Recently, I came across a brilliant article by Canadian writer Iain Reid called 'Really, how do writers spend their day?' Ian writes that the most common question readers ask him is how writers spend their day, and so he decided to keep a diary. He starts hopefully:

From that second cup of coffee it all goes downhill, and what with phoning the manufacturer of his new shoes and searching the cupboards for non-existent crisps, Iain's account of the procrastination which gets in the way of his good intentions makes very funny reading.

But it strikes me that apart from the stereotypes, we don't know very much about how writers spend their days. A novel is such a long project that it seems like somehow the individual weeks, days and hours of work that go into making it get forgotten along the way. In fact, it's something we should talk about, because making a life that helps your writing to flourish is a surprisingly delicate balance. For example, people are often surprised to hear that although I have been writing professionally for eight years, I have actually only written full-time for a total of about a year and a half. Strangely, I found that my writing was sharper and better if it took place alongside other aspects of life. I suppose it might be because it's always been important to me that writing comes from having something to say, and not the other way around -- I don't want it to become a process of sitting at a desk trying to manufacture something to put on paper -- so maybe full-time writing just puts too much pressure on the act of creation.

So out of choice, I don't spend every day writing, though I suppose I can still claim to spend every day as a writer. Rather than a day in the life, here's an attempt at describing my typical week...

At the moment I'm a part-time teacher. So on Mondays I get up early (sometimes well before six if I have to get the bus) to travel to the next town. I usually end up having breakfast on the way to save time. I work with a very kind group of colleagues and some brilliant students, which makes arriving after the journey quite welcome. I start the day by reading with students while I have a cup of tea (which then usually gets forgotten somewhere around school until I discover it again, cold and slightly congealed, at 3.00!) After the day starts properly, things get very hectic. I spend my days teaching English and Literacy to several different classes. You can never predict how a day is going to unfold when you work in a school - at least, I never have been able to yet... At around 3 the students leave and I spend a bit of time on gate duty - I quite like this, because if you get out there quickly enough it gives you a chance to say goodbye to all your students personally (and, if you're really lucky, to be offered various bits of food made in cookery class). After the students leave there is still much more to do. I usually try to set off for home by about five. When I get back, I might have time to note down a few ideas I've had for The Heart at War, which is nearing completion at the moment, or work for half an hour on a small part of the draft, but mainly I try to finish off any work I still have to do for school -- things like marking work and planning lessons. I still love reading the pieces of writing my students hand in. Often while I'm doing this, I'll realise with surprise that my legs are aching because it's the first time I've properly sat down in ten hours...

Tuesday and Wednesday are writing days. I get up at around eight -- even at this time of year, that means the sun has actually come up and it feels properly like morning. I have breakfast with my fiance, Daniele, then try to start writing around nine. I usually set myself a target for the day, but this might be very different depending what part of the draft I'm working on. I'll also pause at some point in the morning and check emails and contact anyone I need to -- anything from emailing my foreign rights agent with the answer to a question from the Estonian translator of my books, to contacting a blogger about an interview, to phoning my agent to keep him up to date with how the draft is progressing. Around twelve or one, I make lunch and take a break. I usually try to find something interesting to watch or read to take me out of the writing for a while -- recently I've been watching TED talks on YouTube, which are always strangely inspiring even if they are nothing to do with your own field of work: the other day I found myself learning about amazing sea creatures. Today, instead, I ventured out of the back door to get some fresh air and take some photos of the snow which is still submerging the north-east of England at the moment. In the afternoons I might take a couple of breaks to update my website or contact anyone else I still need to speak to. I usually tell myself that I'll stop writing at around six, but rarely do. This tends to be when I end up getting my best ideas. If I'm ready to finish at six or half past, I'll learn part of a new song on my guitar or read for half an hour, then check through the work I've done today and save it.

On Thursday and Friday I'm in school again, so by Wednesday afternoon I try to leave my writing at a point which I know I can pick up again. Friday is often a shorter work day; I try and leave by about 4.00 as I'm often very tired from the week. I'll work on Sunday afternoons to prepare my lessons, and I also sometimes get the chance to write for a few hours in the weekend too. So the writing and my part-time teaching job balance each other out quite evenly. I don't work intensively on the draft of The Heart at War every single day, although I don't think a day ever passes without me writing something, even if it's only a sentence or two, and I come to my writing days with many ideas and ready to focus. Strange as it sounds, I'm certain that I get more done than if I tried to write full-time.

What about my time off? I try to spend most of the weekend when I'm not working doing things I enjoy with my fiance, Daniele, and catching up with friends and family, so that time is quite relaxed. At the moment I'm enjoying exploring my new town, Durham -- there are lots of places to walk here, and some unexpected hills. Sometimes we'll also travel to visit family or friends. On a quiet weekend, we might just watch a film or have a takeaway, or go to a pub in town with some friends. It's also a good chance to catch up on the reading that I don't have a chance to do during the week; this weekend I'm hoping to finish reading The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov and start The Vivisector by Patrick White, which has been waiting on my shelf for a while. And recently I've been working on this website at weekends as well, to leave my writing days free for finishing the draft. As a writer I do occasionally get the chance to spend a weekend or holiday doing something really amazing -- for example when my Canadian publishers brought me out to Toronto to promote Voices in the Dark. But a relaxed weekend is great too; it's welcome to get some space to think...

So my 'week in the life of a writer', while it doesn't involve as many comic procrastination methods as Iain's, still probably makes the writing life sound very ordinary. The truth, I guess, is that the most exciting part of the process is what happens on the page. I suppose that's why I often end my writing days by looking up and realising it's dark outside the window, I haven't switched the lights on and it's almost dinner time -- I've been so absorbed in the story that I just haven't noticed. That's probably what, to me, makes writing one of the most absorbing jobs in the world.

First of all, a very happy New Year! 2013 is an interesting year for me: not only will this be the year that The Heart at War, the final book in the Last Descendants trilogy, is completed and released, but June also marks the fifth year since The Eyes of a King was published. I am still surprised and quite overwhelmed when I think about the enormous media attention and interest the book received at its release. It was very exciting to be interviewed by national newspapers and radio, to have my picture included in the National Portrait Gallery alongside Daniel Radcliffe, Lily Cole and Sophie Christiansen (who were all very kind and lovely people), to meet Gordon Brown, and - perhaps most strangely - to end up on the Observer's 'Cool List 2008'! I am grateful every day for the opportunities I was given during that year to establish myself as a professional writer and to meet so many great and inspiring people. But at heart I am a quiet person to whom family ties and ordinary everyday life are also very important, so it was clear that things could not continue at that pace forever!

Around the end of 2008, I made an unusual decision: to take a break from nearly all publicity while I concentrated on writing the next two books and my English Literature studies at university. I felt that this was an opportunity which I had fought very hard for and which I would not receive again if I let it pass - a chance to study the craft intensively alongside my own work and see where the process would take me. I think this paid off, as I know that most fans of The Last Descendants were pleased with the direction the series took in Voices in the Dark - undoubtedly helped by that period of focused attention. More recently, now that time allows, I have also been taking part in some great interviews and discussions about writing, and have travelled to Canada to promote the books.

Over the last five years, I have received a steady stream of letters and messages from people who have read and valued the books and who have kindly taken the time to tell me so. I have of course replied to them all, and over the years have found these connections to be the most important part of what I do - your loyalty and commitment to the books are what inspires me. But recently, I have realised that there is very little up-to-date information out there for people who would like to find out more about the books, stay in contact about the publication schedule for The Heart at War - or even know a bit about who I actually am, beyond a name on a book cover!

So, first of all, there is information on this new website about the books and the writing process, which I will update regularly - let me know if there is something you would like to see included. As for The Heart at War, it will be released towards the end of this year, and I will be posting regular updates about the publication process, so keep checking to see details and hints about the story, cover designs and anything else I'm allowed to show you before publication!

As for what I have been up to over the last four and a half years... As well as writing, I have studied English Literature, qualified as a teacher, and taught English and writing part-time in schools. I have got engaged and moved from my hometown of Cambridge to Durham in the North-East of England, a beautiful place whose castle on a rock may have been the inspiration for the city in The Last Descendants (I used to pass through the city on the train as a young teenager, on the way to visit my father in Edinburgh!).

Please comment or write me an email if you would like to introduce yourself. I hope that this website will be a way of keeping in touch with those readers who have waited very patiently for the final volume, as well as those who are coming to the books for the first time. I am very much looking forward to completing the journey alongside you all.

All the very best,
Catherine

P.S. On the books page, I have just uploaded the very first synopsis for The Heart at War! This was quite difficult to write without spoiling the book for the many people who have waited so patiently for it, so I hope it contains a hint of what is to come without giving too much away...