Research Time

I won't even think about how long it's been since the last post - though it's glaringly obvious from the title page. Suffice to say I've been a bit lax with the old blog.

Anyway, had a few quieter work months, plodding away at (rather dull) web copy and odd bits and pieces that always seem to require more admin time than actual working. But it's back to the books now and I'm in my element again, planning out the work days on the calendar, opening up fresh new Word documents and starting lists.

I've got two on the go at the moment. One has a January deadline, which seemed fine when I signed up but of course I'd forgotten about Christmas so there's going to be a few late nights. I'll start writing the other the day after I hand in the first manuscript so not much of a break for shopping in the sales but might save me a few quid. I've started doing a bit of research on that one so that I'm ready to go when it's time to start writing.

Advance Copy of my New Book

There's nothing quite like getting a book through the post with your name on the cover and yesterday I opened up a parcel to see just that. It's a strange mix of emotions: excitement, nerves, pride but there's also a sense of distance to it. It takes so much longer for a book to be published than for an article to appear in a magazine or on a website that you're always well into your next project, or the one after that, by the time the book is printed.

Anyway, I was really pleased with the final result and think it looks fab. The illustrator has done a great job and the hard cover makes it look and feel like far more of a weighty tome than its gift book title would suggest.

Whilst I'm still holding out for that elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, which is seeing a novel that I've written in print, it doesn't detract from the excitement of looking at the tangible result of a great deal of hard work.

It isn't officially published until September and then the fresh excitement of trying to spot it in bookshops will arrive... simple pleasures!

Time is Ticking

Ahhhgghh! No idea why I decided that this morning would be a good time to update the blog for the first time in months. Really I should be switching of the Internet and barricading myself into a small, dark room with a pen and a notebook. There is now just under a month left until I have to deliver a 55,000 word manuscript and there's still sooooo much to do.

The research has been great and I'm really enjoying writing the book - it's just so much work to complete in such a short space of time. My office is strewn with library books, printouts, notes and an unseemly number of discarded coffee cups and biscuit wrappers. I've set myself a daily word target and am vainly attempting to stick to it.

The completed (but only half edited) novel has not just taken a back seat, it's been left behind at the rest stop and will have to stay there until paid work is taken care of.

Right, back to it!

Real Work Ruins Everything

It's such a shame that the paid words have to take a precedence over the enjoyable ones that, unfortunately, don't pay the bills.

I know, I know, I shouldn't moan about having work. This time six months ago I was doing the usual freelance whining about not having enough work and worrying about ever getting any more bookings. The thing is, it gave me time to work on the novel - pretty much finish it in fact - in those sparse couple of months when the paid jobs slowed right down. And now that I'm up to my neck in work that someone is actually going to pay me for (eventually in some cases - invoice chasing being one of my frequent pastimes) I'm moaning again. I'm just desperate to get on finish the edits of the novel so that I can give it someone to read and get some proper feedback.

I suppose if I stop procrastinating, stop surfing the Net, stop making cups of coffee, stop tweeting, stop blogging and stop doing loads of washing, I might actually be able to finish the paid work and have a bit of time for something else...

Lazy Daisy

Forgive me reader for I have sinned, it has been months since my last blog post. So, what's been happening?

The days, weeks and months seem to have literally flown by but that's hardly an excuse for not putting fingers to keys for quite so long. Work went crazy just as I was planning to slow down for Christmas but being freelance, I was hardly in a position to turn anything down so I was writing like a nutter right up until the last minute. Of course, the bonus of that is that I didn't have to go anywhere near a shop and managed to make pretty much all my festive purchases online, in between completing copy for a comedy beard book and writing more serious words for a book about London restaurants.

As expected, the novel took a bit of a back seat over this time but I did manage to finally complete the first draft. The workload meant that there was a natural break in which to shut it in the proverbial drawer for some detachment time. I printed it off last month and a week of early nights and a nice cup of tea and printouts in bed meant that I read it through and started doing some edits.

I'm having real problems seeing the big picture so I need to back to square one I think and try and read it again with fresh eyes. I've managed to pick up a load of basic editorial changes, spotted some problems with dialogue etc but I just can't seem to get my head round any major character or plot problems. I know there are some, it's just pinpointing them and having the confidence to shuffle the book about like a pack of cards. Time for the stage that I'm dreading... asking someone else to read it. Of course, as only my husband knows that I'm actually writing a novel, this might come as a bit of a shock!