Wow !!

I did it.

The scary thing.  Reading aloud has always been hard for me and usually causes me to blush, stutter and wanting to run away.  But not any more.

As you would have read in my previous post I was not looking forward to the PWG (palace writers group) 'reading evening'  so much so that up until an hour before I was thinking up believable excuses.  But thanks to my hero, who is also my husband, I bit the bullet and went ahead and did it.  I'm so glad I did.  It's one of my demons banished and its hard to put into words just how proud I am of myself (without being big headed of course).  People even clapped !  What a fab night.

Moral of this story - look you're demons in the eye then they cannot hold you back any longer.

Update and a Scary Thing

Hey, sorry to have left you so long but I have a good reason.  To cut a very long story short I have had to go 'gluten free' and have discovered I also have an egg allergy.  Thankfully things have settled down now and I'm back to my old self, well new self - oh, you know what I mean.

The scary thing?  PWG (palace writers group) of which I am a member, are hosting a night of readings.  They'll be poetry, short stories and even a sketch or two, sounds great doesn't it.  But - included in the programme are two pieces of my own work And I will be reading them aloud to an audience.

So what - you might ask.  Well for me this is a nightmare, my mind goes back to the classroom where you were forced to read allowed, red faced and stumbling over the words.  I even blush when I'm reading to Reggie (my cat).  So why do it?  I think I owe it to myself to get over the fear of reading aloud, whenever somebody else reads my work it rarely sounds how I want it to.  So what's the answer - do it yourself!!  I can't pretend I'm not shaking in my boots at the prospect but I hope to feel a sense of achievement when I have faced up to this scary thing.

Wish me luck.

In The Wee Small Hours

Well, I went to bed at 10:15 and got back up at 11:30.  Sleep evaded me. I had a little nugget whispering to me, telling me to get up and write - so I did.  I have written 700 words of a flash fiction piece for my writers group.  I can't say they are all good words, things always look different in the morning don't they.  When I say morning I mean proper morning, you know, when normal people get up and go to work not 1:30 in the morning.  Does that happen to anybody else? Please say it does. Don't let me think I'm alone.  Actually I'm not alone, up and around at this silly hour that is.  I just peeped through the curtains and saw a fox.  Ah, such beautiful yet misunderstood creatures.  I'm sure it knows better than to go into next door's garden, not with the size of their dog.

Well I won't say goodnight or even good morning, I have that odd feeling that the wee small hours haven't finished with me just yet.

When 'Its Just Not Happening'

Today I had such plans - and the opportunity.  But it just isn't happening - I have two short stories bubbling away at the moment.  I'm eager to get them completed so I can submit them to TABFF but my head has other ideas.

I don't like to use this blog to share my personal life BUT I'm sure I'm not the only person/writer to feel this way and to be overwhelmed by such feelings.  What feelings?  My oldest two children have left home, one for independence, the other for Uni.  All normal and part of life but for some reason its really hit me today and I can't concentrate on my work and I'm indulging in baby pictures and old forgotten school projects.  Daft isn't it - in reality I should be pleased that they are out there living their lives and making their own way.  Don't get me wrong I'm proud of them both but missing them is hurting, a physical ache.

I'm sharing this because there must be others who have these days too.  But tomorrow is another day and I must wait to see what a new day brings.  Who knows, maybe there's a new story to be told. So I suppose what I'm actually saying is one unproductive day isn't the end, life as a writer isn't over.  Believe in yourself, pick yourself up and carry on writing.

It's Marinating

Firstly, Hello and Welcome to the new peeps. I hope you stick with me and find this blog either amusing or useful.  As for me, I enjoy the company.

The story I blogged about on Tuesday is finished and I have left it to marinate until next week.  I'm really pleased with it.  In fact I was so pleased and happy with my progress I delved into my archives and pulled out a story I'd written last year but was never satisfied with.  The idea of the story was good but I'd not been able to bring it to life.  But now, I can see it really does have potential.  With a polish here and a small re-write there I hope to submit it to TABFF in time.  However tempting never throw away or delete any piece of writing even if it isn't doing what you'd like it to.  You never know when it could come in handy.

I'd ask you all to forgive any small typo's as Reggie, my kitten, is very fond of my keyboard..

Feel free to leave me any comments I'm always happy to chat.

Some You Do And Some You Don't

Do you ever get a feeling about a story?  Either whilst drafting, editing or anywhere along the line - I do.  My latest short story is aimed at TABFF (Take-a-Break Fiction Feast).  The truth is, yes this is going to sound really pretentious, but I dreamt the first line of dialogue of the story.  Now I know a lot of my fellow writers keep a notebook by the bed, as do I.  But the words stayed with me even after showering and eating breakfast, I knew I had to use them.  And I have.  I have a really good feeling that this story could be the one to set me on my way.  The one that makes all previous disappointments almost worth the pain.  Time will tell.

It's odd though, I really want to write novels but I cannot leave short stories alone.  I've tried but the ideas always manage to sneak into my thought stream somewhere along the way.  Maybe I should try harder at doing both.  After all I do have a novel that I've written.  Okay so it needs a huge injection of TLC but hey, it there.

Back To It

So, the kids have gone back to school, at last.  To me it seems like forever as Cerys has had a nice 7 week holiday due to our move in July.  Problem is, now the house feels so empty it's hard for me to settle.  Reggie, the kitten, is fast asleep at my feet content in his own dreams and I'm wondering if I should pop downstairs and put the TV on.  Not to watch it of course but sometimes silence is really distracting.

I now have 2 stories I am playing with and considering trying my with TABFF again - after all nothing ventured nothing gained.  But, as all writers, I loathe rejection and it dents my confidence so. There's no sense in wallowing so back to it I suppose.  Think big, that's my new motto.

The Good, The Bad & The Really Ugly !!

ARRRGGGHHHH!!

So the Good thing is, well I see it as good is that since getting back down to work since Swanwick I have written 1.5 short stories.  Yes that's right 1.5 - I do have anew kitten to watch out for!!

So that's the good.  The Bad is really bad.  As an ex secretary you'd think I could format documents standing on my head wouldn't you?  But no, not this particular story I'm working on and the worst part is that I don't have a glue as to where I'm going wrong.  At the risk of sounding like a spoilt brat 'it's not doing what I want it to do'.

The Ugly part is my mood...ooh very ugly.  Really I could quite happily sling my laptop through the window and myself afterwards.  It's driving me crazy.  I thought writing the stories was the hard part.  I really have had enough for today, formatting that is.  I'm off for a nice coffee and a scream !!

I'm Back...did you miss me?

I have moved house and attended the Swanwick Writers Summer School since I last posted, a lifetime ago or so it seems.

I'm so out of step with everything I'm finding it hard to know where to start to fill you in.

Let's start with Swanwick, for those of you who are familiar with this wonderful school I'm sure you will agree it is wonderful.  A packed week of inspiring courses and many friendly faces, evening speakers and activities to enable you to let your hair down later on.  This year was my fourth year in a row and although Swanwick will always hold a special place in my heart, I feel it may be time to try something new.

What with the house move and the long school summer holiday it has been difficult to fit in any writing time.  But now we are settled (still a few boxes to go) I need to hunt down my mojo and put it to work.

As always, wish me luck and I promise to post soon.

Gardners & Writers

I once heard, or read, Alan Titchmarsh claim that 'a good garden is never finished' or words to that effect.

Well I'm finding the same with my novel.  The deeper in I get the more work I realise there is to do.  Now it's not that the work bothers me because it doesn't but I have to wonder when does it stop.  When will I know that I have edited and revised every chapter, rounded my characters enough, sewn threads into my main story line?  Does that ever happen?  And as for imagery don't even get me started!  Obviously in a novel as opposed to a shorter work there is much more scope to linger on description and imagery.  But just how much is enough?

This morning I have been working on describing a hall decorated for a wedding reception and to freshen up my ideas I used Google images.  Mistake? Well now I feel I am back to square one as the images have filled my head and made my former description look naff, at the very least and badly in need of  re-writing. Actually I quite enjoy it.  I used to scoff quietly as those writers who confessed they'd spent years writing their novel but slowly I am starting to understand why.

As much as I admire Mr Titchmarsh I do hope his theory on gardens isn't true for writers.

Juggling

It's been an odd few days for me.  I have five short stories on the go plus I need to put some time aside to rewrite parts of my novel. I've never had so many projects on the go at once before.  But it's fun.  I have competition deadlines looming but for once I don't feel panicked by them.  By working on more than one project, as a friend suggested, I find my imagination is much sharper as my time on each piece of work is restricted.  Okay, I don't use any sort of alarm  my brain just seems to know when or if its had enough of a certain story.  So instead of being disappointed and beating myself up for not putting the time into my work I can simply move on to another story waiting in the wings for some care and attention. 

As you will know I had no luck with my novel 'A Different Corner' in the Richard & Judy competition but after trawling through the internet and my writing magazines I have found a few other novel competitions.  I just need time to read through them and choose the competition which best suits me.  I am not ready to give up on my novel yet and I certainly didn't put all that effort only to give up at the first hurdle.  

Win Some, Lose Some

Well, the results from the 'Search for a Bestseller' (Richard & Judy) were announced last week and I wasn't lucky.  To be honest I wasn't surprised.  The amount of entries must have been in the thousands.  The out and out winner still needs to be announced but I wish all the short listed writers the very best of luck - and there's always next time.

I am still waiting to hear from two short story competitions and hope to have better luck as they are not as well known as Richard & Judy's.  I did mention I may have a shot at the Mslexia short story competition but changed my mind.  I left it too late.  I've learnt that lesson well.  Not to enter on impulse but to allow yourself the time to craft a well written piece of work.  If you rush you will more than likely regret entering.  I try not to recall some of my unpolished entries.

Another reminder that the booking is open for the Swanwick Writers Summer School 2014 - if you have not heard of it before take a look at the website.  It's a fabulous week.  Something you will never regret.

Getting There

So to date I am working on three short stories.

Not the way I usually work as I easily confuse myself but after speaking to a fellow writer who offered me a few tips, it isn't working out too badly for me.  As I mentioned before I have three competitions to submit to, hence the multiple stories.  All three are new to me, in fact I'd not heard of them before.  It just goes to show just how brilliant the Internet can be.  Talking of which, I was struggling to describe something today so on the off chance I used Google images - hey presto I found heaps of images which brought my description to life and added more depth to my story.

Talking of short story competitions I may have a shot at the Mslexia competition this year.  For reasons unknown, even to me, its a competition I have avoided before.  So what's changed? I don't know but I do know I am enjoying getting my teeth well and truly stuck into my writing once more.

Did I tell you that booking was open for Swanwick Writers Summer School?  No, well it has.  Get those bookings in fast guys.  It's something you will never regret.

Thank You Dr

I don't usually include aspects of my private (intimate) life on here as I like to keep to the subject of writing - but I didn't want you to think I'd left you again.

On Monday 10 February I had an operation to remove my gallbladder.  Thankfully it went very well with no complications and it was key hole surgery too.  As much as I wanted to last week I couldn't muster up the energy to post here.  But now I am feeling so much better (just a little sore) I can't wait to get back to my writing and to share my news with you all.  Don't panic, the postman is safe for another week or so.

I've had a few short stories on the go ready to submit to competitions of which I hope I haven't missed the deadline and I also have an outline for another novel.  So plenty to be getting on with over this coming week.

As ever, wish me luck.

I'm Home !!

So sorry to have neglected you once again but I had problems getting into my blog.  Although it appears I was the only one.  After wrestling with the problem myself for several weeks I eventually gave in and asked Hubby for help.  And guess what?  Within a minute, yes a minute, he'd fixed the issue.  How does he do that?

So, where are we?  2014 submissions do far is 2.  Doesn't sound a lot does it but compared to this time last year I'm miles ahead.  As you know I submitted my novel 'A Different Corner' to the Richard & Judy Search for a Bestseller and have entered a short story competition too.  As I am not expecting any results until next month I have left a note for the postman to assure him I won't be stalking him for a while yet.

Today booking for Swanwick opened and already I have completed my booking form and I'm ready to run down to the post box.  It's so exciting.  For those of you who are not familiar with the school the website address is www.swanwickwritersschool.org.uk - have a look, try it out I can assure you it won't be something you will ever regret.  New to writing or not, published or not there is something at Swanwick for everybody.  Go on...give it a chance.  It opened up so many doors for me and I met so many fantastic people I cannot recommend it highly enough.  If finance is an issue there is a competition to 'Win your way to Swanwick' - details are also on the website.

A New Year

Happy New Year to you all.

This year I have decided on less dreaming and wishing and more action.  More of a positive attitude towards my work.

'A Different Corner' the novel I wrote originally for NaNoWriMo has been sent of to Richard & Judy's search for a bestseller.  I could fib and say it was my first submission of 2014 but it had to be submitted by 31 December 2013 - so I won't.  I won't hear anything if at all until later in the year so at least the postman is safe for a while.

I have my eye on a few lesser known short story competitions and an idea for another novel.  Plenty to keep me busy.  NaNo was such a great experience for me and has indeed helped me find my writing mojo again.

Of course any offers, wins you will be the first to know.