The Lightning Bolt

I knew in my heart that something wasn’t right. My inner editor was whispering to me. Only I had no idea what the problem was.

So I set off over the cliffs to mull things over.


There’s nothing like a blast of salt spray air on your face, the running tide and the blustering wind to make everything clear.

And as I watched the whitecaps rush in and crash against the rocks it hit me.

Motivation.

Not my main character’s motivation. His motives have always been quite clear, but that of one of my minor characters.

And as I worked out what was driving her, the whole thing fell into place – suddenly the plot had a structure that until now it lacked.

My inner editor can sit back (for now). But my work has just begun - this WIP needs some serious editing.

After We've Gone

There's something about old discarded farm equipment that fascinates me. It's lying around all over the place - in thickets beside the fields, by old gateways, or in a clump of nettles by the side of the footpath, like this one.


I wonder how long it's been here? It hasn't been moved for a while and it's reddened with rust. The nettles grow around it in a feral, stinging clump that rises in a mound from the sheep nibbled turf.

Maybe, though, it hasn't been here as long as we might think. And I can't help wondering how long it would take, if our civilisation crumbled, for the only remains to be hulks of rusting metal, like this, the purpose of which has been long forgotten.

Your Inner Editor

It is always a good idea to pay attention to what your inner editor is trying to tell you – he knows a lot more than we often give him credit for!

Whenever you’re not 100% sure about something – a scene perhaps, or the way a character reacts in a particular situation – then don’t just leave it. Your inner editor is telling you that there’s something wrong – so fix it now. Otherwise the instant it goes for critique – to an agent/editor – guess what the first thing covered in red ink will be!

The same applies to these moments when you’re reading through your work and you knock up against something that pulls you, just for an instant, out of the story. Again, it’s your inner editor. Listen to him. He’s right. Even if you can’t immediately see what’s wrong, mark that bit in red and come back to it.

We all know that moment when someone points out a flaw in your work and you think to yourself. “Drat – I knew that wasn’t working.”

That’s when you haven’t been listening to your inner editor.

Welcome to the Apocalypse!

A new year - new beginnings and new opportunities. What will it bring I wonder?

Some people think that the world will end. But I prefer to take a more optimistic view. Perhaps it will be a year of change.

I'm not going to make any resolutions this year. I think I'll just blow with the wind and see where I end up.

The idea that took seed a few months ago is taking form. Perhaps that would be a good place to start the year.

Happy 2012 everyone!

Candles and Christmas Trees

Christmas is almost here – racing up on me – every time I blink it’s a little bit closer. The school holidays are about to start. Let the festivities begin!


Looking back over my recent blog posts I see I haven’t been telling you very much about my writing. That’s probably because I don’t have anything big or exciting to report. I’ve spent the year rewriting, and rewriting. And between the rewriting I’ve been working on the WIP.

I have to have something on the boil in the background. Whenever I’m waiting to hear back about the first novel I can open the file and vanish into a different world, re-acquaint myself with a new set of characters, and stop worrying about what happens next.

And now here I am, as the year draws to a close, and I’ve just written those wonderful words – ‘The End’.

It’s a first draft – very rough I admit and I need to give it a thorough working over. But everything I’ve learned over the past year has gone into it – and you know what? I’m really quite excited about it.

Will it fly? Who knows? Will 2012 be the year? I hope so.

But for now I must mull wine and bake mince pies. I’d just like to wish all my blog readers a Merry Christmas and wish you all publishing success in 2012. Thank you for joining me on my journey.

The Rocks Beneath our Feet.

Everything tells a story, if you just know how to look.

I remember my very first Geology field trip, standing in an old quarry staring at a wall of rock – but what a story that ancient rock face told.

I saw an ancient beach. I saw the ebb and flow of the tides and the ripples that the waters left in the sand, now frozen in stone.

I saw how the seas receded and the vegetation flourished, plants taking root alongside a river channel – I saw millions of years pass by – and then…

Somewhere, not very far off a volcano erupted. One short cataclysm. The lava flooded my lush valley. Only the roots of the plants remained in their scorched soil, everything above ground destroyed by the molten flood.

There are stories all around us, in everything we see and hear, in the rocks beneath our feet and the landscape all around. We only have to know how to look.

The Mars Mission....

I couldn't resist posting this, having seen the launch pad in preparation less than a month ago. It would have been something to be there and watch the actual launch!

I've always been fascinated by Mars... by the intriguing possibility that there may once have been life there...

So what will they find I wonder?