Annette V Hart's Blog: The ramblings of Annette Hart, page 11

Too tired to write, too tired to think...

I hate it when you really want to get on with writing but everything else in your life means you are just too tired. I find that then, even if I try, my writing is stilted and I have no ideas. I can sit and search in my head for ages, not find it, and then take forever to realise I should really give up and lie down!

It's usually a good point at which to pick up a book instead.

At the moment, it's a really busy end of summer term with lots of events happening right up to the end and at all hours. Roll on summer hols... Isle of Wight here we come!

Someone's beaten me to it!...

Once upon a time, many years ago, when I was at uni studying Medieval English Literature, we read and discussed an old legend and I thought it would be a good idea to write it for a modern audience. I never got around to it... and now someone else has done. I am ordering the book ostensibly for my son but in reality for me! The book is Hereward by James Wilde and tells the legend of the rebel and outlaw who fought the Normans and predates Robin Hood.

What's in a name?...

I've been methodically cataloguing all the names (characters and places) I've used in my stories so far. It's not that I don't want to repeat any names - I'd just rather not do so for my main characters and certainly not for places. But I feel that I have to keep tabs in an organised way (not like me at all!) as I have had a good go at making up the place names and I give my characters names with an Anglo-Saxon background, (or what might be relevant for their country).

I love my baby names book (The Classic 1000 Baby Names) and The Anglo-Saxons with an atlas comes in handy too!

Help finding books...

I found a wonderful site which not only reviewed my book and interviewed me but I've found really helpful in choosing books to buy myself: www.thebookbag.com.

Getting on with writing, come what may...

I am determined to write this afternoon and trudge through my current stumbling patch. I know what I'm writing might not be brilliant but I keep reminding myself that as long as I get down the bare bones of my storyline I can flesh it out, rewrite and rework at a later date. I often find if I force myself to work consistently (sometimes with gritted teeth) then a more flowing and bountiful period of writing will follow.

The art of illustration...

I'm not bad at drawing and have had the opportunity to add my own illustrations to my books but I always do so with trepidation. I worry if I'll have the ideas or get what is needed done in time. I certainly not yet had the courage to tackle a front cover. Maybe it's because I have the habit of comparing what I do to the best and my favourite was always Pauline Baynes, especially her depiction of the Narnia books.

Strike action...

I do not like the way our media and politicians frown on the right to strike and denegrate those who do. They try to isolate those who wish to do so and make out that they are not also a part of society. Yet few do it unless they really have to - especially professionals. As a result my daughter does not understand the right to withdraw labour, a fundamental right we should be able to hold on to to protect ourselves.

I had considered helping out on strike day in school (as a parent only, not as a teacher) to help my husband the head but since Mr Gove's inflamatory comments there is no way I can bring myself to do it!

Writer's stumble...

I know it's probably not a big problem but at the moment I'm not writing because I'm not sure which story I should concentrate on. I have one, a part of my Athlandia series, which I need to finish but I also have a couple of different ideas I'd quite like to start tackling. I get spurts of ideas and need to sit down with a note pad. But they're very different to the genre I've been currently working in and need research. And I'm dead lazy, I guess.

So today, instead, I've been dipping into The Mammoth Book of King Arthur and pretending it's research. Very interesting, though.

Have I missed the boat?

Thinking over this old story of mine I get a little depressed. I finished it in 2004, showed it to someone well respected in the publishing world and was told something along the lines of 'King Arthur is old-fashioned and nobody wants to read about him now'. Then along comes Merlin and the rest, as they say, is history! Have I therefore missed the boat? (Grinds teeth and thumps her fist into her palm!) If I publish now will it seem like I'm jumping on the band wagon?

Who says the experts know what the next big thing is going to be?

I just can't see space for growth...

While I wait for my 2 published books to go digital (very exciting and technical - not me at all!), I am looking at an earlier work with the possibility of having that turned into an e-book too. Although it was written for a slightly younger age group than the others and therefore is shorter, I've got a niggling feeling that it needs expanding. I just can't see where I could sensibly add to the story. I guess I'll keep reading through and wait for inspiration to hit (early morning walks again!).