Writing is a mysterious business. It’s a lot of smoke and mirrors; living with imaginary people, crazy google searches and staying in my head a lot. My imaginary friends talk loudly to me sometimes and too quietly for me to hear at others. Sometimes they fight me. I’ll want them react a certain way,…
I’m not one for maths. Which makes writing a really good profession for me! And, you would think there isn’t any maths at all tapping out words on a keyboard. But this is a myth! I’ve been told a few times, that the only way to make good decisions is to base it around…
As you can see my white boards are beginning to fill up with ideas, character descriptions and a few other things. I don’t always use everything that goes up on these boards, and there’s nothing plotted here, only a place to throw ideas and thoughts at. I’ve been troubling over how to start Book…
Last week I wrote about a needing to write two books at at time to make my deadlines. I was getting involved with NaNoWriMo to help do this. Deciding to spend one week on each book, would mean I should get about 25k into each book by the end of November. Best laid plans…
Now onto other projects… Well, I’ve got a few deadlines in 2022. 1st March, 30th of June and the 1st of September. So three books next year. I love it when I get to clean off these white boards and start on another book. As much as I find the writing process hard,…
I’m often asked what it takes to write a book. Having finished my 19th novel about twelve hours ago, I reflected on the question, whilst sitting on the patio with a wine, screaming: ‘thank god that’s done!’ So, I compiled a list. A workable laptop. Not one that dies with only copy of your…
I’m often asked what my office looks like. Usually it’s too messy for me to take a photo – I’ll have research and papers all over my desk so it’s all at my fingertips as I write. But when I started the new novel (tentatively called Swindler’s List!) I tidied the desk and took a…
This morning, when I woke up my first thought was about writing. (Actually it was about coffee, then writing). I needed to write in my journal, I needed to write my next book. With that in mind, I made that coffee and went onto the back verandah to get my morning outside fix, then went…
Happy New Year everyone! Three days in already. Have you started to reassess your life; write down those new year resolutions? I have – although I don’t know why, because I never seem to stick to the for any length of time! And they’re always the same ones; health, fitness, weight loss. Organisation! Creatives seem…
I’ve always told my kids that “if we don’t share our stories, then how can we help people?” That’s why they don’t mind me talking about the challenges they live with; they embrace them and are what makes them who they are (that doesn’t take away, they’ve had extra challenges to deal with and hard…
I love the ‘new feels’ of starting a new book. It’s exciting, fun and the possibilities are endless. Trouble is, those feelings don’t always hang around. I find I get to about 20,000 words in and get a bit stuck. Those first 20,000 come with a rush of adrenalin and enthusiasm. The next 50,000…
When I was on tour for WITHOUT A DOUBT, I came across this blue door (pictured on the computer screen). I was sitting in a narrow alley way, drinking coffee (because I’m a bit like Detective Dave and nothing happens in the morning until I’ve had my coffee) when I saw it. Hasn’t it got…
Have you ever wondered what happens the morning after a novel gets finished? I finished my fourteenth novel yesterday, with the same sense of relief that I had when I finished my first one! Something between ‘oh my God, I’m so pleased that’s over’ and ‘Yay! I’ve done it again!’ I text a couple of…
‘So, Fleur, tell me, do you write every day?’ ‘Where do you work from?’ ‘Oh, you have deadline? Really? thought you’d just write and hand it in when it was ready.’ (HA! Don’t I wish!) These are a few of questions I get asked when I do an event and I’d love to…
I often get asked what my office looks like – or where I work, which is pretty much the same question! The first thing I did when I got my new office is print off quotes that inspire me – that make me continue to want achieve and try and get better. Ones that…
It’s time! I’ve been thinking about re-inventing my blog for some time and now that time is right here. I used to love writing blogs – they would get my fingers all warmed up for writing during the day and I LOVED sharing photos and little stories of my farming life with you all. Since…
We had some great times in 2015 and I thought it would be fun to look back over the good times. It makes me realise that 2015 wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it was! And it reminds me of the things I’ve learned over this year. This is was the first sunset of…
Happy New Year! Has it been a good start for you? We spent the evening at the foreshore in Esperance having tea with friends and watching the fireworks. It was a really pleasant way to see in 2016. I’ve spent the first two days going through the final edit of Indigo Storm. It’s been a…
CALLING ALL WRITERS! So now I’m not farming full time, I need to put all of my efforts into writing. I sat down with a friend to map out my next twelve months and we came up with an idea to run a Writer’s Workshop. The Making of your Manuscript workshop is a limited…
Today starts the dawn of a new book. Which seems crazy because I’m still doing publicity for Crimson Dawn! It’s fun and daunting all at the same time. Sitting down and staring at a blank screen is the scary bit. Having my imagination running amok with characters, plots and exciting things, is the extremely fun…
