This post will have a certain ring of familiarity about it, as I attempt to explain why I’m not yet writing ‘Pitkirtly XVI’ but instead getting caught up in all kinds of other stuff, some of it to do with writing and some not!
First of all, thanks again to everyone who has so far bought ‘Murder or What You Will’. It is still progressing towards the top of the little-known ‘Cozy Mystery/Animals’ section and was last seen at no. 10 in this chart. I suppose I should also thank the colleague on a local committee who inadvertently gave me the idea for the plot when we were discussing fund-raising plans. The plans in question are actually part of the reason for my lack of writing progress so far this year. At the moment the committee is working on a major funding application, and although it’s actually quite interesting, what with that and my day job and the fall-out from being interviewed by the BBC about my family history, I haven’t found nearly as much time as I would like to work on my next novel. I may also find myself organising an authors’ event but I expect there will be more on that later.
Having said all this, I should also mention that my next novel is not ‘Pitkirtly XVI’ anyway, but ‘Quest 6’ and at the moment I am still at the research stage with this one, although the basic plot has been in my head for some time. Normally once I had the plot, I would just plunge in and write the novel, but in this case I won’t even be confident that the plot is feasible until I’ve done more research. I don’t think I will be giving too much away if I divulge that part of my research involves trying to pick up a smattering of Spanish by doing a short online OU course. I’m quite keen on learning new languages, and only a few years ago I got an OU diploma in French after wrestling with it over a couple of years, but for some reason I’ve never had much luck with Spanish. I think the problem could be that I once learned some Italian a long time ago, and it keeps coming back to haunt me when I try to find the right word in Spanish. But I am probably stubborn enough to persevere with this.
I also have a historical novel sitting on my computer at the moment, and I thought this might be finished, but unfortunately I woke up in the middle of the night last night and realised it wasn’t. It’s hard to explain how I know this, but now that I’ve had this revelation it’s quite clear that I need to write at least a few more chapters to tie up the loose ends.
Anyway, I do apologise to anyone who is now waiting for ‘Pitkirtly XVI’ but I don’t think I will be able to write it now – although I do have the tiny beginnings of an idea for it, inspired by a sound that interrupted me the other day while I was trying to listen to soothing music on my Kindle Fire – until ‘Quest 6’ is out of my system! Which should be by late spring/early summer if things go according to plan. I think that’s known as the triumph of hope over experience.
Cecilia Peartree - woman of mystery 