Diary entry May 2008

At long last I’ve come up for air having completed the first draft of my new novel. It’s been rather a slog given that both I and my little boy have had whooping cough (yes, I know nobody’s supposed to get that any more) for three months and I whooped and coughed so much that I managed to cough a rib out of place (not recommended) which resulted in me getting the very impressive sounding costo-condritis, which basically meant that the left side of my chest was extremely painful.

Somewhere in between all that I did actually manage to enjoy finishing the novel. It’s about a single-mum called Jo who has vowed never to fall in love again and then meets the charming and enigmatic Dan, a balloon sculptor who lives on a canal boat. It’s set in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, which is very near where I live and such a great setting for a novel that I couldn’t resist it. It’s been through three different titles along the way but we’ve finally settled on 10 REASONS NOT TO FALL IN LOVE.

The hardback will be published in November and the paperback in April 09. All that remains now is the small matter of the rewrite/editing to get it into the best shape possible but that’s something I really enjoy so I’m looking forward to it.

Will keep you posted on my progress. In the meantime I’m delighted that I DID A BAD THING has now sold more than 70,000 copies so thanks to everyone who has bought it and a particular thank you to all of you who have e-mailed me via the website to let me know how much you’ve enjoyed it. Your comments have kept me writing through the pain barrier!