A trip to the cinema to see Steven Spielberg's 'Lincoln' made me think about how difficult I would have found it as a writer to know where to start writing the script for it. Actually, one of the very many good things about this movie was that it made me think about quite a lot …
If I only had a theme
I was reminded this morning, when reading someone else's blog post about themes (http://yamuses.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/identifying-your-storys-theme.html), that I've been struggling a bit with a theme for 'The Lion and Unicorn Quest'. Well, struggling a lot. It's worrying me because in my experience my novels are better if I start out with a theme which I can then …
Beware of the interloper
Although I've managed to avoid redding up the house (see previous post) and I found myself sending off a couple of Christmas cards yesterday because they were for people overseas and I put off going to the Post Office with them at an earlier stage, I haven't completely wasted my Christmas and New Year holidays. …
I think there’s something in it.
Today I carried out the self-imposed task which I had been dreading and looking forward to almost equally: I re-read the draft of 'The Lion and Unicorn Quest' I wrote in November. This is probably the scariest moment during the writing process, especially if the whole thing has been written in a rush, to a …
Building up a head of steam
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 …
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 …
Continue reading "Fifties month continues – the Festival of Britain"
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 …
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 …
Cecilia Peartree - woman of mystery 