Dear would-be-readers,

I am so sorry to have taken so long to pull myself together, but it has been quite a time for me over the last two years, and I have finally emerged from myself. There have been so many ups and downs, but here are the highlights:

I spent most of 2012 seriously ill and housebound. Along with the fantastic joy of having 'Unbelievable' published, came the soul-wrecking difficulty…

Today, the first subscriber copies of Unbelievable arrived in the post for those of you wonderful supporters who chose the hardback special edition! Hurrah! And thank you again for supporting me - I am very grateful to you all!

I am petrified and excited all at the same time - I can't wait for you all to read Unbelievable, and yet it's also very scary - the thought of you all stepping through into…

Today, Isobel - my lovely Unbound editor - emailed me some very thrilling photos - of the finished book! Yes, the first copies of Unbelievable have arrived, hot off the press, at Unbound HQ!

It looks AMAZING!

Simply cannot describe the moment when I saw my work as a book finally! An actual book! I am the proud owner of my very own ISBN number!

Can't wait to hold my beautiful book in my own hands…

I just wanted to post an update on 'Unbelievable' because I know you're probably wondering what's happening! Unfortunately, things have been delayed for several reasons, including the editing process, printer schedules, perfecting the cover and my having been really ill for most of this year. Still, the good news is that the book has now gone to press and, if you have subscribed, it won't be long…

Firstly, so sorry for the lack of updates for the last few weeks - I've actually spent most of this year so far being horrendously ill in bed with recurrent tonsillitis and I had to have my huge and massively infected tonsils taken out in hospital a few weeks ago - I've been in recovery since and it's not been much fun, but I am finally starting to crawl my way back to the land of wellness!

Exciting…

Tomorrow, I'm being emailed the edited manuscript of Unbelievable by the Unbound editor, Isobel. I am so excited! I can't wait to see it but I am also nervous - I've never been through this process before, being a first time author. I have now got to switch, as it were, from being the writer to being the reader, and approach my book with the eyes of a reader. I was reading an article the other day…

It's been a busy Christmas, editing and proofreading like mad with my Mum helping me! I sent the manuscript of Unbelievable in to the Unbounders in the first week of January. My Mum is in the process of reading the whole thing through again and making sure the spelling, word use, punctuation and grammar are correct and that the plot nuances hang together. It's so hard to see these things when you…

Well, I've spent my Christmas holidays doing two things: the first, being very ill with tonsillitis; the second, finishing the manuscript for Unbelievable!

I've been working to ensure it's as finished as can be; proofreading and adjusting, making sure the spelling, punctuation and grammar is correct and that the story hangs together... oh, why did I write such a complicated story?!

My hero and…

Only Alice (6th December, 2011)

Lift foot off the gas; I’m slowing this down:

a series of journeys that never end;

if life has no meaning, what do I read

in all of this? And why the sacrifice?

Decelerate: time bleeds red into white

and blackens; I shift through patterns of work

and sleep; other needs matter not. Shattered.

Don’t admit defeat; play, smile and eat; keep

breathing…

In all the excitement of watching my numbers creep up last night until I finally achieved 100% and reached my funding target, I completely forgot to update the diary!

Needless to say, I received quite a few facebook and twitter comments and emails to respond to and now have some serious work ahead in perfecting the manuscript ready for publication! (I don't think it'll quite sink in that I am actually…

Wow! I am completely overwhelmed by the number of friends and family who have pledged to support my book. They truly are amazing and I am thrilled that they have been so generous.

I would also like to thank the many writers and readers of ABCtales.com who have also pledged their support. ABC is a fantastic writing community and it is there that I first started posting extracts from 'Unbelievable…

I am so thrilled with events over the last few days! First, on Thursday, appearing in a local paper and being interviewed by another. Then, on Friday, Terry Jones mentioning me on BBC Breakfast - how cool! He is my hero! And tonight, reaching 81% AND discovering that one of the most recent people to support me is Mrs Alison Smerdon, who was my English teacher all the way through senior school! 

Mrs…

I had an amazingly fun time last night carving pumpkins with my talented musical friend. Had loads of mini trick or treaters knock on the door in fabulous costumes - luckily, I had a large bowl of pic n' mix at the ready, which went down a treat [sic]!.

Then, I came on here and tried to post an image, but it wouldn't upload! So, to see my amazing pumpkin, 'like' me on facebook - find me - 'Jennifer…

Monday Morning. The school rose up before me, tall and bland.

The buildings were blocks, cold-faced, the paint peeling from the wooden window frames; a faint tang of neglect tainted the air. I watched the steady troupe of uniform-clad pupils drain in through the gates and dissipate inside the buildings through various doors, as the huge wall-mounted clock ticked ominously towards half-past eight…

Wow, I signed in tonight and the book is up to 45%!

I am so thrilled - this is so exciting! Thank you to all the new people who have signed up, you are so generous! I am going to put up Chapter Two tomorrow if I can work out how...

It's been a busy half term week so far what with waking up ILL the very first day of the holiday (typical!) and then my 30th birthday celebrations kicking off on Saturday…

Phew, it's been a very busy term at school and my pile of marking is stacking up nicely for half term!

Not had much time for promotion or writing of late and am desperately in need of a few days to just chill with the book and work on it. I'm going to put up Chapter Two at the end of the week so you can see how the story develops! Also bursting with ideas for the sequel and jotting down notes...…

I was absolutely thrilled tonight to be featured in one of the main stories on Channel 4 News at 7pm, which focused on crowd funding, the principle of Unbound.

I could not believe how much footage they showed of me: some of the interview they did with me on Monday night at Unbound Live; some of my live Pitch; excerpts from the Pitch video and shots of the Unbelievable page on the website. Fingers…

Wow, coming back down to earth with a bump today after the excitement of Unbound Live at the Tabernacle in London last night!

Very proud to have shared the same stage space with most of the famous names on the site, pitching to a fantastically welcoming and rapturous crowd (best applause ever!).

I think the Pitch went down well - it was so much fun! I found that, once I was up on stage, it was…