Back In The Old Routine ...

9 January 2014

Well if I’m not back into the swing of things now after the Christmas break, I guess I never will be. So it’s back to the old routine, up with the lark and writing until 11am followed by a break for coffee and sorting through the emails - then doing whatever else I can get done in what remains of the day. Something I’ve learnt from all this over the years is that I only ever seem to achieve half the things on my list. There is a remedy of course, and that’s to put twice as many things on the list. That way I should get a lot more done ...
Anyway, is it working? Last week I went public with my objectives for 2014 so I thought I’d better get stuck into them as soon as possible. And with MÄLAREN on the back burner, I’ve gone straight for AS DAD LAY DYING and I’m already six days into the rewrite. I’d read the work through and reviewed the characters and the plot before the break so I did at least have a head start. For the most part I’m happy with those aspects of it and I like the way the book is constructed. It’s ‘bookended’ ie. a contemporary beginning and a contemporary end section. In between we go back in time and hear the voices of the four main protagonists, each telling their own part of the story. This means we can gradually fill in the background whilst at the same time getting different perspectives on what are sometimes the same events. Secrets are revealed and so by the time we get to the final section we are ready for the denouement. All well and good, except that I’m not entirely happy with the denouement and I believe it needs to change. Although how it needs to change is still a mystery to me. My plan is to soldier on, section by section, editing and improving the prose whilst cutting out the parts we don’t need in order to tighten it up (it’s currently 110000 words and possibly a bit too long). Then, when I’m happy with sections one to five, I can concentrate on the ending. How long all this will take, I don’t know. After six days work I’ve reached page 30. There are 390 pages altogether. Work that one out! Sometime around Easter? Somehow, I don’t think it’s going to be that easy ...
Meanwhile, my campaign to improve sales of BIRDS OF THE NILE is well under way. Having said that, it’s the quiet season for Lit Fests etc. and my first serious engagement isn’t until the beginning of March when I go to Kings Lynn for the weekend. When I get back, York Lit Fest will be upon us (I’m on the organising committee) and then things get into full swing. In the interim, I’m concentrating on the online area and I’ve taken the opportunity to bring my Goodreads and other web presences up to date. I’m also starting a Blog Tour, beginning tomorrow (Friday) when I’m being hosted by Susan Buchanan. She’s read the book and written a nice review (bless her). Other Blog Spots are in the offing and I have a programme booked for January. What I need to do next is focus on February.
(Committing all this to paper(?) is actually quite illuminating as it helps me see the wood instead of the trees. Of course I need to focus on February - why couldn’t I see that before?!)
And finally, in breaking news, I have today secured a regular spot on BBC Radio York where I will be joining presenter Elly Fiorentini once a month to talk about the latest books and to recommend some good reads. I’m thinking of calling it ‘Book Talk’. How inventive is that?! I’ll keep you posted.