CATCH UP

My apologies for being away for so long.  There are several reasons.  The first was that I felt I had nothing more to say about writing.  There are so many blogs around that I knew I would not be missed and I cannot see the point of just writing for writings sake or to fill up a blog - and we all know blogs like that!

So what have I been up to.  I finished my new novel and I am in the process, a bit slow, to edit it.  My agent suggested odd changes and tweeks here and there.  I doubt I’ll ever learn for when I sent it off I KNEW there were weak areas but was too idle to do anything about it.  Of course my agent picked up on the self-same parts.  Inner voice, as I’ve said before, is the best tool we have.  Don’t be like me, listen! 

There was another factor.  You can get fed up with a novel.  I seem to have been writing this one for ever.  I would start it, work for a week or two and then go off on a tangent and do something else and then when I went back to the work in hand I found I had forgetten what I’d done and have to reread and redo.  And it gets boring.  When that happens I have to put it away again for the simple reason that when feeling such emotions I risk conveying it in my writing and thus to my readers and that would never do.

The distractions have been quite big ones.  Letting people know that “Sex, Lies and Parkinson’s” the documentary I helped with was to be shown on Channel 4.  It is done.  The reactions were strong, those who liked it were very keen, those who didn’t were evangelical in their disapproval.  The aim was to raise the public’s awareness that young people can get Parkinson’s too, it isn’t just old people who suffer.  Vicki, whose story it was, has had a lot of stick, since she told of her sexual and monetary problems, caused by her medication, with honesty and openness. I admire her it took courage to speak so.

I took a writing course at Chez Castillon, in the Dordogne.  www.chez-castillon.com   What a week that was!  It is a magic place and I cried when I left and longed to stay and to go back.

The other distraction has been getting my backlist up on Kindle.  I gave up in the end, beaten by technology and instructions which seemed to make it worse.  Fortunately I was told of a wonderful Indian company who are doing it for me.

Apart from my novel - working title “Illusions” - I am working on a How to book; a collection of articles I’ve written over the years; last, my autobiography.  I’m busy!

Publishing is having one of its periodic panic attacks.  Serves them right this time.  With Kindle and Smashwords etc. we can publish our own.  I shall certainly have a bash at it.