Someone posted on Facebook the other day that she had been feeling ‘old’, and then a friend had asked, ‘Do you really think your best years are behind you?’ I think this is a great question. We spend a lot of time not living in the present: looking back and regretting stuff, or looking forward and worrying … More Dancing on air at Christmas
The half term break is always welcome in the autumn because the term is just too damn long, isn’t it? My family and I went away this time; to a holiday park called Mill Rythe, on Hayling Island. A perfect 2 hours away – just far enough to feel you’re on holiday but not so … More What I Did On My Holidays
It’s been a couple of weeks since I last blogged. But those two weeks have been eventful, in some good and some bad ways. Firstly: the good. Well, actually I can’t tell you the good. Because then I’d have to kill you. But both good things are to do with books, and one of them … More Two nice secrets and a bout of yuck
It’s a funny ol’ business, publishing. Flipping heck, it can be tough. And I DON’T just mean the parties 😉 Recently, I’ve been floundering a bit. Having finished two major projects and sent them out, I’m feeling kind of adrift. There’s no news yet, and there may not be for a while, but the rejections … More Ssssh! I’m NOT writing a new book for kids!
I’m revising a novel. It’s one I wrote last year, and my agent read it and liked it but wanted me to make some changes. And because I hate editing and rewriting, I put it off and wrote something else instead. And while I was waiting for my agent to read the other thing, I … More Why revising a novel is like juicing a lemon
I used to write a lot of music. I have half a shelf of manuscript books and loose sheets, all covered with my scrawls. I wrote songs for school, arranged music of all kinds for orchestra, flute band and choirs. I wrote an entire score for my school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream when … More I’ve written a song
Last time I wrote, I was in the dumps. And to be honest, the days and week or so that followed were HARD WORK. A not-very-enjoyable part of being a writer. I started the manuscript again, the one that wasn’t working. And it was SLUDGY. Very, very hard going, and kind of BORING. I BORED … More On the Up again…!
My last post was about how I write, and I mentioned that I was working on a project close to my heart with an illustrator. Well, I’d finished the first draft, and I’d sent it to my agent, along with a good writer friend and the illustrator. The writer friend was the first to get … More Picking yourself up again
A week ago my good friend and brilliant writer Susie Day (author of the brilliant Pea books among others) tagged me in a sort of bloggy toury thingy (that’s a technical term, by the way). You should nip over to read her What, Why and How I write and then come back here…I’ll make a cuppa … More What, Why and How I Write
I went out for a walk yesterday afternoon. There’s a very beautiful magnolia tree three houses down. I love magnolia. When I was young, there was a magnolia tree in next door’s garden. I used to collect the fallen petals and sew them into fairy skirts for my dolls.
Jo Cotterill 