However sometimes you have to accept that there comes a point when it is best – it is the right thing – to let go of a project.

My ninth book, One Summer in Rome, is just about to be published and previous to my debut I wrote several other novels that are are firmly under my bed now. So why did I give up on them? Surely I could have improved and rewritten those stories?

Here are the main reasons, in my opinion, why for some stories the answer is no.

It’s your first ever book

Looking back I had a sense of entitlement with the first novel I wrote in 2005. What an achievement, I thought – and it was – but I decided completing my goal was enough to see it in print. And what a shock – and wake-up call – when the rejections came in. It had seemed like such a mammoth task to write those 90,000 words. How could I possibly waste them by starting something else?

Well, that’s the key to moving on without too many tears. Don’t see the discarded project as a failure or waste. I learnt SO MUCH from that first novel. At 90,000 words it only had four chapters, so that taught me about structure! When I wrote it I knew nothing about point of view or show not tell. It was full of autobiographical anecdotes. Very self-indulgent. And included a ridiculous storyline about making opium out of poppy seeds! I’m incredibly grateful, now, that it never found its way into the public arena.

I received one complimentary, personal rejection from an agent and that gave me the strength to start another book.

So don’t become too attached to your first-born. Statistically, the odds are that it may not get a deal.

And that’s okay. There’s usually a good reason.

Repeated negative feedback tells you the idea just isn’t strong enough

I have a folder of over 80 rejection letters that I’ve kept – to remind me, I suppose, that hard work and determination can bring rewards. But they are also tangible proof that there is a reason my discarded manuscripts are under my bed. Most of those letters are standard, thanking me for my submission BUT… the rest of those letters is inconsequential. The bottom line was that the manuscripts just weren’t different or good enough.

Perhaps the characters and plot are too thin. Maybe your writing still isn’t where it should be. Go on courses. Read How To books. Get feedback from fellow writer friends you trust. I don’t know a single writer that has persevered and persevered and not eventually succeeded in getting a deal.

If you manage too receive personal feedback from an agent that suggests revisions that’s fantastic, but be careful. One once showed great interest in one of my projects. She didn’t like the first draft so I totally rewrote the story and it lost its heart. The agent liked that version even less and by that point I didn’t know what the novel was anymore.

The whole process was heartbreaking but it taught me a valuable lesson – don’t jump straight in to a rewrite, exciting as it can be if you think you might be on the cusp of getting representation. Get another view as well, perhaps from a beta reader or literary consultancy. Ultimately it might just be better to cut your losses and start another project. Rewrites are time-consuming.

Another idea comes along…

Sometimes you might want to ditch a project a few chapters in but feel this would be a waste. SEE ABOVE – nothing is wasted when you are writing, it is all improving your craft. In 2015 I started writing a Christmas book. It was going to be a wedding story related to my debut Doubting Abbey. It was to be a fun story called My Big Fat Frozen Wedding (I wonder if Frozen themed weddings are a thing!) However a few chapters in, an idea came into my head for a sequel to my summer bestseller Game of Scones. I felt more passionate about that so, after talking to my editor, took the decision to shelve the Frozen idea and My Big Fat Christmas Wedding was born.

Follow your instincts. Readers will notice if your heart isn’t in your work.

Your book won’t ever fit the market

It’s a difficult one, this. Write completely for the market and your work may not come across as sincere. I follow my gut but keep one eye on what is selling. It’s a compromise.

I didn’t with one book that – admittedly – I’ve found very hard to let go of over the years. I’ve rewritten it numerous times (and if your gut strongly tells you to give your project another go I blogged about tackling major rewrites here). I’ve submitted it every few years. But finally I’ve accepted it’s place is permanently under my bed. It’s a romcom set in Ancient Egypt. I loved writing it and doing the research but publishers just don’t know how to place it. It’s very quirky and not one hundred percent romance. There are other issues. It would be a risk to invest.

But here’s the thing – you can always cannibalise your old scripts and take ideas from them to use in new stories. The two main characters in my Egyptian book were young executives and formed the basis for Pippa and Henrik in Game of Scones.

In fact, Game of Scones was originally set in heaven (don’t ask!) It was a flat NO from my editor. At the time there was a question over whether paranormal romance was selling. So I let go of that idea and wrote a different story, set in Greece, that went on to sell 100,000 copies.

Don’t see discarding a project as failure. It will have taught you so, so much about writing and the submission process. Be brave and stash it under your bed. Move on to your next exciting challenge. It is hard and, for me, parting company with those much loved babies often brought tears.

But never forget that those unpublished manuscripts are an incredibly valuable and worthwhile part of your journey.

I’m so far thrilled that reviewers find this theme relatable.  All of us have a choice of whether to show our true face – or not. And I think this also applies to authors and their craft. It is a journey of self-awareness and courage to find your true writing voice or style, and be brave enough to release it to the world at large.

I’m no expert but here are my tips for finding that voice or style, based on my experiences. It took me a while!

NB:  for me (others may disagree), voice and style are very closely linked and I’ll use the words interchangeably here. I think voice is more an author’s tone. Style is more the nuts and bolts of how they write, such as short or long sentences, flowery language or not – but both are unique to the author).

Firstly… break the so-called “rules” if your heart tells you to. I recall messaging an established author once, when I first started out, asking them about grammar points and why they used a particular one in a certain way. They must have been baffled and just replied that they never thought about it – that was just the way they wrote. I was still at the stage of thinking I had to follow all the rules about writing I had learnt – point of view, show not tell etc. I eventually realised that it was fine to break them, from a position of knowledge. I blogged about that here.

I once received a review saying my grammar was bad because I had written the equivalent of “The kids and me went out,” instead of the grammatically correct “The kids and I went out.” Thing is, my voice, my style, is to write as I speak. I knew it was ungrammatical but it fitted the character. Reviewers can think that authors and their editors have missed all these so-called “mistakes” but more often than not – unless the reader has received a less refined early proof copy – this is not the case. The lack of grammar is probably due to the author creating a life-like, flawed character and by following their writing heart when putting pen to paper.

You need the courage to look people in the eye and stick to the values of your own writerly self, despite the criticism you may receive.

Secondly… don’t be afraid of not following the norm. One reader criticised me for speaking to the reader, within my prose, like in this extract from my 2013 bestseller,  Doubting Abbey (the words in bold).

“Within minutes of this announcement I had one of my funny turns. Unsteadily, I wavered from side to side, before my body went into spasm. There was no need to call the doctor. I’d suffered this before. The remedy was an afternoon in bed. Otherwise, I might have had to pull out of the show…

Sounded believable, didn’t it? And, sure enough, everyone in the orchard fell for my act, which was the only way I could cope with Edward’s terrifying announcement about me being some cookery teacher.”

The reader said that they’d been taught, in writing classes, that this was wrong. No, no, no! There are NO such boundaries. Okay, it’s a little unusual, but if your character wants to speak to the reader, why not? In my opinion it involves them. Makes them feel closer to the protagonist and story. It comes naturally to me to write like this now, I can’t fight it, it’s me being true to myself. It took a few years before getting published, but eventually I became confident enough to follow my instincts.

Thirdly... having said all that, there is one critic to listen to – your editor. Remember, a writer can never stop learning and should never become complacent. If your editor questions something about the way you write, consider carefully what they say. Perhaps your uniqueness does, at times, pull the reader out of the story. And also, if many reviewers make the same critical point, then take note. Remember, constructive criticism is an author’s best friend and I always appreciate the thought and time people put into commenting about my work.

Yes, we must follow our hearts but like in life, sometimes a little  moderation from our heads is necessary. We may have the biggest crush on Chris Hemsworth, (ahem, speaking purely hypothetically here ) but that doesn’t mean we should jack in our lives and marriages and head over the Atlantic to track him down! It’s the same with your writing heart – if it suddenly suggests, for example,  to include, ooh, say a pet stick insect’s point of view into your romantic novel, consider whether that will that pull your reader’s attention away from the main plot (and possibly send their finger straight to the delete button on their ereader!)

Finally... the extract below is from the acknowledgements in my #coffeeclub book. Don’t try to imitate anyone else with your writing – or in life. Often aspiring authors start off by trying to write like their favourite author, and that is fine whilst they are learning. But eventually, in time, as they grow in confidence and gain knowledge, they will reach a very exciting moment when their own style evolves. At this crucial point they must be brave enough to go with it.

It is always a challenge to set a book in a location not familiar, in terms of everyday life. In fact one of my books (firmly unpublished and kept under the proverbial literary bed!) was set in Ancient Egypt. Some settings are so inspiring that they alone are the motivation to write an entire book. This happened with my novella, How to get Hitched in Ten Days. I’d visited an amazing fifties diner and instantly knew I just had to base a story in one. So what have I learned from the process of creating different settings, over the years? Well, I’m no expert but here are my top tips.

Firstly, it’s all in the detail. Take my undiscovered masterpiece (!) set in Ancient Egypt. I tracked down an egyptologist on line and they agreed to answer all my questions for £1 a pop. I was determined to make my book as authentic as possible. And I take the same attitude towards setting my stories in modern countries – even though I have visited Cornwall, Paris and Greece. A sure-fire way to guarantee authenticity and detail is to focus on the five senses. Take your readers on a complete, sensual journey.

Sight – don’t forget the small things. Like sand stuck to the bottom of shoes after a day out. A passing gull with a chip hanging from its mouth. The width of the kohl around the eyes of a pharoah. The different colours shooting across the sky during a sunset.

Sound – listen to a Youtube video filmed in the setting of your choice. The car horns in Paris. The donkey’s bray or chirping cigales in a Greek village. The fishing boat’s horn at a seaside resort. The sound of cheesy music from a passing ice cream van.

Smell – the stink of fish and seaweed as you walk through a harbour such as the one pictured above. The car fumes in Paris or wafting pastry smells from bakeries. Crocodile dung in Ancient Egypt! Close your eyes and imagine you are walking in your characters’ shadows. Think smoke from barbecues in the summer or aroma of hot red cinnamon wine if it’s cold.

Taste – oh yes, go to town with the food! The different textures and levels of spiciness or sweetness. All those details will really get the reader involved. How the food feels on the tongue. Is the aftertaste mild or bold?

Touch – wet sand squelching between toes. Scratchy beach grasses brushing against legs. Weather-beaten fishing boats. Scaly, slippery fish. Cobbled pavements under the feet. The sleek, smooth glass of glitzy buildings. The breeze through your hair by the coast or at the top of a landmark.

Below is an extract from my new Cornish book, as best friends, Kate and Izzy, drive towards Port Penny harbour:

“…the road narrowed into a path and we cut through the tiniest whitewashed stone cottages, with doll’s house doors and uneven foundations. The roads turned to cobbled avenues and I marvelled at cute plant pots in tiny front gardens. An occasional cat crossed our path, as I pointed out funny house names like Seas the Day and Sunnyside Up. Tens of gulls squawked above our heads and, as we approached the wide harbour, I breathed in a fishy stench, which hit the back of your throat.“

Secondly, also describe all the smaller aspects of the larger, more imposing parts of your setting. To do this I study Youtube videos and do lots of research online. Draw a map if that helps. I did this for Taxos, the Greek village in Game of Scones, and also for the stately mansion in Doubting Abbey. This will make it more real for you and, as a consequence, more real for your readers. Reading tourists’ reviews on TripAdvisor is also immensely helpful. I did this for my Greek book as I couldn’t exactly remember the details of Kos centre and I came across some vivid descriptions of various fountains and buildings – how safe or crowded or well maintained they were and what you could see from each angle. Also read local tourist guides and try to get a sense of the atmosphere surrounding big landmarks, to make the experience more personal.

In this extract, in From Paris with Love, Gemma is sitting on the steps of the Sacre Coeur:

“I gazed back down at the City of Light. When we’d first arrived, I’d just about been able to make out the details of roofs, chimneys and aerials. Now, however,everywhere was liquorice black, as if the starry sky had fallen to earth, just like that children’s story where Brer Rabbit thinks the moon has dropped into a pond. Lights twinkled and towards the right stood the sparkly Eiffel Tower.

I turned around, and gazed up at the awesome Sacre-Coeur church, illuminated by an amber glow. A Native American band played nearby, with their drums, flutes and pipes. Chat, laughter and ciggie smoke filled the air. Necking wine out of a bottle, a tramp sat next to us and directly in front was a group of camera-clicking Japanese girls.”

Thirdly, cut out relevant photographs and stick them above your desk, to really “get in the zone”. I did this with From Paris with Love as inspiration for the restaurant where a lot of the plot was based. I also posted up a copy of the Parisian underground. Don’t be lazy. Readers are educated people and won’t believe in the story if they spot an obvious mistake. Find the right Metro station to get off at the Eiffel Tower. Work out the exact time it will take a taxi to travel from the airport to your little Greek village.

Fourthly if you can, visit places in real life similar to your setting, if you haven’t actually been to the location. Doubting Abbey was inspired by the series Downton Abbey, and well after the book was published I managed a trip to Highclere Castle (see below). But the stately home in my story is quite different, and to get a taste of aristocratic life whilst doing the ground research, I visited Lyme Hall near me and took a tour of the house, writing notes on everything from the artefacts to door frames and just imagining how it must feel to live in such grandiose surroundings.

Finally… remember, a glamorous or particularly appealing or distinctive setting isn’t everything. For some novels the plot and characters carry the story and the setting, whilst important, isn’t such an crucial element. In Breakfast under a Cornish Sun it is significant because Kate Golightly heads off to that coast to find her very own Poldark (the fictional hero of a well-know Cornish book and TV series). Yet in my current work-in-progress (still under wraps, so I can’t give much away!) the setting is kind of incidental as the plot is about more of an emotional than physical journey for the characters.

Recently, my lovely editor at CarinaUK gave a talk at a book event and tweeted this photo of one of her slides. The line on the left represents how people feel the road to success progresses. The one on the right represents what it actually looks like. And I would definitely say that is true in my experience.

I’ve had a long and rocky road to publication and penned my first novel in 2005. The very first agency I sent it out to was Darley Anderson. It came back with a swift, standard rejection letter (thoroughly deserved). To my disbelief, ten years later, I have just signed with this agency, a moment of success for me. But the line of progress in between those two dates has certainly been squiggly, with ups and downs and moments where I felt I was going around in circles.

Whilst completing a first novel is a huge achievement, it represents the beginning of a long and tough journey only those with a thick skin will complete. I wrote novel after novel that got rejected. Sometimes the line of my progression halted when I declared I’d give up my dream of becoming a published author. Of course, that was like declaring giving up food or water – the compulsion to write is in my bones and I never stopped for longer than a couple of days.

Then in 2011 my line progressed a little further. I sold my first short story to a women’s magazine. I went on to sell over 50 to the People’s Friend. In 2013 publisher Alfie Dog Fiction brought out a collection of my short stories in paperback and Kindle form, called Sweet Talk. That was super-exciting and a huge boost to my confidence and my little line edged a further forwards. I even bagged a great romance agent so, on the surface everything looked like it was going to plan.

However lots of squiggly bits were happening at the same time. I failed to sell more than a couple of stories to Woman’s Weekly, for example and the first novel my agent submitted didn’t find a publisher. Despair set in time and time again. In publishing, I find that highs are often followed by lows and then circles where nothing seems to change for a while and then you might hit another high. The one constant is that words, with hope, continue to be written. Smaller successes become very important such as a lovely comment from a reader or an encouraging line from a publisher who rejected but nevertheless enjoyed your work

And then in 2013 I landed a deal with CarinaUK, thanks to my then-agent and my debut book Doubting Abbey. It got shortlisted for an award. Then my bestselling summer 2015 book Game of Scones actually won an award. For a while the squiggles straightened themselves out which was thrilling for me.

But, of course, my line still isn’t as straight as in the left of that slide screenshot. Some books sell better than others. Bad reviews still come in. I have a long way to go. In my opinion, you are only as good as your next book, not your last. A writer can never, ever become complacent. I am working harder than ever now, with my first novella out on the 11th February, How to Get Hitched in Ten Days. This will be followed by my summer novel Breakfast at Poldark’s in July and after that, who knows…

I guess that means the squiggly bits are important. They prepare you for the lows and make a writer realize that above all, determination and perseverance rule the day. So if you are going through a down or circular bit at the moment, don’t worry. Everyone has been there, it just doesn’t look like it on the surface. Look at all the rock bands who disintegrate and then re-form years later. Or the politicians who fall out of favour but make a comeback. Life is messy – just like squiggles. The important thing is that you are trying, maybe sometimes failing, but picking yourself up, learning and then moving forwards again, even though that may not be in a perfectly straight line.
As Robert H Schuller said:
“Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly.”

I have just returned from a wonderful holiday in Cornwall, and on the way my family and I visited Highclere Castle – aka Downton Abbey. I did, of course, take along my debut novel, Doubting Abbey, and felt surprisingly emotional as I held it in my hands, standing in front of the wonderful gardens and beautiful building that inspired my story.

What a marvellous day. It lived up to all my dreams. The interior of the house was magnificent with lush furniture and carvings, exquisite paintings and each room told a story – not only of the TV series, but of the Carnarvon family members who have lived there, across generations. I particularly loved the library, with its terracotta, gold warm glow – such an inviting room and so many antique books in it. What also made it special was that even though the furnishings were grandiose, they were also worn in places, with gave a great feel of authenticity – the place hasn’t been given a glossy  makeover for the sake of tourists. It was easy to picture the actors there and various scenes I have seen during the series. One surprise was how small the front drive actually is, where the staff line up outside to welcome guests.

What’s more, I now understand why they limit guest numbers – whilst busy, it was pleasant to walk around, in and out, without huge queues and you could really soak up the atmosphere.

The Ancient Egyptian exhibition at the base of the house also makes sense now. I never realised that the 5th Earl of Carnarvon discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun alongside Howard Carter, and the history of his life and exhibition of artefacts was fascinating.

So if you get the chance, grab some tickets and visit this inspiring estate. I can’t wait to go back some day – and perhaps next time I will sneakily leave a copy of Doubting Abbey in the library…!

A very exciting thing is happening this month – exciting to me, anyway! My debut book, Doubting Abbey, is being rolled out in print form, into all branches of the UK’s The Works. On Saturday I travelled to Chester, to pick up some copies, as the stores nearer to me hadn’t been sent any yet. I endured a two hour trip, due to holiday traffic, but it was worth every second. To finally hold a paperback of one of my novels, being sold in a shop, after ten years of writing, meant everything.

For several minutes, I stood admiring the front, back and spine of the book. It looked at home, on shelves bearing work of online author friends. And I felt at home – as if my whole professional life had led to this point. I celebrated with a lunch of Mojitos and Red Velvet cake and – of course – a bottle of Prosecco later on.

Funny, isn’t it, because any success I’ve had as a novelist has been with the digital form. And I love everything about digital publishing – the speedy turnaround with which my books are produced, the flexibility of pricing, and versatility of length and topic matter. And despite the periodic rumours that ebooks are on the way out, there is no doubt in my mind that they are here to stay. Readers want the vast choice of subject matters and prices that digital books offer. One writing friend recently sold 130,000 books in around a month, with the novel nationwide in every supermarket and bookstore imaginable – yet 90,000 of those sales were from ebook retailers.

What’s more, I am fully converted to reading on my Kindle. I love the fact I can turn the pages with one hand and hold a drink or biscuit in the other. I can read erotic fiction covertly on the sofa and take as many books as I like on holiday, without exceeding luggage weight restrictions.

Yet there is something very special, as an author, about holding your words in print form. Smelling the book (I know, that sounds weird). Choosing a spot for it on the shelf. Signing a copy for a friend or family member. So, I imagine I’ll be visiting many more branches of The Works over the next few weeks – forgive all the book selfies, if they turn up on social media! And if you are interested in buying a physical copy, it’ll only cost you a bargain £1.99. Or you can buy a selection of three books for £5. And if my books are all facing the front, I’ve probably been in the  shop earlier
Also available from The Works online.