud graduate of  Trinity College Dublin. After College I went into management consultancy and ended up working in a wide variety of cities and countries worldwide. I am married with three grown children and split my time between Naples Florida, and Howth, a small fishing village north of Dublin. In both cases I live by water. I find it therapeutic to look out on a seascape whether it be the Gulf of Mexico or the Irish sea. My hobbies include, biking, working out, and walking. I am a music lover with a particular affinity for classical and Blues. My home in Howth  stands on an acre and this has made me a reluctant gardener.

What I have written, past and present:

So far I have published two novels, Fujita 4, and Analyst Session. Both of these are available as ebooks and in paperback. I also had Fujita 4 professionally narrated and it is in audiobook format. I found it very exciting to have my characters brought to life and given a voice by a skilled actor. I am currently working on my third novel, A Coup in Makati.

What I am promoting now:

 Analyst Session was just recently published and I am busy with promotional activity. It’s quite a juggling act to stay on top of PR for one book while trying to make progress on the next.

My writing process:

I use Scrivener word processing software to structure the outline of a book before I begin writing in earnest. Scrivener is specifically designed for authors. I create a summary of each chapter. I also use it to store sketches of  all the major characters and to keep research notes. I then methodically work my way through from start to finish of the book. This means that each day I know what I have to work on next and I can keep from being overwhelmed by the magnitude of my task.

What about word count?:

As regards word count I go in aiming to create a work of between sixty and seventy thousand words. If I know how many chapters I have outlined, I roughly know how many words a chapter. This helps  me figure out where the plot is light or I need to do more with characterisation. I run work in progress through Grammarly. This is a decent software package that will catch typos and many grammatical errors. 

How do I create my structure:

It starts with the central character. I have to really know and understand him or her. Its as if they stand alone on an empty stage. I then like to create life situations which test my protagonist’s moral belief system. The milieu in which this plays out will be a place where I have lived or spent significant time in my own life. It’s easier to have the settings for the story be realistic. Other characters whose actions will precipitate the moral conflict then come to life. 

What do I find hard about writing:

The most challenging aspect of writing for me is communicating the interior emotional life of my characters, particularly my female characters. The daily word output slows dramatically when I am wrestling with this. 

What I love:

What I love about writing is conceiving a cast of characters, placing them in my fictional world, and seeing how they react and evolve. They tend to take on a life of their own. It wreaks havoc with the plot-line a lot of the time but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Advice for other writers:

Advice I would have is take advantage of some the great software out there to help with the writing process. I have also used a variety of professionals to help edit and polish my work. I have used Reedsy and Fiverr to hire these and by and large it has worked out well for me. 

Georges Simenon, the author of  the Maigret stories was able to crank out a book in eleven days! It took Flaubert five years to write Madame Bovary. Every writer has their own pace. Writing is a solitary activity. It requires self discipline. All sorts of distractions can get in the way if you let them. It is important to have some sort of routine and schedule when setting out to write something.

Analyst Session is available as an ebook or in paperback from Amazon.

My Writing Process CJ Daugherty

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I’m a former journalist and ex-Whitehall civil servant. I was raised in Texas, but have lived in Britain most of my adult life. 

I’m the author of the boarding-school thriller series, Night School, and the US-based crime series, The Echo Killing, set in the southern town of Savannah. 

My new novel, Number 10, follows the 16-year-old daughter of the new prime minister as she rebels against the constraints of living in Number 10 Downing Street, and the intense security that surrounds her. When she stumbles across a Russia-led plot to kill her mother and replace her with a puppet prime minister, she’s determined to stop it. But will anyone believe her? 

 A bit about your process of writing. 

I discovered long ago that trying to write in the morning was pointless for me. I use mornings for admin and other work, and I usually settle down to write at about 3pm. I turn off the internet and the phone, and I write for four hours straight, stopping at around seven. If the writing’s going well, I often pick it up again after dinner and write until midnight. 

 CJ Daugherty

Do you plan or just write?

I plan a moderate amount. My first step is always a one-page synopsis, which I share with my agent. If she likes it, I expand it to two pages, and then to eight. My theory is, if I can’t get eight pages out of the plot, I don’t have a big enough of an idea for the book. Once I do have that much material, I sit down to write chapter one. 

What about word count?

Word count for me is a tale of three halves, basically. In the first 10 chapters of the book, I’m happy if I reach 500 words a day. From chapter 10 to chapter 20, I expect 1200 words a day. After chapter 20, if I don’t reach 2,000 words a day, it’s a bad day.

 How do you do your structure?

My structure is freeform, but I shoot for a W-shape to every plot. Start on a high. Then develop character and explore the plot. Build to a mid-book crescendo. Then dip the pace a little as the characters investigate the main incident and I thread in b-plot and c-plot. End on a high. One of my books (A Beautiful Corpse) ends with the main character deploying a baseball bat against a murderer. Nothing like a fight scene to get the story moving.

 What do you find hard about writing?

It’s very hard for me to be patient with the amount of time it takes to conceive of and create each book. Even once I’ve got the idea and it’s begun to take shape, there’s still months of thought and planning that has to happen before I can build flesh and blood around the basic bones of that first idea. Taking the time to methodically go over and over the same content requires real effort.

 What do you love about writing? 

The magic of it. The moment when I can hear my characters’ voices in my head. The way I can see the locations in the book in vivid, three-dimensional form, as if I’ve been inside their houses. Stood on those porches. Walked through their woods. I spent so much time inventing the inside of Number 10 Downing Street for my latest book, I felt as if I’d lived there myself. It’s an extraordinary illusion, and it comes from taking the time to build those places in your mind, and on the page.

 Advice for other writers. 

To get through the start of a book it helps to know what the ending will be. When you begin planning, think it through all the way. Once you have a beginning and an ending, then you can spend time on the rest of the journey. I think most writers give up when writing because they get stuck, and I think they get stuck because they don’t know exactly where they’re going. Find your ending, and the rest may fall into place.

 Number 10 by CJ Daugherty is out now, £9.99 from Moonflower Books available on Amazon here.

 

Helene Fermont – My Writing Process

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Helene FermontMy Writing Routine
 This is my favourite topic!
 I’ve written about it in newsletters and blogs.
 Essentially, I don’t work like a majority of authors.
 For a start, I can’t work in public places as the noise would
 disrupt me. As a practising psychologist, my writing happens
 every chance I get between patient consultations, meetings
 and conferences. I write weekends, early mornings prior to work,
 evenings, nights and during holidays. In fact, I’ve not had a break
 for a very long time. I enjoy my line of work very much but writing
 is my passion. Both fit well together as my day job perfectly fit with
 my genre, Character Driven Psychological Thrillers With A Noir Edge.
 My writing routine:
 Irrelevant of when I work on a book, I always work at my desk in my home
 or work office. No disruptions, calls, messages, nothing except what I focus
on there and then. I read through what I’ve written the last time to get a sense
structure, sequence and, most importantly, a feel for the characters and storyline.
Without a flow and prose, points of views and being part of the scenes and dialogues,
my characters wouldn’t come across as intended.
I write in long stretches, so for ex if writing early mornings and late evenings
and weekends and holidays, I always work for at least four to five hours after
which I have a break, an hour’s walk to clear my mind, playing with my cat, Teddy,
who faithfully sits next to me in his old wooden box or in a favourite chair.
I continue working on my book/books for at least another four to five hours,
edit that day’s work and make notes on what to work on, improve and much more
prior to the next writing session. I write biographies of all characters, their interaction,
similarities and differences. My characters drive the storyline so must be satisfied
they come across as real people, relatable and identifiable.
The Swedish part of me is very organised, structured and self disciplined. All of it
helps to keep me ahead of deadlines and time to return to parts of the storyline
and plot that require more attention. You’d be right thinking my characters take
some time to create, develop further and the storyline evolves around them.
It’s the reason I prefer to write a synopsis later, usually when mid through the novel.
Because only then will I know exactly what outcome and tie up loose ends.

I’m Anglo Swedish, my birth place is Malmö, Sweden’s third largest city.

 I’ve been a performing musical artist when younger, come from a very cosmopolitan
 family and background, British and Swedish parents. I’m bilingual and so far lived
 longer in the U.K. than my native Sweden. I love writing every chance I get,
 love my day job and all the wonderful people I get to meet and counsel.
 I love animals and sports, couldn’t imagine a life without literature and am a ferocious
 reader, mainly of my own genre, as well as cross reading.
 I enjoy long conversations, travelling, lots of getting togethers over Fika ( coffee breaks ) In lovely cafes, parks and beaches, the spectacular scenery and nature in Malmö
 and similar places in London.
 I communicate well with all kinds of people, carry a notebook when out and about
 even on the bedside table in case I come up with new ideas for characters and stories
 when asleep! Characters come to me when I least expect it, and premises for
 new storylines. I’ve so far never suffered with writer’s block and have many books
 just waiting to be written in the foreseeable future. I make notes of new casts
 of characters and novels, short stories and blogs. I enjoy socialising with special
 people, friends and family, eating and cooking are favourite pastimes.
 I’m very grounded, extremely communicative and a good listener.
 Quite simply; I love life and have a positive outlook and attitude.
What you have written, past and present.

So far, I’ve written five books. Because Of You, We Never Said Goodbye,

 His Guilty Secret, and One Fatal Night which was published recently.
 I’ve also written a short story collection, Who’s Sorry Now?
 I’m working on my next psychological thriller, The Matchmaker.
What you are promoting now.

One Fatal Night, set in Norway with an explosive plot, protagonists

and many twists and turns.
Do you plan or just write?

I work to a brief plan, write the first couple of drafts and edit after I’ve finished

 the novel after which I and my editor collaborate on the editing process.
 My writing’s very intuitive, the characters come first so must feel the storyline
 works for and with them or I’ll change the story while still keeping the initial premise.

What about word count?

I don’t worry about that as long as everything fits with what I intended.

 My debut novel’s word count is over 140000 words, the others between
 50-100.000.

How do you do your structure?

I know exactly the sequence of what must follow each chapter.

 So no detailed synopsis until mid through the novel, but a very clear
 and detailed content for each chapter and, of course, much emphasis
 on my characters.

What do you find hard about writing?

Getting the inspiration when I’m tired after a long day’s work.

 The isolation of working on my own with no one to discuss ideas with.
 Apart from that, writing comes natural to me since I’m very used to working
 without company and quite enjoy it. Living with my characters!

What do you love about writing?

The progress when getting the characters and storylines just right.

 Feeling my characters emotions, being there in the scene with them,
 and excitement when the story turns out just like I planned and intended.
 Significantly, holding the book and feeling a sense of pride I Did it!
 Getting positive feedback and comments from my readers mean the world to me.

Advice for other writers.
 Always write what you want and what comes natural to you.
 Don’t follow trends and Never copy other authors.
 Your voice and uniqueness are what truly makes you special.
  I never read when writing my books and stories for fear others work
  will influence me subconsciously.
  Having a positive attitude helps a lot too! Oh, and patience!

My Writing Process Glenda Young

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Glenda Young, author, writer, The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon by Glenda Young is published 1st October (£7.99, Paperback, Headline)

1.      A bit about you.

My name’s Glenda Young and I’ve loved writing ever since I was a child. I live in the northeast and my novels are set in the coalmining village of Ryhope where I was born and bred. You don’t need to know the village to enjoy the books, which are gritty and dramatic and have a feisty, young heroine at their core. All of my books are stand alone books and you can read them in any order. 

I’m a life-long fan of the soap opera Coronation Street run two Coronation Street fan sites – Corrie.net online since 1995 and the Coronation Street Blog which was launched in 2007.
2. What you have written, past and present.

I’ve written six novels to date published with Headline. The first four are now available and these are Belle of the Back Streets, The Tuppenny Child, Pearl of Pit Lane and The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon. Still to come are The Paper Mill Girl and novel six which has the title to be confirmed. The novels are gritty sagas, inspired by my love of soap opera, really dramatic with lots of action and some great women characters!

I’ve also built an impressive reputation as an award-winning short story writer.  Plus, I have an unusual claim to fame! I’m the creator of the first ever weekly soap opera Riverside to appear in The People’s Friend, the longest running women’s magazine in the world. My short fiction has appeared in magazines including Take a Break, My Weekly and The People’s Friend. In 2019 I was a finalist in the Clement & Le Frenais Comedy Award.

As a life-long fan of the soap opera Coronation Street I’ve written TV Tie-In books about the show including Coronation Street: The official colouring book, Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street, A Perfect Duet. The Diary of Roy and Hayley Cropper in Coronation Street, and have written major updates to Coronation Street: The Novel and Coronation Street: The Complete Saga.

3. What you are promoting now.

My fourth novel is The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon. It’s a dramatic, gritty story set in a small village in 1919. It begins with a new born baby girl being left on the doorstep of a very grand house. The baby is left in a basket that has a scarlet ribbon tied around the handle. The housekeeper of the wealthy McNally family takes the baby into her care and names her Jess. Sworn to secrecy about the baby’s true identity, the housekeeper brings Jess up as her own, giving Jess no reason to question where she came from. But when the housekeeper passes away, grief-stricken Jess, now sixteen, is banished from the place she’s always called home. With the scarlet ribbon the only connection to her past, will Jess ever find out where she really belongs? And will she uncover the truth about the ruthless McNallys?

4. A bit about your process of writing.

I write in the mornings when I can concentrate better. I stop for coffee and have a break, do some thinking and then return to writing. I try to write 2,000 words per day. I find I’m much more able and creative in the mornings than in the afternoon. I live close to a lovely beach so I walk on the beach in the afternoons or go for a bike ride. This helps clear my head after writing all morning.

5. Do you plan or just write?

I always plan, even if it’s just a short story I’ll make a list of say, ten things I want to include from start to finish. I plot and plan loosely as I think all writers know that once you start writing your work takes on a life of its own and you should go with the flow to a certain extent. I liken my plotting and planning to building a frame on which to weave my words. It’s always flexible to change as I go but I always have a structure in place so I know what I’m doing and where I’m going, even if sometimes I go off on a side road for a little while.
6. What about word count?

For novels it’s usually around 100,000 words and for short stories for women’s magazines, it can be anything from 700 words up to 3,000 and beyond.

7. How do you do your structure?

For my novels I take sheets of A4 paper, one for each chapter and lay them out on the floor. Then I take my plot points and spread them out on post-it notes across the book, moving them around until I’m happy. Then I type up chapter plans, just a couple of paragraphs for each chapter so I know what I’m doing within each one. Then once I start writing, characters appear I never planned for, incidents happen I never envisaged and the book takes on a life of its own. It’s quite scary how it happens and I don’t truly understand it. Perhaps that’s the secret?

8. What do you find hard about writing?

Switching off. When I’m writing a novel it’s all encompassing, my entire concentration goes into my work for the duration I’m writing it. I’m living in that world and I love it, it’s all I can think about as I immerse myself into the story.

9. What do you love about writing?

Everything! From getting that initial spark of an idea to seeing my books on the shelves of the bookshops and getting amazing reviews online and in the press and on radio, etc. There’s nothing I don’t like.

10. Advice for other writers?

Never give up. Never.

http://glendayoungbooks.com

@flaming_nora on Twitter.