Guest Post: My daily writing routine by Cathy Woodman

Today I'm pleased to welcome Cathy Woodman back to my blog as part of her Country Loving blog tour.

Regulars of my blog will know that I'm a huge fan of Cathy's Talyton St. George series and have read all the books in the series, including Country Loving which I reviewed earlier this year, and have previously interviewed Cathy a couple of times.  Today Cathy gives us a quick glimpse into her daily writing routine so I'll hand you over to Cathy...

My life is somewhat chaotic, but on the days when nothing out of the ordinary happens – which isn’t very often – this is my writing routine.

I’m an early bird rather than a night owl, so I’ll get up at six or seven to walk the dogs and muck out the pony. The dogs aren’t as lively as when they were puppies and sometimes they look at me as if to say, ‘Can’t we have a lie-in this morning?’

I find it useful to walk because that’s when I have time to think. Occasionally, I’ll record my ideas on my mobile phone because it’s really annoying when you get home and find that the brilliant idea you had has slipped your mind. I have become quite expert at managing three dogs on leads and a mobile!   

After I’ve walked the dogs and mucked out the pony, I’ll sit down with a mug of strong tea and check my emails, Facebook and Twitter accounts before I get started on the writing. Checking messages and answering them could be considered a form of procrastination, but it’s like a warm up before going on to write whichever book or short story I’m working on at the time. 

I have a weekly target of the number of words I need to write or rewrite.  It can be up to ten thousand words a week which is quite intense.  Five thousand is more realistic and manageable.

I have lunch at my laptop and stop writing in the late afternoon when the dogs are asking for another walk and often I start again at about eight in the evening and do another couple of hours. 

I’m often asked what I do all day because people seem to be under the illusion that I sit on the sofa with my laptop, coffee and chocolates, dressed in writerly outfits – designer dresses, hats and heels – and typing out the next novel, the words spilling from my fingertips. I wish!    

I often sit on the sofa with my laptop, but I’m usually wearing jeans. I do drink a lot of  coffee, but try to hold back from the chocolates for the sake of my waistline. And contrary to popular belief, the words don’t always spill out, especially when I’m distracted by the dogs! 

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Successful city accountant Stevie receives two surprises in one week: a proposal of marriage from her boyfriend Nick and a phone call begging her to return to the family farm in Devon to help out after her father has a stroke.

But what she thought would be a long weekend in the country turns into much longer as she struggles to bring order to her father's rundown farm. Finally, she decides to give up her job - and her fiance - and take on the farm permanently. She dreams of turning it into a tourist attraction, never realising it would be so difficult. But with the help of many of Talyton St George's local residents, and the locum vet Leon, she is starting to make progress.

Until a life-changing complication throws all her plans into disarray, and destroys her growing romance with Leon...

Amazon links: Paperback (published 1st August) or Kindle (out now)

Make sure that you follow Cathy on tour, the next stop is at Page Central tomorrow.