Another party!

I'm enjoying myself at a virtual party today as Janice Horton launches her new novel -

 

 

Some of us attending the event have said we'll put up a photo of our favourite place on our blog.

 

Here's mine!

 

Where else could I choose but Bute - on a good day,of course, with warm and sunny weather !

        Unfortunately Bute today is no better than anywhere else in Scotland - wild and windy with rain and      sleet coming in on the south westerly winds - in spite of the promises today would be better.

               Didn't Shelley say something about 'Oh, wild west wind, thou breath of Autumn's being'?I guess the seasons are now so mixed up no one knows where one begins and the other ends. 

I'm so pleased that at least I have these photos to remind me of summer days on the island.

Back to Reality?

By dint of ignoring everything except writing I managed to complete 50020 words for NaNoWriMo by the evening of Monday 28th November.
The dust was inches thick, the washing piled up and the fridge, like Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard, was bare, but the new Bute novel is well on its way. Lots to do, including at least another 25000 words, but I'm feeling reasonably happy about the plot and the characters. Now it has to be put on ice for a while.
Meanwhile there are entries to be written for the SAW conference, short stories to be tidied up and my neglected diary to fill in.
Oh... and the small matter of Christmas!

The tension mounts!

Well, all attempts at writing a daily blog have of course gone! NaNoWriMo had to be abandoned for several days while I prepared a submission ( a completely different novel) for the Scottish Association of Writers conference next March - the deadline is 25th November so hopefully it won't disappear in the post.
Not to mention struggling with a tax return! Now where did I put those receipts?
Back to NaNoWriMo today and am now at 25,500 words. Can I make the final word count by the 30th November??
Time will tell!

Excuses...or not?

I've had a busy week including a great evening talking to the North Bute Literary Society and now have to buckle down to increasing the word count. Just over 25000 words written but I'm running out of time as NaNoWriMo is more than half way through. Can I keep going?

I've found the plot!

Hoorah! The main plot of the NaNoWriMo novel I'm writing has resolved itself and I at last have a good idea what happens(though not yet who did it). This way of writing is pretty haphazard but I just can't plot before I start as many other writers do.I have to let the characters behave as they wish -and rein them in when they become too uppity.
Now I have to deal with the subplot and that always causes me a lot more angst. Still, today I'm at almost 20000 words so if I can keep going.......

Where is the time going?

Almost half way through the NaNoWriMo and at just over 17000 words. I now have this  terrible need to keep going in order to make the target, but life is crowding in!
Most of what's happening is pleasant (except for the trip to the dentist) including a great night on Tuesday at the Erskine Writers' dinner, of which I have the privilege currently of being President. Joan Fleming took some great photos of the prize giving event and Rosemary Gemmell has written about the evening in more detail on the Erskine Writers' blog.


This year was very productive  for me and I won the Quaich for the children's story, the Betty Munnoch award for poetry (and my other poem was second) plus I came second in the Article competition.
This yearly dinner and prize giving is one of the highlights of our year: good company and good chat!

We meet on Tuesday afternoons but postal members are very welcome.More details can be found on our website www.erskinewriters.co.uk

The Missing day

While I managed the word count yesterday (mostly written on the ferry!) I didn't manage the update. Have to try harder I suppose. I'm now at over 16000 words and if I manage a day with no distractions (little hope of that!) I 'm trying to convince myself I'll soar ahead.
The researcher Tara is causing me a bit of bother - I think she knows more about the bearded man than she says!