Counting Down...

I have one month to get my manuscript in to the RNA's New Writers' Scheme. Fortunately I can submit a partial if that's all that's done.

At the moment I may just get the second draft finished, the manuscript tidied up, my form filled in and do the best I can on the synopsis...

As I've rewritten this second draft I have discovered how I make substantial progress, as well as realising that just because I think there's only a few missing scenes to fill in, my brain can think otherwise.

Starting out on draft 2, I believed I probably had two or three scenes each in two, maybe three new chapters to fill in the gaps. How wrong I was!

Still working on it...

Honestly I'm not sure how many new scenes there are, but I've added five chapters that were missing from that first draft.

There is still a lot of work that will need to be done in the next draft, improve the first half, then there's odd bits that need reworking, narrative changed to scenes/dialogue, descriptions added and character arcs checked. And that's before I start the editing process!

Even though all this work lies ahead I'm satisfied with all I've achieved so far, also what I've learnt about how I write and plot.

But most importantly I've learnt to trust my subconscious; those random bits of dialogue that don't seem to serve a purpose at the time, do fulfil a role later on...

When I do get the RNA's reader's comments back I am expecting quite a lot of pages to read and consider, then decide where I go from there.

For now it's get this draft complete.

Wish me luck...



image: pixabay.com

Conference Season

It's hard to believe that a week ago I was in Lancaster at the 2019 Conference of the Romantic Novelists Association.

Apart from the rain while travelling to the venue at Lancaster University (a huge site) the whole weekend was warm and sunny.

The accommodation block I was in overlooked a green area of grass, bushes and trees. In fact it wasn't just bird life that lurked. Waking up early on the Saturday morning it was lovely to look out of the window, just after six a.m, to see not only birds loitering but a couple of rabbits too. Then returning to my block after dinner late Saturday night I saw and heard a hedgehog.

View toward the
motorway...

This year it was quite difficult to choose which sessions I wanted to attend as there were so many great options. So I chose what interested me or would be the most helpful for the stage I'm at now.

After their triumph last year it was good to see Virginia Heath and Liam Living back to help us 'Keep that Sexy Momentum Going'.

I should have been in the get-together for the New Writers Scheme at that time, but I'd enjoyed and learnt so much last year from Virginia and Liam's session that I didn't want to miss this one.

With only an hour available some topics couldn't go into much depth, but with brains buzzing from everything, it was probably enough.

I definitely found the cover design tips from Stuart Bache, helpful. I now know what I need to consider and what to avoid!

But there was lots more.

The Gala Dinner on the Saturday night is an opportunity to dress up if you want to. And of course I did- I don't get many opportunities to do so...

Dressed for dinner...
(thanks to Georgia Hill
for taking the picture)

Finally I got to meet the lovely Rosemary Gemmell after having known her through her blog for some time.

That's the problem with conferences, lots of people  you know but may only see as they rush past in the opposite direction or across the crowded room at lunchtime.

There was lots of walking between the accommodation and the hub where the sessions took place. Lots of stairs to climb- no lift. Rather a considerable amount of alcohol consumed (my lips are sealed) and plenty of water during the day.

The main hub had a device that enabled you to refill your bottle with cold water, while a display told you how many plastic bottles had been avoided.

Every year there's a goody bag (on arrival) and among the contents a paperback or two.

Reading matter...

 I'm glad I brought a backpack with me as I was able to carry my big notebook, jacket and anything else I didn't have room for in my handbag...

As before, I came home buzzing with insights and determined to finish my novel, then start the next one.

I hope to go to next year's conference...

I'm Back!

It's been a long time since I was last able to post to the blog, so apologies for the silence.

As friends on Facebook and Twitter will know, I changed broadband provider and upgraded to fibre, but sadly my 4th June changeover didn't go to plan- basically everything that could go wrong did...

It's only when you don't have broadband you realise how much you depend on it for both major and seemingly inconsequential items. That's when you discover how even those little things are so much easier and quicker with it.

Need to quickly check whether a word was being used around 1800? And did it mean then what it means now? It's so much quicker with a few clicks of the keyboard to check https://www.etymonline.com/ -do have a look at it.

My bookshelf reference library got heavy use...

Fortunately after two weeks offline we were introduced to a little Vodaphone mobile wifi device (I'm not being paid to promote it) when the OH and I were out looking for a replacement tumble-drier (that finally died on us after twenty years, around the same time).

It did mean all the family could access the Internet while we were waiting, but we needed to be careful to keep enough data for the month, just in case the fibre broadband took longer- it did.

Across my various email accounts I deleted nearly 2,000 emails unread, only keeping a few in each account that needed action. I really must cull some of those mailing lists and newsletters.

Eventually the only option was for the new provider to completely start again, which meant we temporarily lost our home phone number for about five days until our supplier reclaimed it. (I had visions of my number ending up somewhere else and the poor recipient being rung up about the writers' club, if they couldn't get our number back.) Fortunately that went okay and the broadband order could then go through.

Last Tuesday- five weeks after we should have originally changed over- we finally had fibre broadband live.

With only a few days before I was off to the RNA Conference in Lancaster I started on all those items that would have been a heavy data drain- still have a few to catch up with.

It certainly makes you realise how much of everyday life now revolves around having a broadband connection...

Next post it's my RNA Conference experience...


Image from Pixabay.com