Check this great novel series out by Marilyn Rodwell:

http://www.outofthecocoa.blogspot.co.uk/

It's an engaging story set in Trinidad, with beautiful imagry and a fantastic narritive.

Tip of the day:

When starting out, it's really useful to get together with other writers. To talk, understand about the processes people use, hear other people's experiences, and even share work if you're brave enough!

Here is a good list of groups near you:

http://www.writingwestmidlands.org/west-midlands/writing-groups/

It's good to contact someone in advance to make sure it's the right kind of group for you; if you are a beginner, or are looking for something more advanced.

Having lost my last group, I was thrilled to find a new one on my doorstep in Rugby.  The group is friendly and meets in a pub (always an advantage!), and they are mostly poets. This unnerved me to start with, being naturally a fiction writer as opposed to a poet.

To me, poetry was something that skilful and soulful people did, like writing songs. As I am not terribly musical (a polite way for saying I'm about as musical as a bulldozer), I didn't hold out a lot of hope.

However, I have to say I am impressed! Going into a class full of people you don't know is quite daunting, but if you have an open mind, it's surprising what you can find out about yourself (but don't worry, I still won't be singing any time soon).

I will be posting some of my new poems on to the site soon. Watch this space!

Welcome to my blog

Hello, and welcome to my first blog.

I'm a new and aspiring author, and I am hoping to publish my first novel soon. This blog is my diary of how I'm going to get there, and hoepfully, it might help other new writers out there learn about the pitfalls of publication and the terrors that go along with the process.

I am in the final stages of my first draft, and very soon, I'll be announcing that it's finished (I hope!). Then the real hard work begins...