Technology!

I am editing my latest novel on my Kindle, which is still something I remember (ie. see daily when I watch the reruns) being featured regularly on Star Trek:The Next Generation.

It's amazing. I'm actually living in the future!

Especially considering that I began writing on my mum's electric typewriter. I particularly hated this piece of equipment because I'm a terrible typist and made so many errors. Even now, the backspace key is the most used on my keyboard.

The makers of Tipp-Ex were probably devastated when I move to a word processor and no longer needed to buy in bulk.

The height of technology in the library I worked in was the microfiche. (For those too young to remember them, this is what Google looked like in the 1980s.)

They were cumbersome and always made me dizzy when I used it - the articles scrolled ridiculously fast unless you had a very steady hand.

And yet, now, if I have a query, I just type it into Google (other search engines are available!) and the answer is there, in my own home, without the need to changed out of my PJs or anything.

I admit, I really don't belong in this century - I'm constantly in awe at the minds that have come up with all of this stuff.

What great pieces of technology from the past do you miss?

Or, indeed, which pieces are you glad you don't have to use any more?

How not to promote and market

After finishing my latest novella, and submitting it, a couple of weeks ago, I thought I'd easily get on with the next project. But after an injury at the gym and getting a monster of a cold, that just ain't happened.

Instead, I thought I'd get my head around the weird and wonderful world of marketing my books.

It has not gone well. Here are some things I've learnt in the past few days:

• I should have been more prepared to promote my two year old book two years ago
• I should have had more reviews ready to go on the day of publication than I currently have right now
• Even when you're prepared to spend money, most promotion sites only cater to free and $0.99 ebooks
• I shouldn't rely on my 148 Facebook fans to actually see the Facebook updates I put out, because Facebook now only thinks about itself
• Other people do this much better than me, almost instinctively
• I need several more books published than I currently have (which doesn't play havoc with my writers block in the slightest)
• So many links to the biggest, bestest promotion site ever are broken
• Blog posts published on a Saturday evening probably won't get read

My only consolation is that I've finally figured out all the things I've been doing wrong, but I've figured it out too late to help my current books. Hopefully, I'll have it sussed by the time my next one comes along.

What have you learnt, that you wish you'd known at the beginning?

Publication Day

That Sadie Thing and other stories is now available on Kindle.

I know I said tomorrow, but it's there now and I can't wait another 15 hours to share it.

Buy it: Kindle, Kindle UK,
Like it: Goodreads

I'm now going to have a glass of wine to celebrate!

That Sadie Thing cover reveal

Yay! I've finally got something new to talk about! This is my new collection of short stories. I'm super excited and just a bit nervous. These stories have been hidden away for a very long time, so they're a bit shy.

I'm over on Misha Gericke's My First Book today sharing a few facts about the collection, so please pop over and say hello.

But before you go, I just want to give a huge shout out to Kyra Lennon. You all know Kyra, and if you don't you should! Last week she went from being the awesome Kyra to the indispensible Kyra by designing this wonderful cover for me. I love it. I keep looking at it and getting a huge thrill - it's just so perfect. Thank you, Kyra.





A couple break up on a rainy night; a runaway longs to go home; a woman finds comfort from eating lunch as her best friend lies in hospital; a teenager feels oppressed by her father. All of the characters in these stories are trying to find their place in the world, attempting to find connections that matter with the people around them.

This collection brings together prize-winning and published stories from the past twenty years: the ‘greatest hits’.

That Sadie Thing and other stories will be available on

Kindle from Monday 25th February 2013.