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Belinda Missen

writing - mental health - tomfoolery

Categories: A Recipe for Disaster

Ten Things – A Recipe for Disaster

1. I never intended to write a book set in my home town, but that’s exactly what happened when I went out on a lark and submitted my idea to HQ.

2. It was written at a time where I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep writing. That year (2017) had been horribly dry for ideas, so I was considering heading back to the workforce and getting a ‘real’ job.

3. If you follow any of my social media accounts, you’ll know that I bake a lot (especially when procrastinating). For that reason, someone mentioned to me that I should write a book about a girl who bakes.

4. At first, I laughed the idea off. But by the time I’d walked up to the general store and back, I’d pulled together basic plot points and themes – and collected my mail.

5. The original title was The Butcher, The Baker, The Single Male Caterer. I was procrastinating (again) and trying to work through some ideas by cleaning up bookshelves (what else), and came across the nursery rhyme The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker, which helped to sort out a few knots in my ideas.

6. In the same week, a friend (@hannahplusbooks – go follow her on Insta) mentioned that HQDigital were running a pitch competition on Twitter and that I should pitch. What did I have to lose, right?

7. I pitched three stories to them – one of them being A Recipe for Disaster, a book about a girl who bakes. As it turned out, HQDigital liked all three of my ideas and requested samples. Yikes!

8. With a holiday to Sydney already planned, I spent the next week in a hotel room with @hannahplusbooks as we nutted out the first three chapters. We had the same document open and, while I wrote, she critiqued. This method works really well, by the way.

9. A few weeks later, I submitted the first 10k words along with a query letter that might have mentioned the rest of the book was written. It wasn’t. They asked for the rest of the book the very next morning. Ooops. (Insert random Hugh Laurie gif here.)

10. I signed my contract in November 2017, but was sworn to secrecy. HQDigital didn’t announce their acquisition until March 2018, when I was racing through the streets of Dublin looking for a 3 Mobile store because my SIM card decided it wouldn’t work in Ireland and I desperately wanted to see the announcement on Twitter. I scrounged up a new SIM, ordered a burger and got everything working with five minutes to spare.

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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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On #OneLinerDay, I can only think of one classic I On #OneLinerDay, I can only think of one classic I want to share. 

"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 😘
Remember I said ‘more news as it comes to hand’? 

@davidhearne and I collaborated on Escape from the #Commodore 64 - an homage to our love of all things 80s. 

Our screenplay WON Best Feature Film at the #NavyInternationalFilmFestival. 

Beyond thrilled for us.
Roll call! Where are you reading this from? And wh Roll call! Where are you reading this from? And what is your town famous for? 

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
Why do you write? @zoeleawriter asked this recent Why do you write? @zoeleawriter
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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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