Going Beyond the Blurb

      In my last post I mentioned how on my first experience of NaNoWriMo I was super unprepared and only reached about a third of my total word target. The biggest problem was I hadn't made much of a plan in advance, but I've since realised that it's not just about the pre-planning, it's also about keeping yourself motivated throughout the month! 50,000 words is a lot to write in 30 days, especially if you've also got a full time job to go to and other commitments to juggle. So this year I've put together a NoNoWriMo survival kit/checklist which is something I've seen a lot of people doing and will hopefully keep me going throughout the month!  NaNoWriMo Survival Checklist 2020: 1. Weekly Word Target This is something I do with my writing goals when I have deadlines to meet. Although breaking the target down into daily word counts may seem more manageable (and for some it might be) I am one of those people who find that no matter how much I plan out each da

  With Halloween creeping up on us tomorrow, it means there are only two more sleeps until NaNoWriMo returns! With everything going on this year and the dreaded pandemic disrupting most annual holidays and well, the majority of 2020, it's nice to know there's one annual tradition that COVID can't cancel or ruin: National Novel Writing Month!  I was hoping to have a whole social media build up to Nov 1st but as always life and other writing goals got in the way. But that's ironically the one thing I love about taking part in NaNoWriMo is that for 30 consecutive days I have an excuse to put all other goals and commitments on hold and just focus entirely on my novel (which is well overdue!)  This is my third year of joining in with NaNoWriMo and each year so far has been a different experience. The first year I don't think I really grasped the concept well enough to commit and only reach about a quarter of the way towards the target word count. Last year, I spent more

  Title: Beneath a Scarlett Sky  Author: Mark Sullivan  Blurb: Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazi's. He's a normal Italian teenager - obsessed with music, food and girls - but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins and underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior.  In an attempt to protect him, Pino's parents force him to enlist as a German soldier - a move they think will keep him out of combat. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of eighteen to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler's left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich's most mysterious and powerful commanders.  Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his