October's Writing Progress
(Happy Halloween to those who care about such things...)
I recorded a bit more of the Stone & Silence audiobook, and have almost caught up with editing it. Depending on how much Breda grumbles about having to be quiet ;-) it might be on sale by the end of November, or failing that, before Christmas.
I finished the first draft of the sci-fi short story that I mentioned in August's entry. I've decided to put it aside for a while to consider the comments I got from my critique group.
Science fiction writer Eric Klein interviewed me about the Dragonrider series, concentrating on the worldbuilding and some of the weird things I researched but then had to cut because they didn't fit the story. The interview is here.
The One Million Project released a new book with the rather wordy title of So, You Say I Can’t Vote!: Frances Connelly: The working-class woman’s route to the vote. (Full disclosure: I was a beta reader for this.) It ties in with 2018 being the centenary of (some) women gaining the right to vote in the UK. Most of the prominent figures who campaigned for this were from the middle and upper class. The contribution of working-class women has been largely forgotten nowadays, and this book attempts to redress that balance. Frances Connelly was a glove-maker from Yeovil in Somerset, and is thought to be the first woman to cast a vote in a UK election. She did this in 1911, seven years before it was legal. In typical British fashion, the law didn't actually say that women couldn't vote; it said they couldn't be on the register of people who could vote. If a woman did manage to get onto the register, whether through deception or clerical error, and she was issued a polling card (an invitation to cast a vote), then there was no legal way to prevent her from voting. Frances, like many other women, appeared on the register because her name was similar to a masculine name (Francis). The book covers what's known of Frances's life and sets it and her vote in a broader context. It also looks at other working-class women who campaigned to be allowed the vote, and some other women who voted or tried to vote before 1918.
Our local writers' group took part in a diversity festival, where different ethnic and religious groups in the town came together to share their cultures in the form of music, art, history, writing, food, fashion, and just to talk to one another. The highlight for me was the African drumming workshop, where everyone got a chance to play along with the band. I was reluctant to join in at first, but soon discovered I had more rhythm than I thought. Overall the festival was a great success, and the organisers hope to make it an annual event.
I've been saving what I hope is the best news for last - on Monday, only ten months later than planned, I finally started writing the sequel to The Mirrors of Elangir. So far I have 680 words of it. Not much, I admit, but I'm a bit out of practice. With a bit of luck (and a lot of self-discipline) it'll be on sale by the end of next year. The book will be called The Dragons of Asdanund unless I think of a title I like better. Those of you who've read the first book will guess that this is a fairly big spoiler about what's waiting for Raltarn and Tomaz when they get back home, but I figured I'd have to mention it in the blurb anyway to convey the story's excitement and high stakes. Watch this space!
I recorded a bit more of the Stone & Silence audiobook, and have almost caught up with editing it. Depending on how much Breda grumbles about having to be quiet ;-) it might be on sale by the end of November, or failing that, before Christmas.
I finished the first draft of the sci-fi short story that I mentioned in August's entry. I've decided to put it aside for a while to consider the comments I got from my critique group.
Science fiction writer Eric Klein interviewed me about the Dragonrider series, concentrating on the worldbuilding and some of the weird things I researched but then had to cut because they didn't fit the story. The interview is here.
The One Million Project released a new book with the rather wordy title of So, You Say I Can’t Vote!: Frances Connelly: The working-class woman’s route to the vote. (Full disclosure: I was a beta reader for this.) It ties in with 2018 being the centenary of (some) women gaining the right to vote in the UK. Most of the prominent figures who campaigned for this were from the middle and upper class. The contribution of working-class women has been largely forgotten nowadays, and this book attempts to redress that balance. Frances Connelly was a glove-maker from Yeovil in Somerset, and is thought to be the first woman to cast a vote in a UK election. She did this in 1911, seven years before it was legal. In typical British fashion, the law didn't actually say that women couldn't vote; it said they couldn't be on the register of people who could vote. If a woman did manage to get onto the register, whether through deception or clerical error, and she was issued a polling card (an invitation to cast a vote), then there was no legal way to prevent her from voting. Frances, like many other women, appeared on the register because her name was similar to a masculine name (Francis). The book covers what's known of Frances's life and sets it and her vote in a broader context. It also looks at other working-class women who campaigned to be allowed the vote, and some other women who voted or tried to vote before 1918.
Our local writers' group took part in a diversity festival, where different ethnic and religious groups in the town came together to share their cultures in the form of music, art, history, writing, food, fashion, and just to talk to one another. The highlight for me was the African drumming workshop, where everyone got a chance to play along with the band. I was reluctant to join in at first, but soon discovered I had more rhythm than I thought. Overall the festival was a great success, and the organisers hope to make it an annual event.
I've been saving what I hope is the best news for last - on Monday, only ten months later than planned, I finally started writing the sequel to The Mirrors of Elangir. So far I have 680 words of it. Not much, I admit, but I'm a bit out of practice. With a bit of luck (and a lot of self-discipline) it'll be on sale by the end of next year. The book will be called The Dragons of Asdanund unless I think of a title I like better. Those of you who've read the first book will guess that this is a fairly big spoiler about what's waiting for Raltarn and Tomaz when they get back home, but I figured I'd have to mention it in the blurb anyway to convey the story's excitement and high stakes. Watch this space!
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