Merry Christmas!

I haven't even looked at my fourth novel since I finished writing it in October. But today, after all the baking, shopping, wrapping and visiting, I've had a spare few hours all to myself so I have taken full advantage of this rare occurrence and have started editing! Six chapters down and I am totally hooked! I wrote the first half of the book three years ago, so I almost feel like I'm reading a book for the first time! Hopefully I'll finish the editing process over the holidays and be ready to start submissions in the New Year. Exciting times!

Merry Christmas to one and all :)

Book Number Four Finished!

I finished writing my fourth novel last week! Weeks before my target of Christmas and 76,000 words long exactly. I now have the daunting task of editing it, which can take a long time. It's all about reshaping and crafting what you have already written and turning it into the finished article; a polished, perfect work of fiction that will (hopefully) go on to be published.

I have two possible titles for the book. Bad Habits and The Undoing of Judith Croft. I'm still not sure which one to go for because both sum the book up perfectly. Knowing me, during the editing process, I will come up with another ten titles and make life really difficult for myself!

My second novel has now been re-named and re-designed and is now back on sale on Amazon. Finding Vega is a YA novel, suitable for 11-15-year-olds. But of course adults can read it too! It's slightly dark in places and deals with lots of human emotions and traits. If you do read it, please leave a review. Thank you :)

I'm just about to start reading a YA novel myself called Girl On A Plane by Miriam Moss. My youngest daughter is currently hooked on Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell... a horror novel that I might just have to read when she's finished with it.

Check out both of my books here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KWL9HVA

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0125PNTDM

New Title Condundrum

Although I do read books, I wouldn't say I am an avid reader. I'm not like some writers who finish a book in two days and get through three a week. I'd much rather be writing them than reading them. But I do watch an awful lot of TV dramas and I think the writing for this genre inspires me more than literature does. I would love to write screenplays. I've researched how to do it a lot recently, mainly because I am writing my fourth novel as though it's a six-part TV series. Not intentionally, it just kind of happens that way. I visualise and picture the story first before I even start writing any words. I have done the same with my three previous books and only ever remember them as a 'film' in my head rather than a story in print. Maybe that's how all writers write. I dunno... Anyway, apparently writing a screenplay is really, really difficult so I might just stick to books, which is really, really easy :)

I've just passed the 50,000 word mark on my fourth novel, working title 'Airtight'. I'm actually nearer 55,000 words now because I've had a spurt on this week and am writing a part of the book that I've been dying to get to for ages... the Country House Party. This part of the story is an entire chapter on it's own and features lots of dialogue - my favourite part of writing - and sees the culmination of lots of elements of the story as paths cross and secrets spill and relationships are severed.

'Airtight' was always a temporary title - a nickname coined for Judith, the lead character, by her work colleagues. I'll leave you to figure out what it means... I've spent a bit of time this week coming up with alternatives. The odds-on favourite at the moments is The Undoing of Judith Croft. I also like The Clandestine Miss Croft. To me, the title has to sum up what and who the story is about. Judith Croft is the leading lady and the story is about her metamorphosis from one person to another. It's a tricky old thing coming up with a title. I totally cocked it up with my second novel, The Fourteen Years Between Us. I disliked the title so much I eventually pulled it from sale and it is now being reinvented as Finding Vega. Which is much more apt and much more exciting. So this one has to be right... and for now I am still working on it.

15,000 more words to go. The target for 'The End' is Christmas. So I'd bet get my skates on...

Cornish Inspiration

After a wonderful (if slightly damp) holiday in Cornwall, we have spent all weekend cleaning, weeding and washing. I need a holiday to get over the holiday! We did loads of walking and climbing and kayaking and saw some of the best scenery the UK has to offer, especially in and around the creeks of the River Fowey.

I have had a lot of inspiration from my visits to the West Country over the years and an idea I had for a novel a few months ago is starting to take shape on paper. It is about a man who wakes up on a beach and has no idea where he is or how he got there. The funny, and more than a little bit spooky thing is, we were sitting having a picnic on a very crowded Caerhays Beach last Tuesday, when suddenly this young man appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and started wandering – bemused – through the holidaymakers. He wore a pair of baggy cotton trousers, boots and a leather flying jacket and carried a rucksack over his shoulder. He picked his way through the busy beach and disappeared over the dunes. It was almost surreal and if I hadn't asked both Kyle and Florence if they could also see him, I would have thought I had lost the plot and was hallucinating! A similar thing happened to me just before I started writing The Charm so I am taking this mystery man's appearance as a lucky sign and have started jotting down ideas for the story. 

This book will be set in the village of Lerryn, which I visited last week and totally fell in love with. I can't wait to start writing it but first I think I ought to finish Airtight... or maybe I will just shelve it for a while, like I did when I wrote The Boggins... Whatever I do, writing resumes tomorrow. I have just over two weeks left before it's back to school and the new cohort of Year Two moves up from Year One, so I am going to make the most of my free time and get cracking! 

School's Out!

What a difference not working makes!! I suddenly have all the time in the world to do things I want to do and at my own pace instead of a mad rush! I wish the school holidays could go on until Christmas!

I've caught up with lots of jobs and paperwork, started subbing the Autumn issue of Queen Bee and best of all, resumed writing my fourth novel, whose working title is Airtight. I have written just over 30,000 words in total and am very much enjoying developing the story as I tap away. I have each chapter mapped out already but every now and then, I feel like taking the story in a different direction and change things slightly. What I am unsure of is the ending. I have drafted two endings. And there could be a third if I decide there needs to be a happy ending :)

My main character, Judith, is a prim and proper school teacher who also works as a church warden in her local parish. After overhearing her colleagues gossiping about her and calling her names, she decides to reinvent herself and start a new life. Her decision changes her life completely but quite unexpectedly takes a sinister turn and she becomes part of a scene she never knew even existed. Her Christianity is questioned and she starts living a double life. 

I guess I will choose which ending to use when I get to the final chapter! Until then, I have no idea how this story will end!

Together with writing Airtight, I am spending a few hours here and there writing for a fun project I have on the back burner. The idea came to me during a literacy lesson just before we broke up for the holidays and my plan is to write a novelty book that would be brilliant as a stocking filler at Christmas or a quirky little gift for any occasion. Strictly for adults of course... no children allowed!!

Here's to a very busy but very relaxed summer of writing!

Ramblings from the fens...

I've not posted on my blog for six months. That is because I have been so busy moving house and renovating the new one, coupled with a bout of bronchitis, that the only writing I have done is a children's picture book about a little robin redbreast and my usual magazine column. 

Now the summer holidays are approaching and I have a full six weeks and four days off work to look forward to, I am going to definitely get some serious writing under my belt. I have decided to re-work the ending of The Boggins of Willow Drove before sending it off to agents and I quite fancy also re-writing the ending of The Fourteen Years Between Us, which I have not done anything with so far apart from upload to Amazon. The Charm is still selling well and is the book I am most proud of. I still pick it up and flick through the pages and can't quite believe I wrote it.

My fourth novel is half-written so will finish that before Christmas. It is a much darker novel than The Charm and will hopefully appeal to all you thrill-seekers out there ;)

Going back to moving house... the Boggins book is based on my life growing up on a farm in the Fens. Willow Drove really does exist and the farmyard is still there together with the huge old tree which - in the book - the Boggins live under. The funny thing is, I left the village when I was 24-years-old and I never thought I would return. How bizarre that just after I'd finished writing TBOWD, I had the chance to move back... which I finally did in May. And now I walk my dogs Lottie, and the very aptly named Fen, up and down Willow Drove most days.

What a weird and wonderful world we live in!