I am writing down my goals for this year
and hitting you with them now so that they have to be set in stone!
Where horses are concerned, I had a bit of
a heart breaking year in 2018. Of course I could do nothing but struggle
through to the other side and hope for the best. That is horses for you; they
definitely keep you grounded!
It did however encourage me to take a break
from writing “horses” as I literally live and breathe them, and it was all
getting a bit too much. I have therefore taken the plunge and written a
non-horse related, contemporary romance novel which is in the final stages of
editing.
So as to not confuse things and keep horses
separate, I plan to release this under the pen name Silvia Twizel. This is simply because I really aim to tailor my
horse stories to those who know one end of a horse from the other, which I
appreciate may be boring to – and the terms and phrases that are part of my
(and probably yours!) everyday life go straight over the head of – people not
familiar with horses. I therefore don’t want my fans that are waiting for the
next horse story, being disappointed if I release one with absolutely nothing
to do with horses. I feel like publishing them under a slightly different name
will solve this, but as ever I would like to know what my readers think about
this, so please do let me know.
Please rest assured that Hearts & Horse
Trials #3 will be released as soon as I can find time to have a final read
through!
I couldn’t tell you which is my biggest
passion between eventing and racing – I love them both equally and would hate
to choose π So, while I currently don’t have any more racing stories
penned, it is definitely something I want to delve into deeper this year, while obviously continuing with Fred and Elsa on the eventing scene...
Also this year, I am going to try and start
treating my writing as more of a business. I don’t mean that in terms of making
money, as I spend so many hours on it that I don’t see myself realistically
making a living from it any time soon. I am starting by setting myself these
targets. If no one knows about them, then my lack of progress doesn’t affect
anyone else. However, if I have announced to people my plans, then I know I
will be letting them down if I don’t accomplish them, and some days I really need
this to spur me on!
But when I first published my first book, I
literally didn’t think anyone would buy it. I was actually scared that someone
WOULD buy it, absolutely hate it and message me demanding a refund π±
Words cannot describe how much I love
getting book reviews. Even the bad ones. OK, so the bad ones hurt a little, you
can’t help but take it personally, but you have to take it on the chin and try
and figure out what you can do to improve. At the end of the day you can’t
please everyone, but you can try π
I get a lot of people asking me how I
write. Well obviously I just put pen to paper, but of course there is so much
to think about before that simple step even happens!
I wouldn’t consider myself a fast writer,
and as I hold down a full time job and have various “yard” jobs scattered
around this, it might (or might not) interest you to know that last year I
averaged 732 words a day (I’m an accountant OK...I have a spreadsheet for
EVERYTHING!). This may seem meagre compared to some, but hey that’s life and it’s
not a competition! But when you bear in mind that Just A Groom is approx. 65k
words, and Taking the Reins is approx. 93k words, you can probably see why it
takes me so long to get the next instalment finished!
Some people need to have their whole story
planned out to every minute detail, others have no plan whatsoever and see where
their characters and circumstances take them. Both are fine.
I am somewhere in the middle. An idea will
often come to me while I’m driving or – more commonly – poo picking. I’ll have
nowhere to write it down and frantically taking my gloves off and trying to
locate my phone, during which time one of the foals has probably run off with
my poop-scoop, another has pushed over my wheelbarrow, and the rest have
realised I didn’t shut the gate properly behind me and are half way down the
lane by now...
So you can see what I’m up against, right?!
Sometimes an idea might just be a sentence,
that I scribble down and forget about, returning to a few months later to try
and figure it out. Sometimes it’s a paragraph or two, and sometimes it’s a
whole story that I delve straight into as I just can’t wait to write it! When I
start, I generally know the ending, but the events that are going to get us
there are as much a mystery to you as they are to me! I just have to put pen to
paper and see where my characters take me... Some days they are not in the
mood, so on those days I just saddle up and go for a ride instead!
So, this is me, and this is how I’m
progressing into 2019. I hate all that “New
year, New me!” bullshit, so I won’t be boring you all with jumping on that
bandwagon! Plus, I am already late to that party! (as per usual!!)
As always, feedback is always appreciated!
If you love my books, please let your friends know! If you wish I could explore
something different, or have any suggestions for improvement, I am definitely
up for hearing them! π
I am just a girl, sitting at her desk,
thinking of something to write..... π Help me make 2019 a good year π