As arbitrarily as it started, Fifties month is now at an end, despite the heading to this post. I've now become submerged beneath a rising tide of pantomime preparations and Christmas-related stuff - if only they didn't always coincide! A head of steam is what I'm hoping to build up before I look at my …
Spirit of Christmas (and birthdays) Past
Having spent yesterday afternoon out shopping for Christmas presents, my thoughts turned to what sort of presents I remembered receiving in the Fifties. (No, Fifties month won't go away even now that it's turned into two months.) One of my best ever presents was a birthday gift from my parents: a large doll called Sally, …
Fifties month continues – the Festival of Britain
I'm afraid Fifties month has spilled over into December. My excuse is that I've been too busy writing fiction about the Fifties to worry about the facts. I find it very difficult to concentrate on both at the same time. I haven't quite managed to squeeze all my research into the novel (yet!) but that …
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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 …
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 …
Hey presto!
As proof of the efficacy of leaving a novel to marinate, I woke up this morning with a new idea which should make more sense of the whole thing. All I have to do now is to write it all down! (yes, that's the hard part) 'Frozen in Crime' has been sitting on my computer …
Under blue skies
As I wait for my novel to marinate, I've mostly been stuck indoors looking at rain pouring on to the conservatory roof, but today I should be able to get on with some long-postponed gardening which I am hoping will encourage me to mull over the story-line and come up with some inspired improvements! Of …
31,000 words in
I hope Pitkirtly fans will be pleased to hear I'm now well into the 5th novel in my mystery series. Already the vague plot that was in my head has mutated into something rather different, and I am slightly dreading but also looking forward to the next scene I have to write, which looks like …
Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen – mystery writer
I'm happy to welcome a guest to my blog today. Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen is a Danish mystery writer whose characters are from the town of 'Knavesborough' - though by the sound of it they would be equally at home in Pitkirtly. Now over to Dorte: First, a warm thank you to Cecilia for inviting me …
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Countdown to a novel
This week I'm on my final countdown to the 1st of June, when I will join Camp NaNoWriMo and attempt to write the next novel in the Pitkirtly mystery series. I imagine the week will go something like this: 5 (today, Sunday 27th May) Panic about not knowing where to start - try and think …
Cecilia Peartree - woman of mystery 