The first spots of red are appearing along the Manukau Harbour. Once the Pohutukawa’s start flowering, I know summer is almost here! This year has been another tricky one with lockdowns and restrictions. New Zealand finally opened up to the world mid-year (a bit behind the rest of the world), so I’m really looking forward to getting out and about these summer holidays.

With the borders now open and people finally free to travel, it has been great to catch up with friends and family and attend writers’ events in person. Unfortunately, it has meant having to deal with all the bugs and germs that haven’t bothered us for the past couple of years. This has resulted in me being struck down by several colds and viruses (but no covid), leading to a bit of a writer’s slump.

To help get over this slump, I am participating in NaNoWriMo for my third year. The challenge of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words of a novel during the thirty days of November.  It’s a great way to prioritise and commit to regular writing.

I’m currently querying the first book in my children’s chapter book series about animals, pirates, and crazy fun, so I am choosing to spend NaNoWriMo working on two projects, so I can switch between them if I get writer’s block or need a break.

Project one is the next draft of my middle-grade fantasy adventure novel. This story starts in the highlands of Scotland, allowing me to utilise the scenery and beauty of places I visited on my last trip just before the covid outbreak. And maybe a fantastic opportunity to start planning another visit – for research purposes, of course 😉.

Project two is an idea for an adult crime/thriller – something outside my normal writing genres  – and is stretching me as a writer as I learn a lot from the process.

I should hit the 50,000-word target between the two projects and hope this will continue long into the next few months.

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Happy Reading!