Fi Phillips

By the time November rolls round, a lot of people are on full Christmas mode. If it isn't present shopping, it's event planning, or just reeling out Christmas songs and memes on social media. Me? I'm happy to plan ahead, where needed, but I also believe in savouring the moment. For instance, despite the time of year, the weather here is glorious, mostly dry and with that wonderful golden light  that you often get in the autumn. What's the rush to get to the end of the year? It'll be here soon enough. I'm busy this month, with work, with writing and with saying farewell to something that's been a major part of my life for over two decades. And no, I don't mean my husband. Bye bye Murdering The Text Back in 1997, I wrote my first murder mystery play with co-writer and friend, Janet, as a way to raise funds for the amateur theatre group we were involved in. Little did we know that it would turn into a business that would serve other amateur th...

Is it just me or has it got chilly since October started? Brrrr. I had to root out my slipper boots because the dog won't let me use her as a foot warmer when I'm working. October looks to be a full month - lots to do, lots to decide and lots to enjoy too. Haven Wakes That's the new title of my middle grade futuristic fantasy novel. What do you think? After finishing the latest (and hopefully last pre-editor) draft, I've been submitting my novel to literary agents in the UK. I've had one rejection so far but I'm not letting that dishearten me. Preparing for November - or not? NaNoWriMo will begin again in November and I'm in a bit of quandary over (a) whether to take part, and (b) what to write if I do NaNo this year. The Camp NaNoWriMos have always been really successful for me and given me a real boost each time I've taken part, but I've never yet succeeded at the 50,000 word count of NaNoWriMo. I think it's to do with the time ...

Every year, September marks a fresh new start for me. The teens return to school. I've had a rest and change of scenery over the summer break, and I approach my workload with a new level of enthusiasm. After submitting my novel to a literary consultant at the beginning of the summer, I received the resulting report while I was away in Corfu with my family. Yay for roaming data! I spent the next few days (in between cocktails, losing at pool to my son, and boat trips) constructing a plan on how to approach the next draft of my novel. The report was provided by the Faber Academy and I have to say that they hit the nail on its well-worn head with their advice. They flipped my indecision over the way forward for my novel into certainty over what path I should take. Thank you, Faber Academy - you are my heroes. I'm therefore setting myself a NaNoWrimo-esque self challenge in September to complete the redraft of my novel. I've set myself a daily chapter-count (1.7 chap...

What am I doing in August? I'm giving in to the summer. Or to put it another way, I'm going on holiday somewhere hot. The month of August will therefore be a little work-quiet for me. I'll be downing tools and picking up a suitcase instead. One of the benefits of going away and being away from the call of my laptop and work is that I can get some actual, quality reading done. Bliss! Having finished the latest draft of my novel (more news about that in my next blog post), I may spend a little time working out the plot for my next novel. Apart from that though, the focus will be on building memories with my family and relaxing. So whatever you do in August, have a wonderful month. P.S. There will be some more blog posts this month but they'll be scheduled to appear while I'm away.

It's going to be a busy month with two family birthdays, Father's Day, client articles to write and a murder mystery to finish off for another client. Add to that the fact that we won't be having our normal June getaway because my daughter has exams and I don't think there'll be much of a chance for a breather this month. Having said that, I like busy. Busy pays the bills and keeps away the boredom. All that 'busy'  means that this month, more than most, I'll be planning like crazy. Here's my tick-list for June: Buy presents: For my son that'll probably be Overwatch related. Zenyatta is his current favourite character to play, plus he's now got a bank account and is very keen to earn interest on his money. My husband has had his main present already so we'll be looking for a selection of smaller offerings for his birthday and Father's Day, but nothing gimmicky so I'll be steering the teens away from the comedy socks. ...

May marks the end of spring and the beginning of summer, fitting in two bank holidays (if you're in the UK) and so two short weeks that makes it feel like holiday time is on the way. It's as if life is telling you to slow down for a while and take a break. Except, I don't feel like taking a break. I want to race on, head down, and get on with all the good stuff 2018 has thrown in my path. This has definitely proven to be a year of 'new' and 'motivation' so far. Murdering The Text Running along with that feeling of motivation is my plan to write two new murder mysteries this year. The first was an idea that came to me while looking back over some old pantomime photos. The second idea came from a discussion with a customer about a murder mystery they want me to write for them. Fi Phillips Copywriter This month, I'm on the look-out for new customers to bolster my income from my current customers and I'm working on a freebie for subscribers...

Easter has been and gone. The chocolate eggs have been chomped and digested. I've started a new diet. What else is going on at Fi Central? Working on my novel Now that I'm working full time hours, any non-paid writing is being put off until evenings or weekends (including these blog posts). For a long time, I felt blocked with my novel. I could blame my lack of writing on how busy I was with my new business , or school holidays, or just needing 'thinking space'. I won't call it writer's block because that always seems like an excuse. I prefer Steven Pressfield's term 'resistance'. And boy, was I resisting planting my bum on that seat to work on my novel. There was an element of self doubt involved but the more I drilled down into why Inner Fi didn't want to write, the more I realised that with money coming in from my new business, the motivations to be a novelist had changed. Having my novel out there is no longer about earning a ...

This is how March started where I live - snow. My dog loved it. My teens loved it (and the resulting days off school). Being self employed at home, it wasn't quite so popular with me. Theoretically, as a home worker the weather shouldn't affect me but with the teens home two days out of the last week, my dog constantly nagging to go out so she could roll in the snow (and then gift it to the rest of the house by shaking herself over anyone nearby and jumping on the sofas), and the fact that our unfinished house isn't the easiest to keep warm, I was a tad disturbed and disgruntled by the plentiful supply of snow. Having said that, the snow is almost gone and today is grey and drizzly. Maybe the snow wasn't so bad after all. This month, I launched the website for my new copy and content writing (with a side order of social media) business. You can find the website here . I'm also on Facebook and Twitter , and posted my first introductory blog post on the day...

If January was a gift, then February is a gem waiting to be chipped from a wall of rock. In other words, there's a lot of good stuff ahead but I'm going to have to work hard to get it. I'll be drinking plenty of (decaf) coffee and tea, researching much, putting plans into effect, and generally living with my nose to the grindstone. And I'm loving it! Copywriting I've started on the website for my new copywriting business. I love this stage of any project - the beginning where you bring together all the resources you'll need and plan away. Having said that, I find it all too easy to switch into magpie mode and become distracted by all the shiny things. "Ooh, pretty Wordpress theme. Look at the colourful photos. Should I make a video?"  I'm rather proud of my logo. Have a look. Murdering The Text Although I'm shelving my next murder mystery play until my copywriting business is up and running, the idea pokes at m...

It was back to work for me today and I have to say that 2018 feels very different to 2017. Maybe, it's the 'new year vibe' with all its associated intentions and resolutions or perhaps it's starting the new year in a new home. Whatever it is, I feel motivated and raring to go. January, never mind 2018, is a very different world to the one I lived in a month ago. I've joined a new Facebook group for creatives which encourages its members to assign a word to 2018. My word is 'growth'. So what am I up to in January? My main focus will be setting up my copywriting business. Although I started down the freelance copywriting path in 2017, this year I want to solidify that path with an actual named business. I also want to set up my business in the right way this time round, not just flitting around the issue and missing critical areas that tripped me up further down the line when I was setting up Murdering The Text . There's legal steps to take, a we...

Advent calendars are eagerly opened each morning, the tree is up in all it's tinsel-ly grandeur, and Christmas cards are written and ready to post. December has arrived. After the house move in November, we're well on the way to unpacking all the boxes and bags we brought with us. The new place finally feels like home. December will be a month of winding down after all the hard work of settling in here, preparing for the festive break, and looking ahead to all the new beginnings that January will bring. Writing-wise, I'm determined to carve out some time during the Christmas holiday to return to my novel (armed with advice from my recent meeting with literary agent Lucy Morris ). Work-wise, Murdering the Text has never closed its online doors during or since the move. Blog posts have been written and newsletters have continued to fly out. We'll be winding down for Christmas on 22nd December though, opening up again on 3rd January. Family-wise, the present ...

It's finally here - the day my family has been waiting for. It's felt like the whole process has moved at a snail's pace but we got there in the end. We're moving! When I next post on this blog, it will be from our new house (well, new to us). There'll be a lot to sort out - boxes to unpack, change of address notifications to send out, finding a place for everything - along with continuing to run our normal life too. So, although you will hear from me this month, most of it will be taken up with settling into our new home. Wish me luck.

It's cold. My coat is rarely off my back, the garden has gone into hibernation, and my feet are freezing all the time. I finally gave in and switched the central heating on yesterday. My feet are still cold. I may have to buy slippers. It's going to be a weird month as 'real life' takes over. Well, not so much real as mundane and non writing. The house purchase has progressed, although no dates are firm as yet, so that frantic decluttering I mentioned this time last month has become even more frantic. Frantic-er? Is that a word? It is now. You know in the film Top Gun  where Tom Cruise's character Maverick and his friend Goose say, "I feel the need, the need for speed"? Well, I feel the need, the need for obsessive and to within an inch of its life organisational skills at the moment. Energy would be good too but I've given up caffeine. This is probably the last full month I'll have in this house so along with the household organising, ...

August is always a mixture of a month. On the one hand, it's summer break and my teenage monsters are off school. They're of an age to keep themselves and each other happy (aside from the bickering) but I try to get them out of the house (and away from their computers) most days. They're good company, and with our dog in tow for some of those outings, I enjoy our summer adventures. The downside is that my work schedule is massively interrupted. I'm lucky to be self employed, working from home and able to arrange my hours around my family, but it means early work before everyone else is up, and working some evening hours too.  So, aside from the adventures, I'll be juggling my time this month to include: ongoing copywriting work along with some training I'm taking on the subject too, finding new clients for my scriptwriting business plus adding more value to my existing clients, working on my novel, and investigating setting up a new writer/co...

It's almost summer. How did that happen? I'm not complaining. My dog walks are more pleasant when I don't have to drag the pooch through the rain, and it's nice not to be bundled up in jumpers and big coats. Last week, I finished the murder mystery play I was writing and that'll soon be winging (or whatever emails do) its way to its client. More news about that later this year. This month, the copywriting continues and, after the month and a half of murder mystery-ing, I can return to my novel.  The birds are singing, the air is sweet, and life is good. What are you doing this May?

Yes, that's the same image that I used for March. April will be much the same as last month. Murdering The Text This month, I'm concentrating on finishing my twenty year anniversary murder mystery. It's still as yet untitled but already the characters are sharing their stories. I can tell the writing process is going well when I can picture the characters moving through the play on-stage. Once the script is finished, that isn't the end of it. I then have to put together character histories, motive sheets and a guidebook for the director. Copywriting I'm now firmly settled into this career path. I have one main client for now which is fine while I gain valuable experience. I do wonder why I didn't try this out before now. Apart from that, I'll be enjoying the spring weather and getting the family out and about over the Easter break. There'll be chocolate eggs and dog walking, not a bad combination. See you next month.

After an introductory month to my new role as freelance copywriter in February, I'm now set firmly on the course of this fresh career path. With plenty of work on the way, I'm enjoying the challenge of writing for a different arena. Writing to order isn't new for me. Plenty of my murder mystery plays were commissioned by customers. Being economic with time and wordcount, however, is something that I haven't had to deal with much in the past but it's a new development that I'm relishing. Murdering The Text This year, I will have been writing murder mystery plays for twenty years. Twenty years! How did that happen? To celebrate this impressive anniversary, I'm writing a new, as yet untitled murder mystery that relates back to the original script that started this journey. I already have a cast, a setting and a decade (the 1980s). I'll let you know when the script is finished and ready to be performed. Shadowbinder I'm still working on the re...

Last month was stupidly busy and productive but as the days passed, it all felt like the tag end to 2016. There were strings to tie off, chores to finish and niggles to appease. This month feels like the real start to the year. My job search has led me to a new path for not only my income but also my writing career. With a new contact in hand, I'm moving into copywriting as another string to my creative bow. Like the door at the end of the alleyway in the image (left), it all looks very promising but until I've stepped over the threshold I won't know exactly where I stand with this new development. At the end of last month and the beginning of this, my daughter and I were involved in a pantomime with the local amateur dramatics group . We enjoyed it immensely, although we were exhausted by the time we helped pack everything away (scenery, props, even a mobility scooter). We made new friends and I rediscovered the buzz of performing. Returning to the stage has also rem...

This month I shall be running round like a headless turkey, or rather a stressed out mother trying to remember everything that needs to be done before the twenty fifth of December. There are cards and letters to be written, presents to be bought (half done already thankfully), people to catch up with, schools events to be prepared for and attended, and writing to be done. Note how writing comes last on the list. I 'will' write this month in the way that my family 'will' enjoy the Christmas season. I'm determined (if a tad frazzled and fraught at the thought of it all). Oh darn, I have to put the tree up too. I need the husband home to get it all down from the attic first. I also have to figure out how to puppy-guard the tree. I don't want Christmas Day ruined by a toppled tree or a pile of chewed presents (unless it's a present for the puppy of course). Joy to the world and all that. I think I need a strong coffee and a mince pie.

November 2016 is, for me, all about change. In fact, 2016 has been entirely about change, both in my personal life and how I see myself as a writer. We've had an addition to our family (Bailey the pooch), I've entered new social circles and interests, and I've committed to the process of submitting my novel to literary agents.  Learning This month will see me continue on my writing course with the International Writing Programme . Listening to the weekly videos from the writers involved in the course and taking part in the assigned writing exercises has been not only inspirational but has also opened my eyes to my own personal writing process. Additionally, returning to short story writing (for the assignments) has been a surprising joy, re-engaging my interest in a form of writing that I hadn't used in years.  Writing While my children's novel has been doing the rounds of literary agents and I've been planning the rest of the series, my mus...