Hello, and welcome to this month’s news from my writing desk. And, I am rather stunned to say, it genuinely is from my writing desk!
If you have followed me on social media, or read previous blog posts I have written, you may have the distinct impression that I have somewhat of a loathing for my desk. You would, given everything that I’ve said about it previously, have drawn an accurate assumption that I can’t stand it. I’ve had this desk for around two decades now, and I have spent the bulk of that time avoiding sitting at it for any extended period (apart from November 2014, when I decided to challenge myself to write 50,000 words of three different novels. Short version: 115,000/150,000 words were completed, and I didn’t write a thing during December; one of the novels eventually became The Secrets That Haunt Us, several years later. The other two continue to languish in a ‘Book drafts’ folder on my computer).
Back to the desk situation: I took it upon myself to make what may turn out to be a monumentally brilliant decision (I don’t have many of those, so bear with me). I decided to tell myself that I want to write at the desk, and that anywhere else just won’t be as good, as useful, as practical, as… I’m sure I’ll keep adding to the list as time goes on. So far, it’s working, with the odd exception of the times, usually later in the afternoon, when I find myself gripping at my knees in some kind of mental rebellion. That, I’ve realised, is my indicator to tell myself, ‘You are now genuinely sick of looking at this room. Get out of here. Now. Before this brilliant decision you’ve made falls apart like one of your homemade biscuits.’ I don’t make great biscuits. At that point, I handwrite in an armchair with the TV on and calm myself down with a cup of tea. Or three.
This ludicrous but apparently workable process has enabled me to produce an almost complete structure to my new work-in-progress, and 10,000 words of the actual book, along with an array of scenes and character studies that may work themselves into the novel where appropriate. So far, so good. I’ve also completely fallen in love with my main characters and walk around, thinking what they might do, say or ponder in various given situations. I even drew up a shopping list for one of them the other day (it seemed to primarily consist of pizza, cereal bars, tea bags and a collection of cocktails in cans. Not the world’s most arduously constructed shopping list, to be fair).
This month has also kept me extremely busy with Faber Academy’s Writing a Novel (Online) course. I am utterly thrilled and delighted that I chose to apply for a highly competitive place on this course. I won’t go into details of the course itself, as that’s Faber’s and not mine. What I will say is that being on this course has reignited a blazing fire inside me for fiction that I had feared was in potential peril of snuffing itself out due to the current exhausting content of my day-to-day life. It’s fabulous being able to connect with, and support, other writers who are all working with the same end goal as me, dealing with similar emotions about their work, having moments of despair and epiphany about their writing. All of this also includes our wonderful tutor for the course, also an extremely experienced writer and teacher who is immensely helpful and astute with comments about our writing and our novels in general. The feeling of being in this together makes the process less isolating than it can be, sometimes. Writing is, by its very nature, creation performed in isolation (as a rule): just the writer and the keyboard or pen and paper, and the ideas percolating inside their brain.
Books on sale or half price – but be quick!
Until the end of July, you’ll find ALL of my e-books on sale for half price on the Smashwords store. If you get your books from Smashwords, definitely hop on over to grab any of mine – and of other authors – that you’ve been meaning to get, while they’re 50% off the usual price. You’ll find the promo here: https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos/
If you buy your e-books on Kobo, you can grab a copy of my psychological suspense with a gothic-inspired undertone, No Deadlier Time, for a reduced price. This offer applies to the UK and Australia and New Zealand. Again, be quick – this sale ends on 31st July.
For short story lovers: A short story to read
As well as my new novel-in-progress, I’ve written several short stories over the last few weeks, which are all destined for various places, be that collections of mine, submissions to publications, or as part of my work-in-progress. For various reasons, I can’t share these with you, however…
In case you missed it on my blog, I have recently added a short story for you to read. This first appeared in That’s Life: Fast Fiction magazine in Australia a number of years ago, and is also included in my short story collection, The Reason for Everything. The initial spark for this piece of fiction was prompted by a memory I have of being very tiny, a toddler possibly, and locking my mum out of the house by somehow sliding across a heavy bolt that went across the bottom of our door (I don’t believe that bolt remained in that position for long afterwards!). I have a snapshot, but vivid, recollection, of Mum climbing back in through the kitchen window which, luckily, she had open, since she was using the twin-tub washing machine on a hot day.
If you’d like to read the story, you’ll find it here: https://claireladds.com/2025/06/29/short-story-instinct/
Until next time, happy reading!
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Which of my books have you read? Here’s a list:
The Reason for Everything and other short stories
Darker Minds:
