I was chatting to a lady recently who commented on how exciting my life must be. I smiled in response, pleased to know I wasn’t the only one with a furtive imagination. At the time, I’d just sent The Trouble with Words to the publisher. Having written, re-written, edited and re-edited, exciting wasn’t quite the word I’d have chosen. Even so, the lady’s enthusiasm reminded me how lucky I am to be able to write full-time in the first place.
Yes, as with all professions, being a writer has its ups and downs. However, the positives do out weigh the negatives. For example, we get to visit interesting places and meet fascinating people, all in the name of research. Depending what we’re writing, we get to fight pirates, solve murders, or fall in love with our heroes. We’re also able to work from home and mostly to our own schedule, something that, naturally, calls for a degree of self-motivation.
Thankfully, when it comes to the life of a writer there are lots of motivating factors to draw upon. Such as the sense of achievement we get when turning a grain of an idea into a full blown storyline, or develop an innocent mannerism into a well rounded character. Even the constant re-writing to make sure our work is as good as it can be feels like an accomplishment, particularly when we manage to get a difficult paragraph or chapter to finally convey what we intended.
Obviously there are times when our enthusiasm begins to wane, but by then we’re usually so far into a project we tell ourselves it would be ridiculous to give up on it now. Especially when we think about all the time and effort we’ve spent on it already.
However, one of the biggest motivating factors has to be our ability to communicate with people, many of whom we’re more than likely never going to meet. Again depending on what we write, we hope to make people laugh or cry, we hope to surprise or scare. And all of this in situations that we might never ourselves experience. And because our novels are being read on that particular beach or are sitting on that particular book shelf, it’s nice to think that a little bit of us can be found there too.
The Trouble with Words by Suzie Tullett
Release Date:
October 1, 2015
Blog tour
September 21–October 11, 2015
Blurb:
Promises – easy to make, hard to keep.
Having long made a promise to her husband, young widow Annabel has no intentions of breaking it. What she does plan to do, though, is have a baby. Not the easiest of tasks for a woman with a deceased other half, and having explored all her options, her only choice is to take the unconventional route. Setting out to find her own donor, Annabel meets Dan. Single, fun-loving and definitely not looking for commitment, this unruly blonde, blue-eyed man seems perfect for the job.
Dan wants nothing more than to find his dream woman. But with a mother intent on sabotaging his every relationship, he can't help but think he's destined to remain single. Of course, he knows his mother doesn't really want him all for herself, why else would she keep insisting he meet Maeve? Why else would she insist Dan promise to find himself a wife before she meets her maker?
Forced to negotiate matters of love, life and death, Annabel and Dan seem the answer to each other's prayers. But will they really be able to keep the promises they made? And is having a baby really the solution?
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Author Bio:
Suzie Tullett is an author of contemporary humorous fiction and romantic comedy. As well as The Trouble with Words, her novels include Going Underground and Little White Lies and Butterflies, which was short-listed for The Guardian's 2013 Not the Booker Prize. She has a Masters Degree in Television & Radio Scriptwriting and worked as a scriptwriter before becoming a full-time novelist. And when she's not tapping away on the computer creating her own literary masterpiece, she usually has her head in someone else's.
Excerpt
Opening out the deckchair, she plonked herself down in it. “So how’s your week been?” she asked. She paused, not that she really expected a reply, but it was nice to know he was listening if nothing else. “Mine’s not been too bad,” she continued. “The shop’s still doing okay. Oh, and your mum called round the other day.” Remembering the visit all too well, Annabel tried not to scowl. “She said to say hello.”
She reached down and dipped her hand into her bag again, this time pulling out a flask of coffee. “Caffeine, just what I need after the hassle of getting here,” she said. “As usual the traffic was horrendous.”
Pouring herself a drink, she knew her ramblings were an attempt at stalling the inevitable; that she was worried about Tom’s reaction once she’d told him what she was up to. While her plans for the future might be a positive move on her part, she certainly wasn’t daft enough to think everyone would understand. If anything most people wouldn’t, especially if his mother’s reaction had been anything to go by.
She thought it strange how everyone and their dog insisted she move on, yet the second she did they created such a song and dance over it. Although if Tom did choose to join in with the dissenters, then just like them he’d only have to get used to the idea; particularly when this was entirely his fault to begin with. Annabel didn’t want to play the blame game, but just like she’d said to his mother, she wouldn’t be in this position if he hadn’t upped and died in the first place. In her mind’s eye, she could see Tom sitting opposite, his hands clasped as he patiently waited for her to tell him what was really on her mind. The man always could read her like a book.
“Okay, okay,” she said. “Just give me a second.”
She took a couple of sips of coffee, determined to reveal all. But, in spite of practicing her speech all week, now that it came to it, those well-chosen words seemed to fail her. Resting her cup on her knee and refusing to let her conviction wane, she realised she was just going to have to come out and say it.
After three, she told herself. One, two, three…
She squeezed her eyes shut, in anticipation of the lightning bolt no doubt about to strike her down.
“I’m going to have a baby,” she said.
