WHEN YOUR BABY WANTS TO SKY DIVE

Child number 2 wants to jump out of an aeroplane.

That's it really. What else can I say?

She turns 18 next month. She is her own woman and she wants to do a sky dive for charity. Every sinew in my body is screaming NOOOOOOO!

This is my baby who I have protected and kept safe from harm since the day she was born. I taught her that the kettle was hot, that roads are dangerous, that taking sweeties from strangers is a bad idea. I have anticipated and prevented every reasonable risk that might befall her and made sure that she was kept safe in her cottonwool cocoon.

And now she wants to hurl herself from a plane 14.000 feet above the ground. The mere thought of it sends a shadow skittering across my soul. I think the worst part is that it seems like such an unnecessary risk to take. She had to leave me for her first sleepover, walk to school unaccompanied, go out drinking with strangers. These are all part of growing up. They seem scary and dangerous at the time but they are just part of growing up. But leaping from a plane....?

What I have to remember is that keeping her safe is not all I've done for her. I've taught her right from wrong, to think of others before herself, to be strong-minded and independent and above all, to be brave and push herself out of her comfort zone. If I look at it that way then sky diving for charity ticks all the boxes and shows that she's listened to me and taken it all in.

And anyway, who am I to say that she mustn't do it?  That's me sailing above the French Alps.

Imogen x

If you want to support her in her quest then please go to her Just Giving here. Thank you.

ONWARDS.......

How hard can it be to publish a book?

Well, it turns out it can be very hard indeed. And frustrating. And confidence destroying.

It's four months since I published my first novel Mummy's Girl by Lucinda Fox and I feel like I've been through the wringer ever since...but on a positive note I have learned loads of things. Here are a few of them.

1. It doesn't matter how many times you and your team proof-read. There will always be mistakes! I think they breed in there. I've found (or had pointed out to me) a toe-curling number of errors in the first print of Mummy's Girl. Hopefully this will be sorted out this weekend but knowing that my story is out there with typos in it has done nothing to boost my confidence!

2. I need to be able to do more than just write. In fact, writing the story is the easy bit. What I lack are all the ancillary computer skills. I am totally reliant on other people to do things for me. I have ideas but I can't get them out of my head and into my laptop which places me entirely at the mercy of others. And guess what? I hate it! I need to learn.

3. You have to push yourself forward. Ha ha ha.

4. It takes more time to market the book than it does to write it... always assuming that you know where to start. Which I don't!

But am I down-hearted?!

Well, maybe a little overwhelmed is closer to the truth. But nobody said it would be easy so I shall strive onwards.

I've written the next book in the Kitty Cooper series - Reality Bites which is about what happens when Lydia's family volunteers to be on a reality TV programme. The initial feedback from my team of alpha-readers is fab and very encouraging.

I'm aiming for publication at the start of the summer holidays and I'm going to have a go at relaunching Mummy's Girl before then. I'm so lucky though. I have a small but very loyal body of teenage girls around me and that's what kept me going when I've felt like just abandoning the whole project. They have been kind and non-judgemental and I feel privileged that so many of them have read my book and told me how much they enjoyed it.

So onwards Imogen, onwards.