I am sure that many of
you will have noticed that today is Friday and not Wednesday. That is
because I wanted to finish writing Mass murder on Wednesday and I was
so close that decided just to carry on until I got there. It was so
late by the time that I wrote ‘The End’ that I postponed the blog
post until Thursday, which is no bad thing as the high I get when I
finish getting a story down on paper is amazing. I am, at the same
time, a bit sad because writing that first draft is my favourite part
of the whole process. It all about capturing the daydream, now comes
the pure slog of sorting it all out without spoiling it. Yesterday, I
was all set to write this when a friend popped round for a cup of
coffee. I knew she was coming and completely forgot about it. I was
so engrossed in finishing my making marmalade and plotting my next
book. She had to phone me to let her in because not only had I not
heard the doorbell, I had not heard her standing in the hallway
shouting. Three hours of chatting later it was time to cook dinner.
That really is the life of a writer, constant delightful
interruptions which interrupt your flow and slow you down.
I know there are people
who find their first draft hard to write; I wonder if it's because
you really have to shut yourself off and get into your own head. I
can edit when Steve is around, but I find it hard to write unless I
am on my own.
That brings me to
Brexit day. Tomorrow it will be that much harder for me to be a
European, and I AM a European, in my own mind. I regret that my
country is trying to take that away from me. These blogs aren't about
politics so I won’t go into any arguments about the pro's and cons,
except to say that I am sad, and it is too important not to mention.
Yesterday I managed to
start writing 'The mystery of the wooden box' which is book three in
the treasure of Saint Bee series of novellas. To celebrate this, the
first two books will be on special offer from the fourth of February
for a week. So look out for them if you have-not seen them already
and want a bargain, and 99p for a book is a bargain. I love writing
these novellas, straightforward, traditional cosy mysteries with
interesting characters. I hope that they are enjoyable to read.
Mass murder has a much
more complex story line and the first part of my edit will be to try
to ensure all the subplots line up and follow the same timeline. That
was the hardest part of Death of a Pilgrim to get sorted out and in
all in took me seven months. I hope that I have become faster this
time, but I will have to let you know.
This year I plan to
continue writing alongside my editing so hopefully the draft of the
next book is ready by the time I edit the first one, This should help
me meet my goal of four published books this year. This is, of
course, a goal not a certainty. I am already a month behind my plan
so it's not looking good at the moment. Fortunately, any pressure is
of my making, so enjoying the process is as important as meeting
self-imposed guidelines. I need deadlines to sort out my confidence
problem. I can concentrate on the job at hand then and need to worry
about anything else that might get in the way. The strange thing is
that even though I know that I am playing mind games with myself, it
works.
