Meet the author day eight: the hardest part of my writing journey

Day eight of #meettheauthor - what’s the hardest part of my writing journey been?For me, it’s the start of the journey that was toughest. Or, more specifically, the bit right before the journey started.Two things gave me the kick up the backside I needed to commit to my dream and write a book. I’ve talked about the first - being run over ten years ago - quite a bit.But the year before I jacked my job in and started REALLY writing my first novel If I Die Before I Wake, my mum was really ill. Throat cancer nearly destroyed her, and it was horrendous to watch.I realised I’d been waiting for the perfect moment and the perfect story idea... and in doing that I nearly missed the chance of my mum ever reading my books in print.When I told her I was thinking of leaving my job to write full-time, she was the one who told me to go for it no matter what.So... yeah. I have shitty days and shitty months and rejections and moments when I think I’m the worst writer in the world. But as my awesome tutor Celia Brayfield says in her book Bestseller, writing is a privilege. I have that line stuck above my desk to help me remember not to get too fed up when times are hard.And no bad day of writing is as bad as any of the days that year we nearly lost my mama.