February word count.

Hello everyone. I haven’t posted here for a while. How are you all? I’ve been working on the second book in the Cherry Blossom Lane series and have just received the first edits back from my editor. The book is called, The One That He Wants and is the second book in the series to My Perfect Ex. It’s always exciting and nerve wracking to open that email to see what she says! Luckily she loves the story and is looking forward to book three. Phew! Here are some gorgeous reviews from book 1: ‘Loved it!’ ‘A wonderful read.’ ‘Beautifully written and thoroughly enjoyed.’

I’m trying to be more organised this year, so I bought myself two huge wall planners for my office and home and I’m using it as a visual prompt to get on with book promotion and stop procrastinating. I’ve held a couple of writing buddy sessions that I run with fellow romance author, Chris Penhall, recently and the daytime session was fully booked, which was exciting. It warms my heart to hear about the different ways people write, what they are working on and also that writing buddies might help them to get words onto paper in some way. We hire the top floor of a gorgeous coffee shop and encourage people to write with two 30 minute writing sprints, a coffee break to network and a chat at the end about how people are. There are no word count pressures and we don’t check anyone’s work, it is purely to write alongside other creatives for a couple of hours. We have people writing books, comedy, short stories, poetry, articles and more. The weather has been dreary, so it’s always a mad dash to keep our computers and manuscripts dry if we are going to the coffee shop. I tend to write by hand at first, so I always have pages and pages of paper with me.

I’ve been chatting to people on social media a lot recently and I’m enjoying hearing about what everyone is reading. I’ve just started reading a lovely book called Patches through time by Sian Turner, who is a member of my book group, Lizzie’s Book Group, on Facebook. I’ve also just finished a book by Sue Moorcroft, called An Italian Island Summer, which is a beautiful read.

Have a great week everyone! From Lizzie. x

 

The healing power of romance.

Hi everyone. How are you all? I hope 2022 has started off with some happiness.

There was an article in the media recently, about how forgettable romance books are and it hit a nerve with me. A few weeks before Christmas I was told I needed a biopsy and another procedure and I spent New Year’s Eve attending an anaesthetist appointment. I didn’t tell many people, as I didn’t want to worry them, or spoil their festivities. Isolating during such a busy time of year wasn’t much fun, but having these reads beside me helped my mental health.   I chose books by Heidi Swain, Katie Fforde and Mary Jayne Baker and all three caught my imagination, kept me turning page after page and eased a stressful situation.

I tried my best to enjoy every minute of the festive season, but worry simmered under the surface each day. I found it difficult to concentrate on writing my own romance novels, but turned to reading the books of other authors, to distract my mind with their beautiful stories and to give me moments of peace.  I even sat and read them as I was waiting to go into theatre, to help ease my nerves! These are books I will never forget. The NHS were absolutely incredible and I’m happy to say that my results are clear, which I’m very thankful for.

Romance novels make us happy and help us through hard times. The stories give us time to step away from worries and travel to places we’ve never been to before. They offer us comfort when we feel down and let us know we are not alone.  I have recently spoken to others who have also found solace from romance books before surgery. Any book of any genre, that brings enjoyment to our lives, is just as worthy as the next.

I’m very proud to have been writing romance books for about ten years now and the community of writers and readers I’ve met along the way, are something really special.  I write books to make people smile and if a story I’ve written, feels like a hug to the reader, then I’m happy. It doesn’t make the story or genre, any less important, if people enjoy it. Even if someone else doesn’t.

‘We can’t make everyone happy, we’re not pizza.’