Christina Courtenay Blog Story Detail

In honour of the publication of my friend Rhoda Baxter's new novel Please Release Me (happy publication day, Rhoda!!), I'm blogging today on the theme of 'being stuck', because all the main characters in that book are stuck in some way.

I guess we all feel stuck sometimes - mostly in the daily "rut " when life can feel like it's Groundhog Day and very tedious. This is especially the case for an author when working on a book as every day is more or less the same. Even weekends in my case - being self-employed you don't have the nine-to-five restraints and you just work until it's finished. I don't really mind, but it always feels a bit weird when friends say "thank goodness it's the weekend " as that's meaningless to me!

The thing I'm stuck on now though is a bit more specific and - predictably - it's the plot of my next story, a YA fantasy. I need to make it darker and more frightening, but at the same time more believable. Not an easy task!

I've found that there are two types of story: those that come fully formed into your mind and just flow onto the page without any trouble, and those that seem like a good idea when you start writing them but turn into a real battle to finish. My current WIP - provisionally titled Dare to Defy - was, I thought, of the first variety, but on further inspection is turning into the second category. Bother!

That means revisions, rethinks and actually having to write a proper outline (something I usually try to avoid, being the kind of writer who just sits down and writes normally), but I'll just have to get on with it and hope that I'm soon un-stuck 🙂

Blurb for Please Release Me:-

What if you could only watch as your bright future slipped away from you?

Sally Cummings has had it tougher than most but, if nothing else, it's taught her to grab o

pportunity with both hands. And, when she stands looking into the eyes of her new husband Peter on her perfect wedding day, it seems her life is finally on the up.

That is until the car crash that puts her in a coma and throws her entire future into question.

In the following months, a small part of Sally's consciousness begins to return, allowing her to listen in on the world around her - although she has no way to communicate.

But Sally was never going to let a little thing like a coma get in the way of her happily ever after…

Buy link: myBook.to/PleaseReleaseMe

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