Two months in
and they’ve been pretty busy ones for me – and my excuse for such a large gap
since my last post.
When
I was last here I talked about starting a new book. Ten thousand words in and I
realised it wasn’t working for me. I just wasn’t engaging with my heroine.
Usually when I’ve written this much my characters are telling me where they want to go and the
excitement of following their lead, or reining them in as is sometimes
necessary, is one of the joys of this job. Reluctantly, but only because of the
hours lost, I abandoned her. Perhaps we’ll come together again at some time in
the future. In the meantime I read through an unfinished Regency and oh boy did
that call me back. I had to finish Phoebe’s story! Not only did she demand it
of me but I demanded it of myself. When I typed ‘The End’ we were both
satisfied. I hope one day my readers will be too.
So
the moral of this little tale is, know when to give up but never delete. Phoebe
was tucked away in a file waiting to be rediscovered and, who knows, maybe one
day so will Peta.
 |
| I may have to visit a few of these |
Where do I go
from here?
Plans
are being laid for my next book, a contemporary this time, but with a thread
which will take a considerable amount of investigation. Wonderful as Google is I
may have to take several excursions in the name of research. I know. It’s
tough, isn’t it! But someone has to do it. My characters are ready and my
outline is there. Frankly I can’t wait to get started but…
I HAVE JUST
SIGNED A CONTRACT with HQ | HarperCollins Publishers
…which
will necessitate me dropping everything else when the edits come in. The turnaround
time was pretty quick from submission (30th January) to acceptance (15th
February), with projected publication in the summer. And I can’t believe I’m
saying this but I’m actually looking forward to the edits. And I can’t wait to
see what the cover will be like! And…well, there are lots of ands. Suffice it
to say I’m pretty excited.
So, if you don’t
see me here again for a little while, at least you’ll know where I am. Till
next time.
