Madly Writing!

Hello!

I'm so sorry there's been rather a gap since the last post, but I do have a fairly good reason...I won a competition - the UK Carina 'Write Christmas' one that I mentioned in a previous post! And yes, I'm still a bit stunned!

I got the call having just come round from some minor surgery, which made it all a bit surreal. I was so glad when they announced it on Twitter the following day

There was a little part of me that was wondering whether it had all just been me and the anaesthetic!

The chapters I'd sent in were from a book I'd started but had put aside to work on the SYTYCW15 entry, and hence it wasn't finished. And now it has to be finished in super quick time so I'm busy working on that pretty much all the time at the moment. It's a bit nerve wracking because, being a writer, I'm always finding something to worry about with it - but hopefully they'll like the rest of it just as much as the first chapters. I'm well aware there will be a slew of revisions but I shall just have to take that on the chin as I know that, as part of Harlequin, these people really know what they're doing.

There isn't a title for the book yet but as soon as I know, I'll pass it on!

In the meantime, we are currently in the throes of setting up a website which I'll be transferring my blog to, so when that's live I'll let you know about that too and hope that you will come and say hello to me there.

I really hope everyone else's writing is going well this summer! Now, I'm off to the depths of Christmas to carry on with the novel!

Happy writing!

Entering Writing Competitions

Yes, I'm still at it! There are currently a few going on with similar ending dates that really aren't that far away (one being midnight tonight!) so it's all been a little bit hectic. But I am enjoying it, in a 'Oh my gosh, I'm never going to get this done' kind of way.Well, apart from the synopsis writing times which a writing friend has termed 'Synopsis Stress' ' a very apt description.

I did get the Kobo/W H Smith Romance Writing Competition finished with a few days to spare, so I was pleased with that. This left me time (I use this term loosely) to start work on the Carina UK Christmas Competition. The due date for this is midnight tonight. No pressure. I'm pretty much done with it. I spent yesterday trying to work out the best one hundred word blurb to go along with it, and I think I'm there now. I need to go over the chapters again and just make sure I'm happy with them before packing it all off on its electronic way with lots of good wishes.

It's been an interesting experience writing 'out of season'. Although the last week or so, it's not been great weather here in the UK, so not that hard to imagine it being winter. But I wrote most of mine the previous week when it was in the high 20s, with sun beaming through the open windows. To help get in the mood, I was watching Christmas films - Love Actually, The Holiday, and Serendipity were the main ones. Mowing the lawn on a very warm summer's day whilst listening to Michael Buble's Christmas Album was also a new, and interesting, experience.  It did actually all help though and I'd recommend it if you're in a similar spot. Although it did occur to me that, although I was busy trying to get my head into a snowy landscape, for half the planet, I was already experiencing the correct conditions for Christmas! An Antipodean Festive Season can be pretty toasty! But the outline of the competition did seem to suggest they wanted a 'cold' Christmas setting, which is what I've gone for. Now I just have to hope that the judges like it!

Once this is on its merry way, I'll be getting my head down on the So You Think You Can Write competition. I have a LOT to do on this as, although only a partial is submitted, if you are chosen (pick me! pick me!), the rest of the manuscript needs to be ready. Bearing in mind so far all I have is notes, I need to get scribbling!

I hope everyone else's entries are going well. I'd also be interested in how you get yourself in the mood when you have to write something that's 'out of season'. Feel free to leave a comment below with any tips!

In the meantime, happy writing!

How Do You Cope With Christmas and Writing?

Quick question for the festive season - what do you all do when it comes to Christmas and writing? Do you just accept that with guests and visiting others, and a general propensity to over eat and then subsequently snooze at unusual times, that writing will take a back seat for a few days whilst you spend some quality and (hopefully!) peaceful, joyous times with family and friends? Or do you still endeavour to cram some in, even if that's at 2am when everyone else has gone to bed (or is still playing rather vile shoot-em-ups on a games console?) And if you don't manage to get some writing in, do you feel guilty about it?

 

 

I'd love to hear your views on this, and any tips you may have for squeezing writing in, and squeezing the guilt out when you just don't have the time or opportunity.

 

In the meantime, Merry Christmas!