I've been rewriting. Or, closer to the truth, slashing. I've had some success in the past few months in taking a short story a few thousand words long that I like but that isn't quite working - and rewriting it as a flash, under 500 words. What happened in the case of one story is that it began with the same opening scene but then went in a completely different direction. That flash then won 2nd prize in a competition. I thought, Aha, I'm onto something!

I decided to try this with all of my "problematic" stories, of which there were four main ones. ....

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Felt surprisingly calm today – unusual for a Monday and in the run-up to Freshers’ Week too. Which is next week – yikes! We had the first of our Student Care presentations today, and no-one rioted, so that bodes well for the next 25 or so talks. One hopes … Not that I actually give any talks of course – that would be too terrifying for words, but I’m in charge of the admin, the room, the speakers and making sure the DVD works. It did, by the way. We even had it delivered on time. This morning … hell but we like to cut it fine here at the coal-face.

However, the usual quiet office environment (quiet = contained panic of course) has been shattered with the decision of the builders to start drilling into the concrete just outside the window. I think they’re building a tunnel. Not that I can blame them ...

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Had a really lovely time at Liz's Last Night of the Proms' party last night - it was great. And memorably lovely too as I happened to mention that I now have all my old record collection (as rediscovered in a cupboard by Mother), but no record player to play them on - and Liz then said that she had two and was planning to get rid of one of them, so I might as well have it. Goodness me, but people can be soooo nice sometimes!! Thanks, Liz - I really appreciate it - and it works too, as we tried it out as soon as we got home. Hurrah! The only problem is that I'm not sure Lord H is all that keen on The Tom Robinson Band, Abba, Fleetwood Mac or Steve Forbert. Bloody hell but that dates me!...

Today, we have spent the day at Titchfield Nature Reserve in Hampshire - and managed to see a green sandpiper, two wheatears, a kestrel, a jay, a shoveler (wonderful beaks!) and a million and one geese, coots, ducks, moorhens etc etc. It was all jolly nice - except that it did take the cafe 40 minutes (40!!! What were they doing? Growing the ruddy vegetables??) to serve us cauliflower cheese & leeks. Sigh ...

Getting home, I discover that I've won third prize ...

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Lord H and I did a slow dash round Waitrose today to get supplies in for tonight's Last Night of the Proms' party at Liz's. There was a queue getting into the carpark as we all waited to get our parking tickets, which we duly had signed off by the check-out girl. Only to discover that someone had nicked the barrier on the way out, so everyone was just driving straight through. There being no staffed barrier on a weekend of course. Goodness me, but how criminal Godalming is becoming ...

Lord H has spent the day in Pulborough Brooks, so I hope he'll come back shortly to regale me with tales of all sorts of wild and wonderful birds he's spotted. In the meantime, I've squeezed out another 1,000 words to The Bones of Summer, thus taking me to the grand total of 22,000. Or thereabouts. And it was a squeeze at the start, I can tell you - took me ages to get going, and I had to play three online Solitaire games (as you do) before I could even write a word. But things got easier as I warmed up. Thank God. It's a funny old game.

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Like salt and pepper, aren’t they?
As a boy, I used to adore maps. I’d pore for hours over Middle Earth, Narnia, Earthsea, The Land, Hyboria, Krynn, Lankhmar, the world of the Belgariad…need I go on? The list is probably endless.
What reader of fantasy hasn’t flicked from some unlikely name in a chapter to the front of a book, tracing a pot-stained finger over the map there?
As a boy, back before ‘the lay of the land’ meant the local town bike, in my first attempts at writing, there were always maps. I’d lie on my bed or sit at a table, and just free flow, jagging coastlines and mountains with pencil or pen, building worlds.
Later, in my early to mid teens, an enthusiasm for Dungeons & Dragons encouraged this art, and I wonder how many of us share this talent? How many of us are amateur cartographers without even knowing...?


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The lovely Luisa sent me the following link to a blog about what life is is like once you have a book published...



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I'm going to try a link thingy today - hope it works!...

Forgot to mention yesterday that when I went into Waterstone's in Guildford, I was thrilled to see five copies (five!!!) of Pink Champagne and Apple Juice on the shelf. At eye level too, good grief. (Normally any of my books are placed on the bottom level, no matter if that is alphabetically correct or not, or in a box behind the counter as the bookshop is so traumatised by actually having them in at all ...) Not only that but they were actually facing outwards. A miracle has occurred indeed. I was utterly ecstatic! However, my joy was dashed a couple of hours later (if you remember, I'd been writing, m'dears ...) when I came back downstairs to discover that they'd been reshelved so it was strictly spines only. Bugger. Oh the agony.

I then spent a few seconds searching my conscience, found it was out to lunch, so took one copy of Champers and placed it face outward on top of Graham Hurley's latest. Well, bloody hell, he's a bestseller - the bugger doesn't need the sales. I most certainly do!

Fuelled by that deceit, I have done the same today in Godalming Waterstone's with Jacquelynn Luben's A Bottle of Plonk, though I'm sorry to say I couldn't do it for Irene Black's The Moon's Complexion as the darn thing was too tightly shelved, and groaning and pulling the whole shelf out might have caused too much of a kerfuffle. Even for me. Still, at least I'm doing my bit for the Goldenford cause. In my fashion.

Talking of which, I suspect this may be just me, but bookshops are a nightmare rollercoaster of agony and ecstasy for me at the moment ...

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Some time ago I learnt that perky GMTV presenter Lorraine Kelly studied Russian at university, and in fact listed Crime and Punishment as one of her favourite books. So I sent her, via her agent, a copy of my book, A Gentle Axe, which features Porfiry Petrovich, the magistrate from Dostoevsky's masterpiece.

I thought nothing of it. But during my extended break from blogging, a letter arrived, with the London Television Centre frank mark on it. Of course, I got wildly excited, imagining insanely, that some producer wanted to buy the TV rights. I'd completely forgotten about sending the book to Ms Kelly.

Instead, and perhaps even better, the envelope contained the following letter...


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The Incredibles!

I have read three incredibly good books over the course of the past two or three weeks. Now, I'm not really one for reviews but I did want to mention them here.

They were all great for very different reasons. The first, The Winter of Enchantment, by Victoria Walker, is a wonderful children's book; a rediscovered classic. Highly recommended by me. Here's what the book's publishers, Fidra Books, have to say about it:

"Out of print for thirty years and incredibly difficult to get hold of, The Winter of Enchantment is an iconic and elusive book written by the author when she was just 21. It tells the story of Sebastian who travels back from his Victorian world to a magical world of Melissa, Mantari and the wicked Enchanter. The reissue of this book has been clamoured for by many, including writers such as Garth Nix and Neil Gaiman."
The next I read was American Gods, by Neil Gaiman. A book as vast, entertaining, odd, creepy, powerful and wonderful as America, its people and the gods they brought with them - which is what it's about. Brilliant.

And finally, last night I read Sarah Salway's Something Beginning With. It is an odd book, utterly readable and expertly written. It's funny, whimsical, sad, honest and feels very real. It's the first book I've read cover to cover in as long as I can remember. Yup. It's that good.

The only down side to mentioning and reading these excellent novels is that it reminds me of the ones I can't wait to read but struggle to find the time for. There are some books, for instance, that I'm avoiding until I'm not writing because I know they're going to influence my style. I do want to read them though.


***

And I'm just wrapping up the WIP. I've a couple of bits to check and go through but I reckon, (gulp!) that it's about done.

Nearly.

Maybe...



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Makeeda, a Londoner of Ghanaian descent, has great friends and a fun life, even if her parents are a bit strict and she's sometimes jealous of her cousin Tanisha. But when she meets and falls for fit DJ Nelson and Tanisha encourages her not to tell her parents, things begin to change for Makeeda.

I found this book a complete delight from start to finish. Makeeda is a sweet, lovable character (though she does make mistakes), and her actions were always completely believable. When she starts to get in touch with her roots, it provides lots of laughs as well as being fascinating. I loved her good friends, too, especially Bharti. Her little sister was priceless, and her not-so-good friends (Laura and Afua) were three-dimensional and in some ways not that bad, although you could completely see Makeeda's point of view about them. The best thing about this book for me was the description of everyday life and love in Northwest London. A brilliantly entertaining read.

And you can win your own copy if you enter our giveaway! Details here.

Chicklish


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