The Story So Far...

Hi, I'm Allie. I'm a thirty-something mother of two, I live on a pretty standard housing estate in the South of England and my burning, consuming, all-I've-ever-wanted-to-do ambition, is to be a writer.
Ah, the soothing sound of nib on paper...the hours spent idly gazing out of the window thinking up fiendishly ingenious plot twists...the rapturous applause as you step up to receive the Booker Prize for your first novel...
Not a bit of it!
Rather, it's the furious sound of fingers on key-board as I try to get 1000 words written while Jamie (2) has his lunchtime nap; working out a way in which to keep my hero and heroine at loggerheads but still madly in love with each other as I whizz round Waitrose because we've run out of milk (again); and waiting with baited breath and sweaty palms to see what an agent/publisher/competition judge makes of my books.

This is a blog about life at the typeface. It's a tale that I hope will end happily ever after (but no guarantees - this is real life after all!) and that I hope might give some ideas or inspiration to anyone else out there in the same boat (and visa versa - all top tips very gratefully received).

Where I'm At And How I Got Here

I gave up my job as a lawyer specializing in family and divorce work in 2002 when my eldest son (Matt) was born and got a few gigs writing scripts for historical audio tours. I'd had this idea for a novel batting roud my head for ages but I never seemed to have the time to put anything down on paper. Then, in very quick succession, I lost three of my four grandparents and ran smack! into the realization that life was too short and I needed to stop putting the book off and write it NOW.

So I did.

And then I wrote another one.

And I sent them out to agents, went to writers' conferences (highly recommended), joined the Romantic Novelists Association (even more highly recommended) and entered competitions until, in August this year, I was signed up by an agent. I can still hardly believe it. It took me three years, two books and a lot of slog to get this far but it was worth it. The next step is for my agent to place the book (my first, A Novel Affair) with a publisher and I can quite honestly say that this is the most nerve-racking thing I have ever done after:

1. Taking my driving test (3 times)

2. My first day in court as a pupil barrister

Only this time it's taking weeks rather than days. Arggh.

I'll let you know how it goes...

Lots of love

Allie