Monday 31 August 2020

Deadlines are Hard Work...

The last day of August is here. For me that's the deadline for submitting my entry to the RNA's New Writers' Scheme.

Last year I put in my submission in at 4.30 am on the last day. Well I'm pleased to say this year it was only eight minutes into the last day when I clicked save and finalise.

I've submitted a partial this year; five chapters and the synopsis. 

I decided not to edit and submit the first half of chapter six. That turned out to be sensible with the deadline looming.

Giving myself the the whole of August to edit the chapters was important- I didn't do that last year.  It's given me a better idea of how much time I need in future...

2020's manuscript has a contemporary, rather than a historical setting. Not a sub-genre I've tried before.

As to the synopsis... I'm not good with them. Suspect I'd have needed the whole of August to edit it and still wouldn't have been right. The only positive from writing it out, I can see what might be better to cut, and potential plot holes.

There's outstanding research to do before I move on to the next chapters, so I'll get on with that meanwhile.

My family will be glad to get meals without chips. As the end of the month deadline approaches they get fed up of take-away's. Been no time for baking either...

Time in the garden has been helpful too. Colour and textures reminded me to be aware of the senses. 

So much has changed while I've been working on the manuscript. The berries on the Hawthorn have gone from orange to red...

Wonder what progress will be made by next spring when the blossom returns.






Wednesday 29 July 2020

Here and Now...

The Present

Yes, I'm back. Four months since I last posted and you may have forgotten I exist...

I'm into a routine and writing again; important as the the RNA New Writers' Scheme deadline draws ever nearer...

The last four months have been busy.

The Past

The Covid-19 virus hit my family as the country went into lockdown. Writing stopped and the priority was dealing with the resulting health issues- those were scary days.

Putting up the
mini-greenhouse...
I did read, in fact I read so much that the battery on my Kindle e-reader finally died! As I discovered when I ordered a replacement, there weren't any and I'd have to wait for an unknown time. It took about a month, but it arrived.

There's been lots of research reading, baking and gardening going on too- though that's probably obvious from the pictures...



Making Fruit Scones...






Growing Salad Leaves
from seed...
Reading for Research,,,










The Future?

I've also been thinking about the future of this blog, and my Serena Lake website/ blog. No final decision has been made yet as I need to research further options, and the practicalities may mean compromises.

There's lots of catching up to do...