Romy Gemmell's Blog, page 36

Slow Down Challenge

 After working very hard yesterday, completely redrafting the mainstream novel I'm now sending out to seek an agent, I needed a change of focus. Right on time, I received a new post from Jeff Goins, who I follow online. He mentioned his new challenge, Slow Down, which was partly inspired after the birth of his first baby and his pleasure in being a father.

I'm a great believer in taking time to enjoy the beauty and nature around us but this is a focused challenge over five days, although I dare say they don't have to be consecutive days. So in between the next lot of work, I'm aiming to follow Jeff's challenge - even ten minutes a day will take the focus away from the computer and social media. I'm sure the body and mind will thank me for it!

You can check out the Slow Down Challenge if you want to take part. The illustration above is from the first day's challenge and there are suggestions of how to take time to notice those 'other things' on Jeff's post.

Have a relaxing weekend,
Rosemary

Inspiring Coffee Breaks

Many of you already know that I love to write in my favourite Costa one morning each week - inside a mall where I can also do some shopping before returning home. During this past week, I happened to have an unexpected free morning, which I probably should have spent working at home, and I headed off to a nearby town for inspiration.


I found it in the beautiful cathedral, after remembering about the coffee shop inside. The photo is the view from my seat and it actually distracted me from the story I was intending working on to set me day-dreaming about the past. I love medieval times and this is the perfect cathedral for inspiration (it's taken on my mobile so isn't as clear).

It reminded me of the wonderful medieval day they had inside and around the building and down by the river a couple of years ago. Fortunately, I heard about it in time to wander around and pretend I'd stepped back to the past. It wasn't difficult, with the musicians, jousters, dancers, apothecary, scribe, bakers - all in medieval costume. And yes, several storylines have come and gone since then but none has made it into a completed story yet. This is the cloisters earlier in the year.


After finishing my coffee, I wandered around the cathedral and then got chatting to a woman about my own age who attends the services. What a serendipitous moment to discover she sometimes takes part in a medieval plainsong community choir - something I've always wanted to try. They perform in different parts of the country several times a year and I now have the choir organiser's contact details so it's up to me whether I explore it further. Unfortunately, it's not within such convenient distance as the cathedral, so it remains to be seen if I ever get to take part. But the opportunity is now there.

That's the beauty of taking impulsive coffee breaks in different places - we never know what kind of inspiration we may find along the way. The next historical event in that particular town is a re-enactment of the famous witch trials of the 17th century, in October. If I happen to get into the town that day, I'll let you know. Meanwhile, it's back to the work I should be writing!

Over on my Flights of Imagination blog, I'm featuring YA author Kai Strand with her intriguing book King of Bad. Imagine an academy for villains!

Rosemary

Back to Work and Romance Special

 There's something about September that makes me want to get organised and get back to work after the holiday breaks during summer. Perhaps it's because I love this time of year as we head towards the final darkest few months. So I'm delighted to be finished with edits for my new full length historical romance, Midwinter Masquerade , which will be released by Tirgearr Publishing in late October. It begins in Edinburgh but is set in the Scottish Borders countryside in 1816, during the winter solstice and I'm really looking forward to it being available. My lovely editor, Georgia, has made me work hard on this one and I've now run off a copy of all the repetitions to avoid and such like!

Now, I'm getting set to finish or redraft other work over the next couple of months, plus aiming to send out completed stories. I definitely need to start making a daily or weekly list - keeping too much in my head at times, which is a bad idea if I don't want to forget anything important. So it's onwards and upwards! 

For romance lovers, one of my publishers, MuseItUp, is offering a Back to School 3 for 2 promotion on romance novels for mums (and dads). Just go to the MIU Bookstore and make your choice, using the code.

Meanwhile, over on my Flights of Imagination blog, YA author Penny Estelle tells us how she uses legend and history as inspiration for her time-slip books. Penny is kindly going to draw a name from commenters to win a copy of one of her books.

Cruising the Rhine

I'm now back to reality after a lovely River Cruise sailing down the Rhine from Strasbourg to Amsterdam, with lots of interesting German cities and towns in between. Our boat was the Royal Crown - a unique and beautiful 1930s style vessel that normally takes only 60-80 passengers. It certainly attracted lots of attention when moored at the various river docks, mostly within easy walking distance of the towns.


From the excellent food to the friendly staff, it's a ship we would certainly use again, not least for its stylish décor and finish. With so few passengers and plenty of deck area and comfortable seats in the spacious lounge, complete with grand piano and pianist during afternoon tea and after-dinner coffee, the ship never seemed over full at any time. We could be as chatty or as quiet as we wished.

The cabin was perfectly adequate with the right amount of storage space (even for my excessive amount of clothes), and the bathroom had ample room for the walk-in shower. The tap water was even drinkable as they carry fresh water. Unlike the ships on a certain TV promotion, our graceful vessel had a wooden rail around the main entrance deck, allowing us to walk up and down each side if we wished.


The cruise itself was relaxing in between visits and very restful as we sailed gently down the river. Needless to say, a highlight of this itinerary is the Rhine Gorge, with the hilltop castles and the legendary Lorelei rock (or Loreley as the rock proclaimed). We were treated to an onboard story and song of the Lorelei maiden, or siren, as we sailed passed - there is now a statue round the corner from the rather unremarkable rock.

Some of my highlights were:

Strasbourg - very pretty areas down by the canal and lots of willow trees (my favourites). The inside of the cathedral was the most stunning we saw in any of the towns. I loved the astronomical clock, the pole of angels, and the Christ on the cross scene, which I managed to photo when illuminated.



Speyer - small, pretty town with lots of churches and old buildings. Loved the statue of the pilgrim on the pavement, setting off on his way to Santiago de Compostela.



Heidelberg - an ancient university town with pretty buildings, with a backdrop of the old castle on the hill which you can reach by funicular railway, or foot. We found a wonderful chocolate shop/café on the main street which drew me in with the quirky Forest Gump seat outside.



Rudesheim - a pretty small town with the most wonderful Siegfried's Musical Cabinet Museum. A knowledgeable guide showed us the most fascinating collection of mechanical musical instruments through the centuries and allowed us to hear many of them. My inner child kicked in at the circus display!



Koblenz - another pretty town with a beautiful river front. Superb cable car ride up to the fortress on the hill, with stunning views over the river.

 My one disappointment was Cologne, but perhaps it was too busy as we arrived in the afternoon. We walked to the cathedral which was a truly awesome sight (in the real meaning of the word) but was strangely disappointing inside. I did, however, hear the story of the famous 4711 eau de Cologne, which does indeed originate here.

We didn't have time to take a tour of Amsterdam at the end as we flew straight home, but a group of passengers went off to do so before their flight. Fortunately, we've been there before so didn't miss much. We're used to cruising on larger sea-going ships, which we love, and were interested to experience the difference of a smaller vessel that is never far from land.

Although we do enjoy the slight anonymity of larger ships, and the variety of public rooms and restaurants, we can honestly say we would like to cruise down the Danube one day on this particular unique ship, the Royal Crown. Everything slows down on a river cruise and the added rest from all Internet activity added to the pleasure. Even though I had my kindle with me for reading in bed, the first thing I did was to choose a book from the library. It seemed more fitting to read the old fashioned way on such a stylish ship while the world passed slowly by down the river.

If anyone is interested in such a journey on the Royal Crown, you can find out details of the ship's itineraries (which is sometimes hired by different upmarket companies) from my travel agent husband, Simon. He happened to hear of it through his company, hence the reason we booked ourselves this holiday.

Now it's back to work, and I'll try to catch up with everyone's blogs!
Rosemary

Another Short Interlude

 I'm having another short break from the Internet, blogging, and social media while we go off exploring other new places this coming week, before autumn gets a grip here and the summer clothes are hidden away again. Already dusk is ever earlier in the evenings, which doesn't bother me of course, since we're coming into my favourite time of year. So I'll catch up with everyone soon and will maybe revamp the blog a little before getting back to serious work again.

Meanwhile, I thought you might like this lovely sentiment about silence as it's so necessary for a writer sometimes. Hope it's not one I've shared before. If I have, I'm sure you won't mind reading it again. The photo is of an ancient arch near a ruined abbey in the far west of Scotland. Maybe it will inspire some stories or poems in that silence.

'Come away from the din.
Come away to the quiet fields,
over which the great sky stretches,
and where, between us and the stars,
there lies but silence;
and there, in the stillness
let us listen to the voice
that is speaking within us.'

Jerome K. Jerome

Too Many Books?

After downloading another couple of free offers for a limited time, I noticed that I have ninety books waiting to be read on my kindle - 90. No wonder I sometimes feel overwhelmed and don't know where to begin. On my bookshelves, roughly 100 or more print books remind me daily that I've still to read them.

The strange thing is - at one time, I used to haunt the library, desperate to bring home the next four books I carefully chose with great anticipation. Adventures and mysteries waiting to be devoured whenever I had a spare moment, some that kept me awake at night reading long into the night, others that held far more temptation than any TV programme. As for book tokens - they were a great delight, promising hours of browsing and choosing with the added pleasure of owning those favourite books rather than borrowing them.

These days, it seems to take me far longer to get through all the books I want to read. Perhaps it's partly because I also write now and spend less time sitting down to enjoy someone else's carefully crafted words. As for the pile of magazines, writing or otherwise, they're going to topple over soon. Yet I still love reading a good book, still enjoy escaping to a fictional world with memorable characters, still enjoy the quick fix of a magazine article or story.

So I've come to the conclusion that there are just too many books now, and the popularity of e-readers and rise in self-publishing adds to the confusion of trying to choose what to read next. I love my kindle for reading in bed, and I think it's great that we have so many options now for publishing books - what writer would think otherwise?

And yet... sometimes I long for those days when I couldn't wait to get to the library for the next book by one of my favourite authors. Maybe the magic has disappeared in our digital age. Or perhaps I need to take more time to rediscover the joy of reading again rather than feeling guilty that I'm never going to get through all these books waiting on a rather soul-less digital device that needs to be switched on. 

Wonder what it would be like forgetting to recharge the kindle for a month or two and turning only to the tactile print books on my shelves. Would it make any difference? I'll let you know if I ever get that far - maybe once I get through half the kindle books before I add another lot!

Happy reading,
Rosemary

Novel Competitions

 One of my peony roses burst into this showy beauty recently and I'm glad I captured it in time as they don't last very long.

I've been enjoying trying to get all my writing organised, in between editing and meeting up with friends. I finally saved a Word copy of the information in my folders on Google favourites that I've been collating for ages, in case the computer dies. Now I'm trying to check which older short stories need to be redrafted or rewritten before submitting, and having a look at some of the ideas written down for new stories and not yet acted upon - you get the idea. Still not finished but enjoying the process.

These are some of the current novel competitions I came across - wish I had suitable work ready to submit to them, but you might!

Piatkus Entice - romance

Harelquin/Mills & Boon - romance

Telegraph Harvill Secker - crime

Samhain Publishing - Gothic horror novella

Happy writing,
Rosemary

The Ups and Downs of Promotion

I thought some readers of the blog might be interested in an interview I was asked to do by the promotion site Humanmade, now that I have two of my novels featured there.

I had to answer lots of questions about promoting books and I've tried to be as honest as possible. As you know, there's a huge difference between what used to happen in traditional print publication and the need to bring e-books to the readers' attention.

Anyway, you can read my take on it all in the Humanmade interview - they're my opinions and no doubt they'll keep changing as much as publishing does!

Rosemary

The Joy and Pain of Editing

I'm not updating the blog quite as much during the summer, partly because it's good to have a slight break from constant online activity while the sun shines, and partly because I'm in the middle of edits for my new full length historical from Tirgearr Publishing, Midwinter Masquerade , which will be published late October/early November, all being well.

This has been an interesting novel to work on, as I had already sliced about 5,000 words off my original manuscript before even submitting to Tirgearr - much needed redrafting and sorting of some plot problems. Not that it was anywhere near perfect even then, of course. But after acceptance, my lovely editor got to work with me. I love this part of the book's progress to publication. We need a professional, objective eye cast over our 'baby' as we're far too close to the words, ideas and plot lines we create.

This is where it helps to have a good, trusting working relationship with an editor. I couldn't be happier with GA as she spots inconsistencies and repetitions and makes excellent suggestions which I then incorporate into the story in my own voice. Sometimes, we have to get rid of passages that add nothing to the story and which might actually slow it down, at other times I have to add more. I hope she would agree that my failings are not to do with grammar or punctuation and such basics on the whole but, oh boy, you should see the list of words I tend to repeat which I have now printed out and left on my desk for future work! And I tend to get carried away with the story and cause all kinds of needless complications in the plot for my characters at times.

But it's all worth it in the end when that next novel sits on Amazon begging to be read, so I'm taking a deep breath before tackling the next few chapters and can now see the glimmer of light at the far end of the tunnel. At least when I'm working on another novel, or any piece of writing, I can arm myself with that list of 'words to watch' and hopefully make the editor's job a bit easier in future. Now if I could only become more of a plotter and less of a pantster, that might get rid of some unnecessary complications in the next novel. The joys of writing and editing - and learning more with every single publication!

Rosemary

Staying Local

Sometimes, all it takes is a good dose of sunshine to make us appreciate our own local area, without feeling the need to jump in the car and drive miles away in search of an interesting day out. We stayed more local this weekend, as it was far too hot to go far. Like most of the country, we're having to learn to cope with unusual temperatures!

We're lucky in having both river and countryside on our doorstep. The swans were taken at a nearby walkway beside the river. The boat is our famous paddle steamer, The Waverley, which still plies its way up and down the Clyde and across to various islands we used to visit as children. We haven't been on it for years but hope to remedy that before it's too late.
On Saturday, we headed down to the new Arts Centre at the river front for coffee and a walk where we discovered these classic cars belonging to a group of friendly guys who meet together each week - as you can see they include one unique car that was made by its interesting owner!

After coffee, I noticed a large poster advertising paintings by a local artist so we went upstairs to investigate and found it was the final day of the exhibition. What amazing large canvas paintings of all kinds of ships through the years and wonderful shipbuilding scenes in the once famous yards that are now all gone. Fascinating reminder of our heritage.
Hope everyone has managed to survive the heat and enjoyed the weekend.
Rosemary