Trowbridge

I think I might be moving to Trowbridge.

I'm supposed to be having a writing day - a day all to myself - but all I can think about is Trowbridge. Husband has just been promoted within his company (yay!) and I was really looking forward to being able to fix the house up a bit. It isn't too bad but it needs a new garden fence, a cap putting on one chimney to stop the rain coming down (which requires scaffolding) and -ideally- a new bathroom. Nothing too major, but all things we would expect to have to do if we ever want to get a good price for it when we move. (I had expected to have to move in about three years anyway, because we don't much like the local high school.) Anyway, a while ago he put his CV up on some of those internet job sites and he is currently being hassled by another mobile phone company to come and work for them. It's a VERY good offer. It's a good company. He would be mad not to take it.

BUT: it's even further from our parents than we live now, it's too far to visit our Yorkshire friends more than about once a year, we'd have to down-size our living accommodation at least temporarily because houses cost more down south, and in the current economic climate I'm not sure if our house would sell at all. Plus, with all that upheaval, when would I find any time for writing?

If he could be certain that another position would come up in a couple of years, I'd say wait, but a bird in the hand... and so on.

A

My name isn't Amy Winehouse,

but it sounds a lot like Amy Winehouse. I had a horrible thought the other day, that J.M. doesn't in fact think my story is any good at all, but has noticed that I have a very marketable name. Enough people will pick up the book, thinking, 'I didn't know she was a writer too. Well fancy that, she managed to put down the crackpipe for long enough to churn out a novel!' before noticing their mistake, to make it a viable publishing option. A shame really, because I always wanted to be published under a pseudonym.

Hey - perhaps I could select a pen-name that sounds a bit like someone else famous, instead? Like 'Britney Shears', or 'Heather Mills McCaffrey'. What do you think?

Let the wine do the talking...

That's what I obviously did last night, anyway.

I bought a copy of 'Thirty-nothing', by Lisa Jewell, because she is represented by the same J.M. that has asked for my ms. I'm quite enjoying it. Both the story, and the fact that I find it quite non-threatening as a standard to live up to. Then I skimmed the first few pages of 'The Mathematics of LOVE', by Emma Darwin, because I sort of know her and I thought I should. Big Mistake. Now feeling totally inferior and useless.

A

The Romance

Been thinking a lot about the structure of the book. Now thinking about the basic parts. The ingredients. There is The Hook. There is The Murder. There is The Investigation. The Romance. The Tragedy. And The Happy (for some characters) Ending.

Thinking about D a lot lately. I nearly cut him, until I realised how important his character is to the book. Thinking about what a strange almost-couple we once made. When he reads it, he'll doubtless imagine I'm still pining for him, after all these years. Probably my husband will too. God knows what they'll make of the second book then. But I can't let that hold me back. There are things I want to write about in the second book. Things that will upset my other half. How do you explain that the novel might resemble our life, but it is life to the power 10? It is life, exponentially heightened and dramatised. My life is the kernel of truth - the one percent - at the heart of a 90,000 word novel.

Maybe I just won't let him read it.
A

The Countdown

Well, I confessed that it wasn't in a fit state to be seen, and have been given six weeks' grace (of which I have just over four left). So I'm furiously working on it every night and weekend. Unfortunately, half-term's coming up, so I'm likely to be too shattered to write. I'll just have to be really disciplined and force myself to use my usual 8-9pm slot for things like spell-checking and re-formatting - stuff that doesn't require much brain power.

More interestingly, my WriteWords group got set up. I am now the proud host of 'Intimate Moments', which is a specialist group (alongside such groups as 'crime & thrillers', 'women's fiction', 'teenage fiction', 'synopsis & outline', etc.) where people can post the sex scenes from their novels, for peer review. In the hope of avoiding The Bad Sex Awards, when and if we get published. It seemed to me like the part of a book that a writer was least likely to ask for advice on - I certainly was.

Well, the first couple of days have gone well. The double entendres are flying thick and fast. Things like:

'So, this is the kind of group you just join when you get to that stage in the WIP? I expect it'll be quite fluid. We can cum and go as we please?'

Of course, there have been all the ones about it [the group] being up already, plenty of gags about members, the 'thrust' of the new group, getting down to business, the name of the group sounding like either a box of pink ribbed condoms or even a brand of 'feminine wipe', depending upon whom you ask, etc. , etc. Oh, and someone pointed out that the open-mouthed 'shockie' emoticon, looks like it's about to perform some other sort of job entirely. :o

Hey, ho. They'll run out eventually. On the upside, we're already quite a diverse group, incorporating both male and female writers, gay and straight, so there's hope for us yet.

Love A