Katey Lovell

The end (of 2018) is nigh and my promises to blog more regularly didn't come to fruition, yet again.  There was always an excuse not to blog - lack of time, lack of energy, would anyone be bothered about what I had to say anyway? - but with just a few days of the year left it feels like a good time to reflect on the year. It has, like many years, been one of ups and downs.  Let's get the misery out of the way first.  Emotionally, I've struggled.  Anxiety is a bitch, and my self-esteem has been at rock bottom.  I've put on weight, and although I'm trying my hardest to become more body confident (or at least body accepting) it isn't always easy fighting the thoughts that have, over a life time, become ingrained.  What I do know is I don't want to waste any more years 'dieting' and social media accounts such as Bodiposipanda and SoBadAss have been an enormous help in reminding me that bodies of all shapes are beautiful and that not e...

I've been reading... Body Positive Power -  Megan Jayne Crabbe All Night Long  (Sweet Valley High) Dangerous Love (Sweet Valley High) Lullaby - Leila Slimani Everything I Know About Love - Dolly Alderton Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli The Cows - Dawn O' Porter I'm still way behind on my blogging for the #SVHReadalong, but I will catch up soon - promise!  But what about the other titles I read in February?    Megan Jayne Crabbe, aka Bodyposipanda, is well-known on social media for leading the march on body positivity.  As someone who recently lost a lot of weight but still had gripes with how I looked, I hoped this book would help me accept my body .  Whilst it hasn't solved all my anxieties, Body Postive Power  reminded me of all the wonderous ways my body works and how society pushes only certain, often unachievable, body types as the 'ideal'.  Thanks to my sister-in-law who bo...

I've been reading... Double Love (Sweet Valley High) Secrets (Sweet Valley High) Playing with Fire (Sweet Valley High) Power Play (Sweet Valley High) Emma Ever After - Brigid Coady One Day in December - Josie Silver Christmas in St Ives - Miranda Dickinson Some Kind of Wonderful - Giovanna Fletcher I'll be blogging about Playing with Fire and Power Play soon for the #SVHReadalong, but I've also really enjoyed the women's fiction I've read this month.  Emma Ever After is a contemporary retelling of Jane Austen's Emma set against the backdrop of the music industry.  It's sassy and witty and a must for anyone interested in the part the media plays in celebrity and stardom. One Day in December isn't due out until later in the year, but I was fortunate to receive an early copy.  It's already drawn comparisons to David Nicholls' One Day and Richard Curtis' rom-com films, and I can see why; and don't let th...

On the final day of 2017 I'm going to shout about some of the things that have brought me joy over the past twelve months.  Personally, I had a pretty great year, and I'm hugely thankful to end the year in remission from Crohn's Disease.  Good health allowed me to have a productive writing year, with the publication of 'The Café in Fir Tree Park' in May and 'Joe and Clara's Christmas Countdown' in October.  I gained a friend and agent in Julia Silk in June and drafted the first book in a series, which I'm currently in the process of editing - it's due to go out on submission to publishers in early 2018.  I became a vegan.  I walked a lot.  I spent quality time with family and friends. As a fan of live music I saw (amongst others) old favourites (Take That, Frank Turner) and little-known gems (Charlie Barnes, Felix Hagan and the Family); world-wide megastars (Blondie, Ed Sheeran, Harr...

It's no great secret that I love a musical, so I was thrilled to hear Sheffield Theatres were putting on a new original production.  Since the opening night I'd heard only good things about the show and last night I finally got to see what the fuss was about for myself. A contemporary musical set in Sheffield, 'Everybody's Talking About Jamie' is the story of sixteen-year-old Jamie New who wants a career as a drag queen (despite his psychometric careers testing inexplicably suggesting his future lies elsewhere).  More than anything, he wants to wear a dress to his leavers' prom.  Inspired by real-life events, this coming-of-age musical about friendship, family and acceptance has a definite northern flavour which will appeal to anyone who enjoyed the dry wit of 'The Full Monty'.  That easy humour, along with a belting score written by Dan Gillespie Sells of The Feeling and Tom MacRae, makes for a fast-paced rom...

Despite the best of intentions I've not managed to keep up my weekly musical blog posts.  I'm sorry!  Life's become rather busy lately - the day job has been hectic and I've also had deadlines for editing and proofreading the novella I wrote over the summer (more news on that very soon.  I had a sneaky peek at the cover art for it this week and am totally in love.  It's the perfect sibling for the cover of 'Singalong').  The first draft of next summer's novel is also due with my editor at the start of December so I've been fervently tapping away on my laptop to try and get it ready to send. However, I'd have loved to have found time to write about Grease as it's one of my very favourite films and also Chicago , which my husband and I saw on Broadway during our honeymoon in 2005.  I wish I'd had chance to write about how West Side Story makes my heart hurt, and how when I wa...

The third meeting of The Singalong Society for Singletons has the group gathering to watch one of my very favourite films.  The Sound of Music is a musical my mum and I watched together on the small screen many, many times throughout my childhood and teens.  She first saw it at the cinema with my dad, and as well as the film we also had the soundtrack (on vinyl, naturally) and the sheet music - these were songs I knew inside out from a young age.  It's probably why I still hold them close to my heart. Julie Andrews is absolutely spectacular as keen-but-hopeless nun Maria and I never fail to be moved by the blossoming romance between Maria and Captain von Trapp.  Add to that the humour, the heartbreak and the beautiful score, and it's plain to see why The Sound of Music has lasted the test of time. Treating my mum for her 70th birthday Whilst the film remains ever-popular, I've also been fortunate enough to see the sta...

It's Friday 16th September, which means one thing - it's time for Monique, Issy, Hope and Connie to settle down to watch Disney's The Lion King ! From the moment I decided to write a book about musicals, I knew I had to include The Lion King .  It's one of my favourite musical films, with a winning combination of a nigh-on perfect score, angst and humour in equal measure and a plot that'll have you hooked from start to finish ('This one was based on Hamlet, you know,' [Mon] continue[s], gesturing towards the TV.  'And no one would dare to call Shakespeare piffle.  He's the greatest playwright that ever lived.')  I have fond memories of watching it at the cinema when it was first released and my DVD copy is rather well-worn. But although the film is incredible in its own right, nothing can compare to the glorious spectacle that is The Lion King on stage.  The costumes, the lighting, the puppetry...it's a full-on feast for any fan of ...

Today is September 9th.  It's the last day of the first week back at school.  Teachers, teaching assistants and parents are crying out for an evening with a glass (make that a bottle) of wine and something decent to watch on the tellybox.  That's certainly the case for Monique Brown and Issy Jackson.  They've found the first week back an exhausting struggle and can't wait to kick back, put their feet up and watch their favourite film.  Ah, yes...what is their movie of choice?  Well, it's actually Disney's modern classic Frozen, a pretty apt choice seeing as the terraced house they share in Sheffield's Cardigan Close is so cold that it could double as a fridge freezer.  I'm a parent of an eight year old. I've been subjected to Frozen more times than I care to remember, and as much as I love musicals I have to be honest and say it's not one of my favourites. I'm sorry!  Whether it's because 'Le...

It's now just five weeks until The Singalong Society for Singletons starts winging its way onto ereaders everywhere, which is really, really exciting (but also a smidge terrifying too).  So I think the time has come for me to tell you a bit more about it! The Singalong Society for Singletons is the story of Mon, a twenty-something teaching assistant whose long-term boyfriend Justin has moved to Chicago for a year with his job in banking.  Mon shares a terraced house with her teacher workmate Issy who longs for a loving partner and child more than anything in the world.  They spend their evenings drinking wine and watching Frozen, their comfort-film of choice, until one night when Mon's sister Hope unexpectedly arrives on their doorstep with her own relationship woes... The young women find that when your heart is breaking, there's nothing better to do than sing it out and The Singalong Society for Singletons is born!  Mon, Issy, Hope and Mon's be...

Here it is - the beautiful cover for my debut novel The Singalong Society for Singletons!     I am absolutely thrilled - the warm colours perfectly capture the feel of Autumn evenings, the subtle music notes and songbirds hinting of the music within and the hills representing my adopted (and leg-ache inducing) city of Sheffield, where the novel is set.  Books Covered have done an incredible job!  I'd love to know what you think of it too...   The Singalong Society for Singletons is published on October 7th by Harper Impulse, the digital-first romance imprint at Harper Collins who also published The Meet Cute Series, and is available to preorder now.   So what's it all about?     THE BLURB   Monique and Issy are teachers, housemates and lovers of musicals! Their Friday night routine consists of snacks, wine and the Frozen DVD. So when Monique’s boyfriend moves to America for a year and her sister Hope m...

Following on from a fabulous weekend watching Take That in Hyde Park with my best friend (you can read a bit about that here) , I spent my Tuesday morning waiting outside a local radio station to meet Olly Murs on his 'You Don't Know Love' radio tour.  I had fun talking to others in the queue (there were maybe 60-80 of us there in all) and the time passed pretty quickly.  Luckily the rain held off and it was neither too hot or too cold - pretty much perfect weather for waiting outside.  Olly arrived just before midday and the staff at the station invited fans in to watch his live stream being filmed, so we all crammed into the foyer to hear him share how proud he is of his forthcoming album and that there will be a tour next year.  Meeting Olly, 12.07.2016 When the interview was over we were all ushered outside and politely reformed the queue to each have our moment with Olly.  It really was nothing more than a moment - his schedule ...

I'm absolutely terrible at keeping this blog updated, especially at the moment. I'm busy trying to finish the edits on The Singalong Society for Singletons (due to be published October 6th by Harper Impulse at Harper Collins), working on a secret project you'll find out about later in the year and also trying to crack on with my second novel (to be released next summer, if I ever finish writing it!)  It feels like I'm not blogging at all lately and I miss it. I don't want to only be around when I'm promoting new releases.  There's more to me than just writing (not much more, to be fair.  But there is more), and that's why I'm hoping to spend more time blogging about other things I enjoy - I'm not sure how regularly I'll get to do it, but it's a plan! Some of you may be aware of Books with Bunny , the blog I started in 2013 to talk about all things bookish.  There are hundreds of reviews, interviews and book related pos...