I walked into the quaint library at Wolston, Warwickshire and was instantly transported back to my childhood library - what a perfect little gem in the middle of the community! I was delighted to greet the audience who were eager to hear about my publishing journey. This author talk was a little different to my previous one as I had an interviewer conducting proceedings, the fabulous Aimee - a Reader Development Officer for Warwickshire. 

We spent a wonderful afternoon chatting books, sharing memories and making connections amongst the group - it was so rewarding to see the audience thoroughly enjoying themselves. 

Topics discussed:

Jane Austen                                                                           Post-it notes
Computers from Comet                                                       Shetland
Family expectations                                                              Deciding on a series
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe                            Knitter 'n' Natter groups
Funny pet names                                                                  New year story
Emily Bronte                                                                         Reading habits
Saturday morning library trips                                           Warwickshire Book Bingo*
Lasagnes & Dominoes pizza                                               Hawkshead 
Allotments & comfrey tea                                                   Beatrix Potter 
The Girl on a Train book                                                     Writing Retreat
Drinking tea                                                                         1994
Secrets                                                                                  Romantic Novelists' Association  
Polesworth library                                                               Writing groups
Highlighter pens                                                                  Three day recovery
​Connections


* A Warwickshire reading scheme for 2026 - available at your local Warwickshire library

I dare to dream ... this could be happening! I've continued my daily plant-watch and am seeing a definite orange hue slowly develop within the stalk's spike. Dare I call it a flower bud? Yep, I think I will! In thirty years, I have never had a leaf unfurl in this manner so I'm opting to be optimistic. The second bud, positioned lower down, isn't as prominent in colour but is showing the exact same signs.​

Over the years, there have been many occasions when I have rocked up at a writers’ group laden with numerous items and belongings … never before with my dog! Given his age, his frailty and the hours he had spent alone at home, I decided tonight would be his first meeting. 
 
My cheery ‘hello’ to those assembled around the meeting table was overshadowed by their reaction to me carrying an empty padded bed-basket and announcing I had a guest. My return journey from the car was filled with squeals of delight, as I presented my guest to his waiting audience. Boy, did he receive some fussing from the ten other members. Though I was reminded by the secretary that first and second guest visits to group are free, membership subs might be deemed necessary in future. Anyway, Teddy behaved himself all night and was offered an invite for February’s meeting.
 
Once proceedings began, I read aloud my offering for this month’s group exercise: a piece about George Eliot. I read a fictitious letter addressed to her dear friend Caroline Bray, highlighting a difficult moment in Eliot’s life. I received praise in return and much satisfaction, as I nearly never wrote the piece due to a busy schedule. It just shows that the right idea, allowed to mature before writing, is always a winner. Good job I sat at my desk late into the night on Sunday, polishing the piece. Several other members contributed their pieces too and as always, I was surprised by the range of offerings from poetry, essay to short stories.
 
During the evening, I submitted my poems for the groups’ Annual Poetry Competition – so the new year is off to a flying start!

​Having given an author talk earlier in the week, I thought I'd rehash a blog post from a couple of years ago ... it might help someone.

1. Choose a social media name eg. @ErinGreenAuthor that you can use across each of the platforms. I have author-friends who use various different combinations across the platforms and it takes me ages to find them or tag them when I want to support their book publications. For example, Donna-MarieSmithAuthor, DMSAuthor, DMSmithAuthor, MsDonnaMSmithAuthor, Smith_DM - sick to a simple formation and use it across everything. There have been many occasions when I literally haven't been able to find them, despite repeated searches, so had to forego the idea of reposting about their new book. If folks can locate you easily, they'll willingly support you.

2. Create your website and share your writing journey as soon as you feel comfortable. Having a dedicated place where anyone can read a blog update, book news or a daily interest post is vital in helping to build your audience. Don't shy away from being 'you' and sharing your personality. Readers like to feel they know you as a person - I've learnt that over the years. My early posts seem very 'sterile and proper' - readers don't get a flare for who I am as a person.  

3. Grow a thicker skin. It happens to us all but you're going to be on the end of someone else's remark. It hurts. It stings. It sticks in your memory. It surprises you when it happens but I'll guarantee, it'll happen. I've had people openly say, 'I don't like your book covers' and 'I can't stand the way your Amazon page looks with loads of quotes from other authors' - both features which I am not responsible for. Or the worst yet, when an author asked me over the table at an authors' luncheon, 'how's your current writing going?' I began to answer with 'it's going well at the minute ...' and before I could say another word - she said, 'well, I don't really care!' Talk about being gob-smacked - I nearly fell off my chair!!! But then, so did she realising she'd spoken her thoughts aloud across the table! So yeah, grow a thicker skin and simply learn how to 'smile and wave'. 

4. Realise that you've no idea who is reading your blog posts or social media. I kid you not but it might be the senior commissioning editor of that publishing group you've been desperate to send a full manuscript to. In which case, are you OK with them reading your last post of, 'I wrote three words today. Wrote nothing else all week. This writing crack is a doddle!' It's very honest but might the editor be a little concerned about your output and meeting deadlines if they signed you? Alternatively, I know from experience that I got my introduction because an editor kept seeing my social media posts and was intrigued by my daily output. She called my agent when she heard I was 'doing the rounds' with other publishing groups. My rule is simple: think Bagpuss! If you're of a certain age you won't know who Bagpuss is, or was. A fat furry cat-puss - a cuddly toy that lived in a shop owned by Emily. Anyway, to cut short stories even shorter, lost articles were brought into the shop and placed into the window for passers-by to view, and hopefully claim. The objects were dirty, broken, stained and tatty but the singing mice 'on the mouse organ' used to clean and repair each one before it went into the display window. And that is my point! Nothing goes into my Bagpuss-shaped window on social media unless it reflects me positively. I don't do politics, gossip mongering, showbiz celeb bashing or author put-downs in my shop window. I do happy-to-be-alive stuff - all polished courtesy of the mice on the mouse organ, Professor Yaffle and Adelaide the doll!

5. Protect yourself as an author mentally, physically and emotionally in order to create. I literally think of myself as a bean factory inside a giant bubble. I know that sounds strange but I do. I have input and output like any other factory, with working hours and downtime. Whatever boosts my productivity, creates happiness or is a positive experience to my life then I welcome it. If something externally hinders me, be it people, places or certain topics then I steer clear of that 'thing'. Hence the bubble in which my bean factory sits - entry is on an invite only basis, just like Mr Willy Wonka's factory! That sounds harsh, but I've learnt over the years what's good for me. I've learnt that my raw materials for creativity are art, reading, music, nature, exercise, meditation, sunlight and stars, animals, good people, good food and good sleep. I can honestly say that is my week listed right there! For the assembly line, I need space, routines and silence to 'think and do' which results in word production - thousands of the little buggers each week, I'm delighted to say. If you've stuck with me this far, you're probably wondering why a bean factory? Because for me there are few things in life as perfect as a tin of Heinz baked beans. I never buy other beans; in my opinion they don't compare. I can't see inside the sealed tin, can't see the actual product and yet I will happily pay more for the dearest baked beans, because they are worth every penny. The reason being, I know what I'm getting every single time - guaranteed and without fail. Never have I found a blemished bean, no sauce, half empty tin, funny taste, squashed beans, weird smell, watery sauce and I've been eating Heinz beans for half a century. Not once have they failed to deliver the goods for me. I want my readers to know exactly what they are getting inside 'the tin' when they open one of my books. I want my readers to have certain expectations which I meet every time they part with their hard-earned cash for my next publication. And like Heinz, I'm never going to trash-talk Cross and Blackwell beans simply to boost my own sales. That's me! Inside my little bean factory bubble, every day that I can be, because I spent so long as an unpublished author praying to be given a chance to write books. 

6. Not everyone out there wants you to be a success - some folk simply want to make oodles of money off the back of your dream of 'writing a book'. Be careful. I've heard too many remarks such as 'I've finally got a publishing deal and they only charged me £4000 pounds!' This is vanity publishing, they promise you the earth, charge you for their production services and deliver you a pile of printed books for you to sell yourself. This is not a traditional publishing deal. This is not independent publishing. I frequently see services advertised for authors and my first question is - what's their track record? Is that editor known amongst the industry or simply an over enthusiastic nobody who wants to make a quick buck. That might sound harsh but they are out there, preying on us creatives who are eager to see our stories in print. Don't fall under their spell. Sometimes its not simply about cold hard cash but boosting their own reputation or association.

7. Find your tribe. In the beginning you have no idea who's who and what's what. You make friends all over this bookish place with anyone that wishes to be your buddy. After a while you realise you have a select group - your true tribe. These are the ones you can trust, they have your back, they support you in any way they can, they are thrilled to bits when you sign that new contract and they are your writing family. Find your tribe and repay their kindness with the exact same support!

My first 'author talk' of 2026 took place at a local venue for a Women's Institute group. An audience of 40 ladies were present for the session and they took much delight in hearing my journey from secret scribbler to publish author.
​
As always, the book chat, laughter and stories flowed as I spoke for near on 90 minutes about my experience. There were a couple of questions at the end but I think most people were amazed to hear the specifics of my publication journey.

Topics mentioned were:

Cardboard Library tickets                                    Bank clerks
Jane Austen                                                            Spare bedrooms
C.S. Lewis                                                               Writing retreats
​Confessions                                                            Dreams
Nappies                                                                   'Girl on a Train' book
Tap dancing                                                            Women's lives 
St Ivel trifle                                                             Acceptance of situations
Paint stippling                                                        Cake
The World Cup 1994                                               Writing groups
Big screen computers                                            Euston station
Bottom drawers                                                      Romantic Novelists' Association
Love, life, laughter and loss                                   Amazon website
Mortgages                                                               One million words
Pride & Prejudice                                                    'Plodding'

Once upon a time, way back in 1996, a young woman planted five seeds. Five Bird of Paradise seeds, of which three germinated and produced seedlings. She promptly gifted one plant to another – who killed it by over watering. So, two young plants remained. She cared and nurtured those two plants for many years in the hope that they would bloom, producing the most gorgeous tropical flower she’d ever seen.
 
Now, the young woman owned cats, who were not supposed to go near the Bird of Paradise plants due to the plants' toxicity, should a leaf or stalk be eaten or mouthed. But the cats couldn’t resist. The cats were naughty. They frequently launched themselves at the plants' giant stalks and leaves while chasing flies at the window or during enthusiastic games of ball or cat-chase.
 
The result was the two Bird of Paradise plants had a hard tough life competing with the energy of playful cats. Five cats, in total. The result was broken stalks, clawed leaves and the endless removal of new growth ruined by the felines. Sadly, over time one plant succumb to the trauma and died. One Bird of Paradise plant remained. 
 
Despite the woman's best efforts that single plant never retained more than four leaves, on one occasion she was cut back to a single stalk - until Moses, the fifth cat arrived in 2019. Moses was a gentle soul. Moses preferred to rest than run. Fly catching, ball chasing and destroying houseplants was never his thing. In the five years that the woman had Moses, the precious Bird of Paradise plant had chance to grow healthy and strong. The woman watched in amazement as her plant produced and sustained five, six … seven healthy leaves. 
 
The appearance of each unfurling leaf became a mini celebration in her home. Each new leaf became a sign of hope for the future. The possibility that 'one day' what was planted in 1996 might become a reality.
 
Today, that thirty year old plant has 10 leaves … plus, two very strange stalks! Yes, I know! I can hardly bring myself to believe that 'something' is actually occurring. I daren’t type the words I wish to type for fear of jinxing my beautiful plant. Oh yeah, that young woman was moi! Could 2026 be the year when something spectacular happens to my precious plant after 30 years of nurturing? 
 
I’ll keep you updated. If the strange stalks turnout to be two incredibly large new leaves, then I’ll celebrate as usual but … they don’t look like leaves to me. Such a pity my beautiful boy Moses isn’t here to enjoy what he allowed to grow.  

Happy New Year to you and yours! I’m delight to welcome 2026. I ran around my home opening the back kitchen door, waving goodbye to the old year, before throwing open the front door eager to greet the new one. Who cares what the neighbours think! 

Recent weeks have been spent unpacking, re-organising and creating my ideal environment for this new chapter of my life. By the end of each day, I’ve been totally whacked so have literally crawled towards sleep, which has been instant and deeply refreshing. I have never physically ached as much as I have this past fortnight, though I’m grateful to my health and fitness levels for carrying me through.

But now, my focus is the brand-new, sparkly year ahead - in which I get to work, rest and play … and play, I will!
I always make resolutions, that’s how my daily habits have been formed but this year will be slightly different. My intention is to return my attention whole heartedly to the things that I love. No half measures, no compromises, no distractions. My time will be spent on what I love. Simple! 

I hope you’ve also had a wonderful celebration and long may this fabulous vibe continue!