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Belinda Missen

writing - mental health - tomfoolery

Categories: One Week Til Christmas

Ten Things – One Week ’til Christmas

1. This book started life as fan fiction. Yep. Fan fiction. I’ll post it on here for you all to laugh at one day.

2. It was originally about 2300 words long, which I expanded to a 20,000 word novella and accompanying screenplay, which I self-published in 2017.

3. The original book was an homage to movies like Before Sunrise, and was set over the course of a single night. Tom was always an actor and Isobel was a photographer.

4. That novella and screenplay became an Amazon bestseller.

5. The version you get to read today was written in five short days. My editor said: If you really want this to happen, it has to happen quickly. Most Christmas books are locked and loaded by June, and I hadn’t yet started the first draft.

6. Subsequent drafts were written in about ten days each.

7. Two days before the second (?) draft was due, my hard drive crashed. With no backup, I was left to rewrite the book in just five days. (Lesson: use the cloud). My brain was mush by the end.

8. While I’ve never spent a Christmas in London, I’ve been there in mid-December, so used a lot of what I’d seen as reference material. Libertys was a favourite.

9. As of June 2021, One Week ’til Christmas is my highest selling book, having shifted 23,000 copies.

10. I enjoyed it so much that I’m currently working on dozens of ideas for Christmas books. Look out!

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About Belinda Missen

I am a creative from Geelong, Australia, and I have no idea how to remove this.

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"Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys.” - #RobinWilliams, Dead Poets Society. 

Okay, so it’s two lines, but I loved this movie as a teenager, and still miss Robin Williams dearly.

Hit me with your favourite one liner below - who knows, maybe I’ll whack one of them in a book 😘
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Beyond thrilled for us.
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For the next few weeks, I’m still in #Inverleigh, Victoria. After that, we’re heading to #Werribee.

Totally using this for research for the next book, btw. 

#GTKYCD #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay
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I love creating new worlds and getting lost in characters. It’s comfort, it’s relaxation, it’s love. 

How about you? Why do you write? 

#QuestionOfTheDay
Ever wondered how to juggle writing with a f/t job Ever wondered how to juggle writing with a f/t job? 🤔

Here’s my process: 

👉 Select your #goals.
👉 Break goals into smaller tasks.
👉 Do the tasks.

Remember, be gentle with yourself - even I’m still learning to get this right. 💡

Let me know if you implement these steps 💬
Yep, I’m going there. Welcome to Monday, friends Yep, I’m going there. Welcome to Monday, friends. Feel free to check out my rambling, written at 2am, review of #Spare by #PrinceHarry.

https://belindamissen.com/2023/01/14/spare-by-prince-harry/

#SpoilerAlert it’s not the wild ride the media are making it out to be.

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