Path To Publication

February 24, 2017

Writers do it for fun

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Writers do it for fun

At least, that is the best motivation I can discover for doing it.  Writing, I mean, floating on words, drifting, or pelting, towards worlds new and refreshing.  That must be why we do it, right?  Not for fame, fortune, or to make money, exactly.  This writing lark costs time – precious days that will not come again in this lifetime! – so fun must be the only and best reason for doing it.

Not because we have a routine.  Not because we call ourselves writers, or authors, or wordsmiths so writing is what we should do, right?  Not because that is what we have always done, or always do on a Thursday between 9 am and 4pm with an hour break for lunch.  Not because our editors are waiting, or our reading public expects…. In fact, expectation often killeth the word, shrivelling up creative pools and leaving behind a sludgy mess that maketh a mockery of art….and why would we want to work in that?

It takes courage to look past all the business of writing, to the simple joy that sparked off this whole odyssey.  It takes courage to divest oneself of all the nuts and bolts, the ropes of duty and obligation and reconnect with the spark of light and colour that we call inspiration.  But surely, without inspiration, we have nothing to power us forward….

So, when I feel discouraged or empty, I recall the reason for all of it, take a deep breath and smile at the memory, you are doing all this for love, for enjoyment.  Don’t forget.

Submitting proposals and the like, it is very easy to become discouraged.  But, since joy is the well-spring of all that authors do, no amount of criticism from professionals should derail our ambition if, ultimately, that is what makes us enthusiastic.  In fact, in the face of rejection and discouragement, it is a good idea to keep going, and keep hoping to find a way through.  By walking the path, we find a way.  There’s no other way to find out what our limits are.

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January 16, 2017

Five go for afternoon tea

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Five go for afternoon tea.

Yesterday afternoon, an unseasonably warm Sunday, five authors from all over the UK met to start 2017 in fine style.

Claire Wingfield, the author and editor who has been instrumental in helping me organise my books and for keeping me motivated over many years, (read our interview on her blog here) thoughtfully suggested our get-together and arranged a table for us at the Signet Library restaurant in Edinburgh.  (Think mirrored tables, fine tableware and thousands of real books lining the walls).  Julie D’Amour

Kristin Pedroja  and Icy Sedgwick

Claire, and I met up for lots of very fine nibbles and lashings of hot beverages, and spent a wonderful few hours discussing our writing, our motivations – what works for us and what doesn’t – and our ambitions for the coming year.

I am very encouraged by the progress I have made with my writing in the last year and I have managed to make a fairly respectable showing.  But I haven’t written as much as I would like to.

All that is set to change in 2017 when I hope to have much more time to spend crafting stories for the sheer joy of it.  The sense of freedom to create new worlds is always what motivates me most to write, and is, in its own way, a rather addictive escapism which I heartily endorse!

Thanks so much to Claire and to Kristin, Julie and Icy for such a wonderful afternoon.

Thanks for reading.

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January 10, 2017

My plans for 2017

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My plans for 2017

Last year was in so many ways such a memorable, challenging and often heart-breaking year.

Now, after the enthusiasm for new beginnings that follow New Year celebrations, I find myself lifting the blinds in the bright morning light of 2017 with a peculiar blend of emotions – relief, trepidation: who apart from another broken-up far eastern guy trying to get into my computer system, will be phoning? What will the news be?  Good?  I sincerely hope so.

Plans for any year are often dictated by other people’s timetables: when daughter is off school, when hubby can take time off.  Even so, I am planning to visit the London Book Fair in March for a couple of days and I’m taking some of my recent material with me.

I plan also to finish my second book in the ‘Lisa Somerville’ series, and make more headway with book three.  I’d like to meet up with lots of like-minded people: authors, writers, campaigners…. I shall be travelling as often as time allows.  Whatever surprises there may be, I am very pleased to have travelled this far.  Long may the adventure continue.

My friend, the lovely Carol Graham is promoting our interview on her blog ‘Never Ever Give Up Hope’ (which is what I intend to do).  You can also also hear us chatting on apple i-tunes (number 83) and there is also a stitcher podcast.

Thank you Carol, so much, for all your enthusiasm and encouragement.

And thanks to you for reading.

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January 6, 2017

Creating New Worlds With Words

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Creating New Worlds with Words

The joys of writing are – obvious, right?  They include, having fun, enjoying the power to be a creative genius who dreams up new worlds, or finds wonderful new ways to present ever-popular themes.

For example, it looks as if the Tudor theme – mad kings, several hapless wives, beheadings, the search for the elusive male heir and lots of illegitimate siblings…. is set to run and run.  But how would it be if we re-wrote that context with a twist, (as Robert Harris wrote ‘Fatherland’ supposing that the Axis powers had won the Second World War).

What if Edward VI had lived into old age, or Mary Jane Grey had stayed on the throne?  What if we took all the historical facts but planted them in a different social or sexual context: Amazon women, the Matriarchy in the fantastic, sci fi future?  That might make an interesting twist.

Do we create, or are we merely scribes of our characters, inviting them out and giving voice to them?  Of course, we take the credit, get the pleasure of putting all that down, and by doing so, we can indulge in the ultimate wish fulfilment.

You want to be a wealthy, successful, beautiful, clever and talented actress with dozens of admirers and a true love in the background who loves you for being you and ….?  Go for it!

Authors create new worlds with words, so we can indulge our every fancy and whim.  And that, whatever becomes of the final result, is the most marvellous fun.  Context and believability may come into everything later on, of course, but in the throes of creative passion, who cares what happens.  The thrill is in making it happen and bringing it to life.  Wow, we can do anything we want to!  Isn’t that fantastic?

Thanks for reading.

 

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December 20, 2016

We write what we know

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We write what we know

We write what we know, of course.  What else could we ever do?  And when we don’t know, we have that wonderful excuse, ‘I’m doing research’ to justify our trips away, our experiments with the testers adorning the perfume counters at an expensive store, our trips around winter markets savouring the festive atmosphere….

Actually, the last Christmas market I went to in Glasgow city centre was replete with the cries of vendors selling sizzling burgers, shredded pork on a roll and barbequed chicken legs; and a pall of chokingly unpleasant blue smoke hung over the proceedings.  Not wanting, on this particular occasion, to end up smelling like a bacon butty, I beat a hasty retreat from the orgy of meat grilling, frying and sizzling.

But perhaps that is my point.  Research brings reality to fiction, taking it away from the festive clichés of delightful lights, the warm aroma of melted chocolate, the scent of pine-needles wafting in the chilly, snow-kissed wind.  It was mighty cold that day, and I risked skidding and ending up sitting on the pavement, but thankfully, I stayed upright…and I did relish the feel of icy wind in my hair.  It was a great day.

We write what we know, of course, but it evolves beyond the basics, to include a heightened version of the spice of life, a bit of adventure, and a few deliciously competent – or lovably incompetent – dream dudes / role models to give us heart for the next dose of real life.

Real life can be so chilly and relentless, that from my point of view, I don’t relish too much more reality piled on top of it.  Enough realism, perhaps, to make me feel grateful for that reality which I am currently enjoying, enlivened with the possibility that anything can happen, and that dreams are lurking just around the next corner.

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December 16, 2016

Reading Old Favourites

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Reading Old Favourites

As anyone who knows me knows, I have spent acres of my life reading books.  I’m not especially well read – I like to discover my kind of a great author and read all their books, and I’m fond of re-reading old favourites – but I don’t mind that.  Over the course of a decade or so, several re-reads of a book is no punishment, as each time, I collect something new from the experience as my perspective alters.

Having come a roundabout route to writing, I suspect that re-reading old favourites has also taught me a few ideas about structure, a bit more about how to plot and has reinforced grammar lessons.  If I ever need to, that is how I justify my tendency to circle the old favourites.  (I have bought the full set of James Herriot’s  books at least seven times and I used to read Tintin and Snoopy constantly.)

But on a broader stage, reading and writing has taught me a great deal about ordinary empathy.

Assuming our characters are composites of real people, with a bit of sparkle and magic thrown in, we certainly get up close and personal with them, wouldn’t you say?  I’m reluctant to offer easy answers off pat about life, and having to live with characters for years, I have had to come to terms with their ambivalence, their flaws, and the very normal tendency of people to muck up and carry on living.  Our books of fiction may be make-believe and contain the usual caveat ‘All characters and events in this book are entirely fictitious and any resemblance to real persons living or dead is purely coincidental but we still learn a lot from them.

It’s like having the option to experiment with different life choices, but with few of the consequences.

What if our character has a drug habit or an addiction to playing card games?  What will happen to them?  As authors, we can watch our characters, and actually, in that process, we learn what we would do.  It’s nice to have that freedom to experiment.

Thanks for reading.

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December 9, 2016

How to conquer writers blues

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How to conquer writers blues

We all have days when we feel that this writing spree is rather beside the point, and who do we think we are, anyway, to attempt it.  Writing is, after all, an activity that takes effort, concentration and a lot of thought.

But there is often little to show for our time at the desk, and even the accumulation of several hundred thousand words in several books can feel a little beside the point, unless we hit the publication jackpot and our books make us lots of money.

But when it’s going well, there is no better feeling in the world.  So here are my current tips for banishing the winter blues.

  • One chapter or five pages a day.  It can be a short chapter, or five pages of a longer one.  These might feel half-baked or unfinished.  Is there something not quite ready about it, something we have forgotten?  Writing every day will give us a sense of accomplishment and time to stand back and reflect.
  • Ignore the word count – stop looking at the bottom left of the screen and wondering why the word count never moves.  That hardly matters.  Just write.  It feels like flying, the first time we do it, but it turns out, this is the kind of flying that needs no license or instructor, no log book.  Just go for it.
  • pretend you are not writing – sounds odd, but if we work for ourselves as writers we might think that is what we have to do.  Then, the task becomes heavy and feels unlovely.  Which makes the writing heavy too.  What if we are simply experimenting, having fun, flying by the seat of our pants, following a hunch, doing a bit of detective work, exploring, sizing up the characters on the street, falling in love?  Would that make our writing easier?
  • imagine you are a character with something really important to say.  A character who has the opportunity of a lifetime – literally – to say what s/he has always wanted to, yearned to, from the bottom of their heart.  What would the character say if s/he was heard without judgement?  I really love you?  I loathe you?  Let’s make a dream come true?  The sky is the limit.
  • edit instead – sometimes, sometimes oftentimes, our imagination needs time off.  So edit instead. Set yourself up as a proof reader and pretend this is a manuscript that has landed on your desk.  Set to with a pencil, a cup of tea and a change of hat.

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December 7, 2016

What a relief

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What a relief

Hurray, I have finished the first book in the Lisa Somerville series.  What a relief!

Now I am re-reading what I have written of Book 2, which I tentatively title The Seduction of Susan Scott, underway at about twenty thousand words.  If possible, I would like to have a full, working draft of Susan Scott complete in time for the London Book Fair in March 2017.

Meantime, I’m just so pleased that the first twenty thousand words I have already written seem have stood the test of six months in a metaphorical desk drawer.  Originally, I wrote the first chapters, and then had a change of plan to write Lisa Somerville and heartlessly left Susan Scott to stew.  Thankfully, reading over the material, there appears to be very little I would change, which is heartening.  Which means my plans are hopefully on track, and I may get done what I hope to in the next three months, without too many more derailments and just a bit of luck.

Incidentally, I do believe in luck, if only because luck has that surprising, intangible quality that cheers us up and says, ‘anything is possible, so please keep the faith.’  It may be true that we make our own luck, but believing in the hope of it, makes life easier.

I am really enjoying writing fiction.  The stories of the people I write about are based around my experiences as a lawyer.  All the characters are invented, but the scenarios are all part and parcel of what we might find in a legal office.  The joy of fiction is that I can follow through with a few more twists and turns, and add drama and details as they come to me – I am a firm adherent of the school of writers who plot only loosely, and who wait for the characters to reveal themselves and to guide my thoughts, put words at the end of my fingers.  Being a mere scribe, I have to go where I am bid, which all makes for excitement and, I hope, a more interesting, plausible story.

Thanks so much for reading.

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December 5, 2016

Would I do this all again

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Would I do this all again

One of my sisters and I have a polite disagreement pending, which I suspect will never be resolved.

Whereas I spent acres of my youth sitting still and reading books – in the process learning about life and other people, and how to write, but feeling as if I neither experienced nor did very much at first hand – my sister spent her youth gadding about, and she is still gadding.  She is very much a doing at first hand kind of girl.

Now, with the onset of late middle age, I begin to start moving around, timidly and uncertainly, but finally – YES! – I am finally moving around, and doing things, (because if I don’t start soon, it will be too late).  Whereas my sister, who is getting tired from all her gadding about, tells me she relishes sitting and reading a book very much.

My point being, I have a suspicion that for me, reading, as much as anything, can become an addictive reaction; whereas my sister, who is so active, sees nothing sinister at all in sitting still and enjoying the refreshment of a good book.

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Which brings me to what I wanted to say at the start.

In the last ten years, since I stopped reading quite so much and started writing, I suspect that Life has taken this glimmer of an opportunity, to throw at me all the lessons that I should have picked up earlier, and which I would have picked up, if I had hidden less in reading and had more of an active life.  (I know reading can be an addictive pastime, because I can still feel myself, occasionally, yearning to dive into a good book when I want to run and hide from life.)

I suspect I have learned more about Life in the last ten years, than I did in the previous forty years.  I daresay all the lessons, inspiration and hard work that I have got through to get to this point would have come to me, sooner or later, in different forms.

So, yes, I would do this all again, but I’m very glad I don’t have to.  I’m very pleased and relieved to have got to where I am today, alive, in one piece and with my love, optimism and determination still intact.

Thank you so much for reading.

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December 1, 2016

Almost Ten Years and Counting

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Almost ten years and counting

Welcome to December.  I can’t say I’m sorry, exactly, to see 2016 coming to a close….

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I started writing seriously in 2007, and, as may be a common experience with writers, Trapped was not my first attempt at book-length penmanship.  That honour belongs to my first book, Happiness Matters, which, if anyone is interested, is submission ready.  (It makes me laugh to read occasional reviews of Trapped commenting, ‘my God, she’s pessimistic, isn’t she?’ or words to that effect, because no, I’m not, though for a fairly long time, my life and my world were.)  Trapped is about a period of my life that is thankfully over, and which I look back on with a mixture of sadness and awe.

I’m very glad that I have arrived here, now, with so many apparent lessons behind me.  I can’t say what I’ve learned from them,  whether I have picked up what I was supposed to, or whether I have arrived where I am supposed to be.  But after a decade of what has felt a bit like drill school, I feel an overwhelming, almost paralysing relief, to have arrived here in one piece.  I don’t care about being ten years older, either.

In what feels like an accelerated learning course for people who have spent too long hiding in books and now need to cram a life’s worth of maturing lessons as quickly as possible I can say that yes, the effort has been worth it, but please don’t make me do it again.  Which is another way of saying, yes, I would do it all again if I had to, but I’m very glad that won’t be necessary.

People read Trapped  and, understandably, think they know me.  But although the book attempts to cover forty years of one life in under two hundred pages, readers only glimpse a partial point of view of that one life, a view has become fixed as at the time of writing, and that I trust and hope has grown.

I have changed and moved on – thankfully – and the lessons I have collected so painfully, I hope make me a kinder, more patient woman, willing and ready to deal with what comes next.  As we turn our attention away from the strange happenings of this year towards what is coming in 2017, let us hope that our optimism shines, and makes miracles for all of us.

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