A Life Update | Writing, travelling, baby guinea pigs

Posted on 25 February, 2017

Hi, everyone! It seems like it’s been a very long time since I last sat down to write an update post or something a bit more informal and chatty. I thought I should probably catch you up on everything that’s been going on, especially as I have lots of blog posts planned for the next few months.

The blog has been a bit quiet for the past few months. In fact, that’s an optimistic look because it’s been very quiet for the past year. Since finishing my GCSE’s in the summer, I’m now doing my A Levels at college – English Literature, Creative Writing and Sociology. I love college more than I ever expected; it’s completely changed my life.

The other draining thing that’s been taking up lots of my time is the novel I’m working on. I started my second draft in January and am currently 15,000 words in. I’ve set a self-imposed deadline of finishing this draft by the end of May, but with my AS exams I don’t know if that will be entirely possible. I’m going to try and get as close as possible though!

Here’s a sneak peek at a scene from the first chapter for you:

I adore my characters – they feel like my best friends and are so much fun to write. For those of you who don’t know, the book is a YA contemporary road-trip novel about friendship, books and figuring out who you are when your entire life has been thrown upside down. It is my favourite thing ever.

Another very good thing to happen is this little ball of joy who was born last week. I LOVE HIM. His name is Engelbert because we have a theme of ‘bert’ names going on – his grandfather is called Bertie and his father is called Gumbert (don’t ask). As you can probably guess, baby guinea pigs are extremely distracting when they look that cute.

I also went up to Waterstones Birmingham recently to see the Love and Fandom panel with Lauren James, Maggie Harcourt and Miranda Dickinson. I had such a lovely time and got to spend time with my amazing friend Lauren before the event. It was so nice to sit down and chat about writing, books and, of course, guinea pigs.

It was my first time travelling alone to a place I hardly know at all, so I was extremely proud afterwards. It shows how far I’ve come with my mental health and I still can’t quite believe I did it. It’s definitely given me the confidence to travel more in the future!

Current favourites:

Running #ukyachat every Friday at 8pm! I sit down every Friday evening to meet up with my amazing online friends, who always amaze me with their sensitivity, insight and opinions on a range of different subjects. Getting to host the chat every week is one of the greatest pleasures, and I love it!

I’m loving the new series of Call the Midwife at the moment. It’s so obvious that the writers and producers are women – they create beautiful stories that are at the heart of women’s lives, and it never fails to bring tears to my eyes. Seriously, you need to watch this if you haven’t already!

Netgalley. For those of you who don’t know, Netgalley is a sight where bloggers and book industry people can request to review books and I am OBSESSED. I check it every day without fail and can’t help but click the ‘request’ button when I see something I like the look of. I really do need to have a big marathon read soon of all the books I’ve been accepted to review! It’s also a habit I need to break… I can’t keep requesting all of these books!!

What have you been up to lately, bookish or otherwise? What are your current favourites?

Sunday Diary

Too Much French, Decisions & Chocolate Cake | Sunday Diary

Posted on 17 January, 2016

I tested out a feature called Sunday Diary in September 2014 and, whilst I loved writing it, I stopped after the first post for some reason, but it’s back!!

I’ll be sharing what I’ve been up to in the past week each Sunday – bookish and non-bookish. As I said in the first post, “It’s a chance for me to ramble away and hopefully you’ll learn a bit about me at the same time.”

What I’ve Been Up To This Week:

At school, I’ve had to make the scary decision of choosing my A-Level options. We’ve had taster sessions in the subjects for the past fortnight and I think I’ve finally decided on French, Business Studies, English Literature and Religion, Philosophy & Ethics. So, pretty much, just carrying on the options I’ve been taking for GCSE. I know it will be a massive jump up, but I’m actually really looking forward to it – is that weird?

I’ve also been working on my French writing controlled assessment. When it comes to French, I probably go a bit overboard and so on the day I did feel very nervous, despite having learnt it to within an inch of its life. However, it did go very well and I’m so pleased to have it done with! Hopefully no more writing assessments for me for a while!

At the weekend, I went out to buy my prom dress (I’m sure I’ll share it closer to the time!) and then for cake, as you can see above. And then today I’m planning on doing some pigture shoots for Book Pigs, my guinea pig blog. If you haven’t heard me talk about it before, then probably dedicate a whole day to looking at the pigtures because you could get lost in the cuteness. 😉

What I’ve Been Reading:

I’m in between books at the moment and haven’t read anything entirely this week, but think I’m going to be starting How to Disappear by Clare Furniss next. I loved The Year of the Rat so have high hopes for it. I’m sure it won’t disappoint!

Let me know the exciting things you’ve been doing this week, and what you’ve been reading in the comments!

A-Levels