Due to a high level of expectation about what one does at Christmas, December isn't usually a good month for writing. In theory I spring into life on the first working day of January, and it goes off.
This year, for some reason it hasn't happened. I spent the first week putting together the Ramsgate Montefiore Heritage Newsletter (Kate Hamlyn - Editor) and though that only took a day, there was a bit of foot dragging and fiddling about which somehow prevented me doing anything else. I also did some "housekeeping" which included submitting TMoF to my Irish editor friend for a professional opinion and any thoughts about the market for it. So, the plan was to start the Ash Grove re-write this week, only two things happened. An on-going row with the husboid led to me cutting a deal, I would do his edits to the first two chapters of his book, if he would start the decorating work on the upper stairs and landing. Then I began to have tremendous pains in my right foot, and so was unable to do anything, least of all, reclaim the small upstairs room as my office, which involves lugging boxes and stuff up and down. So, I'm still here, in the bedroom, with a bad foot, NOT editing TAG and slowly doing Claudius' Elephants for M, and attending meetings with him.
Meanwhile, the odd rejection (not rave) dribbles in. An agent who sent me exactly the same rejection letter for the last novel...nothing from the US. All very quiet. However, there are a couple of things to apply for - the Escalator competition... and Gollancz fantasy open submission. Must do that! Some feedback from a friend, who thinks it's slowed down since the beginning - perhaps... but wonders what genre it is? A romance I suppose? She suggested making it more thrillerish... I dunno, aren't fairies enough of a shock?
I am not feeling at my cheeriest and most encouraged - all I can think of is "the darkest hour is before dawn" - so perhaps there will be news!
A good idea
Perhaps to distract myself from the current situation, I have discovered something new I want to write. This would be an updated 1950s version of a French novel which is lively and dynamic and has a main character who has something like narcissistic personality disorder... all the humour is already there, but I think updating it to the 50s London will work brilliantly... I hope. It's giving me something to look forward to. There is a fashion for updates of famous Brit novels, or extension and "sequels" so that loved characters get a life, but in this case the book is not well known in UK, and not so much in France nowadays, so that may not help.
This year, for some reason it hasn't happened. I spent the first week putting together the Ramsgate Montefiore Heritage Newsletter (Kate Hamlyn - Editor) and though that only took a day, there was a bit of foot dragging and fiddling about which somehow prevented me doing anything else. I also did some "housekeeping" which included submitting TMoF to my Irish editor friend for a professional opinion and any thoughts about the market for it. So, the plan was to start the Ash Grove re-write this week, only two things happened. An on-going row with the husboid led to me cutting a deal, I would do his edits to the first two chapters of his book, if he would start the decorating work on the upper stairs and landing. Then I began to have tremendous pains in my right foot, and so was unable to do anything, least of all, reclaim the small upstairs room as my office, which involves lugging boxes and stuff up and down. So, I'm still here, in the bedroom, with a bad foot, NOT editing TAG and slowly doing Claudius' Elephants for M, and attending meetings with him.
Meanwhile, the odd rejection (not rave) dribbles in. An agent who sent me exactly the same rejection letter for the last novel...nothing from the US. All very quiet. However, there are a couple of things to apply for - the Escalator competition... and Gollancz fantasy open submission. Must do that! Some feedback from a friend, who thinks it's slowed down since the beginning - perhaps... but wonders what genre it is? A romance I suppose? She suggested making it more thrillerish... I dunno, aren't fairies enough of a shock?
I am not feeling at my cheeriest and most encouraged - all I can think of is "the darkest hour is before dawn" - so perhaps there will be news!
A good idea
Perhaps to distract myself from the current situation, I have discovered something new I want to write. This would be an updated 1950s version of a French novel which is lively and dynamic and has a main character who has something like narcissistic personality disorder... all the humour is already there, but I think updating it to the 50s London will work brilliantly... I hope. It's giving me something to look forward to. There is a fashion for updates of famous Brit novels, or extension and "sequels" so that loved characters get a life, but in this case the book is not well known in UK, and not so much in France nowadays, so that may not help.
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| Here is a picture of the Stoa of Herodes Atallus at Athens - now connection with any of the above, I simply chose it at random, blind, from my folder. |
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