Novelist's List of Things To Do

I like to be as organised as possible. Writing and 'writerly' activities 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., even if I break off mid-sentence at 10 a.m.when drafting my new novel,Tuesday's Child a sweet Regency romance, and between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Mind you, the hours are not set in concrete but I do write etc., nearly almost every day.

Lists help me to plan what I'm going to do. I have three lists titled, Urgent, Necessary and non-urgent. At the moment I have the following on my lists. Complete 30,000 words of my novel by the 30th September. Complete 60,000 words by the 31st October. Write a blog for Love Romance, which will be published in mid-October. Learn more about Amazon alogorithms and social media. Add my author's page to amazon.ca. And various other 'writerly' matters.

On today's urgent list. Sow the broad bean seeds which have been soaking in water overnight and also sow rocket outdoors. Cover the turnip and radish seedlings with fleece because an animal - probably a fox - dug a hole at the end of the rows. Plant green and purple basil in pots and stand the pots on the heated propagator. Make spiced vinegar for beetroot pickle made with beetroots from the garden which I have already cooked - this is on my urgent list but it won't take long.

However, lists are not infallible. Yesterday, one of the most urgent things on my shopping list was sugar because I plan to make more marrow and ginger jam spiced with cardamon, and some apple butter with windfalls this week. I forgot to buy the sugar and had to pop into the corner shop to buy some before I attended my 14 year-old grandson's birthday.