My novel-in-a-month challenge!

Do you think I can do it? Place your bets!

I’m halfway through a new novel and that feels pretty real, so I thought I could share what I’m doing with you all.

After a meeting about strategy with my new agent, Abi Fellows at DHH Literary, I’ve challenged myself to write a book in one month. It feels slightly ridiculous to say that I’m confident I’m able to do this—have written half the book by the 10th in fact—when I haven’t had a novel published since 2018.

But there you go, as regular readers will know, I’ve been down and out and also, for a long time, quietly working on what I really want to write about, what needs to be said, and generally becoming a better writer. The writer I want to be. I’m so proud of my earlier books, but my newer works are even better.

I do a few things now that I didn’t with my first three novels. I see the opening third of each book as a proof of concept. I edit as I go along, starting each day’s work smoothing over the previous chapter. I write mostly at home, although more on that later. I do a language edit, focusing on creating space and brevity without coldness. And I’m pickier about what I’ll write. No more gauging the market. No more listening to editors who want “a thriller about an actress” or agents who wrinkle their noses at an intersex theme or declare feminism is “over” at marketing meetings.

I’m writing about what I like. What I’m interested in at this point in my life. I’m writing the books I’d like to read and can’t find. Generally, that’s books about growing up from age 29 into your 30s. More specifically, read on for the blurb…

I’m writing a sapphic romance about a woman who plays in a beginners’ football league, who