Somewhere between the sun and the clouds.

Yesterday, the sky was cobalt blue and the warmth of the full and uninhibited sun fell upon my skin, making the hairs on the backs of my arms stand on end. It was a welcome feeling, and I accepted every inch of potential the brilliant rays of heat cast upon me.

Today, there's an altogether different picture above me. Thick, grey clouds have rolled in and buried the sun beneath them as they re-establish their reign. They weren't overthrown for long. I close my eyes and imagine that I'm a child that can blow them away with large breaths. I would try, but however sincere the sentiment I know it would do no good.

As usual, there's no warning to signal the change in weather. No time to prepare for what the clouds are brewing. I hope, as always, for minimal damage this time around, and that the storm doesn't last as long as the time before.

I know that in the future, the sun will peep from behind the clouds once more, and the familiar sensation I enjoyed yesterday will touch my skin again. Each time I savour it more keenly, unsure how long I will be allowed to feel this way.

Most of the time, I live somewhere between the sun and the clouds, in the quiet contentment that exists as the two cohabit in the vast sky.

Occasionally, the cobalt blue sky returns and takes me by surprise. When it does, I lay beneath it and appreciate the calm as I think over all the storms I've faced and survived. Ever hopeful that this time, the patches of warmth and occasional unbridled heat of the sun find a way to remain.

KT x

The End

Well what can I say, it's been a true labour of love, but I am more than thrilled to announce that my debut novel, Meet Me in the Treehouse is indeed finished. I can barely believe it as I type these words. In fact, I feel a bit overwhelmed. It wasn’t easy and those nearest to me know that I wanted to give up so many times, but I persevered and I am so proud of myself and what I have achieved. As I read the final chapter tonight I found that I had goose bumps, which I am taking as a good sign that what I have written is full of both my heart and soul.

I am planning on enjoying a glass or three of Prosecco tonight in mini celebration. The big celebrations I will save for the day that it get's published.

Thank you all again so much for the support.

Literary agents and publishers here I come…I hope you are ready.

KT x

‘If it doesn’t open it’s not your door’.

I wrote in May this year about ‘Pushing doors, aiming high, dreaming big’, before I submitted my chapters to: The Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller competition. A week has passed since the competition shortlist was announced. Of course, it would have been nice to have been on it, but as the quote reads, ‘If it doesn’t open it’s not your door’. I’ll never know how close I came to being shortlisted. Did the judges dismiss me upon reading the first paragraph? Or did my chapters make it in to the hundreds from thousands, or the top ten, even? Only eight were successful, and for all I know I could have been the ninth. It’s both incredibly frustrating, the not knowing, and sort of exciting. Professionals within the publishing industry have read my work- I may not have been what they were looking for this time, but I hope that they saw some promise in my writing.

 

 

I have several other doors lined up in the coming weeks. The next is a week today (see link below), and I am very excited by it…

http://booksandthecity.co.uk/one-day/

Books and the City, are hosting a #DigitalOriginals #OneDay call for submissions from authors. Instead of having to try and attract a literary agent to get published, for one day, you can go direct to the publisher. If they like your submitted first chapter then they will request the completed novel. If your novel is selected then they will publish it in digital format…My insides dance as I write the words: ‘publish it’. Again, I imagine that I will be up against some great writers, but it’s too good an opportunity to miss to let that put me off.

‘#DigitalOriginals is part of the Simon & Schuster UK publishing company’. The same publishing company of my favourite female author, Paige Toon, whose books I’ve been reading for almost a decade. I would be immensely proud to have my novel published by them.

Another great plus side to entering this event, aside from having my novel potentially published and being able to meet my writing heroines, are the deadlines it brings with it. Who doesn’t work better to a deadline? When we have all the time in the world, we tend to take longer to achieve something. There’s no rush, no urgency. Add a deadline and we work harder and faster. Yes, we probably sleep less and worry more, but there’s a sense of purpose and achievement in working towards something. If The Books and the City team want to read my complete novel, they will let me know within six weeks of submitting chapter one…that’s really REALLY soon. So, if any of you are planning on seeing me in the next month, then be prepared. Bring chocolate, coffee and hugs (lots of hugs).

 
Last week my ‘sis’, as I like to call her, or my ‘sister from another mister’, Ruth, who has been my rock in this writing journey so far, said to me: ‘If anyone has got the determination to succeed it’s you!’ I used to wonder why authors had such long acknowledgements in their books, now I know why. Writing is hard. Self-doubt creeps in constantly. It would be easy to give up, which is why so many people do. The people championing you- who believe in you even when you’re having days when you don’t believe in yourself, keep you going. I’m lucky to have so many people championing me- who believe in me and my writing. You know who you are! I have already reserved a space for you in my acknowledgements page.

So for now, I will get back to editing my novel and leave you with this…

 

‘The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.’ Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.  

KT x

The wait is almost over...

The shortlist for The Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller is upon us and all successful authors will be informed by tomorrow. There are a range of emotions currently circling my body in the rather tense wait to find out. The butterflies rampaging in my stomach are flitting between excitement, nerves, fear, and then back to excitement again. I've tried to distract myself. I've tried to tell myself that the odds of being shortlisted are very slim. One kind author, who was shortlisted last year, said to me that 'a handful of people out of thousands is a tough call' and not to be disheartened if I'm not chosen. Another lovely author said: 'you are in control of your writing journey'.
Both have encouraged me to keep going until I see my dream realised.

You all know what it would mean to me to be in the next stage of the competition, but I know that my dream won't stop here if I am not successful this time. Ive already got great opportunities lined up in the coming weeks and my novel is the closest to completed it has ever been.

So, watch this space. I know some of you are as eager to read 'Meet Me in the Treehouse', as I am to see it published.

Remember: "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream..." C.S.Lewis


KT x

Read Me When You’re Older…

To my son,

You are almost five.

Being your mum has been the best and hardest journey I’ve ever been on. No one tells you just how much you will worry when you have a child. No one can make you see or feel how much you will love them. It’s hard to remember a time before you existed, or how I possibly filled the hours in a day without you to look after.

I love that you have your own ways and that your personality already stands out. I love your thirst for knowledge. You try and figure out how everything works around you with questions and probing. I encourage you to never stop doing that. Learn all that you can and use it to be a good man. A wise man that’s compassionate and successful.

I love how we already know each other- a connection between mother and son. I Love how we make each other laugh. How we drive each other slightly crazy when we’re both tired (there’s more of that to come over the years). Remember, when I’m driving you crazy it’s because I love and believe in you. I want what’s best for you, and for you to be all you can be in this life. I want you to be safe, and most of all happy. I will try and remember that you won’t drive me crazy forever, that all the things I’ve taught you will one day see you through.

Don’t ever try to be someone you’re not. I love who you already are and who you have the potential to be. Choose good friends, because the people in your life will influence you more than you know.

Remember that I am always your mum and I’m always here. I don’t always get it right. In fact, as you grow up you will see how wrong I do get things sometimes. One day If you have children of your own you will know why. Being a parent isn’t always easy, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.

You have made me prouder in the past five years than I’ve been in my entire life. I look forward to the rest of this journey as you grow up.

Let’s have fun and keep learning together.

Love always,

Mum x

Thank you for your submission...

Well, It's official! I have pressed the 'submit' button and I am now entered into the competition. Thank you to all who have supported me so far. It's been quite the journey already...
I'm looking forward to the next phase of completing my manuscript, and as ever I will be keeping my fingers and toes crossed for the 30th June.
There is plenty of work ahead, but each stage see's me closer to realising the dream, and having 'Meet Me in the Treehouse' published for you all to read!

Watch this space...

KT x

Pushing doors. Aiming high. Dreaming big!

  After working tirelessly away on my first novel: Meet Me in the Treehouse, I am pleased to say that it is two thirds finished. However, ‘finished’ is a strange concept when writing a novel, something I now know only too well. Even when you have a ‘finished manuscript’ (if we are speaking technically), there are many revisions and tweaks required before it is ready to send to anyone in the professional realm. I have just spent the past few weeks polishing my first three chapters, because as some of you may be aware, I am entering the Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller 2016 competition. Not only have I been polishing my first three chapters for the competition submission, rearranging words, moving comma’s, taking out nonsense, or as my cousin Jayne pointed out: the millionth reference to a cup of tea in 9 paragraphs! (Come on, I live in Derbyshire! They drink a lot of tea here!) I also had to write a one page synopsis of the plot, and the main characters, which had to reveal the ending (*Spoiler alert*). Don’t worry, I won’t be sharing that on here, you will all have to wait for the book to be published. The synopsis, along with the first three chapters, will be how the judges decide if they want to shortlist my novel and read the ‘finished manuscript’.  

In order to write the dreaded synopsis, where I was to condense my 80,000 words into an A4 sheet of paper, I locked myself away in my house for an entire weekend, where I tore up numerous sheets of paper, and threw them around the room creating an almost wintery landscape on my living room carpet. I decided on more than one occasion that I couldn’t do it, and that I would rather write another novel than my synopsis, almost giving up entirely. Eventually at around midnight, I typed for an hour and forty minutes and suddenly had one page of words that I was happy with.

My second task was to write an author bio…this was turning into the highest staked job application process of my life. I think we’ve all been there, our dream job within grasp, where we’ve needed to write that killer CV or supporting statement on an application. The synopsis, author bio, and my first three chapters are my killer CV/supporting statement, and I need to make them all stand out. What can an unpublished writer possibly say? It’s the age old issue of how to get a job with no experience. Do I babble on about my favourite authors, who I aspire to be like? Do I say that I love writing? Well I don’t think anyone writes an 80,000 word novel that doesn’t love to write. After a few Google searches, I concluded that I would rather write another synopsis than try and write a bio about myself (and that's saying something!). Having said that, I do now have a bio to add to my synopsis that I am also happy with (*big sigh of relief!).

All I have left to do is polish chapter three and I am ready to submit (Insert grimacing faced emoji, alongside weary cat faced emoji here). Then it will be the agonising wait to hear if I have been shortlisted on June 30^th, where successful authors will have until December to send in their completed novel for judging. The winner is announced in Jan 2017.

I know that thousands entered last time, and only seven people were shortlisted, so it’s a long shot, but I am proud of myself for entering. I am proud that I believe in my writing, and my story enough to put it out there and have it judged. Something that started as a hobby has now turned into a passion for writing that makes me want more. I’m daring to dream that one day I may be able to write part time, or full time, who knows? I started the novel with the hope of being able to check off an item on my ‘life’s to do list’:

·         Write a novel (Check!)

Now I have added to the list: 

·         ‘Get my novel published’

·         ‘Make a career out of writing’

I didn’t expect writing to mean so much to me. I didn’t expect I would be any good at it. I certainly didn’t expect people to react as positively to it as they have. I’ve found something that I love to do, something that gives me an excited feeling in the pit of my stomach for what the future may hold. So I’m aiming high. I’m pushing doors, and I’m daring to dream big, because I love the story I’ve written, and I hope that one day it will be published, and that you will all love reading it as much as I have loved writing it.    

I will keep you all updated.
Please keep your fingers and toes crossed for me.

KT x