Approaching the pinnacle - a NaNoWriMo update

For me, this, the third week of the National Writing Month, has been the most difficult to date.

On Friday after I'd reached 25,000 words and got myself another badge (hurrah), I decided it was time to have a bit of a celebration. After a very late night with friends, Saturday's word count was the lowest to date, just below the 1,000 mark. No more celebrations and late nights I decided, and on Sunday I managed my usual 2,000 words.

On Monday I just couldn't get up at my customary NaNoWriMo time of 6am, and when I sat at my desk at 7am, words just were not presenting themselves to me.

Whenever this kind of freeze (or writer's block for want of another term) happens, I do what my MA in Creative Writing tutor told me, 'Research, research and research.' In those days, more than ten years ago, research meant getting out of the house and into a library or newsagents, or out onto the streets. Though I sort of miss those days, being able to go places without leaving your desk is so much quicker and easier.

After an hour or so on Google Streetview and reading hairy newspaper reports on Royal Navy courts martial, I managed to write 2,000 words as usual. But it wasn't easy and took me the whole of the morning. The poor terrier had to wait until 11 am for his walk, whereas almost every day during the first two weeks of NaNoWriMo, I've been done by 9 o'clock.

Again today, Tuesday, day 17 of NaNoWriMo, the words just didn't flow. After an hour I'd produced only 600 words, so I decided to turn things around. Instead of waiting until the words were done for the day, I had breakfast and took the pooch out for his walk, and decided to return to my writing later. When I sat down at my desk again, with a second coffee of the day, I managed to get up to just over 2,000 words.

Walking the dog, it occurred to me that I'm approaching what I know will be the centre of the novel. The action needs to reach a pinnacle - a sort of eruption where the main characters come together in a either disastrous or a happy plot twist. I know what this twist in A Navy Wife is in broad terms, but I really, really want to make it good, and this must be what's blocking me.

Of course when I think about it, none of this is new. I must have at least five novels in my virtual desk drawer that I've lost interest in around the 30,000 word mark. There is something scary about getting past that word count. It's as if this is where the novel becomes a reality, and you have to know what you are going to do with the plot and the characters. You also know if the novel is going to be good or not at this stage - or you think you do. It's that old friend, Internal Critic, who starts to play a part, and before you know it, you've convinced yourself that the work you've done thus far is rubbish.

But the strange thing is that unlike my previous novels, I know almost exactly what is going to happen in A Marriage Adrift. I even know what's going to happen in the next novel in The Englishman -series. Having read back a few chapters I also think (in my humblest of opinions) that A Marriage Adrift is going to be alright - possibly my best writing yet. So what is my problem? I wish I knew....

Writing can be so frustrating sometimes - or all the time!

Anyone else have similar experiences?

Advice for New Writers Part 3: How Long Does it Take to Write and Publish a Novel?

This is number three in a series of posts about writing and publishing fiction. You can find the previous posts here.

How long does it take to get your novel into print (or out in ebook form)?

Writing a novel takes time. How long a first draft takes to produce is highly personal, but at the end of the day, it's all about maths. In the summary below, I've used the minimum time each stage will take, so please use it as a (very) rough guide only:

If, say, you write 1,000 words each and every day (including weekends, Christmas Day and so on), it'll take you 70-100 days, or 2 -3 months to complete the first draft of you manuscript. If you write, say 5 out of 7 days per week, this will become 3-5 months and so on.

• Writing 1st draft: 3 months

Add to that the editing process. Your own edits can take two or three weeks.  If you use a professional editor, who has to fit your novel into their schedule, this will take a couple of weeks. Then there are the rewrites, if these are required, and the final proof read. Tip: If you are confident about when your final manuscript will be ready, do book an editor (and proof reader, interior layout and cover designer - see below) well in advance. This will save you valuable time in the publishing process.

•  Editing: 1 month 

If you send the novel out to be read by a number of readers, something which I highly recommend for the first novel at least, this will also take time. Beta readers are valuable source of reviews, which will gain your book highly important visibility online. But you cannot expect anyone to take less than a month to read your masterwork.

• Beta readers: 1 month

Finally there's the interior layout and cover design (if you're outsourcing this part), which, if you've managed to book these in advance, could do the job within a couple of weeks. There are pieces of software which can do the inside design for you, like Scrivener, and you can also design the cover yourself. (I am a great advocate for a professionally designed cover, but that's another discussion.) If you want to publish your book in paperback as well as in ebook form, getting a proof copy and stock sent to you will set you back another two weeks (minimum).

• Cover, layout and interior design and paperback copy: 1 month

If you want to go down the traditional route, you can add another 6 months easily, while you submit to agents, and if lucky enough to be picked up by one, sell the book to a publisher. Note, however, that here anything goes. After an agent has sold your book to a publisher, it has to slot into the publisher's schedule and marketing plan. They may not, for example, want to publish two books in the same genre one after another, so your novel's publication could be postponed by a number of months.

• Submit to agents and sell to publisher: 6 months

I've written and published a book every two to three years, which seems like a very long time, but in traditional publishing this is quite a normal speed at which fiction is published by one author. Some manage a book a year, others, like for example Mills and Boon authors, are required to write at least two per year. (Mills and Boon novels are usually a little shorter, in the region of 50,000 words)

• Total for the indie route = 6 months
• Total for the traditional publishing route = 12 months

As you can see, it's just about possible to publish two novels per year if you are very committed, disciplined and organised. But remember, this is only a very rough idea of the process. I'm also talking about independent publishing versus traditional, but the lines between the two are blurring, as the self-publishing market grows and grows. But more about this in later posts.

There are many ways to speed up the process of writing that all important first draft. I'll talk more about this, and about where to find the motivation and inspiration for your writing in part 4 which will be up on this blog in early December. In the meantime, I hope you've enjoyed this part of Advice for New Writers and tune in to the next one!

Happy writing and let me know how you are getting on. Please feel free to ask me about anything at all, and I'll try my best to answer your queries.

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Advice for New Writers Part 2: I've Completed the First Draft - What Now?

Last time in this series of posts about what to do if you have an idea for a book, I talked about reading in your genre and writing as much as possible. Today, I'm going to talk about what to do when you've finished the first draft.

What to Do When You've Completed the First Draft?

When you've completed a manuscript, the first thing you need to do is CELEBRATE!

Well done, you've written a novel!

But the next day, you need to get down to work again, and start editing. This is my least favourite task of the whole writing process, but we are all different, and this might be something that you particularly enjoy. It is, after all, easier to make something of something that already exists, rather than create the words and stories out of thin air. That work is now done.

Remember, the first draft is just that - a draft. You need to use all your powers of objectivity, and check that the plot, characters, dialogue, and back story work. You need to fact check, make sure all the place and character names etc. are used consistently throughout the novel. You need to make sure that the style of the novel is right for its genre, and of course, you need to check for spelling, grammar and point of view. The more of this work you do now, the less of it is left to your editor. (If you want to employ a professional editor, that is - see below)

There are a lots of editing help online, start by checking out the ALLi blog and site here.

How Many Drafts?

Unless you are a very skilled at self-editing while you write, the first draft will be one of several drafts. I think all of my books went over the ten draft limit - one of them, The Red King of Helsinki, I completely re-wrote on the advice of an agent. I basically wrote two novels on the same subject!  Coffee and Vodka was part of my MA in Creative Writing course work, and this novel too went through many versions - it even had a different title for a while. The Englishman, my third novel, was born out of a series of blog posts, written in first person. For the novel version I changed the POV from first to third, and added a little more back story. So, anything goes as long as you remember what Hemingway said...

Who Should Read Your Manuscript First?

Once you've edited your book, around three or more drafts later, it's time to show your book to some-one else. I tend to show my early drafts to my husband - he does the first corrections, and also tells me if the book is any good or not. This, as you may imagine isn't the happiest of solutions, but it works for us (and we are still married after three novels and many, many drafts). 

But, apart from a very critical and honest partner, I would strongly advise you not to show your work to family and friends for evaluation. They will not give you an unbiased opinion, simply because they love you. Even unwittingly, they'll think the novel better and funnier (if you wish it to be), or tragic (if that's what you're after) than it is.

Instead, try to show your work to some-one who doesn't know you and who will give you a brutally independent opinion. Because, when it comes to sending your baby out into the world, it will be bruised, or rather the criticism will bruise your ego, so why not begin with constructive criticism from just a few people? Criticism, which you can follow or not, according to what you yourself think. It's your book after all!

It's quite easy to find people you don't personally know, but whose opinion you value, online. (I'll be talking about the importance of networking in a later post). Because my first published novel, The Englishman, began as a series of posts on this blog, I was lucky to have several people who'd already read bits of the book and were willing to read a draft, and give their honest opinions on it.

So, just go ahead and ask. The worst reply you can have is a 'no'.

I asked about ten people to read The Englishman manuscript, and three of them actually read it. Some didn't reply, some said they would read it, but didn't come back to me. This is just something you have to accept. Reading and critiquing your work is a huge favour, so be nice about it, even if the response is negative or there's no response at all. As an author, you are always under scrutiny, especially online, so be polite, and don't take rejection personally. Developing a thick skin is one of the most valuable skills you can learn. I'm still working on that one....

Editor or No Editor?

After you've shown your work to as many people as you can,  (but remember it will take time for people to read your manuscript, so if you're in a hurry to get it published, think about who to ask well in advance), and you've made the necessary corrections and edits, it's time to have an experienced editor to have a look at it. 

Even if you consider going the traditional publishing route, i.e. finding an agent, who will find you a publisher with an editor, I'd recommend using a professional independent editor to look at your manuscript before you approach an agent. Professional editors can make a good manuscript into a brilliant one, so they're worth their weight in gold.

How to Find an Editor?

There is a list of editors on the Alliance of Independent Authors site - this will cost you money, but is well worth it. If you don't use one on that list, beware. The rise of the independent author/publisher has created a whole industry wanting to take advantage of an ambitious would-be author, so make sure that the editor you choose comes with proven credentials.

Can I Self-Edit?

Having said all of the above, there are ways in which you can make the final edits yourself. There are several websites and books written on the subject. If you don't have the funds to invest in a good editor, I think this is a viable route. Personally, I find it difficult to see some of my own spelling mistakes, or even plot issues in a manuscript which I've written and rewritten over and over, but this is just me. Many indie authors edit their own work very successfully, so it's more than possible to do it yourself.

I hope you've enjoyed my advice for new writers so far. If you missed Part 1, you can read it here. 

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Next month, I'm going to be talking about how long it usually takes to write and publish a novel. This post should be up on Friday 6th November. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please comment below, I'd love to hear your stories and how you are getting on with your writing!

Advice for New Writers Part 1: I have a great idea for a book - what should I do next?

I must be getting old, because I am often asked for advice about writing by young (and not so young) authors, who are just starting out, and wondering what they should do to get a book out and published.

Last week, I was speaking to yet another one. She had an idea for a book, which she was visibly excited about, and a great urge to write. She told me that she wrote each night after work - she even had a particular time of the night when she'd sit down and write. It was a pleasure to give her tips on how to proceed, and our discussion inspired me to share some of the things I told her about the industry, and about writing in general.

These are my own personal pieces of advice, learned through being part of this rapidly changing book world for the past ten or so years.

For those who wish to know if I have any credentials to pass on such advice, I can tell you that I've got a MA in Creative Writing; I've had various run-ins with literary agents in the traditional publishing area; I've been a book-seller and now I'm a proud self-published author and an active member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, as well as reviewer of Awesome Indies. I've published three novels, two of which are AIA accredited. I'm Chief Editor of the Finn-Guild magazine, Horisontti, and have articles published in various magazines.

This will be a series of blog posts about what I've learned so far. I am mainly talking here about fiction - I've yet to venture into the world of non-fiction (i.e. factual books)

Here is the first one of these blog posts, in which I'll try to answer the question:

'I have a really good book idea, what should I do next?'

Someone said that every person has a novel inside them, and this may be true, but what separates a writer from an aspiring writer is that the former has completed a manuscript in their (virtual) desk drawer.

A manuscript is what an unpublished novel is called, and for a full length novel this should be a minimum of 70,000 words. Opinions differ on the maximum, but I think if a novel is twice this, i.e. 150,0000, you should seriously consider cutting some words.

But, let's not jump ahead. How do you write 70,000 coherent words that make up a novel?

Practise makes perfect

I am a strong advocate for hard work. The more you read, and write, and read again, and write again, the more skilful you become. Of course you'll have to have talent for writing, a nose for a good story, and an aptitude for being able sit down and work at your manuscript, but the majority of the 'luck' any author has, comes in the form of hard work.

Read books in your own genre

Many people on my MA course were sceptical of genre as a concept. I think it was popular then (10 years ago) amongst English students to think that they didn't fit into any box, that their writing was unique.  I myself fell into this trap, only realising when I eventually decided to become an indy author, how important it is to present the world with a unified picture of yourself and your writing. (Author branding is a complicated subject which I'll come to at a later post).

If your writing is unique (which is very rare), then you'll have invented a new genre. That's how simple it is. But for the most of us, who write in a specific genre, in order to sell your novel, you need to know what kind of book it is, what kind of people will want to read it and so on. I cannot emphasise it enough: you need to know the genre your novel fits into.

Once you have decided what kind of book you want to write, find authors who write in that genre and look at how they've constructed the story; what's the style; how do the plots work. It's often the case that a new writer wants to write the kind of books that they enjoy, but many established romance writers, for example, enjoy detective stories and vice versa. Sometimes they've even tried to write in this other genre, but it just doesn't suit their style.

Write and write again... 

The more you write the better your writing will become. Writing is like any other art form, or craft. You wouldn't expect a baker to turn out perfect loaf on his first try, would you? Or a painter to be born with the perfect strokes? Both need to practise their craft, and/or be taught how to bake and paint. And then they need to practise this craft. For some reason writing is considered by some (especially in the traditional publishing industry) a craft that cannot be taught, or practised, but I strongly disagree. Why would this art form - or craft - be any different from any other?

So, the first task of any budding writer - before he or she even considers how to publish, is to sit down and write the best manuscript you possibly can.

If you really want to write, and enjoy telling tall or not so tall tales, just write. For me personally, it's as important as breathing  - and I wouldn't be the person I am if I didn't write. It's a compulsion, a drug that I just cannot be without.

Happy writing!

Next month I'll post about what to do when you've written the manuscript - how to find an editor and who to send your manuscript to.

What are your characters wearing?

A few years ago, during a critique session on my MA in Creative Writing course, a fellow student pointed out that I often described what my characters were wearing in some considerable detail. This wasn't a criticism as such, she said, but just something she'd noticed. (We’d had a lot of lessons together as this point) Her own short stories were a completely different style to mine - much more abstract - and she said reading my work made her go back and check that her characters were in fact wearing clothes. That she wasn't inadvertently writing stories with naked people in them.

I was thinking back to this conversation while (trying to) write the sequel to The Englishman, but being constantly distracted by email offers from various online fashion stores. Because, as you may have noticed by now, I am a bit of a fashion addict. Not that I pretend to know anything about fashion, but I love looking at designer clothes.

But I digress. What I wanted to know is, is it important to describe what the characters in a book are wearing?

Obviously, I think so.

What she or he wears says so much about a person, doesn’t it? I don’t wish to put my characters into in neat little boxes according to their clothes (a caricature is a dirty word in writing circles), but I think it’s fun to describe the nuances of a character by their outfits.

In The Englishman, for instance, I needed Kaisa to immediately fall head over heels in love with Peter, so I gave him a sexy uniform to wear when they first meet. (OK, this part of the book was based on actual events, so I didn’t make it up, but you see what I mean?).

In Coffee and Vodka, I described the different characters of the two sisters, Anja and Eeva, in the way they carried their clothes.  Anja is a much more flamboyant and confident girl, while Eeva is a bit of a dreamer and less sure of herself. When the two girls were dressed by their mother in identical stripy Marimekko t-shirts and white trousers, for their ferry journey across to Sweden, Anja’s outfit made her look like a young Brigitte Bardot, while Eeva felt her clothes were too big for her, and shapeless.

In The Red King of Helsinki, Iain, the English naval officer turned spy, struggles to wear clothes warm enough for the harsh Finnish winter, while my seventeen-year-old sleuth, Pia, is highly fashion conscious. Pia’s clothing oozes confidence while Peter’s lack of weather awareness shows a worrying level of incompetence.

Of course clothes and the fashions of the time serve well in reminding the reader of the period the book is set in.  Because the story in Coffee and Vodka straddles two eras, it was important for me to dress Eeva appropriately when we meet her as a grown-up (professional, compassionate teacher of Swedish). Later I also use her clothes to show how her attitude to herself and to the people around her change. I won’t reveal any more of the plot, because I don’t want to spoil the ending, but if you’ve read the book, I’m sure you’ll see what I mean.

So, while I’m just nipping over to Net-a-Porter to check out today’s new arrivals, instead of writing, I’ll be secure in the knowledge that this is just research, and not at all a pleasure...

What do you think? Is it important to know what the characters in a  book are wearing?

What kind of character
would wear this Miu Miu spotted coat?
Image: www.netaporter.com

A-Z Blogging Challenge: G if for Genre

My theme: Writing and the Business of Writing

Before I started taking my writing seriously, I was almost allergic to the word genre. For one it just seemed so pretentious somehow; it was a word used by Melvyn Bragg on the South Bank Show, not a word an ordinary person who loves books would ever utter. I mean, how often do you go into a bookshop and say, 'The genre I'm particularly interested in is…' OK, as a former bookseller, I know there are people who'd say just that, but I hope you know what I mean?

During my MA in Creative Writing, however, I became aware that genre was something I needed to take seriously. During my first tutorial, I was asked what my genre is. The tutor must have noticed my panic because she said, 'Who's the writer you most love and wish to emulate?'

At the time I was obsessed with Ian McEwan and William Boyd. The tutor gave a lopsided grin. 'Ah, literary fiction.'  I was glad I'd at last found what my aspirational genre was, but was a little puzzled by the tutor's reaction.

It was much, much later when I discovered, that:
a) Literary fiction is the most respected and high-brow of any literary genre
b) It's the most difficult genre
c) It's a genre you have to earn like a badge of honour
d) All authors considered part of this literary fiction genre were at the time (and still largely are) men. (More about women v men in the publishing industry under another letter).

I have since written several books which, if you ignore the literary fiction genre, could be classed as:

1. Romance (The Englishman) 

2. Family saga (Coffee and Vodka)

3. Spy thriller (The Red King of Helsinki)

To have written books in several genres poses many problems for a writer (unless you're of the William Boyd or Ian McEwan ilk, when whatever you write is literary fiction).

First of all, if you do wish to seek representation with an agent, he or she will want to know your writing genre. Same with a publisher.

It's also universally acknowledged that readers prefer authors to keep to one genre only. Readers, according to the publishing industry gurus, want to read the same book (only slightly modified) over and over again. I would strongly refute this, but at the same time, anyone who knows anything about marketing knows that, while building a brand, it's difficult to sell products which fall into totally different categories.

So, with all this in mind, the next big question I should ask myself is not which of the 3 or 4 half-finished manuscripts I should complete, but which of the above three genres I should concentrate on?

And you thought all a writer needs to do is put pen to paper…

The Next Big Thing?

I’ve been invited by Chris Chalmers, author of the wonderful award-winning novel, Five to One (he blogs at www.chrischalmers.net ) to take the Next Big Thing questionnaire, where authors talk about what they’re publishing next.

So here goes...


What is the title of your next book?

Pappa's Girl 

Where did the idea for the book come from?

The idea for Pappa's Girl first came to me when I took part in a non-fiction seminar during the last term of my MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. I immediately thought of writing about Finns who emigrated to Sweden in the 1970's. Instead, however, a story about a fictional family grew in my mind, and I wrote a short piece for my next class. Eventually on firm advice from my excellent tutor, Lucy English, I changed my MA project at the last minute and started writing Pappa's Girl.   

What genre do your book fall under?


Romantic fiction.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

This must be the most difficult question! I think I'd love to see Finnish actors 'do' all the parts but really couldn't tell you who. Can I take a rain check on this one…?

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Emotionally anaesthetised by her displaced childhood, and her parents' violent break-up, Swedish teacher Ulla learns how to love and be loved through going back to her Finnish roots.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?


Pappa's Girl will be published on Kindle later this month.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Three to four months. Finishing it has taken me years, though!

What other book would you compare the story to within your genre?

There is an excellent Swedish novel on the same subject, Beyond, by Susanna Alakoski. It's much darker than Pappa's Girl.  The novel has also been made into a film starring the then married couple Noomi and Ola Rapace. (You may have noticed I have something of a crush on Ola, but I digress).

Who or What inspired you to write the novel?

The inspiration for Pappa's Girl came from my mother. Although the novel is not biographical by any stretch of imagination, I wanted to write about some of the difficulties I knew she had encountered when she first moved from Finland to Sweden.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

As well as a story of love, Pappa's Girl, also shows the reader, through the eyes of an 11-year-old girl, Ulla, what it's like to move to strange new country, where according to her beloved Pappa 'everything is bigger and better'. 

And that's it! I hope you enjoyed reading about My Next Big Thing. I will now pass the task of answering these same questions to another writer. Next week in the spotlight will be the veritable authoress and blogger extraordinaire, Karen Gowen.  
I look forward to reading about her new project.

William Boyd and a new James Bond book

William Boyd - picture from BBC.co.uk

I heard some brilliant news on the radio this morning. One of my very favourite writers, William Boyd, is going to write a new Bond book. I loved his latest novel, Waiting for Sunrise (my review is here), and although I'm very much looking forward to the new book, it got me thinking about the recent rush of well-known writers who've written sequels to famous novels, or who are writing novels using a well-known character.

The grand dame of crime, PD James, wrote a sequel to Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice, Death Comes to Pemberley, last year. Just a month before that, in October 2011, the hugely popular children's writer, Anthony Horowitz, came out with a new Sherlock Holmes book, The House of Silk. Both books did very well on the best seller lists, as did the previously produced Bond book by Sebastian Faulks, Devil May Care. So you might say William Boyd is onto a good thing...

But, but.

None of the above writers need publicity, nor (one would hope) are they in the business of writing something just for the money (or I may just be naive).

So why do it? Why take a well-known character and write a story for him/her? Have these prolific writers run out of ideas?

In the case of PD James, who at 91 surely now does exactly what she wants rather than what is asked of her, writing a sequel to Pride and Prejudice had been a life-long ambition. This showed in her excellent book, which in the foreword has a posthumous apology to Austen, who herself had said that if she felt Pride and Prejudice needed a sequel she would have written it. So a task and half, then, to write a sequel against the original creator's wishes.

When interviewed this morning, William Boyd said that he was honoured to be asked by the estate of Ian Fleming to write a new Bond book. He was introduced to the glamorous spy by his father and having read the books, loved them all. Boyd has even included Ian Fleming as a character in one of his own books, Any Human Heart. When asked if it would be 'like wearing a straightjacket' to have to write in a specific genre and style, Boyd said, 'No'. He added that it was rather as if another writer had given him permission to play with his toys.

And there, in once sentence, Boyd explained to me why so many writers have a fascination with famous characters. What I would see as a writing exercise (if you've ever taken a course in creative writing at some stage the tutor will get you to copy another writer's style), Boyd and perhaps the others, view it as an adventure in writing.

Whatever the case, I cannot wait to read the new Bond book, which according to Boyd will be set in 1969, and will be an old-fashioned spy thriller. If that doesn't whet the appetite of any James Bond fan, I don't know what will.

National Novel Writing Month

Because I have so much time on my hands (hah!) and because I ONLY have three unpublished manuscripts lying unloved at the bottom of in my virtual desk drawer, I've decided to take part in this year's National Writing Month.

The idea is simple, 30 days, 50,000 words. Not hard at all...?

No need to send for the men in white coats; this is something I've wanted to do for a long, long time, or at least since I took my MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa in 2004.

So just wish me luck! I will keep you posted on my progress, both with words (if I have any left) and with Word Count Scoreboard.

Me as a Desperate Housewife

Desperate Housewives Photo: Sidereel.com

Some thirteen years ago we swapped our house with a family in LA and spent three weeks in a suburban Desperate Housewives-type cul-de-sac, in a house with a kidney-shaped pool in the back yard. 

I was asked to do a guest post about this experience on Graham Norwood's excellent Propertynewshound website, and writing the post made me remember that the holiday also generated an idea for a novel. 

The manuscript reached only about 30,000 words. I guess real life got in the way again, but I still remember the awful feeling in the pit of my stomach that the plot (I'd conjured up) gave me while writing it.

When we visited San Francisco during the holiday, we went on a trip around the Golden Gate bridge on a small tourist boat. The children were nine and seven and we had no life-jackets. The weather was quite stormy and I remember that I spotted concern in the Englishman's eyes (real of imagined) when the waves began to overlap the sides of the vessel.

I started writing the manuscript as soon as we got home. This was a few years before I took the MA in Creative Writing so I really didn't know what I was doing, but I can still remember how strongly I felt about the story. I imagined a couple whose marriage was falling apart, a fatal accident, deaths in a foreign land and the tragic return home to England.

Although my MS was written years before the Desperate Housewives was dreamt up by American TV Executives, the US soap reminds me of it. Perhaps I should dig the story up from some remote corner of my computer disc and make it into a full MS? Or perhaps I should let sleeping wives lie...

But getting back to reality for a moment...do pop over to the excellent Propertynewshound site and read my guest post. I hope you enjoy reading what actually happened on that holiday.

On writing and working

I met some-one today who described his neighbour like this: 'Oh, I don't think she works - I doubt she's ever worked - she told me she writes, you know...'

Yes, I thought to myself, I do know.

Just at this moment there are builders in the house who find it incredibly difficult to understand that their shouting to each other in the stairwell (one on third floor outside our door, other on ground floor) might disturb me. That I might be working. Because a few months ago I made the mistake of telling these same perfectly pleasant (but noisy) men that I write. I am most probably being paranoid, but the words of that man today just made me shudder. It's exactly how I expect the builders to describe me to other people. I feel like shouting above their voices to them that I do actually work all the time; some days (and evenings) in a book shop and the rest of the time I blog and write. The latter of which is the hardest thing I do.

Then, I read an article by Keith Clarke in the wonderful London (mostly) Foodies Daily Bugle (where my blog is featured - hurrah!) on how he thinks music journalism isn't really considered work either, and I thought there's a theme here.

Is writing, whether it is for publication (and money) or not, really working?

Of course I am, like so many unpublished authors and bloggers, yet to reap the financial benefits of my writing, but even so, I still consider I'm working when I'm writing. How else would an author who's serious about their craft start his or her career if not by putting in some unpaid hours (days, months, years, decades...)?

And for me writing isn't something I choose to do - God knows I tried other careers (Accountancy!) - I just cannot help myself. Any spare moment I have I turn to this blog or a manuscript. I remember discussing this compulsion to always start yet another manuscript, even if the last one keeps bouncing back from agents and publishers, with a fellow (equally suffering) unpublished writer from my MA course.

'I don't know what I'll do if this agent doesn't take me on,' I said.

'You'll start another novel,' she said, in such a matter-of-fact way that I laughed. I knew that's exactly what would happen; how ever much I'd tell myself that I'll give the writing just one more year. I'd promise myself (and the Englishman) that if after that I'm still unpublished I'll start making frocks, or cakes or pretty greeting cards, in fact do anything that would make money. Once I even decided to get another Accountancy qualification. Yes, you can see I have been desperate to stop writing. But time after time, I give in and start yet another blessed novel. I may be crazy but I don't think I'm lazy...

My mother's cat, who looks like a lay-about, but I know puts in a regular night-shift.

And my photographing disturbed his well-deserved nap...

Tampere in the summer

During my holiday I made a quick visit to my hometown, Tampere, with the Englishman, Daughter and Sister, to mark a significant birthday. The weather was absolutely stunning - hot and sunny - making this old industrial town appear frivolous and fun.

We stayed in a hotel as there were so many of us. I chose a place close to the centre, the Sokos Ilves Hotel which was also recommended in the Conde Nast article I wrote about here. It's a multistory building, ugly to look at, but the views across Kehräsaari and the two new bridges across Pyhäjärvi from the (pleasant enough) rooms were stunning.

The view from our 18th floor rooms

I've written before about the incredible light in Finland in June. Because I'm so used to living in the UK where even in the summer it gets dark at a reasonable hour, on holiday I found it really difficult to sleep past the three am sunrise. Equally in the evenings it seemed strange to go to bed when it was still light.

In Tampere we decided to live according to the sun, and sleep as little as possible, so off we went in the evening to find a watering hole. Surprise, surprise, there were quite a few like-minded people out on the town...(OK, two....)

A pigeon had settled on the head of one of the imposing statues on Hämeensilta bridge

This is how light it was twenty past eleven at night. It's no wonder us the Finns drink so much; in the summer it's too light not to celebrate with a glass or two and in the winter it's too depressing not to have a drink...ok that's one of the most contrived excuses I've made up for our behaviour ever.

My grandmother had her business on the top floor of Tempon Talo (Tempo House). Isn't it a beautiful building?

The bar was by the water's edge.

Next morning was another stunning day, and as we headed out of the hotel I couldn't resist taking the classic shot of Tampere: of the rapids which used to power the two large factories in town, Tampella and Finlayson.

We walked along the water, past the men fishing (in the centre of a Tampere!) to the Cathedral where I, more than 25 years ago now, married the Englishman. That day was a similarly hot and sunny one.

This church means so much to me I have to go and visit it every time I'm in Tampere. It has wonderful frescos painted by Hugo Simberg, a pupil of Akseli Gallen-Kallela. 

'Interesting medium,' said the Daughter and peered at one of the pictures depicting skulls and dead gardens. I thought how fleeting life is when one's youngest can say such grown-up things. (The other day she started a sentence 'I remember when I was a teenager...' What the????)

When I was a child we'd come to Tampere Cathedral every Christmas Eve. Sitting on the balcony next to my sister, full of anticipation of the imminent visit of Father Christmas, I'd look at the haunting images and wonder what kind of awful lives these children must have had. I wrote a short story about one of the images, the Wounded Angel, during my MA in Creative Writing a few years ago. Unfortunately during various moves and changes in computers, I've lost it. The image still haunts me, though, as does this city.

The balcony was closed for renovations (I presume) so I could only photograph the painting of the Wounded Angel from afar.

Here is my favourite fresco in all its glory.

It's all just a game of battleship

Image from Google images

I do sometimes wonder if I should give up this writing lark. I keep asking myself if I'll ever get published (properly I mean - I'm not counting anthologies). What's the point in trying to become a better writer and constantly sharpening your pencil, writing manuscript after manuscript (I'm on number four), if all that work just ends up in a dusty computer file somewhere? However much I try to be one of those confident, persistent unpublished writers who, time after time, submit their work and shrug off the rejection letters and emails with an, 'oh well,' while they compose the next agent's cover letter, I still get terribly upset by a simple 'no'. To me each submission is like a love letter to an agent. I cannot help but feel utterly devastated when after a few months I get a rejection, or my approach goes unanswered. (This is the absolute pits: an agent who fails to pen a short answer to a serious submission by a prospective client should be burned at the stake.) A rejection makes me crawl deeply into myself and submit less, and less, and less, until I'm in a situation where I'm only waiting to hear from one person, or have no outstanding submissions at all.


Then I think, 'Come on, be a grown-up'. I do after all know quite a lot about the publishing process. I have an MA in Creative Writing, I read trade magazines, follow various writers', agents' and publishers' blogs and work in an independent book shop. I understand how difficult the market place is at the moment, how the shift from printed to digital material could turn the whole industry upside down. I also know that many successful writers were rejected hundreds of times; such as J K Rowling, Barbara Kingslover, C S Lewis, to name but just a few. I know I should take rejection just as another 'not at this address' hit. It's just a game of battleships, as  Savannah J. Foley so brilliantly describes in this post on Let The Words Flow -blog. A rejection only means that instead of finding the right home for my work, I've narrowed it down by eliminating an agent who doesn't get my writing.

Because however much I try, I cannot stop writing. It's like a disease, or a drug. It makes me feel at peace, it drives me mad, it irritates the hell out of me and it makes me a better person. I've written here before about how I feel writing a novel is like having a tumultuous love affair, and that about sums it up. My home may be a mess, my financial affairs unkempt (for an accountant), my family neglected, but I'll always finish writing my latest novel. Unless, of course, I fall out of love with it, in which case it just wasn't meant to be. (I've lost count of the partly completed manuscripts littering My documents -folder).

Watching the lovely and very talented singer, and until last night an X Faxtor contestant, Treyc Cohen, on telly this morning, I was amazed at her graciousness and positive attitude. After only hours after being so remarkably - and unfairly - rejected by the X Factor judges, there she sat on the sofa and said she knew she'd be a success and would not give up her singing career. Goodness, I admire this girl. If she can do it, so can I.

So here I am today, going back into the fray (don't tell me if I've said this before): I'm going to make regular submissions. Today, or perhaps tomorrow; definitely by the end of this week. 

Wish me luck!