Finding my writing shoes…
Hello again – sorry for the long delay – the tea I poured you is long since cold but I could always re-fill the pot!
I have found myself unable to write much on the lead up to my back surgery – a brain too full of anxiety!
However, I feel that having a month off from it all has helped me to have a mental clear out and I am definitely ready to tread the writing path again. I am pulling at my halter chains in anticipation of completing ‘Ghost-Match’, my second children’s novel by the end of the summer but once free of this sweet shackle, I will be picking up my young adult novel again: ‘Grey Ghost Investigations’ (working title)
I fell out of love with ‘Grey Ghost’ (young adult fiction) for a good year as I could not grasp its correct target audience and this was depleting my enthusiasm for it – I kept thinking: but who’s it for? Having read it back to myself, it is clearly young adult and actually a lot of fun. I remembered the enthusiasm with which I had begun to write this journey and it all boils down to the protagonist, Grey. I love Grey (unfortunately I may have to change his name thanks to ‘Fifty Shades…’) and I feel that he has more than one adventure in him which means that this project has possible longevity. It is also set in my favourite city of Bath – which I have visited many times – allowing me to use familiar haunts which will be easy to describe. The thing about Grey is that he can be loved and hated in the space of one chapter – one minute he will leave you thinking that he is a warm hearted, silly extravert and the next you’ll want to hurl sharp objects at his head.
What I didn’t like about this draft was that sometimes Grey oversteps the line between reader and novel – so I need to smooth these lines out so that they are not too obvious and therefore tripping into the land of cheese. I need to erase some use of second person and just have him thinking these crazy thoughts to himself instead – so that the reader is being a voyeur instead of a guest.
Meanwhile, I have ideas for the third children’s fiction project: ‘The Little Book of Demons’ (working title) – I have no idea when this one will be born but I always have to have another book ready to go. At the moment, having two novels on my keyboard is enough for me.
Keep an eye out for my first children’s novel: ‘Whispers in the Attic’ – hoping for its release by the end of summer (it’s in the hands of a capable editor at the moment, who is giving it a thorough final polish)…
Pleased to have my writing mojo back!
