Sadly Missed

I was dismayed to read in October's issue of Writing Magazine that Jean Saunders passed away in August.

Jean was a prolific writer, both of short stories and novels and wrote under several names including Rowena Summers, Rachel Moore, Jean Innes, Sally Blake and Jodi Nicol.

She was also a regular contributor to Writing Magazine as well as teaching creative writing courses.

Her advice through the magazine has been invaluable to me over the years and in 2005 I was fortunate to attend one of her weekend courses at the Writers' News House Party in Harrogate.

The weekend itself was blissful. At the time I had a very young family and to be able to indulge in a whole weekend of writing was a dream come true (still would be in fact).  I met so many lovely people including Deric Longden, a favourite author, who was guest speaker on the Saturday evening.

But the highlight was Jean herself.  I found her to be a wonderful, warm person who gave me so much insight into the world of writing for women's magazines.  She was a natural born teacher and inspired everyone of us in the room that weekend. 

When reading a piece of my writing out to the class I remember her asking, "Have you been published?" and when I admitted that I hadn't her answer was "Well, you should be."

Since then, whenever I have been in doubt about my ability, and there have been many times, those four words have inspired me to keep going.

So thank you Jean, wherever you are, you have been an inspiration to my writing life, and you will be sadly missed.

Linda

Ten Random Things

Hi all

Thanks to Teresa for the tag.  (Hope the link works). I don't think I've ever been tagged before so it's an honour.

So here goes - here are my ten random things:

1. I can't sing, dance or play a musical instrument so I'm banking on writing as "my special talent".

2. I believe in fate and that somewhere there is a masterplan for everyone (OCD kicking in again). But I am convinced that fate has played a part in keeping me away from a few potentially life threatening situations.

3. I love to cook but never find the time to experiment.

4. I am fascinated with history and have often wondered about reincarnation.  I would love to try out past life regression under hypnosis but am too chicken.

5.  I am completely hooked on Nescafe Mocha coffee sachets.

6. I have a tendancy to be a glass half empty type of person but am doing my best this year to see a glass half full.

7. My parents weren't exactly flush when  I was growing up and I'm grateful because it has taught me the value of money.  I would much rather save for something than to buy it on credit.

8.  This weekend my 12 year old niece had a sleeopover at my house.  I realised that I don't feel grown up enough to have sole responsiblity for someone who is as tall as me.

9.  I have always wanted to fly in a tiger moth aeroplane but like 4. above, I am far too chicken.

10.  I love blogland and all the people I have met here. 

Thanks Teresa for tagging me, I've enjoyed coming up with ten random things.

By the way "random" is the in word amongst my ten year old son and his friends at the moment. Everything is random!

New Term, Fresh Start

September and the boys are back in school!

I’m sure they don’t view this with quite the optimism that I do (I know for a fact my eldest doesn’t) but I’ve always liked September.

For the last few years it’s been a bit of a relief to be honest. The summer holidays are my busiest time at work, which also coincides with my husband’s busiest time. Whereas he assumes the mantle of work as usual, I’m the one who has to organise childcare and work as well. It’s a bit of trauma but I always manage it somehow. It does annoy me slightly that whilst everyone is going on holiday or chilling out in their jim jams until lunchtime, I’m running round like a headless chicken. But hey ho, I’ll get my own back by going somewhere hot in February while everyone else is shivering in their boots.

But now it’s back to routine which, whilst including numerous after school activities and taxi service, at least allows me to plan my day better. And my routine.

September has always been more of a fresh start for me somehow than January. Perhaps it’s because it always used to signify the start of fresh learning and new opportunities. Working in the education sector now, that is doubly so. A typical writer I’m thrilled at the prospect of new notebooks, files and pencil cases. Yes, I know I’m sad but I bet a lot of you reading this have the same fetishes.

And so for a new masterplan which is:

For the rest of the year I intend concentrating on short stories, fillers, reader’s letters and possibly some articles. After spending the first half of the year on my novel I feel the need complete something which doesn’t take so much time. And of course the more stuff I get out there the closer the odds will be on getting my name in print. Not just that but at the moment I need some short term satisfaction with my writing.

I have received my critique back from the RNA. At first I was a bit dismayed by how swiftly it was returned to me. As I only submitted it at the beginning of August I had prepared myself for a long wait.

Sadly, it didn’t get a second reading but once I’d picked my spirits up off the floor I found that the critique was really useful. It’s highlighted the need for a lot more work on my script and whilst that’s disappointing, unfortunately I have to agree with the majority of the feedback.

But it's better to know than not. In saying that, I think I’ll put it in a draw for a while, gain some perspective and then get back to it with renewed vigour in a little while. So it's off to my short stories ideas file, and perhaps a new notebook to fill?

 

Happy autumn everyone.

Who Do You Think You Are?

I’m really enjoying the new series of Who Do You Think You Are? The line up is just great and so far the past lives which have been revealed have had me gripped.

There’s something about family history which really fascinates me, as it does a whole lot of other people. Its amazing to find out how the decisions made by people who are long since gone, have a direct impact on our lives today, sometimes even down to the fact that we are here at all. What about if your great, great grandfather hadn’t emigrated? Would the family line have died out? Or what if he hadn’t been caught stealing a chicken because the family were starving and transported to Oz to set up a whole new bunch of descendents?

 

Of course it helps when you’re a celebrity and you have a whole heap of historians searching for you, explaining to you the information they have found and showing you what impact it would have had on your ancestors’ lives. But perhaps that takes away the fun of becoming a private detective on your own life.

I’ve always considered myself very lucky and am very proud that I have my own family tree at my fingertips. It actually goes back to the time of William the Conqueror which is no mean feat by anyone’s standards. Unfortunately, I can take no credit for this whatsoever.

The original research was complied by George Ormerod who was a historian living in Cheshire in the Victorian era. He wrote a major account of the history of Cheshire in which my ancestors happened to be prominent.

It turns out that one of my ancestors helped to collect data which went into the Doomsday book and for his efforts was awarded the township of Mere, which lies just outside Knutsford in Cheshire. The family name has changed in its spelling over the centuries but originates from this place. Sadly the family hit hard times and were forced to sell up. They continued to be prominent in the area though which is why the line was traced by Ormerod. I remember years ago going to Chester library and opening up the huge book where the family tree and his findings were contained. The book now is too fragile to be handled and has been transcribed onto a CD which I managed to buy from the records office. Now I have the information at my fingertips. It’s not quite the same though.

Later a cousin of my dad’s took up the mantle and updated the family tree from where Ormerod left off, with my younger brother being one of the last entries. It needs to be updated now to include the next generation and this is something I hope to do when I have time.

It’s really good to have this information to hand, but really I think this is just a starting point. The births marriages and deaths are vital statistics, but they don’t tell you how these people lived their lives or what they were like. And that’s the bit that fascinates me. I would really like to find out more but sometimes I feel as though I have too much information. Where would I start? The beginning or the end? It’s not a complaint more of a conundrum. And as ever a question of time. One day soon maybe, I’ll unroll the scrolls of paper and really get stuck into my own history. You never know what I might find.

Summer Break

We’re not going on holiday this summer. We’ve already had two holidays this year so I’m trying my best not to be greedy. It’s hard though when all around you are downing tools and jetting off to distant lands. It’s even worse when they come back tanned and relaxed from a week or two of sheer indulgence while I’m here juggling work, childcare and home and feeling decidedly stressed.

To make us all feel as though we weren’t so left out, the weekend before last I booked us on a mini break. To Bromsgrove.

‘Bromsgrove!’ I hear you exclaim, ‘Why Bromsgrove?’

Well, for a start is not too far to travel but far enough away from home to feel as though you’ve had a break. Secondly I got a really good deal at the Hilton Bromsgrove; £60 a night bed and breakfast for a family of four and kids eat free in the restaurant at any time. Evening meal for the adults was moderately priced at three courses for £20. To top it all there were no family rooms left so we had two interconnecting rooms which meant the boys had a room to themselves complete with TV and bathroom. They were really chuffed! The staff at the hotel were lovely too, they couldn’t do enough to make our stay pleasant and there was a fantastic swimming pool with splash time so that the boys to really muck around. I can’t recommend it enough and will definitely go back.

Another reason to stay was that close by were two places I had wanted to visit for a long time: Warwick Castle and Cadbury World.

Entry to both of these can be a bit pricey so I did a bit of sleuthing and found some online discounts and paid for the entry before we went. It does commit you to having to go on a particular day regardless of the weather, but it saves a fortune. Well worth the time and effort to find out in advance.

Here we were lucky again because the weather on Saturday while we were at the castle was fantastic and on Sunday we were mostly inside so it wasn’t that important that it had gone a bit grim.

This is the view as you go into the castle. I don’t know what it is about castles but I just love them. We often go to visit Beeston close by and even though it was a castle used for defence and was never actually lived in, you can almost feel the history seeping out of the bricks.

Fancy getting married? On our way out, we saw a wedding party coming out of the church and I bet the reception was being held here. How about that for a memorable setting?

Throughout the day there were lots of demonstrations to keep us entertained. Here’s the jousting:

And the rebels coming in by boat.

A view from inside the castle grounds:

And what better way to end the day than putting the kids in the stocks.

We were taken back in time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The boys were really looking forward to going to Cadbury World. I found it fascinating to see how chocolate was brought to this country and how a small family developed its manufacture to become such a well known brand. Not only were they ahead of their time in the manufacturing process but also in the way they treated their staff. Unusually for the time they thought that if the staff were treated well the owners would benefit too. So they built the workers a village with affordable, good quality housing and a social structure which would inspire loyalty. The cricket ground is still there today and the houses are still owned by the association to benefit people in the local area.

That part might have been a bit factual for the boys but they bore it well. They enjoyed tasting the samples and walking round the packaging factory and the smell was just to die for.

We also had a trip around the area where chocolates are hand crafted. I saw a pair of stilettos there, made completely out of milk chocolate, being decorated in white chocolate (sorry I couldn't get a pic). I would say that is the ultimate female combination – shoes and chocolate.

Also entertaining was the archive of TV adverts – they certainly brought back some memories.

Finally before our journey home we visited the shop and stocked up on cut price goodies.

And now begins the exercise regime!

Nothing Is Ever Wasted

I’ve rambled on quite a bit in this blog about “the novel” but I thought that I would blog today on how it came to life.

The novel is a contemporary romance set in central London in the world of catering and currently has a working title of Truly Scrumptious.

It began life many, many years ago (ouch more than I care to remember), when I first started out writing. Then it had a title of Kitchen Dreams. It was intended for Mills and Boon and in my enthusiasm I quickly dashed off three chapters and a synopsis and sent it winging on its way. Needless to say it landed right back on my doorstep in a scarily short space of time and the answer was of course a resounding no. I promptly consigned it to a drawer and although I have moved several times and the folder has moved with me, it has never been opened. Even now.

In 2009, watching the final of Masterchef I was inspired by a young woman who was a private chef working in London and so my heroine was reborn. Rather than meeting her hero solely through her present business though, I decided to give them a shared past and several problems to overcome from that past when they met up again.

At that point I was in the middle of writing something else and didn’t have the time to do anything with it. From time to time though, random thoughts would ignite and I’d scribble them down.

Last August I decided that I would like to take part in NaNoWriMo, the challenge to write 50,000 words in November, which I had completed the previous year and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to resurrect my book. To help me along with way I read two books – Love Writing: How to Make Money Writing Romantic or Erotic Fiction by Sue Moorcroft and See Jane Write: A Girl’s Guide to Writing Chick Lit by Sarah Mlynowskie & Farrin Jacobs. Both were invaluable in helping with the plotting process and by November I was ready.

If I have some idea of where I’m going I find it quite easy to get the words down on paper. I have a tendency to overwrite but I think that even if they aren’t the right words at least they are there. Having the November deadline forces you to keep going too, so by the end of November I had completed the requisite word count and pushed myself in December to have a rough first draft of 72,000 words.

To give myself another deadline, I joined the NWS with the RNA and after a break of a month began editing. As you will see from my last blog, the editing process was harder than the first part, but it has taught me a valuable lesson. I came across a jotting in my notebook today. I’m not sure where it came from so I apologise for not be able to attribute the quote but it sums up my recent experience perfectly: “Writing is a labour of love but editing is a love of labour”. Whoever said that was spot on.

It just goes to show though, that nothing is ever wasted, and even if I didn’t use the words from that very first novel, the idea was useful. One of these days I’m going to be very brave and dare myself to read that very first attempt. And when I’ve picked myself up off the floor (either from crying or laughing) I will probably throw it in the bin. It's served its purpose now after all.

It's In The Bag!

Finally, I’ve finished editing the novel – well, at least for the time being anyway. The package is now in a large jiffy envelope and later today will be winging its way to the RNA’s New Writer’s scheme.

I feel released, like a great big boulder has been chipped off my shoulder. I will admit that the editing process has taken me rather longer than I had anticipated and at times, as each self-imposed deadline passed without a completed manuscript, I was beginning to wonder if I would even be finished by the end of August; the RNA’s final deadline. I also have to admit that it’s not the completely perfect manuscript I had envisaged it would be. But it’s the best I can do for now. I don’t expect miracles from this submission – I can’t imagine anyone snapping this novel up and giving me a three book deal, but I’m looking forward to receiving an expert’s opinion on it and at least see if I’m on the right track.

This is the beauty of the New Writer’s Scheme. For £100 not only do you gain membership to a prestigious writing society but you also get feedback on a full novel, which I certainly think is value for money. I will be able to give a more knowledgeable account of this experience though once I have received the feedback of course. But for the time being I’m just glad to have achieved my aim and am looking forward to concentrating on other writing for a while.

It’s been a long hard slog but I got there in the end. Roll on the edits!