One Year, Two Books

The New Mother by Julia Crouch
The Daughters by Julia Crouch

How long does it take to write a novel?

My first book Cuckoo took me my entire life up to that point. The next three: Every Vow You Break, Tarnished and The Long Fall took me a year each. The fifth, her Husband’s Lover, thanks to a false start, took two years. Then the sixth took four years to write. Indeed, it needs another draft, which I will attend to soon, but I don’t want to talk about that now.… read more

The New Mother

How to turn your obsession into justifiable research…

Over the past year I have been looking at a lot more social media than usual. But it’s OK. It’s research!

Like many people, I have a low-level addiction Instagram, twitter and Facebook. I love the way they help me keep in touch with far-flung friends, and, as a writer with a background in illustration, I particularly relish the visual storytelling opportunities they offer.

But, as with all good things (see also cake and alcohol), too much social media can, of course, be damaging both for the user and the creator.… read more