Phew!

So today marks the end of my #NaNoWriMo campaign and I'm delighted to say that I won! I successfully wrote a whole novel (50,000 words) in 21 days. And I am beat!

As I shove my mouth full of my jelly baby reward and await the inevitable sugar crash I'm able to momentarily bask in completing my next novel. Normally it takes me 3 months to write a book so it's good to know that if I push myself that extra bit I can trim that time down to three weeks. But it is tough. I've been writing consecutively every day breaking targets of 4 and 5K. It has been extremely draining at times but I had my goal in mind, I knew where my story needed to go I just had to get it there.

I am now looking forward to a blissful weekend of doing not very much. Whilst #NaNovWriMo was fun I think  in future I'll stick to my 3 month turnaround times as there is far less pressure that way.

When people learn I'm a writer they often say how much they'd like to write a book of their own. My advice to those people is take advantage of #NaNovWriMo. Everyone involved in #NaNovWriMo is crazy supportive and it's that kind of encouragement which will really help you out on the days when you are struggling to write. And I can certify that it is more than humanly possible to write 50K in one month. I completed my own story whilst working full time as a freelance writer. Balance is important, so is planning. I personally find planning to be absolutely essential!

Good luck to everyone hitting the home straight with their own WIPs! I hope you all manage to cross through that finish line! I'm off to send my newly completed novel to my agent, fingers crossed she likes it!

I'm so relieved to just be finished that I'm even considering sharing my big box of jelly babies! Any takers?

xoxo

Hitting the Half Way Point

So we are ten days in to November and I've passed the 50% mark on my WIP. I'm currently at 28,031 words so am looking set to complete the novel before #NaNoWriMo concludes.

I've heard from other participants that this is often the point where they hit a wall. I can honestly say that mentally I'm pretty drained. I've been writing solidly every day but not just on my WIP but also my freelance work. I'd normally give myself a few day's off, at least over the weekend, but in order to complete the 50K within the month I really need to work everyday.

On a positive note, as tired as I may be I'm in no danger of hitting a wall. I've actually got the rest of my entire story planned out in finite detail so just need to press on and finish it now. But I am...tired. When you write you pour yourself out in to your words. You sit at your desk and just bleed and of course that level of engagement takes its toll. To those who know me I'm a bit of a zombie at the moment. When I do emerge from my Disney themed study, blinking and bleary eyed I tend to just want food (anything sugary) and some quality time with my favorite TV shows.

I am losing track of the days. I'm working late in to the night and falling asleep in the afternoons. Yet it will all be worth because my story will be complete. And then what will December have in store? Edits mainly for my upcoming releases. It really does never stop but I'm living my dream and wouldn't have it any other way!

How is everyone else's #NaNoWriMo shaping up? Hope you are all hanging in there! I tell myself to just keep writing, just keep writing, sung to the tune of Dory's 'just keep swimming' in Finding Nemo!

xoxo

NaNoWriMo

I'd heard of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) before but have never actually participated. Usually my freelance commitments mean that cracking a whole novel out in one month isn't all that achievable.

The aim of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words of your WIP in just one month. Personally, I work quite well under pressure because I enjoy making myself suffer. Since I work from home it is important to always motivate myself and I guess I see NaNoWriMo as I way of doing that. So this year I'm tossing my hat in the ring (is that even the right saying??) and I'm giving it a go.

Everything is all planned out including my story and daily word counts to hit. I'm going to be working on a YA sci-fi adventure which I've had lurking around in the nether regions of my mind for almost three years now so its high time the story, The Other You, gets to see the light of day and have some life breathed in to it.

Will I make the 50,000 target by the end of November? It depends on a lot of things really, most of all myself. I'm going to be writing a story I'm crazy excited about which will help. I also plan on bribing myself to hit daily targets with my favorite sweet treats; jelly babies (Bassetts of course). The only bump in the road might come from my freelance commitments. I'm currently writing the second part of a 60K trilogy and a 25K sweet romance novella. Since I'm contractually obligated to complete those, they sadly might take priority over my own WIP if I start to struggle.

But I'm full of naive optimism having never done NaNoWriMo before that I will hit 50K, and failing that I'll have made a decent dent in a story I've been dying to write for years!

So wish me luck! After I've eaten my weight in sweets on Halloween I'll be settling down for the next four weeks to write as much as I possibly can!

If you want to follow my progress I'll be doing updates on Twitter; @tiny_dancer85 and also via my Facebook page; https://www.facebook.com/CarysJonesWriter

http://nanowrimo.org/participants/carysj/novels/the-other-you

If anyone else is signing up for NaNoWriMo give me a shout and we can motivate each other! But no, I'm not willing to share my jelly babies before you even ask...

xoxo

Dare to Dream

What would you do if you thought the world was going to end? Like, literally? Would you try and save it? But you're only 14, stuck in a British comprehensive school and living with five siblings who daily push you to the brink of despair. These are the issues facing Maggie Trafford in my upcoming book, Dare to Dream.

I've mentioned before that I've been signed up with indie publishers Reuts. I'm really excited to be working with them and I'm currently in the midst of edits with my lovely editor Eleanor. We are hopeful that Dare to Dream will be ready to be released in to the world early next year although we won't have an exact release date until all the edits are wrapped up. And then comes the exciting part of cover reveals and release day giveaways!

I'm thrilled to have a YA book coming out soon! It is definitely the genre I most love to read! Maggie's story is also pretty personal to me as the book is set all around my home county of Shropshire. I hope everyone is as excited to read her story as I am to share it. I think we've all been there at fourteen feeling like the weight of the world is on our shoulders. Maggie truly believes that the world will soon end thanks to an onslaught of nightmares from which she can't escape. But the world can't really end, can it?

To find out, make sure you add Dare to Dream to your TBR list and keep an eye out for details around the release date!

 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23337621-dare-to-dream?from_search=true

When September Ends

I actually cannot believe that today is the last day of September. It feels like this whole month has passed by in the blink of an eye! I've been so busy writing and editing I can't remember the last time I had a day off!

With October approaching it does remind me how much I enjoy seeing the seasons change. Already in the woodlands by my home I've seen the trees releasing their conkers and loosing their auburn leaves in the breeze. Autumn is full of such rich, rustic colours but Winter will always be my favourite time of year so I'm quite excited knowing that it isn't too far away!

As September ends, so does the deal on First to Fall, the first book in my Avalon series. It will only be available for £0.59/$0.99 for a few more hours so get it while you can! I've really enjoyed being a part of the #LFFF promotion with some other wonderful thriller writers. I've now got some great additions to my TBR list which I can't wait to get stuck in to!

As I mentioned, I've been furiously writing and editing to hopefully bring a few more new releases towards the end of the year and early 2015. I've almost finished the third book in my Avalon series, Third to Die. The end is so close I can almost touch it! It has been a very emotional book to write as Aiden does arguably face some of his toughest and most distressing challenges in this book. I can't wait to share it with everyone once it is completed! 

I'm also in the midst of editing my YA dystopian release, Dare to Dream, which is scheduled to be released with Reuts in January 2015. The book should be up on Goodreads soon where you can add it to your TBR list and keep an eye out for promotional competitions closer to the release date! I can't wait to see the cover for the book, all the Reuts covers are gorgeous so I've no doubt that Dare to Dream's will be too! 

And so we say goodbye to September and embrace Autumn in all its glory! I don't know about everyone else but I'm crazy excited for the months ahead!

xoxo

#LFFF

Today is another one of those days where loads of things seem to be happening. I find that the life of a writer tends to be like that, things in terms of intensity can go from zero to a hundred without any warning! Saying that, I knew today was going to be crazy but in the best possible way!

Firstly, the sequel to First to Fall, Second to Cry is released today! I'm so excited to share what happened next for Aiden in Avalon with everyone! If you've not read the first book in my Avalon series, it is currently on offer for £0.59/$0.99 which leads me to my next piece of exciting news...

Today a wonderful promotion I'm involved with has kicked off. Some amazingly awesome authors of thrillers and mysteries kindly asked me if I wanted to be involved with their September book sale and of course I said yes! All of the books involved are on offer for the next two weeks and if you visit the website for the event you can win a $10 amazon.com gift card! Awesome, right?

So do check out Thrills and Suspense for 99 cents and if you Tweet about it, please use the #LFFF tag! It is a great way to be introduced to some new writers and get some wonderful books at a crazy low price!

On top of all that, I'm in the middle of edits for my upcoming YA release so things are super busy but I wouldn't have it any other way! I'm off to have a celebratory ginger biscuit in honor of Second to Cry's publication day! 

Until next time!

xoxo

Thunder Stealing Roger

My blog post today was supposed to be all about my exciting news that I've signed up with the Kate Nash Literary Agency. I'm now represented by the very lovely Sarah Taylor and thrilled to be working with the agency.

However, over the last few days things have been a bit tense at home as my little guinea pig, Roger, had to have surgery to have one of his eyes removed. The eye became infected and quickly escalated to the point where antibiotics wouldn't help and he would need surgery. Surgery is always risky on such small animals but we felt that we had to do everything we could for Roger.

So yesterday he went under the knife and had his eye removed : ( I was terrified that we'd lose him but I'm pleased to report that he's now home and well and stuffing his face full of hay and cucumber! He's bounced back to his cheeky old self and I'm in awe of how brave and resilient such a little creature can be!

Rollo has been camped out by his hutch all afternoon as he's equally delighted to have the little guy back with us.

Life has been tough for Roger, he lost his life long companion, Don, at the start of the year but refuses to let anything get him down. So today, my agency news has been overshadowed by Roger's outstanding bravery! He's such an awesome guinea pig and I'm so happy he's back home! He now just needs a pirate name to match his new one eyed appearance...

xoxo