Blog Tour Guest Post: Happily Ever after at the Dog and Duck by Jill Steeples

Happily Ever After at the Dog & Duck by Jill Steeples

Published: 2nd October 2018

Publisher: Aria

Pages: 358

Available on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Blurb

Life in Little Leyton is never quiet, and when handsome developer Max and his bride-to-be Ellie, receive some sad news, he decides to whisk her away for a romantic break. The time away gives Ellie a new perspective, and she’s eager to get home to get on with planning their wedding.

But a devastating incident at the pub she runs, The Dog & Duck, puts everything in jeopardy.  And, at their home Braithwaite Manor, tensions are heightened when Ellie’s future mother-in-law turns up with all her worldly belongings, much to Max’s sister Katy’s despair.  

With Max preoccupied with problems at work, Ellie’s left literally holding the baby, while dealing with a seemingly endless list of dramas. And as Christmas approaches, Ellie begins to wonder if she’ll ever get her happily ever after…

Jill Steeples’ heart-warming Dog & Duck series is the perfect escapist read for all fans of romance, laughter and unforgettable stories.

Guest Post by Jill Steeples

The publication of a new book is always cause for celebration.  After all that hard work it’s so thrilling to finally send your baby out into the big wide world and to know that people will be reading it, and hopefully enjoying it too! In the case of my latest novel, Happily Ever After at The Dog & Duck, there’s double cause for celebration as it’s the fourth and final Dog and Duck book bringing the series to a close.

I must admit to having mixed feelings about this.  Obviously there’s a sense of relief, satisfaction and excitement that I’ve actually made it to this point - there were moments when I wondered if I ever would! - but it’s tinged with sadness too knowing that I’m saying goodbye to characters who I’ve come to love and who have played such a major part in my life these last couple of years.

Funnily enough, I didn’t set out to write a series.  When I wrote the first book about Ellie Browne who loses her job and flat in London, and returns home to the village where she grew up, in search of some thinking time, I’d intended for it to be a stand-alone novel. Without a contract in place at the time or a pressing deadline to meet, I thoroughly enjoyed the process of writing the novel, set in an idyllic English country village and centring around the local pub. When it was finished it I sent it off to a new digital imprint that was just setting up, Aria Fiction, a division of Head of Zeus and within a matter of a few weeks I’d heard from them saying how they loved the book, and would like to publish it.  I was thrilled and quickly accepted their offer and that’s when the idea of turning it into a series and writing three more books was mooted by my editor!

I was daunted by the prospect.  I’d just written one book and now they wanted me to write three more, but once I’d chatted it through with my editor and we’d come up with some ideas on how to develop the series, it seemed that I might just be able to pull it off after all.

The good thing about writing a series is that you already have a core set of characters that you know and love so well.  In my case I also had the fictional village of Little Leyton and The Dog and Duck pub, so I had plenty of scope to develop the storylines, and I loved immersing myself in the fictional world I’d created.

Of course there are challenges to writing a series too.  Not everyone who picks up your book will have read the others in the series so you have to ensure that the story can stand on its own, offering enough backstory to make it easy for new readers to follow, but not too much that you alienate existing readers.  There is also a level of expectation from readers who are following the series. One of the loveliest things I’ve experienced in this process has been people getting in touch  saying how much they’ve enjoyed the stories and asking when the next story will be out. Those sort of comments make it all worthwhile and has made my first experience of writing a series a very positive one. Would I write another one? Possibly. Never say never is definitely my motto now after being pushed to do something that I would never have considered in the first place had it not been for my publisher.  In the meantime I really hope readers, both old and new alike, enjoy this latest book in The Dog and Duck series.

About the Author

Jill lives with her husband, two children and an English Pointer named Amber in the Bedfordshire countryside. Her short stories have appeared in women’s magazines around the world aswell as in charity anthologies. When she’s not writing, Jill loves spending time with family and friends, reading, films, musical theatre, walking, baking and eating cakes, and drinking wine.

Follow Jill

Twitter handle: @jillesteeples

Any blogs/website: www.jillsteeples.co.uk

Buy links

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2Ljw2mr
iBooks: https://apple.co/2PBoVZU

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2wmWMwy
Google Play: http://bit.ly/2Mw4PSM

Follow Aria

Website: www.ariafiction.com

Twitter: @aria_fiction

Facebook: @ariafiction

Instagram: @ariafiction

Blog Tour: The Silver Ladies of London by Lesley Eames, Guest Post

The Silver Haired Ladies of London by Lesley Eames

Published: 1st July 2018

Publisher: Aria

Available on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Blurb

1920’s London. Featuring four attractive heroines, a scandal, a secret and a silver Rolls Royce.

Dismissed without references when their employer’s valuable necklace goes missing, friends Ruth, Lydia, Jenny and Grace try to rebuild their lives far from home in London.

A surprise inheritance of a beautiful silver Rolls Royce leads them to set up in business as female chauffeurs. But they soon discover that driving is a man’s world and find themselves facing a future fraught with constant challenges.

Soon their business; romances and even their friendship are under threat.

This is a heart-warming story of friendship, loyalty, courage and love. Perfect for the fans of Elaine Everest and Daisy Styles.

Guest Post

The Silver Ladies of London by Lesley Eames

For me, writing a story is like walking into the biggest, most gorgeous sweet shop in the world and gazing in wonder at jar after jar of exciting possibilities. Pear drops, pineapple chunks, mint imperials… Or in my case characters, plot, setting…

I’ve written dozens of short stories for the women’s magazine market but in writing my saga, The Silver Ladies of London, I had a bigger sweetie bag to fill than ever before. Bliss!

Terrific characters are a must as far as I’m concerned: I want readers to enjoy my characters and to care about them as they work through their personal issues and the obstacles they encounter. 

For my lead characters I chose Ruth, Lydia, Jenny and Grace. These young working class women have very different personalities with different strengths, weaknesses, aspirations and goals. They also have different problems in their lives but the friendship they develop as they work together in service at Arleigh Court, a prosperous household in provincial England, helps them to cope – until their circumstances change quite dramatically. Friendship, courage and loyalty were themes I wanted to explore as the story developed.

I set the story in the early 1920’s because this was a fascinating period in British history. The Great War was over and prosperity was returning to the country, bringing with it fashion, fun, jazz clubs, cocktails and glamorous cars. For some people, that was. For others there was grinding poverty with slum housing, precarious health and precious little in the way of employment rights or state financial support. Women had to contend with discrimination too, despite the vote having been given to some but by no means all of them. This social landscape offered a rich source of challenges and opportunities for my four girls to navigate, together with some fascinating themes for me to explore.

In my stories, characters, setting and storyline influence each other but as a writer I also have two magic words that I can summon to open up a whole host of ideas and potential directions. These words aren’t Abracadabra and Shazam but What if? Having decided on my characters, setting and themes, I summoned up the magic to ask myself a whole series of questions:

-        what if the girls are involved in a scandal?

-        what if they’re dismissed without references and forced to return to their homes and the problems they’re trying to escape or manage?

-        what if they can’t find new jobs locally because their reputations are in ruins?

-        what if they try their luck in London instead?

-        What if they use the surprise inheritance of a silver Rolls Royce to set up their own business – chauffeur-driven car hire with themselves as chauffeurs – in what is basically a man’s world?

-        What if love comes calling but is… complicated?

-        And what if one girl has a secret that threatens romances, business and friendship alike?

Answers rushed back at me and gradually Silver Ladies began to take shape. Not that it was an entirely smooth process. Certainly there were times when the dinner burned because I was so engrossed in my characters’ adventures but there were other times when I wanted to take an axe to my computer in frustration because I couldn’t get the words to flow in the way I wanted.

Writing is an emotional process for me. I get caught up in my characters’ tears and laughter, and I also have to process my own excitement and fears over how the story is – or might not be – developing. Whether I’m high or low on the emotional spectrum, writing is compulsive, however, and there’s nothing more rewarding. Except for my lovely family, of course (better say that in case they’re reading this).

Sometimes readers ask me questions and one question I’m being asked at the moment is which of the four girls is my favourite? It’s a question I can’t possibly answer because I like and admire all of them.

Another question I can’t answer is which of their love interests do I like best? How can I choose between dashing American, Harry James Dellamore, and shrewd Owen Tedris? Or between glorious Johnnie Fitzpatrick and everyone’s friend, Luke Huxtable?

Although I can’t choose between them I’m keen to hear what readers think of all the characters in the story, even the minor ones. There I have to confess to a teeny, tiny bit of favouritism because I had especially good fun writing about two of the minor characters: forthright Maggie O’Hara and granite-faced Lady Violet. I hope readers enjoy them too.

Lesley x

About the Author

Born in Manchester but currently living in Hertfordshire, Lesley’s career has included law and charity fundraising. She is now devoting her time to her own writing and to teaching creative writing to others. In addition to selling almost 90 short stories to the women’s magazine market, Lesley has won the Festival of Romance’s New Talent Award and the Romantic Novelists’ Associations Elizabeth Goudge Cup.

Follow Lesley

Twitter: @LesleyEames

Facebook: @LesleyEamesWriter

Buy now links:

Amazon: mybook.to/SilverLadies

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2sXL6zw

iBooks: https://apple.co/2t9HJFb

Google play: http://bit.ly/2sXBl4r

Follow Aria

Website: www.ariafiction.com

Twitter: @aria_fiction

Facebook: @ariafiction

Instagram: @ariafiction

Blog Tour Guest Post: More Than Us by Dawn Barker

More than Us by Dawn Barker

Published: 21st May 2018

Publisher: Canelo

Pages: 334

Genre: Women's Fiction, Family Drama

Available on Kindle

Order Now From Amazon

Today I'd like to welcome Dawn Barker to my blog, author of the inspiring novel More Than Us, she's going to give us some insight into the inspiration for the novel, over to Dawn.

Blurb

When parents disagree on how to care for their child, is it justifiable to take extreme measures?

Emily and Paul have a glorious home, money in the bank and two beautiful children. Since leaving Scotland for Paul to play football for an Australian team they have been blessed. But sadness lies behind the picture-perfect family - sixteen-year-old Cameron has battled with health troubles his entire life. There's no name for what he has, but his disruptive behaviour, OCD and difficulty in social situations is a constant source of worry. 

When Paul's career comes to a shuddering halt, he descends into a spiral of addiction, gambling away the family's future. By the time he seeks help, it's his new boss Damien who recommends and pays for a rehab facility.

While Paul is away, Emily has to make a tough decision about their son. She keeps it from Paul knowing he'll disapprove. And when a terrible accident reveals the truth, Paul takes his son and goes on the run, leaving Emily to care for fourteen-year-old Tilly, who unbeknown to her parents is fighting battles of her own.

Can the family join together for the sake of their loved ones, or will their troubles tear them apart?

Guest Post: The Inspiration Behind More than Us by Dawn Barker

The inspiration for writing More Than Us

Dawn Barker

First of all, thank you for having me on your blog today. I’m very excited that More Than Us, my third novel, is out now!

Of all my books, More Than Us was the one that took the longest to write. I remember having the first idea for it about four years ago, while my family and I were living in Cape Town in South Africa. I remember walking in the beautiful Camps Bay area with my husband and talking about the problems that young sportsmen (and women) face after being drafted in their teenage years into elite sport, then propelled into a life where they are treated like stars. Here in Australia, there have been some high-profile cases of Australian Rules Football and swimming stars who have then struggled to adjust to the real world when their careers end and become addicted to substances. I know in the UK, there have been similar stories reported of soccer stars, where the fame and money involved is almost incomprehensible. For many young men, when their career ends, often in their twenties or thirties, they have to adjust to real life, which is difficult when they haven’t completed their education, and have never had to learn to manage things the way that the rest of us do. I thought this would be an interesting character for a book.

That idea grew, but I needed more, and then I recalled a case I saw at work (I’m a psychiatrist for my day job) many years ago, when a family disagreed with the cause of their teenage son’s psychosis. This child’s father sought alternative treatment, while the mother wanted the treatment that I recommended as a doctor. I never knew how that case ended, as I only saw the family briefly, so I thought that writing about a similar case would allow me to explore all the complicated issues and beliefs that we have in our society about mental illness.

I then started writing the first draft of this book a few years ago, combining those ideas and also exploring the often-conflicting views about mental illness in children. As a child psychiatrist, I have absolutely no doubt that children can become psychiatrically unwell, of course, but I also feel that sometimes, mental illness is over diagnosed, and I share the concern of many about the use of medication in children when diagnosis is unclear.

In writing More Than Us, I hoped to explore all of these issues through the eyes of a fictional family living that experience. It certainly helped me to consider many of the issues in depth and I hope that it provokes some thought and discussion amongst readers.

Thanks again for having me on your blog today!

About the Author

Dawn Barker is a psychiatrist and author. She grew up in Scotland, then in 2001 she moved to Australia, completed her psychiatric training and began writing. Her first novel, Fractured, was selected for the 2010 Hachette/Queensland Writers Centre manuscript development programme, was one of Australia's bestselling debut fiction titles for 2013, and was shortlisted for the 2014 WA Premier's Book Awards. Her second novel is Let Her Go. Dawn lives in Perth with her husband and three young children.

Twitter: @drdawnbarker

Blog Tour Guest Post: Blood Ties by Heather Burnside

Blood Ties by Heather Burnside

Published: 1st March 2018

Publisher: Aria

Pages: 296

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Today I'd like to welcome Heather Burnside to my blog to kick off the start of the blog tour for her latest novel Blood Ties, which is the second instalment of her Manchester crime trilogy and follows on from Born Bad published last year. Heather is sharing today her tips on writing a trilogy, something which as readers we will know is a daunting task, so thank you Heather.

Blurb 

Adele Robinson is locked up – convicted for the murder of her abusive father. She quickly realises that she'll have to play it tough if she's going to survive, and soon gains a reputation for standing her ground.

Meanwhile, her brother Peter is building his criminal empire on the outside – running protection rackets, seedy nightclubs and all manner of schemes to make a fast buck. He soon comes to the attention of, not only the police, but also Manchester's rival gangs, and a turf war breaks out.

And when things start to get bloody, only Adele can step in to protect the family business. Will she get out in time to save Peter? After all, blood is thicker than water, and when family's in trouble you can't look the other way.

Guest Post: The Challenges of Writing a Trilogy

Hi and thank you for inviting me to be a guest on your blog. I am excited to introduce Blood Ties, the second book in my Manchester crime trilogy.

The opening part of Blood Ties sees our protagonist, Adele, serving time. Adele’s skills as a kickboxing black belt combined with her fiery temper have earned her a tough girl reputation. Because of this she gets on the wrong side of the prison bullies who want to bring her down. Adele then becomes immersed in a battle for survival during her time behind bars.

When Adele finishes her sentence things don’t get any easier for her in the outside world. Unable to gain honest employment because of her prison record, she agrees to do the bookkeeping for her brother, Peter’s businesses. But not all of Peter’s businesses are legal and above board, and Adele soon gets sucked into the seedy underworld of 90s gangland Manchester and has to face the dire consequences.

While Blood Ties is hitting the shops, I’m busy getting the first draft of book three ready to submit to my publishers, Aria Fiction. Publishing a novel brings a tremendous sense of achievement as well as relief that it’s finally out there, and with a trilogy those sentiments are tripled.

Writing a trilogy also brings its own unique set of challenges as it’s important to ensure that each book flows on from the preceding ones. Fortunately, there are ways to keep track of things and I use a few techniques to help me:

Outline – I always draw up an outline before I begin writing a novel. Then, as I develop the novel I flesh it out. To me an outline is important as it helps me to quickly recap if I don’t write for a couple of days. Unlike a lot of authors, I don’t write every day. Instead, I treat it like any 9-5 job and give myself weekends off when I focus on other things.

Character Lists – For me a character list is very important since the characters are essential to any novel. As well as giving physical details of the character, the list should detail their personal characteristics, skills, likes and dislikes etc. I also bear in mind that characters change during the course of a novel and more so with a trilogy. They may change physically in appearance as they grow older and their personalities will also be affected by what happens to them.

List of Place Names – This isn’t so much a list of towns, cities etc. but more a list of homes, pubs, businesses and any other places that my characters frequent. It gives details of what those places look like and how they are set out. So, for example, Adele’s childhood home in book one is situated in Gorton, Manchester. The living room is the first room off the hallway then the kitchen/dining room is at the back. A shabby back garden with a passageway runs along the back of the house etc. etc.

My list of place names has served me well as it’s so easy to lose track when you’re writing a trilogy of over 250,000 words. For example, I almost dropped a clanger with book three when I described the area where a particular pub is located only to find when I checked my list that I had already located it in a different area in book two.

Timeline – This is where I set out the day and week when a particular scene or chapter occurs in relation to the rest of the book. It can be incorporated into the Outline. I would always write a timeline for any novel but for a trilogy it is particularly important so that I can ensure everything fits in sequentially. Otherwise I might make a mistake such as having someone give birth only a few weeks after they become pregnant.

I must admit that I find the timeline one of the most challenging aspects of writing a novel. I draw up a rough guide at the outset but then as the novel progresses other scenes come into play. This often means that I have to make adjustments to the timeline when I have finished writing the novel.

This may seem like a lot of lists but it helps me save time in the long run by avoiding many pitfalls.

I do hope you’ll enjoy reading Blood Ties as much as I enjoyed writing it. Now that I’ve published Blood Ties, I’m looking forward to completing the third and final book in the trilogy.

With best wishes,

 Heather x

About the Author

Heather Burnside is a Manchester-based author who, after taking a career break to raise a family, swapped credit control for writing and decided to study for a writing diploma. Heather had articles featured in several popular UK magazines before publishing her first Manchester-based crime thriller in 2014.

Links to buy

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2C7MllX

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2CCWcMg

Google Play: http://bit.ly/2sGi4qp

iBooks: https://apple.co/2omUg5x

Follow Heather Burnside

Website: https://heatherburnside.com/

Twitter: @heatherbwriter

Facebook: @HeatherBurnsideAuthor

Follow Aria

Website: www.ariafiction.com

Facebook: @ariafiction

Twitter: @aria_fiction

Instagram: @ariafiction

NetGalley: http://bit.ly/2lkKB0e

Sign up to the Aria newsletter: http://bit.ly/2jQxVtV

Blog Tour Guest Post: The Candle Factory Girl by Tania Crosse

THE CANDLE FACTORY GIRL by Tania Crosse

Published: 1st March 2018

Publisher: Aria

Pages: 536

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Blurb

Work at Price's Candle Factory in Battersea is tedious for intelligent, seventeen-year-old Hillie Hardwick, but she knows she is lucky to have a job at all.

Her home life is no better, as she constantly battles with her exacting and bullying father in order to protect her mother and five younger siblings from his abuse.

Her only solace is her loving relationship with the chaotic Parker family and her best friend, Gert Parker.

When matters violently escalate for Hillie, smitten Jack-the-Lad Jimmy Baxter seems her only salvation.

But could this be the biggest mistake of her life, and should she be looking for protection nearer home?

A story that crackles with unease where courage and friendship are the only hope.

Today I am delighted to welcome Tania Crosse, author of The Candle Factory Girl to my blog to share some of her memories of Battersea in London where her novel is set. The Candle Factory Girl is published today by Aria.

Memories of Battersea

Nowadays, Battersea is considered a sought-after area of south-west London. Long gone are the nearby industries, Price’s Candle Factory included, that used to spew smoke into the atmosphere. The two hundred acres of Battersea Park that produce a haven for peace, recreation and fresh air, are a stone’s throw away. The back streets are quiet, yet bustling central London is but a short trip by bus or train, or a longer walk for the more energetic.

Our house in Banbury Street, now beautifully renovated, was on the market a few years ago for a huge amount of money. If my parents had owned it rather than renting the top part of the house, they would have been well-off indeed.

At the end of the war, because of the Blitz and then the V1 and V2 rocket attacks in 1944-5, there was a dreadful housing shortage, particularly before the ‘pre-fab’ building programme got going. So it was a wonder my parents managed to secure the tenancy of the two bedrooms on the top floor, and a sitting room and small kitchen on the middle level. There was no bathroom, and just one toilet for the whole house, down in the semi-basement.

I believe that the first few houses, including ours, on that side of the street, belonged at the time to the brewery. They were considered superior because the original servants’ quarters in the semi-basements necessitated a flight of stone steps up to the main front door. In our semi-basement, lived a dear, kindly elderly widow, a retired cook. She became our beloved Nanny Lloyd, and we spent as much time with her as we did in our own part of the house. All of which allowed me to describe Jessica’s home in such detail.

My heroine, Hillie, however, and her friend, Gert, live on the opposite side of the street. Sadly, this terrace of modest yet characterful houses built later in the Nineteenth Century was demolished in the 1970s and replaced with modern flats. Such a pity as all the similar properties in the adjoining streets have been restored and now offer popular residences.

Price’s Candle Factory, too, has gone. Some of the buildings fronting onto York Road now have commercial use, but between them and the river behind is now residential, so skilfully done that it is difficult to know which is newbuild and which is factory conversion.

Battersea Park, as much part of our lives as it is for Hillie, her friends and family, has also undergone changes. I knew it when the pleasure gardens were there, a prettily landscaped funfair created for the 1951 Festival of Britain. I remember the tree walk, a wooden structure leading through the lofty branches above the park. Above all, I adored the famous Guinness Clock, waiting with such excitement for it to burst into life every fifteen minutes. I have no recollection of the aviaries and deer enclosure. I am guessing they were removed when war broke out. The pleasure gardens, tree walk and Guinness Clock have all gone, too, and the park is so cosmopolitan that you can hear spoken almost any language you can name.

Clapham Junction also holds strong memories for me. I often travelled with my mother by bus or train. I remember waiting on the platform, enthralled as I watched the gigantic steam engines hiss into the station like fiery dragons. Many of the trains were diesel driven, but they weren’t the same.  Then there were the ‘banana arches’, warehouses beneath the raised tracks along the back entrance to the station. Memories still haunt me of walking past on dark, misty evenings, clutching my mother’s hand. It was so creepy that I shudder at the thought even now. So I had to bring them into the story, a perfect place for – well, I won’t tell you. I don’t want to spoil it for when you read the book!

My own family life was very happy, and nothing like that of any of the characters in the book. Yet I felt drawn to set The Candle Factory Girl in the same street. But I will leave you with one thought. When my parents rented those rooms in Battersea, they barely had a penny to their names. So how did they own their own home by the time they retired, and now lie together in a country churchyard in a small Berkshire village. Perhaps there’s another book in there somewhere...?

Blog Tour: It Started With A Tweet, Guest Post from Author Anna Bell

It Started With a Tweet by Anna Bell

Published: 7th December 2017

Publisher: Bonnier Zaffre

Pages: 416

Available on Kindle

Pre-Order from Amazon

Blurb

Daisy Hobson lives her whole life online. But when her social media obsession causes her to make a catastrophic mistake at work, Daisy finds her life going into free-fall . . .

Her sister Rosie thinks she has the answer to all of Daisy's problems - a digital detox in a remote cottage in Cumbria. Soon, too, Daisy a welcome distraction there in Jack, the rugged man-next-door.

But can Daisy, a London girl, ever really settle into life in a tiny, isolated village?

And, more importantly, can she survive without her phone?

Today I'd like to welcome the wonderful Anna Bell to my blog to talk about one aspect of her fabulous new book It Started With A Tweet, out on Thursday. So over to Anna:

Social Media And Me

I adore social media. Being a British expat living in France I love the fact that I feel connected with the UK with a simple swipe. From a work perspective I love that I can talk to readers and other authors. From a personal perspective I love that I can lose hours watching Instagram stories and finding out everything I ever needed to know in an instant.  But I also hate social media. I hate the fact that I am always tempted to check my phone. I hate the fact it can cripple with me anxiety that my life doesn’t look as fun as everyone else’s. And I hate the fact that I ignore people who are actually in the room with me to speak to virtual strangers. I’ve started to wonder is it possible to find a balance between love and hate.

When I started to write my main character Daisy in my latest novel It Started With a Tweet, I was laughing at the way she acted when she was forced offline and the ridiculous lengths she went to find the internet. Only the more I started to write her, the more I started to see myself in her and I began to notice how obsessed with my phone I actually am. I started to track the time I spent on it and was amazed that those little email refreshes here and that scan of Twitter there actually added up to hours during a day.

Shocked to discover my addiction, I was determined to do something about it and I ended up doing a three day digital detox. I prepared myself for tears, tantrums and misery, only they didn’t come. It was as if I knew that I wasn’t allowed it so I didn’t even reach for it. I felt freer than I have in a long, long time and for once I didn’t have major FOMO (fear of missing out) as I wasn’t seeing what everyone else was up to.

Realising that I treated my phone like another person in the room - always giving it priority over everyone and anything else - I decided I needed to change. I’ve

now deleted Facebook off my iPad and phone. I’ve off all my notifications from all my apps and now the only way to know now if someone’s got in contact with me is if I check. I no longer jump to the beat of my phone as it’s pretty much silent all day. I’ve started to tweet more as I’m trying to be more of an active participant rather than just a reader, in the hope that I’ll get more out of it. I’m also trying to wean myself off Instagram stories, as yet with no success - but you’ve got to have one achilles heel, right?

I think writing the novel was great for me to remind me that there’s a world away from my phone. Life goes on whether I’m on or offline and I don’t always have to know what’s happening all the time. My great love affair with social media isn’t over, but like all love affairs I’m beginning to think perhaps it’s healthier not to spend all your time together!

Thank you so much Anna for sharing your social media thoughts with us and look out soon for my review of the hilarious It Started With a Tweet.