Yesterday I went for a walk in my neighbourhood. Walking helps me clear the cobwebs, sort out a plot problem or just find a way forward in a scene. Walking is an oft-cited activity for writer’s block, and I can understand why.

Yesterday, I cut up a laneway to get into a street which finishes at the back of my house. I don’t often take this path because—er … dead end. Curiosity, or maybe nosiness is a better word choice, drove this first part of my route because a neighbour has demolished the back half of their house. We’ve been promised six months of renovations, and I wanted to get a sense of the scale of the demolition. The front of the house is neatly enclosed with those builders’ hoardings specified by law for safety reasons. Sadly, the view from the back street was pretty limited. They’ve clear felled to the roof line, but I could only see a few metres into the shell of the building.

So, I continued on my walk, cutting down a street I’ve walked many times before. This time, gates slid open in time for me to see the back of a two-storey house. I had time to think—“Wow! What a stunning renovation—a domed glass room leading to the garden”—when a hand was raised in hello. The owners are acquaintances I’ve seen around the neighbourhood for years. I knew they lived a few streets away; I didn’t know their house was a mansion by my standards, filling a space that in this area would often have two houses.

That’s one of the things I love about walking—the unexpected discovery, the entirely new story I can weave around the house and its residents, the realisation that I know almost nothing about people I see regularly. The discovery is like a pebble in a pond, with ripples spreading endlessly. If I didn’t know a simple fact like their house stretched from one street to another, what else don’t I know about them, or in fact what do I know about anyone?

What I don’t know is the starting point of a story. Maybe that house will find its way into a future book … or the owner will … or the owner’s dog?

I forgot to tell you I write romance. If you read my bio or found me via the romance tag on my FaceBook page or website you’ll have worked it out, but I’m new at this game of exposing myself and my thoughts.

So, I write romance, I’ve found a publisher for my first three books, and now I need to find you, my readers. For a complete technophobe that’s a daunting prospect. Fortunately help is always at hand. In this case, help appeared in the form of Judy L Mohr.

I met Judy at a New Zealand romance writers conference in 2018. Held in Auckland, it was an exciting conference, full of fascinating speakers, brilliant ideas and stimulating people. The buzz was still high at the end of the conference when a few people, with late flights or the need to unwind before going home to family, friends and pets, gathered in the lounge. I met Judy – ‘writer, editor and just plain crazy’ – to quote her. Judy’s a Kiwi, writer of thrillers, fantasy, science fiction, and non-fiction. She’s also a freelance editor with Black Wolf Editorial Services working on projects from writers around the world.

More to the point, I came home with Judy’s guide Hidden Traps: A Writer’s Guide to Protecting Your Online Platform.

Back in 2018, I didn’t have, and didn’t plan to have, an online platform. But my need to find readers has driven this journey. I’ve read Hidden Traps twice. I’ve dipped into it many more times. It’s readable, accessible and if you hook up with Judy’s blog, you have access to current challenges in the online world. Whether it be platforms, profiles, websites, blogs, social media or all the other paraphernalia associated with establishing a presence, this book asks the questions.

I’d still be tearing out my hair without Judy’s guidance. She’s made me feel more comfortable.

To my surprise there’s an overlap in meaning between a dream and a goal. Both can be about an ambition to achieve.

Working in education I’m familiar with goals – setting them, measuring them, reviewing them. I have goals in writing – improving my writing, finishing a competition entry, entering the competition, reflecting on constructive feedback, finishing the book, submitting to a publisher. But actually being published and read by a wide audience has always felt more like a dream – somehow more fugitive.

I’ve listened to successful writers at conferences talk about persistence and hard work. I can give myself a tick for those. But in the face of knockbacks I feel it’s the dream – the lure of the seemingly impossible – that keeps you going. The positive feedback from readers or editors who like your work helps a lot too!

A large-scale study showed participants spent an average of nearly half their waking time daydreaming, often while doing mundane tasks. Makes sense to me. There are some wonderful paintings about daydreaming – just search for paintings about daydreaming – you can get lost in them for hours. It seems daydreaming might be the default brain setting – if nothing else is happening daydream. It can also help creative thinking. I vote for that one.

If you like to get lost in stories of other people and their attempts to make sense of the world and find love come with me on my journey.