Middles - the falling into and the getting out of them!
In my current WIP, I've been stuck, not so much in a saggy middle, but a tangled middle, spending the last two or three weeks getting more and more entangled. This is my third novel for Harlequin Mills & Boon and, like my debut, is a marriage of convenience story, though set slightly earlier in 1157.
The location is the lovely Dyfi Valley, more specifically the estuary and nature reserve of RSPB Ynys Hir. Here, in 1156, the Lord Rhys, prince of Deheubarth, constructed a castle to guard against attack from Gwynedd. It was abandoned soon afterwards - possibly because of the boggy nature of the terrain. The Anglo Normans came back and Ceredigion was fought over yet again, although Rhys triumphed once again and - with the goodwill of Henry I - ruled supreme for the next half a century. The castle of Abereinion seems to never have been reoccupied, however, and today nothing is left but an overgrown and tree-capped mound where the motte and bailey once stood - and lots and lots of birds, of course.
The aspect, for those who don't know the reserve, is absolutely stunning and one can well image why Rhys ap Gruffudd chose to build a frontier castle there, despite the potential for becoming surrounded by water. It sits right at the headland, with views across the estuary to southern Merionnydd and also northwards to the approach into what was then Powys Cyfeiliog.
Anyway last week, in an effort to get untangled from my messy mid section, I took an afternoon out do to a recce of the site. I know the reserve well but hadn't looked at it with a writer's eyes before. As the photos show, it is a beautiful and - nowadays at least - tranquil place. From the bird hide of Domen Las, where the northern palisade wall ran, I got a real sense of what my characters would have seen and felt looking out over the water towards Gwynedd from this very same spot, almost 900 years ago.
And my recce had results! As well as a much needed long walk and equally much needed fresh air, I made myself sit down for a solid stint of untangling afterwards. It took the whole weekend, but I'm now out the other end on the home straight, and hopefully on track to meeting my January deadline.
