Sent High Five off to 6 agents today. 🚀 Wish me luck! I need a strong cup of coffee now while I refresh my inbox like someone possessed.😱 Hopefully one of them sees the potential I see in this story. Redman’s ready. I’m ready. Let’s see what happens.🤞🏻 #amwriting #HighFive #writerslife #booksky

Just went on another following spree, to the point Bluesky told me to cool it 😅 Thanks to the brilliant @author19.bsky.social for those top-notch author lists 👏 Now that High Five is fully polished off, I’ll have more time to post and join the chaos on here for a while! ✍️💥 #booksky #writerslife

🚨 It’s official: High Five is DONE. Fully edited, locked and loaded. No more tweaks, no more tinkering…unless a pro tells me otherwise 😎✍️ Heading out to a select few agents this week. Fingers crossed 🤞🔍🔥 Time to let Redman loose. 🕵️ #amwriting #thriller #HighFive #writerslife #booksky

Calling all fellow writers. How do you know when the work is really complete? 🧐 Do you hand it to a pro editor ✍️ or trust a few honest readers 👀 to catch what you can’t see anymore? I’m deep in the “just one more tweak” phase…again. 😅 #amwriting #amediting #writerslife #booksky

Fully in edit mode and I’ve found that sometimes the line you loved most is the one that has to go. I once read that it isn’t about what sounds good, it’s about what serves the story. Still hurts, though. 💔 ✂️ I’m staring at the gap left, maybe that line will work in book 2! #amediting #booksky

The middle section of High Five finally sings. Tight pacing, hidden clues, every thread where it should be It’s taken patience, caffeine, and a few rewrites that hurt to delete, but it flows Next stop: polishing the final act - where everything unravels… #amwriting #editing #booksky #crimefiction

Plans change. Stories decide their own shape ✒️ High Five will no longer be a trilogy. It stands tall on its own, a complete tale 🕵️‍♂️ But the world I’ve built is too dark, too alive, to stop there 🌌 Expect follow-up novels, fresh mysteries, and returning ghosts 👁️ #amwriting #crimefiction #booksky

Just finished redrafting the first 6 chapters of my first novel ✍️📚 (like you do!) and…wow. So much tighter, sharper, better? Apologies to any agents who got the “early edition” 😬😂 You really should read it again. Go on. I dare you! 🥹📩 #amwriting #amquerying #booksky #writerslife

Went on holiday ✈️☀️ with no pen, no pad, no laptop 💻 - a forced break, I told myself. Came back with napkins full of scribbles, scribbles on newspaper scraps and café receipts covered in half-legible ideas. Turns out the writer always sneaks through ✍️🧳 #amwriting #writerslife #booksky

Off on holiday soon ☀️🧳 and facing the ultimate writer’s dilemma: Laptop 💻 for proper writing? Notepad 📝 for scribbles on sunbeds? Or…nothing at all 🤯 to force an actual break? Either way, my suitcase knows I’m lying to myself. 💻 ✍️ 📝 📚 #amwriting #booksky #writerslife

📬 I love literary agents. I hate literary agents. I swing between literary genius and over-caffeinated wreck every time I refresh my inbox. I sit here like a loyal labrador saying “please pick me.” They hold my future, I hold a high score in compulsive email checking. 🥲📚✍️ 😂 #amquerying #booksky

Re-read Book 1 this weekend. 📘 Still proud. Still obsessed. A few lines might get a polish ✍️ because of course they will. 🔍 Question for published authors: does the urge to tinker ever truly fade? Or do you just learn to let go? #booksky #amediting #amwriting #writingcommunity #HighFiveTrilogy

I started what has become High Five (Book 1) back in 2016 ✍️ It was meant to be one book. Naturally it has turned into a trilogy.📚 📚 📚 Book 1 is finally done ✅. Now to wrestle Book 2 into shape before it decides to become a five-book saga 🔍🕵️‍♂️. #HighFiveTrilogy #amwriting #crimefiction #booksky

Tomorrow I’m working from home. Spreadsheet open, manuscript open, mug of fake productivity nearby. If my clingy mortgage-paying ex (aka the day job) wants me, it’ll have to find me hiding in cell S12. 📚😏 #HighFiveTrilogy #WFH #writerlife #amwriting #booksky

The sun’s actually here for once and I’m under strict orders (from myself) to “make the most of it.” Laptop’s fully charged, manuscript’s glaring, but let’s be honest - I’ll just lie here, watch clouds ☁️, call it “creative incubation” 🧠, maybe nap 😴. Productivity, sort of.☀️ #booksky #amwriting

Lake District “summer” update: I went for a wander, I wore sunglasses, I got rained on sideways, I ate an ice cream anyway. 10/10 would recommend if you enjoy weather-related identity crises and explaining to tourists that, yes, this is the good weather. 🌧️🍦😆 #LakeDistrict #writerslife

Got an unexpected afternoon off work. Do I dive into writing Book 2? Reread Book 1 (again!) to wrestle every stubborn comma? Or give my brain a proper break for once? Fellow writers - what would you do? 📚✍️😅 Suggestions (or distractions) very welcome! #amwriting #writerslife #booksky

The waiting room is quiet. Too quiet. 🕰️ Redman’s tapping the table. 🕵️‍♂️ I’m going round in circles plotting Books 2 & 3 📚 Truth is, we’re both listening for news that may or may not come. Pass the matches 🔥 And maybe a biscuit 🍪 #amwriting #HighFiveTrilogy #crimefiction #amquerying

Redman can handle crime scenes, severed fingers, conspiracies 🕵️‍♂️🩸 Not sure he could cope waiting for a literary agent’s reply, that’s a real torture. He’d pour another whisky 🥃, light a match, mutter: Cruel and unusual punishment. Me? Same. Pass the whisky. #amwriting #amquerying #HighFiveTrilogy

Book 1: done ✅ Early chapters: out on submission 🤞🕵️‍♂️ Taking a breath, then it’s on to continuing the plotting for Book 2 📚 Redman’s not finished. Neither am I. A few secrets left to dig up — and a few to bury deeper. Onwards. #amwriting #HighFiveTrilogy #crimefiction

Took a day’s holiday and…I think I’ve finished Book 1! High Five finally has a beginning, middle and now an ending. Early chapters are already out on submission 🤞🕵️‍♂️ Can’t wait for people to read the whole thing. Hopefully that day isn’t too far off. #amwriting #HighFiveTrilogy #crimefiction

Lunch break: 60 minutes Plot wrangling: 42 minutes Re-reading the same line: 15 minutes Actual editing: 3 minutes (while brushing off crumbs) Writing during lunch always sounds productive…until it isn’t Might need longer lunches. Or fewer characters with secrets #amwriting #HighFiveTrilogy

Rewrite of Act 3 of High Five is in full swing. Secrets surfacing 🕵️‍♂️ Threads tightening 🧵 Redman’s running out of road 🛣️ The end’s in sight—but so is the edge. Darkness 🌑 Deadlines ⏳ And one last severed truth 🩸 Time to finish what was buried. #amwriting #HighFiveTrilogy #crimefiction

Wrote three words. Deleted four. Blaming the heat, the humidity, and Redman’s refusal to cooperate. High Five isn’t happening today - but stories wait. They simmer. Once the air clears, the words will come. They usually do. #amwriting #HighFiveTrilogy #crimefiction

Love this. We don’t just write the story — we wrestle it, revise it, and sometimes rewrite it in our own blood (or at least cold coffee!). You’re right… every twist is part of the journey. 📚✍️ Here’s hoping mine ends with publication 🤞🏻

Weekend mode: activated. Clocking off the day job, clocking onto the drama. Redman’s brooding, Jenny’s missing, Mercer’s being cryptic and the glove’s back on the table. Time to write like someone’s life depends on it. (Spoiler: it probably does.) 📚🕵️‍♂️🔥 #amwriting #HighFiveTrilogy

My day job keeps interrupting my writing - like a clingy ex who pays the mortgage. Truth is, I dream of writing full time and leaving the spreadsheets behind. Until then, it’s stolen hours, late nights…and words hidden in Excel cell S12. 📚🕵️‍♂️🌈 #HighFiveTrilogy #amwriting #writerlife #oneday

It’s true. I’m new here. Just went on a polite little following spree…and somehow already racked up four blocks. Unclear whether it was the severed fingers 🖐️ or the strawberry milk-producing cow 🌈 that did it. Either way — strong start. #booksky #HighFiveTrilogy #RainbowFarmGang

🚨Big moment! High Five—my debut crime thriller—is out to agents. A glove of severed fingers. A dead programme. One operative unaccounted for. Now DI Redman’s digging through lies, loss—and bodies. Fingers crossed (unlike some in the book) 🤞 #amquerying #crimefiction #HighFiveTrilogy #booksky

I’m new here and I’ve just been on an author inspired following spree. I’ve been temporarily blocked from following anyone else, but will follow more soon. Many thanks to Paul Stanton for his fantastic stater packs. @author19.bsky.social #booksky #amwriting #debutauthor

🚨 First post. Two names, one goal: unforgettable stories. ✍️ P. M. Saul — crime fiction: dark thriller, twisted, human. 🌈 Poppy M. Saul — picture books: joyful, rhyming, rainbow-fuelled, animals. Just getting started — and all in. #amwriting #DebutAuthor #HighFiveTrilogy #KidLit