Guest Post: Rachel Dove - Writing time

When I taught full time, I used to write on weekends mostly, having marking and lesson preparation to do in the week, as well as the usual child rearing and running of a house. After writing The Chic Boutique on Baker Street, I decided to take the plunge and take a year off to write full time. Lots of time to write, I thought, the boys being at school 6 hours a day, plenty of time to do everything! How wrong I was! Looking back, I don't know how I ever fitted in a job as well as studying and everything else. I am getting to grips with everything now, so I thought I would share some tips I have picked up.

1. NaNoWriMo: write a novel in a month. I fail this every year, but I did have a great start to my current WIP by taking part. 50,000 words in a month. Great support and encouragement, and well worth a go.
2. Delegate: do you really need to do everything yourself? Could your other half do the bath time, or the tea once a week? An hour's worth of writing right there, run, hide, get the words onto the page.
3. Make use of technology and the modern age: shopping? Get it delivered. Bills? Pay them online. Carve out that time to yourself. Run errands in one swoop, and plan ahead.
4. Ignore the house. Sometimes, the housework has to be ignored. Working from home is great, but as in my case, it means sharing my workspace with two kids, a man, a cat and a dog. Who all make mess and need things. Deal with what you need to, then write. Use the peace and quiet. Ignore the dishwasher. Set the washer going, then write till it's finished.
5. Read. Don't forget to read. Remember why you write, for the joy on the page. Read something different to your genre, read research novels, a magazine, anything. Just don't stop reading.

About the Author

Rachel Dove is the winner of the 2015 Flirty Fiction Competition run by Prima magazine and Mills & Boon, winning against other 300 other entrants to be the next Mills & Boon author. Her debut book, The Chic Boutique on Baker Street, is out now.

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1?ie=UTF8&text=Rachel+Dove&search-alias=digital-text&field-author=Rachel+Dove&sort=relevancerank

Twitter: @writerdove

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rachel-Dove-Author-373524896089079/

Winner of the Prima Flirty Fiction Competition

The Chic Boutique on Baker Street

The perfect escape to the country…

Recently single and tired of the London rat race Amanda is determined to make her dreams of setting up an idyllic countryside boutique come true, and the picturesque village of Westfield is the perfect place tomake a fresh start.

Local vet Ben is the golden boy of Westfield, especially to resident gossip Agatha Mayweather, who is determined to help Ben get his life back together after his wife left.

When a chance encounter outside the ‘chic boutique’ sets sparks flying between Amanda and Ben, Agatha is itching to set them up. But are Amanda and Ben really ready for romance?

The Chic Boutique on Baker Street is the debut novel from Rachel Dove, winner of The Prima Flirty Fiction Competition. You won’t be able to resist this heart-warming romantic story set in an idyllic Yorkshire village, full of lovable characters and laugh-out-loud moments…as Amanda finds her way to a second chance at life and love. This is the reading escape you’ve been looking for!