When some people talk about the 'good old days' I just know they are referring to the Fifties, a decade when time stood still and some people could pretend they still lived in an idyllic rural Britain where children could play safely outside from dawn until dusk, and when summer was a succession of long, …
November is Fifties month
I'd just like to announce that November will be Fifties month on this blog. In case you haven't already discovered this elsewhere, I'm planning to write a novel set in the 1950s for NaNoWriMo. The working title is 'The Lion and Unicorn Quest' but absolutely no unicorns will be harmed during the first draft. I …
Approaching November
We are now on the approach to NaNoWriMo again - how did it come round so quickly? I suppose taking part in the summer camp version in June is what has made the time flash past! The November one is definitely still the main event, with tens of thousands of participants and lots more activity …
Publication alert
In case anyone reading this hadn't noticed, the latest in the Pitkirtly mystery series has now been released. It arrived on Kindle in the middle of last week, and this morning I think I've succeeded in uploading it to Smashwords for onward distribution to Kobo, Apple and B&N. 'Frozen in Crime' - a tale of …
The very beginning…
Here's a tantalising glimpse of chapter 1 of 'Frozen in Crime' (final edit). Enjoy! Frozen in Crime Chapter 1 White World Christopher stared out across the car park. A layer of ice had formed where the compacted snow had been polished by car treads and people’s feet, and since lunchtime he had already …
OK, I’ve stopped now
To my amazement, I did stop writing extra bits for 'Frozen in Crime' and it happened quite suddenly during this past week. One minute I was looking in despair at the number of places where I had put a line of asterisks to indicate something missing, and the next minute (approximately) I was formatting the …
Help, I can’t stop writing!
It's quite unusual for me not to be able to stop writing, in fact I often have trouble starting, as regular readers will be aware. But this time I am having to add extra chapters to cope with all the action that's going on, and I still haven't got to the final one where everything …
Procrastination in action
At the same time as writing this post I have Microsoft Word open with 'Frozen in Crime' frozen in mid-edit. I have to write an action scene so naturally I am using all my available procrastination powers to avoid doing it. Apart from this the edit is going very well. If I can get this …
A pleasant surprise
Much to my surprise, I've found that 'Frozen in Crime' did not go steeply downhill after chapter 15, instead running into the buffers abruptly at the end of the final chapter, which isn't nearly so bad. Apart from the opportunity it gives me to use a mixed metaphor, obviously. So instead of re-writing half the …
An editing process
I almost always hate the editing process. This is probably because during editing I see my novels at their worst: warts, blemishes, bad hair, no makeup to conceal the flaws. It isn't just that I randomly stumble upon these things while I'm reading through the novel, but that I actively look for them. I suppose …
Cecilia Peartree - woman of mystery 