My work in progress is based around sleep and bedtime stories

My work in progress is based around sleep and bedtime stories, and all this talk about sleep and being tired is definitely making me sleepy, which is the desired effect after all. A bedtime story needs to tell a story but also lead towards a drowsy state of mind. So not only am I yawning doing my rewrites, but now I’m blogging about all things sleepy and drowsy related, the yawns are definitely brewing…

I’ll keep it brief here, because in reality I seem to be writing into an abyss, so if you’re reading this, welcome! Please have a wander around my website, bring your friends and pop along to my website bookshop where my books are gathered in the hope of finding new homes.

Self Promoting and the magic of the imagination

So why is it so hard to promote the book that we've worked so hard on?

When you write a book, you live in that book for the duration of its creation; become friends, or maybe enemies with the characters. You may think you're in charge of the process, but sometimes there are forces at work within the imagination that we can never really understand.

Have you ever written a piece and then read it back and wondered where it came from? Or drawn an illustration that you can never recreate, because you're not really sure how you drew it in the first place? That is the magic of the imagination and of creativity - now if I can just harness that magic into promoting my book, instead of researching promotion only to fall into the clever marketing traps set by others and end up buying a product instead of selling one - but hey, there are worse things than buying another book, so I forgive myself...

A book cover is like a door to a hidden world

A book cover is like a door to a hidden world – open that door and peep inside, but be careful – a book has the power to draw you inside and never let you go…

If you open that book and find it to be empty, then you must be the one who is meant to fill that book – fill it with something amazing…

Time to just think...

June at Lost in a Book

15th June

Time to think - the luxury of having time to just think is a rare one, but right now no one is meowing, hissing or barking at me to do something else, so I'm sorry but I'm off...

#amwriting 

Never tell an author you don't like books - they'll see it as a challange

5 Things you should never say to an author at a book signing...

1.   My child is too young for books. It doesn’t matter what age your child is, they are definitely not too young for books! Babies can enjoy books right from the start, and what a lovely activity to it is to share, to cuddle up with a book and a baby on your knee, sowing the seeds of a love of books that’ll stay with them always.

2.   Are you the author? – who me? The one sat behind the local author book signing sign... yes, I get it all the time – I put signs on my table, but people still seem surprised that I am actually the author.

3.   How long does it take to write a book? Well we could be there all day with that question - a book isn’t like a production line item, it could have been born in a rush of inspiration that came tumbling out faster than I could type, or it could have been an idea that lurked around in the recesses of my mind, stubbornly refusing to arrange itself into a story... And then of course there are the illustrations, not just to be drawn and painted, but scanned in, and then technology gets involved, and anything could happen... 

4.   I don’t read books. Never tell an author you don’t read books – they’ll see it as a challenge...  I believe there’s a book out there for everyone, maybe you just had a bad introduction to books, were made to read books you didn’t enjoy... But there are so many books out there, that there must be something you’ll enjoy. What sort of film do you enjoy? Finding a book on the same theme as a film you enjoy is a good place to start, and once you’ve found one, you’ll be able to find other books of that genre, and before you know it you’re a book lover.

5.   My child doesn’t like books. If your child doesn’t like books, could it be that they see you not liking books? Go to a library of bookshop together and choose a book each. If you’re choosing a book for a very young child, then you have a lot of influence, so choose one you like too – if you enjoy reading the story you’re more likely to get that across to your child, and before you know it you’re both enjoying books.

#LostinaBook #amwriting 

Is a true story harder than fiction...?

I did it, I found a little chunk of time between looking after animals, and stuff to do, to get some writing done - ah that feels better.

I'm writing a true story at the moment, which ought to be easier than writing fiction, but I'm finding it harder than fiction, maybe because fiction is just me and my imagination flying off wherever it needs to go. True stories involve other people, and an obligation to get it right...

But time is short - not like the puppy who is far from short these days, and needing more and more exercise to keep him happy - time for a walk I think...

#LostinaBook #amwriting 

Writer rambling her way through another January

January again, new year same issues – write new stuff or try to promote what I’ve already written... The answer of course is to do both, keep the momentum going and never give up, because giving up is NOT an option...

So what am I writing now? – Well it’s a little bit out of my usual knowledge base, it’s a horse story. But not just any horse, it’s my daughter’s horse, who is just too big a character not to be written about. And yes she is a very big horse, I know this because I somehow got talked into getting on her, and it did look like a very long way down...

Ideas have no sense of timing or order...

Ideas have no sense of timing or order - they just spring into one's head and start running around like unruly puppies. And I should know, I currently have ideas and an unruly puppy to fit into my already busy days.

Why is it that while I was in the final stages of finishing my book, I was brimming with all sorts of ideas to launch and promote it – I even wrote some of them down... somewhere.

Yet now when I need all those ideas they seem to have fled - and ideas for my next book are rampaging around in my head... I guess I’m a writer not a promoter...

So here it is, you know, if you're fancying a new book: 

 

#LostinaBook 

Downboy the sheepdog. What's that...it's just a new elaborate form of procrastination...? Not a bit of it...

Downboy the sheepdog meeting his first sheep before he gets thrown in the deep end with the whole flock...

 

But surely we've met Downboy before I hear you say - well... the prototype Downboy wasn't quite to scale, and only worked with some careful camera angles - but now I have one just the right size to take to book signings to keep those unruly sheep in order.

 

What's that...it's just a new elaborate form of procrastination...? Not a bit of it... 

#LostinaBook

#sheepdog 

Building a book

That's right, I'm finally at the building stage of my book - well when I'm not getting distracted by social media, books that everyone else has already written and, well life in general...

So... as soon as I've written this post I'm off into a world of my own making, where I may or may not be in charge, depending on what my characters have in mind.

And what do I mean by building a book? Well I have the illustrations and I've written the story, they just need melding together.

Busy Book - a treasure trove of textures for tiny hands to discover...

I never thought I'd find January too short - but this year I don't seem to have got through as much as I'd hoped, and January is running towards the finish line before me..

The painting has been a lovely excuse to hibernate - well almost, right now I'm hiding in the warm as the wind howls round the house. I will have to venture out later though to buy parts for a broken down washing machine that has left me with a load of sopping wet washing - why does something always happen, just when I think I can get on...?

There's a brand new busy book in my bookshop - a treasure trove of textures for tiny hands to discover...

It's a one off unique book as I make them up as I go along. I empty a bag of fabrics onto the table along with ribbons, buttons and cords, and see what the combination inspires me to do.

 

Because babies need books too

Busy/Quiet Book each one hand made and unique from Lost in a Book

A chunky button and cord fastening open to reveal a treasure trove of textures and colours... 

 There's a furry bear, with a shiny button nose, and satin ribbon bow tie...

 There are balloons with colourful cords,,and a button and ribbon to feel and pull.

 There's a handy zip up pocket for little treasures, or just to play with the zip...

 All bound up in  a soft cover from Lost in a Book.

#LostinaBook #BusyBook #QuietBook #inspirations 

Who knew paint had such attitude...?

Multi tasking seems to have a become a way of life...

January is my time to get stuck into to some writing, and try to hibernate as much as possible. But this year I still have some legless sheep left over from when I ran out of time before Christmas. Added to that I now have a legless bear (which has nothing to do with my writing, but I thought I'd mention it anyway...), due to running out of wool - I seem to be getting another theme going here... But hopefully all the knitted characters will eventually get their legs and I'll still have time to get on with some writing.

So... yesterday I finally brushed off my next book, and brought it out for an airing. I got my paints out, only to discover that paints don't like being shelved for weeks on end. One paint had taken it upon itself to creep out of its tube and run into the tube next to it., several others were reluctant to open at all, with paint sealing their lids on - who knew paint had such attitude...?

Writing back to front... or just lost in a book?

Normally when I write, I write a story first, and then illustrate it - but not this time...! 

It's not the first time I've sat down to write one story and ended up writing something completely different, but that usually happens at the writing stage, this time it happened in a sketchbook.

At the beginning of the year I sat down to illustrate a story that I'd already written and polished, but as I started on the illustrations I just couldn't seem to get them how I wanted, and that's when I started drawing giraffes...

Now it's not the first time I have drawn giraffes, but I hadn't had a story in mind, or book planned. This was an invasion of giraffes from somewhere in my imagination, and suddenly the illustrations were flowing and the story was taking shape. I now have several outlines for this story, and several working titles, but mostly I have a lot of pictures which almost tell their own story, so I'm thinking that this book doesn't need too many words...

This is still a work in progress, and you could say that I'm very happily lost in a book!

#LostinaBook 

Feeding the monsters in the kitchen... or just letting an imagination run wild...?

Write about what you know - well I know that there's something in the corner that has developed an attitude and is making some very strange noises - what sort of monster can it be - there I go, writing about  monsters again when I know people are too scared to buy the stories... First it was the monster under the bed, and now it's the monster in the corner of the kitchen.

The monster in the corner of the kitchen has an actual physical presence, it's of an era when it was decided that such appliances should have intelligence... it didn't need intelligence, it just needed to do as it was told, and now it's having some sort of brain storm. It's got more water in it than usual, and it's making some funky noises,as if it's trying to digest the clothes that it's meant  to be washing... if it ever gets to the spin cycle it may well set off across the floor and attack the tumble drier, or maybe join forces with it. The drier chews things and the washer sounds like it's digesting them... maybe I should stop feeding these monsters... or maybe... I should get some work done and stop letting my imagination run away with itself - but where's the fun in that?

Writing - the art of...

Writing - the art of capturing a piece of one's imagination and committing it to print...

Advertising and selling books - the art of capturing enough of someone else's imagination enough to get them to buy a book... 

Focusing - the art of getting down to what needs doing, and trying not to wander off into a daydream, even if that daydream might be the spark for a new project... oh no, I've just given myself an excuse not to focus... 

Because sometimes characters have a mind of their own...

The battle between words and pictures...

So here's the thing - I've been splashing around with some paint this week. I thought I just had to illustrate a story that I'd already written and polished. But that's before the pictures got involved...

The trouble started as I got going with the illustrations and the character I was painting just didn't want to go to bed as the scrip was directing - time to turn the story on it's head and accommodate this headstrong character - who knows what'll happen next...? 

Setting my imagination free...

This week it's not all about the books - it's also about sheep...

I'm feeling quite optimistic about my online efforts after selling a sheep...!

It just goes to show that you never quite know where you're going to end up when you let your imagination run free - I'm not sure how free I ought to let the sheep run, but, like a book once it's published, I suppose it's a bit late to think about containing them now...

I have a very vivid imagination, and I never know quite when it's going run away with me, I blame this partly on books - a lifetime of reading, being read to and reading to others is a wonderful way of feeding an imagination, so now I've come full circle and am pouring that imagination back into books to share with anyone who wants to read them...

Lost in a Book taking books (and sheep) out into the world

So what do authors do when they're not writing...?

The wonderful thing about being a writer, is that I don't feel like I'm expected to be a certain way - I refuse to be put in a box... so what was I doing this weekend while I was away from my computer and neglecting my blog...?

I was at a family party where I found myself having a bucket of water poured over me soon after arrival, as part of the ice bucket challenge, then after drying off and having a hot cup of tea, I had a go with a JCB - as you do, on a Saturday afternoon...

Yesterday I realised that fabric shops are just as dangerous as bookshops when it comes to buying more than I went in for... I only went in for a real of thread, but then I saw some amazing fabric with sheep - knitting sheep at that - OK, I admit it, I'm easily distracted, but I think that's what makes life more interesting - I just never know where my day is going to take me - in reality or my imagination...

The secret to selling lots books,..

The secret to selling lots of books is to write the book that everyone wants to read - but what subject does everyone want to read about?

It seems that everyone wants to be told how to do something, mostly how to achieve massive sales and success. But what they don't realise is that just because one person has achieved massive sales, copying their formula won't necessarily do the same for someone else...

And who knows what the next best selling genre is going to be...? A reader doesn't always know what they want to read until they start reading, and get totally caught up in a new story. If all books were written to the formula of the current best seller, we'd never have anything new to read...

So what should you write...?

• Something amazing
• Something new
• Something that you love - others will love it too
• Something, anything... just write...

Website escapee

Welcome to my homepage - actually this piece is an escapee from my homepage - for some reason people can find my blog but not my website. So for those who haven't found my little cyber Bookshop - this is a piece of what you're missing - that and the books of course...

My little piece of cyberspace that's just for me and my books - and some sheep... oh and a few cats.

My equivalent to a business meeting is to sit on the garden seat with a cup of coffee and a few cats. There's my usual two, Captain and Steve who always come out with me and distract me into playing with a ping pong ball, and dangle bits of grass, and even a dressage whip - which they all like to chase.

So that's where the cats came into the stories, but what about the sheep...? Well they just bubbled up from somewhere in my imagination and had to be released... makes me wonder what else is lurking in there waiting to come to the surface... 

The sheep took on a knitted form last Christmas when I wanted a new fun element to add to my table at book signings, well I couldn't take the cats - that would cause a bit more fun than anyone could handle...