A few more words uploaded this morning and I earned my 40,000 word badge. Only two more to go, the 50,000 ‘winner’ badge and the ‘wordcount uploaded thirty days in a row’ badge. It is quite exhausting trying to fit…
The novel is coming on apace. I uploaded another 2,522 words this morning bringing my total to 35,172. My right hand is feeling comfortably numb because most of those words have been written in fountain pen, as I do most…
Today has been full of passion. Passion for books (cataloguing and shelving my new purchases) and seeking passion for the novel. Let’s start with the new books and today’s pick from Paris is LNDN by Jens Masmann. Even without the…
Today is Remembrance Sunday and MisterMac and I have resplendent home-made poppies – thanks Cathryn! Although the UK acknowledges 11/11 as Armistice Day, we still hold our major ceremonies on the nearest Sunday, unlike the French who hold their National…
I am a book junkie. And the book-signings at PP tap into my weakness. I buy more books than I can reasonably carry, dislocate my arms getting them back to the hotel, vow never to do it again and then,…
Although Paris Photo is an impressive way to see a lot of work in a short space of time, the Grand Palais can be a bit like a zoo, so today was about sampling the edges. I had intended to…
Paris, love and cliches Did I mention I was going to Paris? The French know how to enjoy a bit of the dolce vita - or la belle vie, as I suppose one should say. They say that Paris is…
My draft girl-power post had to be binned this morning. Today, unusually for me, I am in the a-picture-paints-1000-words camp. In other news, I managed another 1,700 words this morning bringing my #NaNoWriMo2016 total to 23,944, but this pales into…
We are what we are. I am an aspiring novelist (at least for the month of November) and Evelyn Waugh was a great novelist. There is a world-wide pool of advice that tells the aspiring novelist what to do, but…
One of the interesting side observations about writing a novel is watching the adverts on Facebook and other websites adapt to my novelling-research surfing habits, which are now intense bursts of activity about the subject matter for the chapter in…
Does a good novel need good sex? Some clearly do. Where would Lady Chatterley’s Lover be sans sex? Could 50 Shades of Grey work without any fornication? But for others, I do wonder if the sex has been added as…
Today was double-up day on NaNo. And I did it! I started the day with 7,093 words and finished with 16,641. I am totally and utterly exhausted, I have dashed around Paris, fallen in love, eaten too many oysters, done…
Is it really only day 4 of the novelling adventure? I feel as though I’ve been in this novel for much longer, which, I suppose in my head, I have been. I’m slightly ahead of target as I sailed through the…
‘The connection between authors, and coffee-houses must be kept up’ to misquote Boswell. Where would Pepys have been without his visits to the coffee-houses and his shagg gowne? The latter having little to do with coffee and much to do…
My first day of my first NaNo (#NaNoWriMo2016) and NaBloPoMo and I am utterly and totally exhausted. I’d like to say it was because the phantom pen has been working a long shift to get a good start to the…
Fab evening at the Horse Hospital. Organized by Travis Elborough, starring Geoff Nicholson and friends. As I embark on the great novelling escapade, I thought I would pick the brains of the novelists around the table for useful tips on…
Enough messing around with stationery, playlists and excuses ... it’s time to get serious about this if I’m going to start and finish a novel in thirty days. Tonight I’ll mainly be character building. Despite the picture, this will not…
With twenty-three days to go until the start of The Phantom Pen, today has seen the novelling action move into a higher gear. I’ve not only done some online shopping (essential books, five reams of paper and a jumbo box…
I’ve pledged to do it … How many times have you read a novel, tossed it aside in disgust and muttered “I could do much better than that”? So why don’t you? Because it’s not as easy as it looks?…