I know the feeling well! I did find a very good up and coming young illustrator, unfortunately I don't have her details here with me in Mexico - but, if you are interested, Sue, I do have the phone number of her grandparents and I know they would be pleased to let you have her details. I'll send the number on your private Email address.

I don't read and review on here a fraction as much as I used to do. Pressure of time and other commitments, mainly, but also because I specialise in book length fiction and I prefer to look at an extract to see where it might be taking us.<br /> <br /> Years ago I read a quote from Jeffrey Archer who said his books undergo 18-20 revisions before they're published, and I wondered how he got away with it. The same can be said of Dan Brown. Their writing is worse than mine, and that's saying something.<br /> <br /> In the past, I've dropped writer's sites becase you could never get past chapter 1 with them. Every time I reposted, someone came up with another set of hurdles and suggestions. In the end, I thought, "sod it. I'll do it my way."<br /> <br /> I write, I revise, I revise again. When I've captured all the errors I can see, it goes to Mo, who sends it back witha load more. I re-revise and then it goes either to my self-pub list or a publisher. If you're aiming for perfection, Tess, you'll never get there.<br /> <br /> If you use MS Word, set autocorrect to capitalise the first word of a sentence. It does them for you automatically. Next tip, try reading aloud to yourself. When you scan the screen you may inadvertently speed read. Reading it aloud forces you to concentrate on every word, so you automatcially spot errors, but it also helps you judge how smoothly (or not) your prose is flowing.<br /> <br /> Final tip, and it's good for everyone. No matter how many naysayers you meet, no matter who tells you to stop daydreaming, DON'T GIVE IN

I was reading a novel last year and he changed the point of view midway through a page. I was god smacked, to say the least, that such a well published author would make such an obvious mistake lol (as the yonger generation say)<br /> <br /> Sometimes we miss the obvious BECAUSE we have read it so many times. That's why sites like this are so good. As readers to other's work we are more aware of the blunders. At times they stand out like a beacon in the darkest of nights, while our own mistakes stay hidden in the shadows. <br /> <br /> We just have to keep on trying and keep on writing. But it is tough and frustrating when we seem to make the same mistakes over and over again. We just gotta suck it up and try again. <br /> <br /> I worte my last blog for this site last year saying goodbye and thank you to everyone who had taken the time to help me out. I didn't post it, obviously, but I'd had enough. And I had to give myself one hell of a pep talk not to give up. <br /> <br /> I think that's the trick - even when you're low, you gotta believe that one day, maybe soon, maybe in years to come, you're gonna make it. Oh, and seeing the professionals make silly errors is always a good boost to your own ego lol (as the younger generation say)

Hi Solita, Maybe your muse is stronger than mine! I heard that DC Thomson are short of contemporary stuff for their pocket novels and I do have an idea for a more up-to-date one than my Regencies. Just means I have to lose the graces of long skirts and curtsies for the push-me - pull-me of air kisses. Oh Dear... Anne

Can one "go contemporary""? My poems can't :-)