An Award For My Blog...

I've recently been given the Versatile Blogger Award by Romy Gemmell- thank you.

Admittedly I've had to think what else I could say about myself  without repetition or inducing boredom...but I hope I've managed it.

1. I met my husband in a library- I was working there, he was looking for a book...

2. One of my teenage writing projects was a sci-fi saga covering 25 years and two generations. Sadly I didn't keep the numerous pages and chapters I wrote. (I have now learnt to keep everything.)

I was very influenced by the original Star Trek series at the time, which probably explains why my aliens were generally humanoid.

3. If I could nominate one book to be turned into a film or tv adaption it would be award winning author Jude Devereux's 'Sweet Liar'. The book actually came out in 1992. It is one of her Taggert family stories and it really is a shame the book didn't have the hero Mike on the cover- I merely mention the word 'muscles'...

It cleverly combines the events surrounding a murder in a 1920's nightclub with the current day, where the hero and heroine eventually solve the mystery of that night in the club (and their personal connections to it) despite the ominous signs of things going wrong- there is still a happy ending.

4. I like traditional scents-especially Rose.

5. I'm hopeless at hand-sewing. My stitches are a little neater and more even now, but when I had to do sewing in secondary school I never got beyond the second project. Actually the teacher kept making me unpick the stitching on the half slip's hem, so I really wouldn't have been any good at making clothes in the 18th century...

6. In Primary School winter PE sessions I was taught Country Dancing- we had to go across the road to the church hall, where I also attended Brownies.

7. I always watch the Eurovision Song Contest with delight and fascination, especially at some of the costumes singers and dancers turn up in. When I was little I once sat at the top of the stairs trying to listen to the contest after I'd been sent to bed at the normal time.

So now to the 7 blogs I'm awarding the Versatile Blogger Award to:

Blog Thoughts from a Broad

Rosalie Warren

My Musings

Chippy

Ramblings of a Frustrated Crime Writer

Jane Retallick

Novel Thinking

An Interesting Evening...Peter F Hamilton

Wednesday evening (4th May) was the Speaker's meeting at Nottingham Writers' Club. This month we were very fortunate to have Sci-fi writer Peter F Hamilton  sharing his knowledge and experience in interview form, followed by a Q & A.

Writer Peter F Hamilton and a few of his books

We were lucky in having former club member Neil Fulwood to help us out with the interview. Neil is not only an experienced writer and poet, but has also read and enjoyed all of Peter's books, so could ask relevant questions- even if a few of them were beyond my reading scope...

I have to reluctantly admit that the nearest I usually get to sci-fi is repeats of Star Trek.

But I did pick up some quotes and useful insights that apply to all of us even if we don't write science-fiction.

Yes, he has had rejection slips just like the rest of us.

Now 'world building', Peter emphasised that he puts a lot of thought into this aspect before he writes. He needs to know how that world works, is governed and so on. He said "If I can't believe it, I have no chance of anyone else believing it."

(For the rest of us, even if we already have the world set up for us [world as it is today or in the past] we've still got to make our reader believe that the place we've set our story in is believable.)

There's no set formula to work to- each writer works their own way.

You "need to write from the heart."

"If you can't stand being criticised then don't get published."

"Every story has its own length."
(That's reassuring as I often worry about length of my longer projects.)

I didn't feel too bad when Peter said that when he starts work each day he reads the previous day's work and polishes it, then moves on engaged with the story.

(Okay I don't write every day yet, but I do re-read the previous writing session before I can get on- if I don't do that I just can't get on as something will be nagging me.)

There was a lot of information relating to sci-fi writing so if you ever get the chance to visit a convention or book signing where Peter is talking then go, you won't be disappointed.

Be warned, his books are big, but fortunately you can read many of them as  Kindle books.