The Write Stuff with... Maddie Please

Today it's my stop on the A Year of New Adventures blog tour and it's my pleasure to welcome author Maddie Please to the blog with a guest post 'My Lovely Twitter friends'.

Everyone knows writing can be a bit lonely. You are left alone with your imaginary friends and enemies and a mounting pile of waste paper, coffee mugs, post it notes and (in my case) Mint Club wrappers. I’m lucky because my husband mainly works from home too and we share an office so generally there is someone there to share coffee making duties or offer suggestions for plot twists. 

I kept hearing from other people in writing circles that Twitter was a good thing to get into. Networking (which agent is looking for clients or setting up a new agency) company (other writers out there publishing books, getting deals, batting away dodgy reviews) and –most important of all – support.

I started off about five years ago when I noticed something called writing races. Out of the blue someone would say, who is joining me for an hour, head down, no distractions? In the past I have found myself writing alongside really well known writers, sometimes admiring their stupendous word count but also being reassured when best selling writers who shall remain nameless admit they got distracted by their kittens or something they read on Facebook. 

Eventually I found myself with a group of familiar names, people who like me wrote most days, were struggling to get an agent or fix a plot hole or just escape from everyday life into their writing. 

We formed a private Twitter group of seven, (now ten) writers who were scattered throughout the UK. London, Wales, the Home Counties, Scotland the Midlands and the South West. Amongst our group were complete novices, self published writers, award winning bloggers, best selling authors. Some were retired others still working but we all had one thing that bound us together. We were all writers, we all wanted to be published, and we all wanted to offer and receive support while we ploughed on with our WIPs. I highly recommend other writers to do the same.

We called ourselves the LL’s – The Literary Lovelies and we have seen each other through triumph, disaster, success and failure. We spur each other on, offer sympathy when the going is tough and cheer when there is good news.  We are utterly and loudly outraged when one of our number has a rejection, we are thrilled when they succeed. The LL’s hive mind even named Lottie and Bryn, the main characters in The Summer of Second Chances.

We have managed to meet up occasionally although it’s been impossible to get all 10 of us together either through work or other commitments, but when we can we have enjoyed each other’s company over lunch just as much as we thought we would. The best and most important thing is the emotional support we get from each other. We like each other, we are kind to each other we are a Band of Sisters sharing the same dream. 

Twitter: @MaddiePlease1
Facebook: Maddie Please
Website: http://www.maddieplease.co.uk

It’s time for Billie Summers to have an adventure … but it might not be exactly what she expected.

Billie Summers has always been quite content in her little cottage in the Cotswolds. Sure, half the house hasn’t been renovated, but what’s the point when it’s only her? Working part-time at her uncle’s bookshop and planning writer retreats with her best friend allows her to pay the bills. What more could anyone want?

That is until Oliver Forest, the bad boy of the book world, turns up to one of her retreats and points out that Billie hasn’t done anything very adventurous. Couple that with her best friend falling head over heels and beginning to drift away from their Friday night wine and dinner plans, Billie is starting to wonder if it isn’t time she took control of her life.

So she starts a list: get fitted (properly) for a bra, fix up rest of house, find a ‘career’ and well, get a tattoo … Her life might just get the makeover it needs, too bad irritating and far-too-attractive for his own good, Oliver keeps showing up …

Because sometimes you need an adventure!

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