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 …
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 …
Left to marinate
Although I've now written 'The End', the latest novel isn't finished. It now has to go through the essential stage of being left to marinate before I even look at it again. I'm actually almost desperate to get at it and move things around and add more explanation in the final stages, but I'm not …
Milestone in the snow
The badge I'm about to copy in below demonstrates that I've 'completed' my Camp NaNoWriMo novel 'Frozen in Crime'. Don't get too excited - I haven't actually written 'The End' yet and also there will be a few months of editing before it can be released into the wild, but the basis of the first …
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 