Annette V Hart's Blog: The ramblings of Annette Hart, page 10

Pending doom...

As I write this my son is fast asleep and totally unaware of his own personal tragedy. His triop, which he nurtured so conscientiously for weeks from egg to fully grown pet, has died. I now have to decide exactly how to approach his pain. I do not wish to put him of caring for other creatures but to see his feelings as a positive sign of great good and caring within himself.

Feedback that makes you upbeat...

I can't quite put my finder on it but I am sure either my title, cover or blurb is putting readers off my book. (I think the title might be most likely.) And I worry about not-so-positive comments from adult readers. So it is great when I think about all the feedback I have had from my readers who are in the age group my books are actually aimed at (9-13). So far they have been very positive and eager for the next book, once they have read it. I must be doing something right with the actual content of my stories - it's just the marketing I need to work on!

At my most recent booksigning, a young girl was pleased to meet me and buy my second book, having just read the first at the library; it was a great morale booster. And now I have a couple of young readers eager for book 3 which gives me a much needed injection of enthusiasm to continue my work.

Getting down to business...

With production of my third book pending, I decided today to turn my attention to the illustrations I want to add to it. For my second book I added one to the start of each chapter but I remember the pressure I felt to get them finished. This time I want to get ahead of the game and think of a good idea or sketch for each before I'm into editing. Inevitably, though, there will be a chapter where I draw a blank.

My illustrations are to give a suggestion, taste, of my world without being too prescriptive. The one thing you won't be seeing is a horse; about the only part I could draw successfully would be the head!

A beautiful autumn day...

We set out mid afternoon on a cloudy day (obligatory reluctant teenager in toe) to pick berries. It turned into the most glorious afternoon; the sun broke through the clouds to bathe us and sheep in glorious golden light. In Norbury park we were surroundered by a wonderful mix of countryside: small fields of sheep and horses, woodland peppered with berries (poisonous and edible alike), chalk meadow dotted with the last burst of fragile flowers. We picked various berries, randomly helped by some of the children, in order to make a batch of country wine.

I usually have good success with such berries but any attempt at grapes or apples has always gone awry. And I know I should be trying to create something more wholesome like jam, I just haven't learnt despite watching my mum and gran slowly drip sticky sweet nectar through muslin as a child (guilt kicking in big time). I shall go and consult Homemade Country Wines which has held my family in goog stead for many years.

But it is on my to do list to learn to make jam or jelly in the future.

Another holiday, a different writing experience...

My first week a way for the summer (The Isle of Wight) I found I wrote a lot in spare moments when my attention was not demanded elsewhere. It seemed to free me up when my writing had been sticking and I was pleased with the progress I had made. I have just finished my second week away in a more beautiful location and a much better cottage (the middle of a rolling green nowhere in glorious Devon) yet I have not written a word.

I must admit that I read a lot (re-reading one of my favourite Harry Potters, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), and I sketched a bit but once again my writing stalled, even with the incentive of agreement to publish my third book. I can only think the important difference was that this was a holiday spent very much with family in mind, visiting relatives our main purpose.

Now I just need to find my way back to writing amongst the turmoil of my children's return to school...

Trail blazing women...

I've just watched a facinating programme on BBC4 all about Margaret Moore, Sir Thomas Moore's daughter. It talked about humanist education (grammar schools) and how unusual, therefore, her own education was. And she was the first English woman to publish a book in English who wasn't royal (although not under her own name). And, of course, she was followed by Queen Elizabeth I. At 11 she made a book for her stepmother, Katherine Parr, which was the translation of a French poem, bound in her own detailed embroidery.

It also reminded me what a good play A Man for All Seasons is!

Stimulating scenery...

With just a surprisingly small amount of cajoling, we managed to get the children out for a walk. Having not been for a while, we decided to visit Box Hill which is just a 5 minute drive away. With a big road race pending (in preparation for the Olympics next year), they've resurfaced the road but have left the speed humps - an interesting challenge for the cyclists.

It seems sad, with their no parking/stopping signs and fencing off the hill, that they only seem to be encouraging people to watch it from particular places - where, of corse, they will have to pay! We can watch it from my sister's roadside garden, drink in hand as the cyclists whizz by in seconds.

Still, I did find my walk inspiring. I often try to stop and take in certain areas, imprinting a picture in my mind to use at a later date in my writing. Today it was the ancient copse of yew trees that set my descriptive juices bubbling.

It's amazing what fresh sea air can do...

I always find I can write on holiday. I don't know if it's a relaxing of the mind and spirit but it certainly works for me. And usually there's a place, scene or event which captures my descriptive imagination for future use... Of course, it also helps that my husband is willing to take the children off to the swimming pool for an hour of quietude.

But maybe my willingness to write was down to the fact that our 'chalet' resembled a rather tired and delapidated, pre-fab, school hut!

Aaah... Holiday!...

I'm about to go on our annual family holiday (excepting the week, of course, a fortnight later when we visit family in Devon) and am looking forward to one whole week without a computer. I may not be blogging, drafting on Word, or trying to rouse interest in my book online but I will have both a pad and a sketch book to keep me doodling on the beach. I will also, of course, be taking plenty to read myself and I'm not ashamed to admit it's a plenty of historical (distant and recent) romance.

Avoiding over-analyising writing...

I'm finally back on track and writing well. Now I'm turning my thoughts to helping my son with his writing during the summer holidays. I spent hours trawling through the internet looking at ideas, books and worksheets; there are hundreds of books giving guidance on how to write every style of writing. But I'm cautious of using these guides - I don't want to disrupt what I am already doing right. And I certainly don't want to get bogged down in whether I'm doing things the recommended way, how it 'should' be done, or to get stuck in formulaic writing. I am going to stick to helping my son understand the basics: grammar and punctuation! I might learn something too.