Writing A New Novel

At the moment, I am revising my mediaeval novel set in the reign of Edward II of England. I have entered the first 5,000 words in two competitions and am keeping my fingers crossed. To be long listed would be an achievement.


It seems strange not to get up in the morning and work on my new novel, which will be Tuesday's Child a follow on novel from my Traditional Regency Romances, Sunday's Child and Monday's Child. However, I have a lot of  'writerly' matters to deal with so I have set myself a deadline to write about 'Tuesday's Child' aka Harriet who 'is full of grace'. In the meantime, I shall be thinking about her a lot.

Puncture on the way to Lunch

Yesterday, my daughter and three grandchildren and I left in good time to lunch at Sakoni's vegetarian Indian restaurant in Harrow. We looked forward to the Gujerati style food or  pizza or lasagne. Halfway there a tyre punctured. There's nothing like waiting for three-quarters of an hour for the AA mechanic to arrive while listening to a hungry five-year old grumbling.

Eating Out

Much better yesterday and today. I took two of my grandchildren to the pizza hut yesterday while their lucky mum shivered at a football stadium, while her son number two participated in a special event. She was pleased to go home and leave him with his coach and his team while they watched a football match, and then returned to collect him.


Today, the five of us are making up for Mother's Day on which I was to ill to go out to lunch. We are going to Sakonis our favourite Indian, Vegetarian restaurant in Harrow.
Yummy, yummy for the tummy but I shall eat sparingly.

Workshop, Ill Health and Competitions

Eight days since I became ill. After five days on antibiotics I'm recovering.


On Monday evening, as I did not have a contagious infection, I managed to fulfil my commitment to conduct a workshop at the writing group I am a member of. The topic was How To Be Your Own Copy and Line Editor Before Submitting Fiction. Although I was so ill,  the workshop was very well received. Afterwards, I was very pleased to drive home safely and delighted to sink into my comfortable bed.


During the rest of the week I slept, read and watched television a lot, but I did manage to edit and submit the synopsis and the opening pages of my novel to two prestigious competitions. My main fear is that the judges will prefer literary novels or novels based on the lives of known historical figures. However, with regard to the latter, I prefer fictional characters, although real-life ones feature in my novels. 


I am looking forward to comments on the submission from one of the competitions. I also look forward to sending more entries. To use a cliché 'nothing venture, nothing gain'.

Unwell.

On Friday I felt very unwell. I became worse during the weekend, which ruined our plans for Mother's Day, and on Monday dragged myself to the urgent clinic at my doctor's surgery. I have an internal infection, the details of which I won't bore you with, and am taking antibiotics. For two days I've done next to nothing, other than sleep, watch some television and read. I am a little better today am looking forward to again being 100%,

Submission to my Publisher

At last, I finished my novel Monday's Child  a traditional Regency novel, which is set in Brussels in 1815. I have submitted Monday's Child together with the synopsis, a letter about the novel and a brief author biography to my publisher. It has taken me a year to research and write Monday's Child, during which time I worked on the edits of The Captain and The Countess, and dealt with various 'writerly matters'. For now it is sad to say goodbye to the hero Major, Lord Langley and the heroine Miss Whitley, who together with other characters have been in my mind for so long, but they will re-appear in my next Regency Novel, Tuesday's Child.

Synopsis & Garden Plans

First thing this morning, I drafted the synopsis of Monday's Child, the follow on novel from my traditional Regency Romance. I dread writing a synopsis so I took a deep breath and confronted my fear.


Last year the fruit on my patio peach and nectarine trees grew to the size of table tennis balls and then fell off. I think the pots I planted them in are too small and the compost is wrong. Today I bought John Innes No 3, which is more suitable for them. Tomorrow, I shall re-pl...ant them in larger containers. I also bought a red climbing rose to plant on the left hand side of my front door. I already have a red one on the right hand side. I also bought 12 beautiful primulas which are different colours to edge a narrow border beneath my dining room window. I also hope to have time to plant out my broad beans which are growing in the greenhouse.

Raised Bed

Cold wind and even snow was forecast, unless I misunderstood and it did not apply to S. E. England. Anyway, I expected bad weather so, on Monday, I did the week's shopping and on Tuesday tidied the house instead of getting on in the garden. Today, I sowed sowed seeds in an 8ft by 4ft raised bed. Row 1 cut and come again lettuce  leaves. Row 2 mixed  parsnip and radish seeds. The radishes will mark where the parsnips are and crop when the parsnips have sprouted. Row 3. Quick growing baby carrots. Row 4. Turnips. Row 5. Choggia, a red and white striped beetroot. There is room for a 6th row in which I will plant more cut and come again baby.

Shopping and Writing on a Cold Day

After several balmy days snow is forecast in the north of the British Isles. Elsewhere there might be frost overnight and in the west I think there might be strong winds and rain.


Instead of working in my organic garden I did the week's shopping after the hours in the morning which I set aside every day to write.


I have to compose a letter, that will include the single sentence premise to the publisher re: Monday's Child, my most recent traditional Regency Romance. In case anyone is wishes to know what my definition means it is that as a rule I don't open the bedroom door wide in my novels.


I also have to write the 'dreaded' synopsis. Then the happy day when I can submit the novel will arrive. Hopefully, by the 15th of March.


Next week I am giving a talk on editing at the writers' group which, more often than not, I attend on Monday evenings. This evening I shall read an extract from my novel set in the reign of Edward II. It is the first of a trilogy that I began ages ago, which I have worked on intermittently in between writing other novels.

Shopping and Writing on a Cold Day.

After several balmy days snow is forecast in the north of the British Isles. Elsewhere there might be frost overnight and in the west I think there might be strong winds and rain.


Instead of working in my organic garden I did the week's shopping after the hours in the morning which I set aside every day to write.


I have to compose a letter, that will include the single sentence premise to the publisher re: Monday's Child, my most recent traditional Regency Romance. In case anyone is wishes to know what my definition means it is that as a rule I don't open the bedroom door wide in my novels.


I also have to write the 'dreaded' synopsis. Then the happy day when I can submit the novel will arrive. Hopefully, by the 15th of March.


Next week I am giving a talk on editing at the writers' group which, more often than not, I attend on Monday evenings. This evening I shall read an extract from my novel set in the reign of Edward II. It is the first of a trilogy that I began ages ago, which I have worked on intermittently in between writing other novels.

Edited Monday's Child & Worked in the Garden

I finished editing Monday's Child this morning. I couldn't believe how many gerunds I had used. I hope the novel reads well and that I have not missed any typing errors. I reach a point at which I sometimes see what I think should be on the page instead of what is on the page. Thanks to the spelling and grammar facility I hope there are no typos, grammar or spelling mistakes.


After I finished Monday's Child a traditional Regency novel, the sequel to Sunday's Child, I had breakfast and then worked in the garden. I finished the bed I have  been working on for most of the week. It is planted with a well established redcurrant bush, a rhubarb plant, a blackcurrant bush, another rhubarb plant, a desert gooseberry and a small cherry tree, which I transplanted to make room for a greengage tree.


I might prettify the bed with some pots of stargazer lilies in between the plants and, maybe edge the bed with lettuces and alpine strawberries.

Spring is Here

The first two daffodils of many daffodils in my garden flowered to day. Spring is really here.

I had intended to plant rhubarb today. Instead I cut weed suppressant to fit it the top left hand corner of my garden. I then stood and one of my compost bins and the tumbler to it. The weed suppressant hardly shows now that they are in place. The advantage is that it will prevent roots growing up through the compost, save a lot of time weeding and make it easier to collect the compost when I tip it out. I have a third bin in another part of the garden. My first attempt to make compost resulted in a smelly, soggy mess. Yuck. Now I layer the different components and the compost is odourless and dry. The first layer is shredded paper most of which comes from junk mail.

Recyling in a Spring Garden

Yesterday and today I enjoyed the mild weather while tidying up my garden. I am all in favour of recycling to I used old strips of carpet to make paths between the bed planted a gooseberry bush, two apple trees, a William Bon Chretien pear tree and a plum tree, and a second bed planted with a red currant, dessert gooseberry and a black currant bush in which I plant rhubarb tomorrow.

I also emptied a compost bin and mulched the gooseberry and the red currant with compost, which is, after all, recycled material.

I'm looking forward to more gardening during the weekend.

Yesterday, a gardener pruned the hedge around my garden. The Hedge is a mixture of evergreens, a bullace (wild plum tree), forsythia, laurel, etc. It took him eight hours but is well worth it. The hedge is neat and the reduced height has let more light in.

Today is lovely early spring day today, so I cleared weeds from a vegetable patch then planted a desert gooseberry and a blackcurrant bush. I dug in plenty of manure so hope they will thrive and provide several pounds of fruit.

Revision. Monday's Child Traditional Regency Novel.

The final revision of my traditional Regency novel, Monday's Child, the follow on novel from Sunday's Child is taking longer than I anticipated. I have revised 100 pages out of 292. If I work hard I should finish the revision by the end of the week.

Lucky Grandmother

I spent last night at my daughter's house. My 5 year old granddaughter didn't want to go to sleep until I arrived. As soon as I did, I popped upstairs to see her. She cuddled up to me and told me about her day. She is sad because one of her friends has left her school to go to a new one. She and three friends divided into pairs to go down the slide. Someone pushed her. It upset her. I told her she should tell the teacher if someone hurts her. 'No,' she said, 'we sorted it out.' Miss Adorable settled down with her doggie, a soft toy, and her Cinderella rag doll. A last kiss and she went to sleep.

Amarylis

An amaryllis called Apple Blossom which I was given as a Christmas present flowered for the first time a month ago. The flowers were a very pale pink and white. When they died I cut them off and both immediately and very rapidly a new stalk grew. The amaryllis has blossomed again. This time the upper petals of the flowers are apricot, another petal is apricot striped with white and the lower petals are white. After these flowers die I think two more stalks will grow one after the other and more flowers will be produced.

Child-Sitting & Cottage-Style Garden

I stayed at my youngest son and daughter-in-law's house yesterday night to look after the two younger children while the eldest one went to school to discuss which subjects he will take for his GCSEs with his parents and teachers. I enjoyed playing draughts and Rummy Cub with my enthusiastic younger grandson and my granddaughter. Lots of laughter - lovely.




Today, the weather was much milder than yesterday, so my daughter-in-law and I went to a garden centre. I used some of the vouchers given to me at Christmas to start restocking the front garden which was destroyed when the house was cladded to make it warmer. I bought a red, rambling rose which I shall plant to the right of my front door. I hope it will grow up and over the what-do-you-me-call-it? that protrudes from the wall to provide shelter from the rain and down the left side of the door.




The flower bed under my dining room window is very narrow, so I'm going to intersperse hollyhocks and lupins, which I bought today, with lavender that I shall transplant from other parts of the garden. To this mix I plan to add delphiniums. I shall edge the front with green and purple lolla rose lettuces, and in the autumn plant spring bulbs. One of my opium poppies survived and, with luck some of the foxgloves, evening primroses and last year's hollyhocks might have self-seeded.




I don't live in a cottage but I want to achieve a cottage garden so I shall plant a row of lettuce at the front of the flower bed and, maybe, tuck in pots of herbs and stargazer lilies.




Goodness, at the thought of all this gardening I feel tired.

Pot Hole

Late yesterday evening, coming home from Watford Writers my car bumped hard over something and then the weird noises started. I was too frightened to stop the car, crossed my fingers and hoped I would reach home safely. Parked outside my house I couldn't see what the problem was. I lay awake dozing and worrying about the car. In the morning I realised one of the tyres was punctured, probably due to a pothole which I couldn't see in the dark. I called the AA, The mechanic arrived, removed the punctured tyre and replaced it with the spare tyre. I then bought a new tyre. Phew! Problem solved. It really is worthwhile belonging to the AA.

Gone With The Wind

Gone with the Wind, published in 1936 won the Pullizer Prize in 1937. It is one of my favourite novels, and I have enjoyed watching the film several times. The author, Margaret Mitchell was killed by a drunk driver in 1949 so she was not subjected to later accusations of racism which in my opinion were unfair. She was a liberal, who lived when racicism was rife but endowed scholarships at Morehouse College for black students.  Scarlet O'Hara, the  heroine in Gone With the Wind, raged against women's passive lived a privileged life protected from the cruel brutality of slavery.