Up to now I haven’t generally been very good at multi-tasking when it comes to writing, but I think I may be getting the hang of it. I now have 3 very different novels in mind which I hope to write this year. Fortunately the NaNoWriMo people seem to have been tuning into my plans, and have moved one of their summer writing months to April, with a second in July and then the main event of the year in November, so this could work well. I do have reservations, however, as I have ‘only’ managed 2 novels a year before. But the NaNoWriMo method of working seems to suit me and I haven’t yet failed to write to the target (touch wood).
I *think* but I’m willing to be proved wrong, that the key to achieving this will be to focus on different aspects of the writing process for each novel at a time, to avoid things spilling over into the wrong novel. So, for instance, I’ve already done what passes for research for the Pitkirtly mystery I intend to write in April – consisting of finding out how beer deliveries work – so I have now begun to work out the theme and where I’m going to start.
I’m doing some extremely vague preliminary research around a rather vague idea I’ve had for a sort of historical novel which might be set in 1908, or 1900, or 1886 or 1500, or none of these, and might involve alternate history, or time travel, or not, as the case may be. This one will definitely have to be put off at least until November!
In July I hope to write a sequel to ‘The Lion and Unicorn Quest’ and the work on that at the moment is to try and establish the timing and setting for it so that I can do the appropriate 1950s research when the time comes.
For the moment, though, I’m living in a pub in Pitkirtly!
Cecilia Peartree - woman of mystery 