"That difficult second book..." (and third book... and fourth book...)

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Those were the words I heard a lot when I was writing the second book. It's a line oft-repeated by agents, editors and authors alike. The first book is still a hobby piece; an act of hope and faith; an expression of joy. When you finally land a 3 book deal it's balloons, silly hats and champagne all round. You pat your first book cover fondly and giggle when you see it on a real shelf in a library or book shop.

And then comes Book 2. This time, you're a professional writer. This book isn't just a bit of fun - someone has paid you actual money, trusting that you will write it. This brings a certain responsibility. My life had changed a lot by the time I was writing The Mortal Knife, mainly because I had become a mum. I had always been an evening writer; now I had to learn to sit down during the day and treat writing like the job it was and is. It wasn't easy but having a deadline on the horizon is a mighty effective combo of the carrot and stick. Maybe this is why writers find the second book tough - up until now the writing has been all carrot.

Which brings me to Book 3. I'm not sure why I thought it would be easier. Maybe all that 'difficult second book' stuff implied 'that stupidly easy third book!' Except it isn't easy. It's difficult. And finally I am beginning to get it. Writing 80-90,000 words of gripping, funny, consistent, warm-hearted prose is NEVER going to be easy. No matter how many times I do it, I will never be able to describe it as easy. The day I can describe the process as easy, I'm not growing. I'm not stretching myself.

But - and there is a but - one thing does get easier and it's the thing that gets me past all the other difficulties. No matter how hard it gets, I can tell myself: 'I've done this before.' As I limp towards the finish line of Book 3 I know I've been here and lived to tell the tale. For years I was the queen of the half-finished novel - but no one will ever read your half-finished novel. It will languish on a long-defunct laptop or memory pen - or even a floppy disc (revealing my age. Remember those?)

So, if there is one thing I have learned about writing in the last few years, it's this: FINISH SOMETHING. Because the power of finishing something - be it a poem, a story or even a book - is that once you've done it, YOU KNOW YOU CAN DO IT AGAIN. And even if your first or second or tenth efforts don't get the reception you want, that's okay. Next time you'll do it better.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've a book to finish.

Just finished... The Hunger Games

Just finished this book and it was a great read if you enjoy post-apocalyptic YA fiction.

Katniss lives in District 12 in a post-apocalyptic America. When the 13 Districts rebelled against Capitol one is destroyed completely and the other 12 are forced to send a boy and a girl every year to compete in the Hunger Games. Twenty-four players begin the games and only one can survive.

The book begins when Katniss becomes one of two 'Tributes' who have to represent her District. Will she survive?

Katniss is a great character and her environment and survival skills are convincing. I liked the premise - a bit like Running Man / The Long Walk with a female teen heroine. Enjoy!

Just finished... Blood Red Road

Well, it was a bank holiday weekend - which meant Northern Ireland was pretty much doomed to torrential rain. Luckily I bought a few fab YA books and this was the first one I read.

I was really looking forward to Blood Red Road - not least because my agent Gillie also represents Moira Young! Gillie had talked about the book when I met her back in February - and now I can see why she was so excited about it.

It tells the story of Saba who lives in a post-apocalyptic desert with her pa, younger sister and twin brother Lugh. Lugh is Saba's great love - until he is taken by men in black cloaks who ride out of a storm searching for him. The book is about Saba's struggle to find him and the dangers she has to overcome on the way. It reminded me of The Stand and The Road but with a totally believable, kick-ass 18 year old heroine.

Saba is a fantastic character. She's properly hard-as-nails, not because she's a psycho but because she lives in a world where if she weakens for a second she's dead. Throw in some feisty female warriors called the Free Hawks and a very hot love interest (Jack) and you have the perfect ingredients for a scary, sexy YA thriller.

I totally recommend this book - if you like dystopian novels and strong female characters you'll love it!

The latest twist...

The rather cool pic comes from a website that seems to offer puzzles. As if I need any more internet distractions...!!!

I got another thousand and something words done today, after skiving a bit the last couple of days. I'm really enjoying writing Book 2 when I actually sit down and get on with it. I feel like I know the characters well and know how they will act as I'm writing them into scenes.

Today I finished chapter 4 and started into chapter 5. I loved finishing chapter 4 as one of my favourite characters came clean with a big revelation. He's absolutely gorgeous and he's one of Evie's best friends. In chapter 5 he's going to have a lot of explaining to do and he's desperately hoping Evie won't walk out the door and never come back! It's a big fork in the book that changes a lot of things - hence the picture.

I feel like I have loads of ideas for books just simmering away in the background. In the past I would stop writing one thing, getting distracted by the new idea. Now I'm being ruthless. I don't mind a bit of subconscious stewing but I've learned now that the book only gets finished if you actually sit down and finish it! So write, Debbie, write!

TV Night!

Ok, I'll be honest. I'm not much of a TV watcher. Life seems too short - but never too short for reading, writing or watching the cats chase a tie twitched like a snake.

I digress. If there is one night of the week when I abandon all my scruples and throw caution to the winds, it is Friday night. Friday night is the home of The Mentalist on Ch5, followed by The Event on Ch4+1 (God bless Freeview).

Lots of people seem to hate The Event. In fact, I may even steal an Event-hater's joke and post it here because it's funny. For me however, it's perfect Friday night TV. The characters are straight-forwardly good or bad and I can ALWAYS work out the ending. After a long, exhausting week this always makes me feel clever. Also the Sean / Shaun character is easy on the eye.

Sean is desperate to find his girlfriend and won't stop until he does. We all want to believe that the men in our lives will never give up on us. Maybe that's why it was so easy to write The Watchers. After all, Evie trusts that the 'man' in her life will do whatever it takes to save her - even if it means sacrificing himself.

Writing again!

Started to get really into the new book today, the sequel to The Watchers. It hasn't even got a working title yet but I have a fairly good idea of where it's going.

I'm starting to think that this is one of the nicest stages of writing. You have characters you like and a (rough) story that you want to tell. You start writing with a few sentences as a guideline. E.g. "Evie goes here and this happens, she's really annoyed and then she meets so-and-so."

What's amazing though is that as I'm writing, Evie starts getting her own ideas and bumping into people she doesn't expect to. In chapter 2 for instance she runs into Annette's younger brother Ben. We haven't met Ben before this point - until now he has just been a name. Now he's a living, breathing character, who's full of grief because his sister is dead. He's quite a forceful little bugger and seems to be shoving himself into a plot twist near the end - none of which I anticipated.

I think this is the bit that Stephen King describes as 'creative play'. Later there will have to be more sophisticated plotting - this will happen in this chapter, followed by that in the next. I found at that stage with The Watchers that it began to feel a little 'join-the-dots' as I wrote it and that it took some of the fun out of the process of writing it, until I reached the last six or seven chapters. On the other hand, it meant that the book was written fairly tightly and needed a lot less work in the revision stage than it might have done otherwise.

Anyway, I just have to enjoy this bit - and hope that The Watchers finds a home... otherwise I will have TWO homeless, urchin books to take care of!

(Cool pic came from here.)

Notes from a small island...

Hi!

I'm Debbie and I'm a writer-in-progress. I work with teenagers in Northern Ireland and I'm currently writing my first novel, aimed at teens. It's an urban fantasy / paranormal romance, and I'd love to see the story in print.

I'm writing this blog to chart the whole process, from plotting / writing to submission - and hopefully to publication! So where am I at to date?

The book has a working title of THE WATCHERS. It's an urban fantasy about a girl called Evie, who has a pretty crappy life. Only two things in her life work well - her drawing, and the very special guy who watches out for her. More on that later...

This week I sent a sample (first 4 chapters and a synopsis) to an agent in London. I was put in touch with them by the fabulous Bernie McGill (first novel 'THE BUTTERFLY CABINET' to be published by Headline on August 5th!). Bernie was good enough to read my sample and read it in one sitting. She gave me brilliant feedback, and really helped me make a few things clearer. Thanks also to her daughter Mary, who read it and loved it!

Today I met the lovely Paddy O'Doherty (Puffin Ireland) in a workshop organised by Yes Publications in Derry. Paddy gave our little group of writers some great insider info, and I was able to give her the same sample.

It's strange sending work out to people and knowing that I should expect a whole lot of rejections before I ever get any joy. I will try and be as honest as I can about the whole process! :-)

That's all for now folks! I'll keep you posted!