Alex Gutteridge's Blog, page 7
August 15, 2014
Disappointment
Recently, at one of our invaluable writers' meetings, someone mentioned disappointment. It is something we could all identify with. For most writers, disappointment is something you have to learn to live with on a fairly regular basis, in one form or another. I think it is easy to forget that even successful authors will have had rejections and disappointments and probably still do, even when they hit the dizzy heights. The disappointment from rejection letters (or even the gap...
August 13, 2014
August 9, 2014
Watershed Walks
Our greatest gifts are often given to us before we even realise. When I was barely more than a toddler my father used to take me walking on a Saturday morning. We usually walked across the fields to the next village, our English Setters bounding ahead, and headed back again in time for lunch. Since those early days walking has been an important part of my life and I have written about it on this blog several times. I think that one of the most difficult things I found about boarding scho...
August 6, 2014
August 2, 2014
Pacing your Book
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post about pacing myself physically when writing. Since then I have been thinking a lot about pacing in books themselves. Poor pacing can mar an otherwise good story and I've read a few books recently where this has happened.
Also, eighty thousand words into my adult, romantic novel, I have become stuck. The ending is clear and not that far away; there are a variety of paths leading to the conclusion but I'm not quite...
Also, eighty thousand words into my adult, romantic novel, I have become stuck. The ending is clear and not that far away; there are a variety of paths leading to the conclusion but I'm not quite...
July 30, 2014
July 25, 2014
Lyme Park
This week we went to the Tatton Park Flower Show. It's a two hour drive from home and that's if the traffic is behaving which on the M6 it often doesn't. So we decided to treat ourselves and stay overnight. On the way up to Manchester we decided to take a slight detour and visit Lyme Park, a National Trust Property, on the edge of the Peak District. It is a stunning place.
Before passing to the National Trust in 1946 the house had belonged to the Legh family for nearly 600 years.
The interior w...
Before passing to the National Trust in 1946 the house had belonged to the Legh family for nearly 600 years.
The interior w...
July 20, 2014
A Book Launch and Richard III
Isn't it lovely when you have something to celebrate? Especially when it's an occasion to mark the culmination of hard work and the coming together of something really special. On Tuesday evening we attended the book launch for The Children's Book of Richard III, which has been written by my writer friend, Rosalind Adam.
Ros and I have known each other for a long time, through good times and bad. This is a story of tenacity, entrepreneurship and serendipity; all qualities which you n...
Ros and I have known each other for a long time, through good times and bad. This is a story of tenacity, entrepreneurship and serendipity; all qualities which you n...
July 16, 2014
July 11, 2014
Madeira
I've missed a couple of posts because we have been on holiday for a week, to Madeira. In my heart I am an adventurer, winging my way across the oceans to far flung places, but in my head I am more cautious. So when my husband suggested Madeira for a holiday I had mixed feelings. I have visited this Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic once before, when I was in my teens. My memories were sketchy but I did remember the airport, which in the past was declared to have one of th...
