Lis McDermott has had a busy September!

We’re almost at the end of September and we’ve been talking to business owners about how the month has gone for them.

Today we’re talking to Lis McDermott who is an author, poet and writing mentor based in Royal Wootton Bassett. Lis mentors others to get their words from their heads onto the page.

How was your summer as we go into autumn? Any highlights for you or your business? 
Summer has been busy helping some of my mentees with their books – they’re all at different stages. One author is about to publish her second book, and I have two other people who are at the beginning of their books. 

What happened in your business in September? 
As I’m midway through the month, I’m busy with the monthly writing I do for Scott Media, and I’m busy readying my latest novel ‘The Identity Enigma’ for publication on October 1st, and organising my book launch on October 30th.

It’s ‘back to school’ month or ‘start of university’ month – is this relevant to you personally or professionally?
I don’t have children, however, seeing lots of my friends children on social media either on their first day at school, or moving schools or going to university prompted me to write two blogs – one about starting school, which for me was 68 years ago, aged 4; and a second about leaving home to go to college – 54 years ago. Despite being a long time ago – I remember both quite vividly – which is useful, when writing.

It was also the Paralympics which ended on September 8. Did you watch, what do you think of this tournament? Were there any stand out moments for you? 
I actually saw very little of the Paralympics, but the stand out moment has to be our own, Chris Hunt Skelley MBE winning his bronze medal!

World Gratitude Day took place this month (Sept 21.)What are you grateful for in your business/organisation/at home? 
I’m very grateful for my hubby, who continually supports me with my writing; also all of my business buddies, including my bestie, Fiona, who is a massive support.  My wonderful editor, Claire, who makes sure my writing is fit for the world, Gav who helps with the technical stuff, including typesetting.  Huge thanks too, to the people who help me by reading my books before they go to print – their feedback is vital.  And of course – grateful to all of the people who read my books!

There are many other ‘points of interest’ during September which could be relevant to you or your business. Here are five, pick any which are personally or professionally relevant to you?
Sept 18 was Read an eBook Day and is not surprisingly a relevant day to me. Generally a huge number of people tend to read eBooks, so they are an important version to have available. However, personally, I much prefer physical books.

What are your hopes for business for the rest of this year? Are you launching a new product, service, running an event or something else later in the year? 
I’m working on a trilogy of books for next year, which at the moment are inside my head, and not yet on paper!

And finally, September 30 is International Podcast Day. Do you listen to podcasts or do you have one of your own? Can you share a tip? Which podcasts should others check out? 
I find that Fiona Scott’s podcast PR not BS podcast is always entertaining and I want to give a huge shout out to Janet Shreeve and her podcast You Care, I Care, sharing the story of people’s different experiences in the care industry.

For more information visit www.lismcdermottauthor.co.uk