Reality bites

It's been nearly seven months since I first got 'The Call'. Seven months filled with revisions and edits and building websites (aka getting hysterical while my husband builds me a website), wondering how people on Pinterest actually do all those really cool 3 minute hairstyles and do they really take 3 minutes? - I mean researching. Oh, and writing book 3.

It all felt pretty hectic and real *hollow laugh*. Little did I know that I was actually enjoying a few months of tranquility before everything got Very Serious Indeed.

The reality of writing category romance is that you absolutely have to be able to juggle multiple books at different stages of their production. There's no hiding yourself away in a garret while you create for a year, you have to be able to plan, write, revise and promote different titles all at the same time.

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Right now (EEK!) The Return of Mrs Jones is available to preorder, this means I am getting ready to promote it with a blog tour including guest blogs, Goodreads giveaways and social media whilst doing my best not to  monitor how many people have added it to their to-read shelves. But, at some point this month, the cover for Summer with the Millionaire will be revealed so I'll be getting very excited about that and need to start thinking about how best to market that book during April and May.

At the same time I am waiting for revisions on book 3. This is the first book that has gone directly to my editor without passing Go (Crit partners and the NWS scheme) and the first book written to deadline rather than at a tortuously slow pace, so I am expecting humongous revisions which say things like 'Where is the conflict' and 'Why does nothing happen in 50,000 words'. I'm very optimistic about this one...

Meanwhile I am planning books 4 and 5, with the hope of starting book 4 this very week. Add in the day job, the daughter's dance show rehearsals, violin exam and need to be fed, clothed and and discuss at great length potential World Book Day costumes and What Can She Do In This Year's Talent Show (I have suggested either a straightfaced dramatic recitation of Taylor Swift's Trouble or a Yorkshire version of Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights, neither of which she is keen on. Kids today, no sense of adventure) and my head is about to explode in a very loud and messy way.

But it's all really, really exciting too and I know just how very lucky I am to be in this position. Bring it on, I'm ready for the craziness to commence!