Twenty-Four Days and Counting

This time last year, I was spending lovely long, sunny days at my laptop creating the world of Isabella M Smugge. I had loads of time, hardly any work left thanks to the pandemic, no idea what I was doing and was delightfully naïve about the whole business of publishing. 

A year on, the deadline for delivering the MS of my current WIP, “The Trials of Isabella M Smugge” to Instant Apostle is 1^st July. As I write this on 6^th June, only twenty-four days remain. I have been closeted with Isabella and her world for weeks now, surfacing only to eat and sleep. I’ve had to fit in lots of freelance work around her since most of the work I lost in lockdown has come back and then some. 

I very much enjoyed Fran Hill’s latest blog in which she revealed her own recent experience of writing a book. Her notes to self (“Is the asthma important to the plot?” and “Didn’t I say she had red hair in Chapter 1?” and “If the aunt in New Zealand surfaces, will she need a subplot to herself?”) had me chortling and nodding in agreement. 

Research for fiction is quite different from that I do for freelance work. Anyone reading through my search history would fear for my sanity. Long patches of fairly normal questions (“What is Huntingdon famous for?” “How long does it take to get from Cambridge to Stansted?” “What are those curly plasterwork ornaments called in Victorian houses?”) has given way to frankly bonkers stuff. 

I spent quite a long time researching Caesarean sections and what can go wrong, have been keeping an eye on style trends in the Saturday supplements, investigating the Korean film scene, trying to find just the right place for Horsey Davina and her family to live (has to have good transport links to London yet enough land to keep horses) and finding out what towel colours are in for 2021. 

Last week, I created an entire family of Scottish aristocrats, which took ages. I consulted Who’s Who, googled some marquesses and perhaps most importantly of all, asked Wendy H Jones if the names I’d come up with sounded right. She said they did. Thanks Wendy.

Having spent so much time immersing myself in this wonderful group, I now know that everyone has different ways of planning their work. I’ve learned that there is absolutely no point in comparing yourself to others. Here, then, are some of my working notes for “The Trials of Isabella M Smugge.” 

What about the dates? Don’t fit. Surely Sofija will notice. What will Johnnie do? 

Did Mummy go to school with Lavinia’s mother? 

Korean film scene 

Kimchi rice 

Outdoor dining pavilion? What will Ted think? 

Hand-dived scallops with roasted chicken butter

Smoked new potatoes with caper and basil dressing

Vietnamese chicken with lime-leaf butter 

Hideous hangover, nightclub like Liquid 

If my fruit ever goes missing you know why

Once you've seen one palm tree, you've seen them all.

Claire and her story about Joel. I will give you back the years that the locust has eaten.

Loves dancing, Chemical Brothers on the dance floor.

 Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

Last week was half term. I found myself sitting at a trampoline park writing like a mad thing. There must be something about the faint smell of feet and the lurid orange signage that inspires my mind. I managed to write nearly all of “April” including the birth scene. Having only four and a quarter chapters to write in twenty-four days doesn’t sound that bad.

This morning, I went to my new church for the first time. It was bliss. We sang, “In Christ Alone”, a song which has deep meaning for me. We studied Ephesians. We took communion. Afterwards, we stood outside in the sunshine while tourists and families streamed past on the hill down to the river and we chatted and got to know each other. 

I was reminded that God has given me my heart’s desire. I am a writer. In just a few months, that will be my only job. I should be terrified, but I’m not.

Listening to the talk, I imagined my heroine sitting there with me in the sanctuary, trying to understand the concept of grace. Isabella is naturally generous but she hasn’t quite worked out that good works aren’t at the heart of faith. In this book, she’s starting to get the hang of it all a bit more, but there are still a lot of Insta-ready interiors, Egyptian cotton smoke blue towels (so now!) and hashtags.

Researching Isabella means that I spend a lot of my time peering into a life that isn’t mine and never will be. It’s unlikely that The Times will come to interview me as I sip gourmet coffee in my gracious home, perhaps wearing a pair of on-trend wide leg trousers and some beaded mules. It’s been fun finding out more about the beautiful people and their gorgeous lives though. 

I’m writing this lying on the bed in a pair of elderly jeans, granny slippers and a grass-stained top (I mowed my parents’ lawn after church). Thank heavens The Times aren’t here. My reputation would be shot.

I love a deadline. Just as well!

Images by Pixabay

Ruth is a novelist and freelance writer. She is married with three children, one husband, two budgies, two quail, eight chickens and a kitten. Her first novel, “The Diary of Isabella M Smugge”, came out in February this year and she is writing the sequel, “The Trials of Isabella M Smugge.” She writes for a number of small businesses and charities and blogs at ruthleighwrites.co.uk. She has abnormally narrow sinuses and a morbid fear of raw tomatoes, but has decided not to let this get in the way of a meaningful life. You can find her on Instagram and Twitter at ruthleighwrites.