More than Writers

Well, not over. But the sequel to The Dangerous Dance of Emma JJ is written, my edits are done and the final draft has been sent for consideration by my publisher. Although I hate waiting for a verdict on what I have written and feel like I’m in limbo, it is a relief to be on pause. And to have time to review the process. It’s been a battle to write the book against the background of my life being devastated by family illness and death. Yet it has been a refuge taking me to a different place when I have managed to concentrate and step into my characters’ life and thoughts. Not that everything has been going smoothly there either. My protagonist was already doomed by her creator (me) to have to cope with great adversity. This juxtaposition of two worlds brings up the whole question of how our own lives affect our fictional characters when we are burdened with anxiety, loss or grief. I will never know if what I have experienced over the last few months has meant that I have written a ver...

My journey to faith in Christ culminated in reciting the Creed, and believing it, during a CofE Communion service…a long time ago. My journey since then has included a hunch that God would bring books to me at just the right time. It’s happened again. Last week. I was half an hour early before meeting my daughter and granddaughter at the Bristol Aquarium, so I diverted to find a warm radiator in the Central Library. Most had already been nabbed – but I was stopped by Dewey 808: ‘Literature and Writing’ and zeroed in on Fay Weldon’s Why Will No-One Publish My Novel?   Amusing title, I thought, and may become hyper-relevant in the months ahead. Oh boy! I wish I had read this years ago. Except that now, with a historical novel undergoing its third re-write, and having received advice from two authors, it seems like I have stumbled across treasure hidden in the field at just the right time. And for one phrase in particular: Cosmic Statement. Weldon: " Boil your whole novel down to one...

As I was thinking about Details for my extra blog a few weeks ago, I thought about story details. I find it hard to add details to books, for I can picture the scene. To add colours, smells and sounds to my story has to be done deliberately. There are small comments or accidents, that can swing an entire book around. As a pantser, I don’t normally plan my book. Little things happen, taking me by surprise, steering the book in an unexpected direction. This time, I have started a project that is reasonably planned, and therefore in the past tense. It’s totally different for me, and I’m enjoying the plotting and planning involved. I can see little twists coming up, things that will change the story or the outcome. It isn’t planned in great detail; there is still enough freedom for my characters to keep me wondering what they will do next. At home as a child, one of my favourite books was a history book called, The way God’s Finger Writes (something like that. Details are a pain when trans...