Back down south...

God it's beautiful down here!

 Flying in yesterday, it was a sunny day: the sea and sky were bright blue, the trees were green, and the mountain stretching back from the sea were capped with bright white snow. It was gorgeous, and today has started similarly bright and sunny, without a cloud in the sky, and the dark blue sea is stretching out to a clear horizon. Bet you wish you were here!

Today I'm supposed to be NaNoWriMo writing, but if the sun lasts til after that I might go for a walk with my camera. I've still got photos to take off my camera from my last trip down, so the next couple of posts might be more pictures than words. (Especially since I can't count blog posts for NaNoWriMo...)

Read more...

France

France is lovely, and it smells of home. London, not so much.

I'm not dead, I still don't have a working internet connection back in the UK, and this horrible thing called work is taking up a lot of time.

I'm nearly caught up on my jewellery orders (business picks up in the run-up to Christmas, which is nice), and I'm still way behind on my story. I've done 15,000 words, and I need to ideally be up to 25k by the end of the weekend. That's unlikely to happen, but it's not impossible. If I can get up t0 20k, that will be pretty much good enough. That's certainly possible.

Flight was fine - pilot from Easyjet actually understands customer service. Was shocked, but pleased - may write to them and tell them how good he was. Ground staff were utterly fucking appalling - am definitely planning to write to complain about them. Complete and total lack of understanding of basic customer service, or even health and safety principles - shutting a plane load of people in a tiny waiting room, with the heating on full blast, closing all the doors and windows, and then not giving us any information about what's happening and why we're delayed by 40 minutes is utterly unacceptable.

The apology from the pilot - which was polite, informative, specific and sounded fairly sincere - went a long way to making up for the shockingly bad attitude of the gate staff, but since it's a contracted out service, I rather think I might write to Easyjet, urge them not to renew the contract with a company that's so obviously lacking in basic training for its staff.

Incompetence annoys me.

Read more...

Wordcount widget

OK, So I'm being good and not boring you like last year - but in case any of you are vaguely interested in how my story's getting on, I've added a wordcount widget on the sidebar over there, so you can see how far behind I'm getting!

Read more...

Not dead...

So, since I've been asked, I'm not dead. And I haven't forgotten you all.

I've been dealing with a horrendous flu-type thing that left me unable to get out of bed for a few days, which was deeply unfun. And we still don't have real internet in our London flat yet. The company say it will be soon...

This weekend I'm back home, and it's been amazing. OK, so it's raining now, and last night we had a huge storm. And I don't have to tie furniture down in London. But still, so glad I can still come back here from time to time. We've seen friends, gone to restaurants and cafes we know and love - finally made it to the restaurant on the corner that we've been wanting to go to ever since we moved in, but hadn't managed it. Should have done - it's gorgeous inside, too, and the food was incredible. Sliced duck breast in a honey and ginger sauce with garlic potatoes and salad. Amazing.

You may, if I'm feeling really organised later, get a series of scheduled posts over the next few days to keep you entertained, with photographs of dinosaurs and everything. Or, you may not. But you can know they're brewing slowly in my mind...

Plus, it's nearly November, and nearly time for NaNoWriMo again! I was planning to do a prequel to last year's effort, telling the backstory of Krystal, one of the main characters. I have been thinking about this on and off for months, and was all set. And then, yesterday, I was struck by inspiration, and now think I'm going to write a murder mystery novel loosely based on a real life story I read about in the paper yesterday, about a murder committed in a tiny 800-person island village off the Breton coast, where there have been no murders for 100 years. They don't even have a policeman, except during the summer. Think of all the poisonous little resentments that could build up in a place like that, and what a strange place it would be to live. Perfect place for a murder mystery, I reckon, and I'm going to write it. I can picture it now, it's going to be awesome.

It will probably have an impact on my blogging though. In theory, it should cut it down - those this is academic if I don't have internet. In practice, well, I procrastinate. So you never know, there may be many, many more posts! I have set up a writing-focused blog, though, so the majority of updates will probably go there during November, so as not to bore people who want to read about Nice, or even London, rather than my progress on writing 50k words in 30 days...

Read more...

My book!

It has arrived! It looks so shiny and proper! There's some minor details that I would do differently next time - the text is a size or so too big, the paragraphs spacing is slightly too big; I'd use a serif font rather than a sans serif font. And, of course, it's not a finished text. But overall, I'm really pleased with it! It looks like a real book!

Read more...

Book

I've just ordered a hard copy of my story, since the deadline for a free copy from CreateSpace is tomorrow. It's not finished, and still needs editing and actual re-writing - I'm thinking I'm going to start it in a different place, for a start - but a free not-quite-finished version is good enough for me!

Its somewhat hurriedly thrown together cover looks like:

And it's going to live happily ever after on my bookshelf where I can look at it and amuse myself with the thought that I wrote a book. I have an idea for another one that came to me while I was lying on the beach, so I might write another. It's easy to be a prolific writer when you know none of them are going to be published!

Read more...

My book, formatted

Subject to any major rewrites, which I'm unlikely to do in the next ten days (though you never know...) my book is 400 pages, now I've formatted it properly and put it on the right page size. Give it a proper cover, and it's going to at least *look* like a proper book, as long as no one reads it too closely...

I'm pleased with myself. I'll be even more pleased when it actually turns up and I can show you pictures of the shininess that is my very own book.

Read more...

Down to 90,500 words. Somehow I've already got rid of 3,500 words, just by making it make some vague sense. The ending isn't as abrupt as I thought (though the pacing is still off, I think), and I think I've got all the punctuation sorted.

For future reference, before you start writing a book, make sure you know how to punctuate dialogue. It really does make things easier not to have to change it all at the end, because you've been guessing.

Now I'm going to take a break from editing. If I look at the pages any more at the moment, I might scream. I'm going to design a cover for my book, instead. Much more fun. That or have a nap.

Read more...

Not dead, just editing

Just to let you know, it's not that I've forgotten about you all. But my deadline for getting a free copy of my book is the end of this month, and while it won't be perfect by then, I'm trying hard to get the story as coherent as I can...

On the plus side, by ignoring you, I'm not boring you by letting you know on a regular basis what page I'm up to on my second draft (127, for now) or having long and involved discussions with you about whether I should cut this scene which is actually just pointless waffle designed to boost my November wordcount, but which I like. And you're missing out on the numerous exclamations of "Oh, shit!" as I realise the number of subplots I set up and never followed through on. Not to mention the wailing and gnashing of teeth as I realise my story actually has no real plot.

Be glad.

Read more...

Running, tourists, and a short excerpt of my story

I went for an actual run today - only 20 minutes, but that's more than I've felt up to for days. I must be getting better... I met a bunch of Spanish tourists on the way back who were lost and looking for the train station. They thought I was German, so imagine their surprise when I gave them directions in more or less coherent Spanish. I was heading roughly that way, so thought I'd show them where they ought to go anyway - they were nice people, and called me guapa a lot. Given that I was a sweaty mess, I think they probably have low standards, but I'll take compliments where they lie, I'm easy like that.

When I got home, I found out there are no trains today because of the bad weather. Oops. It's the thought that counts, right?

Since whenever I sit at home trying to edit, I get distracted by shiny internet, I'm going to take our mini computer (Paul's, really, but I've adopted it because it's teeny and cute) to the cafe by the beach and work without distraction there. Maybe a change of scenery will help inspire me.

I'm going to try putting the first couple of hundred words of my story in a spoiler box, below, so that those of you who aren't interested can skip over it and those of you who've been hassling me to let you read it can see whether you're really interested after all. Assuming the spoiler box works...

Spoiler:

I'd had the best of intentions. This hadn't helped much at the trial.

I had been kneeling in the dust since dawn. My throat was parched and sweat trickled down my back and between my breasts. My arms were lashed in front of me to a short stake. That would hold me up, after the firing squad. I liked to think they would regret it afterwards – I knew them, after all – but they would shoot anyway. The Ducal Guard were trained well.

My hair tickled my face. I wasn't used to it being this long, but a few months in prison had seen it grow and no one was keen to show kindness to a traitor. The Duke held grudges.

The door to the palace opened and the Commander of the Guard stormed out. Her face taut with anger, Krystal stalked across the square towards me. Tall, slim, in her early forties, Krystal was a gifted soldier and an excellent Commander. The Guard lived for her approval, and were terrified of her temper, both with good reason. She and I had been lovers, once and experience suggested that whatever she was about to say to me, I wasn't going to like it. When you're about to face a firing squad, there's almost no good news.

Read more...

Story: The end

I think I've finally, finally finished my first draft of my book. I've got a couple of scenes to add in that I skipped (and cunningly wrote notes to myself in bright red, so I'd notice when I was rereading it, since I totally forgot about them) but I've written 7,300 words today, for a total of 93,686, and I think I'm done.

It's about time!

Read more...

You stop writing for just a couple of days...

Hmph. You stop writing for just a couple of days, and people stop reading what you write. Oh ye of little patience...

I don't actually have much to say - it's been nice weather here recently, so I've spent much of my time on the beach. Story is now up to 78k or so, maybe 79k. Today I was encouraged to nearly explode a friend's flat - sadly, the gas still doesn't work. So not only did her flat continue to survive (and it is a gorgeous, gorgeous flat - if our own wasn't so lovely, I'd be jealous) but her boiler still doesn't work. So she has no hot water, and a house full of guests arriving tomorrow. That'll be fun then...

I may come back with interesting and/or relevant information tomorrow. Perhaps something educational about Workers' Day. Nothing in France is going to be open tomorrow, so I will have lots of time to look into it, particularly since it's apparently going to rain. Then you'll be sorry you unsubscribed to my lovely RSS feed. (Why doesn't my computer think unsubscribed is a real word? Am I spelling it wrong?)

Read more...

Week 6, Day 1

Today's running has gone back to sane levels - 2 blocks of 5 minutes and an 8 minute run, rather than all in one go, which is knackering. Sadly, the hills are still in the way - some inconsiderate bastard seems to have forgotten to move them.

Going to take my pen and paper to the beach and write the chapter where they're at the Palace - I half wrote it in my head weeks ago, how hard can it be to get it done properly now? Then my revolutionaries will have an army, and then I've just got a war to write. Anyone done any writing of battles? Or sword fighting? Let me know...

Read more...

Week 5, Day 3 and storywriting

Day 3 was a bitch. At the beginning of this week, the longest I'd run in one go was 5 minutes. I was quite pleased with that, all things considered. One week later, and the runs are suddenly 20 minutes long, all in one go. I can't help but feel this is a bit of a steep learning curve! But I didn't die, and although my legs feel a bit like jelly, I'm sure time on the beach this afternoon will help them...

I managed to write 2100 words on my story yesterday, even with all the interruptions to be domestic. (Paul thinks I'm going mad when I start sorting socks into pairs - I do it occasionally, and he always looks a bit worried - it's quite a long way outside my normal domestic range of "How long has it been on the floor? Does it smell? It's probably clean enough.") I'm going to take paper and pen to the beach and do more story - we're almost up to one of the bits I've actually outlined, so that will help significantly!

Read more...

Procrastination has never been so useful...

I started off the day feeling like I'd overslept because Paul went into work much earlier than he normally does. Very confusing, when you're half asleep...

So, I started reading back my story - the first parts of it are actually quite good, I was surprised. The idea was to read through, remember who my characters are, and then be able to write the rest of it at least vaguely in the same voice. It kind of worked - I started writing the next chapter, where they disappear off into the desert, on their way to the Palace in the neighbouring country to get reinforcements before the Revolution. Then I decided to get up, with a vague intention to clean my teeth, get breakfast and come back to bed to do the rest of the story.

I got distracted. After cleaning the bath and the bathroom sink, I decided to clean the kitchen, while I was at it. The sink and cooker and kitchen floor now sparkle. Then I took out the rubbish. Then I started sorting the clean clothes into "winter" and "summer" - "winter" are now sitting in bin bags in the spare room. 3 bin bags. Big bin bags. "Summer" clothes now all fit in the wardrobe. I've tidied up the bedroom shelves, too, so Paul now has another shelf for his clothes, my jewellery stuff is balanced somewhat precariously on the top shelf, but that's ok, it can grow into piles up there without hitting a shelf above it. I even sorted the socks into matching pairs. And did the washing up. And another load of laundry. And finally had breakfast. And now I'm here instead of writing. I shall at least get my little band of revolutionaries to the Palace, before going to the beach... If I don't, shout at me!

Read more...

Running, part 2

I have continued running! I have run again, and am still not dead!

My story is still not any further. I've done the washing up and made this pendant instead:

But I ought to be doing writing. Or food shopping. *Shudders at the thought of walking to the supermarket*

What shall we have for dinner, loyal readers? If you answer early enough, I might actually take you up on your suggestions...

Read more...

A productive day

Today has been what passes for a productive day round these parts. I've done another load of laundry, another load of dishes, written 1600 words of my story sitting in the sunshine on the beach, got slightly sunburnt, and made a new pendant. And it's only half past 3. What miracles the rest of the day might hold!

(That or I'll go back to bed. It's a hard life.)

Pic of new pendant, made of argentium sterling silver wire and blue glass beads:

Read more...

Did it. 50,118 words so far, in 27 days.

The story's not quite finished yet, so I will carry on writing it, but I did my 50k words, which was the challenge. And I earnt my free proof copy. So I will one day soon (once I've finished writing it and done some editing) have a book with my story and my name on it on my coffee table. Can't wait.

Read more...

NaNo wordle

Because I'm easily distracted by new and shiny things, I thought I'd share with you the below (from wordle.net). It takes the most frequently used words in my novel so far, and puts them in a pretty order. Bigger words appear more often than smaller words (and common words like "the" and "a" aren't included in the count.)



Derryn, Melyssa and Krystal are my main characters - I like a character-driven novel... I'm pleased - and surprised - that laughing isn't bigger, though. Seems like they spend all their time laughing. It's nice that they're happy, but it's getting ridiculous - I shall have to find some synonyms if I ever get around to any editing of this...

Read more...

Ding,Dong, the Bugs are dead!

Well, I hope so anyway. We resorted to all out chemical warfare and set off a gas bomb to kill them all yesterday. That or drive them to our neighbours flats, I'm not picky. Though I'd prefer the genocide method of bug removal, if forced to choose.

Having to evacuate my flat (after wrapping everything in clingfilm or sealed plastic bags) for 5 hours meant that I managed to get a fair amount of writing done - I'm up to 35,000 words now in my story. Most of them are rubbish, of course, but that's not the point. Quantity, not quality.

Today's is Monaco's national day. I'm not sure what they celebrate today, but all businesses have to close for the day. Which is nice. Do we have something like that in the UK? If not, we should.

Read more...