It’s more than possible to write 50,000 words in a month alongside a 9–5 — At the end of October, I found myself on the NaNoWriMo website, flicking through all the resources and wondering if I should bite the bullet and start the challenge. The short story, as you know if you’ve read the title, is that I did and I have now completed it. …

These captivating reads are all full of emotion, suspense and intrigue — It was a difficult Autumn for many reasons. Part of me felt like I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I usually do, due to various things going on at the time. But as usual, reading was a constant, getting me through the tough times and keeping me sane. These…

Why #NaNoWriMo has been all positives so far, just over a week into the challenge — I decided to do #NaNoWriMo this year on a whim. I hadn’t been consistently working on a novel all year, despite setting the goal to complete a draft manuscript by 2023. I had been writing in bouts here and there but had nothing in the way of consistency under my…

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of its publication, here are books similar to Donna Tart’s masterpiece — You’ve been hiding under a rock if you’ve never heard of the college-based thriller, The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Considered a staple for dark academia fans, this novel follows a group of misfits at a New England college. It soon gets dark when one member of the group, Edmund…

A NaNoWriMo newbie who already struggles with commitment — If you get the reference amongst the subheading, you are among the best. Initially, I wasn’t sure whether to stick with it as it might be slightly niche but figured I could do whatever I wanted, as it’s my piece of work after all. …

Even when it is staring us right in the face — It’s the second day of Autumn. There’s a crispness in the air whilst the window is open a jar, and I can feel the cool air teasing my skin. …

And what I plan to do about it — The world is scary. There’s so much going on around us and we’re surrounded by a twenty-four-hour news cycle which makes it hard to escape. …

And why it matters — Every so often in bookselling, you get a week where every other customer seems to be after the same book. …

And why you should be aware of them too — It’s been a while. The world has felt heavy, too weighty to even think about books. But I miss writing and wanted to start with something simple to break through the weeks of writing fatigue and general lack of motivation. So here we are. Back with another post about books…