Tying up loose ends
Book 3 is written, pending type and proofread. Next job is a rewrite to the start of Book 1, following the critical reception a the Writers club.
then I will send out the letters again and try and get the elusive agent! Whils in the background Book 4 beckons, I want to see how the son gets on. strikes me he's in a pickle, getting himslef in a love triangle already!
BBC appreciates a paragraph
Just thought I'd mention my tiny success of sorts on the BBC website. They recently published an article on 'the alternative tourist map' of Britain based on celebrities. They asked for nominations from people and published the 20 best online. I'm one of them. Hooray!
Ok, so a life of literary excellence may not beckon and I didn't atually win anything. I'll probably find it difficult to weave a saga out of it, but hey! It brightened up an otherwise bad day. So, jump in your cars and drive to ....
Cape Cornwall
"A rocky promontory near St Just, owned by the National Trust. It symbolises all things Cornish; the mine ruins, the rocky headlands, the rolling green fields. From the top you can look along the coast or straight out to the Atlantic, next stop North America. On a summer's evening, you can sit with your back against the old smelter's chimney and watch the gulls race across the seascape. The gentle warm breeze in your face is in sharp contrast to the angry white surf on the rocks below. Priceless."
I forgot to mention, they used to smelt arsenic up there...
A quick poem from the archives in the style of...
Twas on the morning of the September the first
When the wind howled like it had been cursed
That I saw a man with a wooden shield
Get off the train from bonny Wakefield
But why, thought I this shield should he bear?
and so it was I continued to stare
at the man with the wooden shield,
getting off the train from bonny Wakefield.
And so it was with bated breath,
I went to the man, who didn't look deaf.
and said 'my good man, I hope you could tarry
and tell me of that shield that you do carry.
'The man looked me up and down, then said'
Get thee hence or I will break tha head'
and so it was he went away
and left me in complete disarray
Oh shielded man, I must conclude
I must have caught you in a bad mood.
the reason why, I could not have said.
But what was the axe doing sticking out of your head?
I salute you shielded man for your tirade
and in my memory you will never fade
for it was on that morning so jolly
that I met my first complete wally.
and so, i must conclude my text
and consider what I should write of next.
Perhaps I should write of the bridge of the silvery Tay
That stood there majestic until the day,
it fell.But to that, i shall not give it my all.
I shall leave it to my mentor, William McGonagal.
Instead I shall think of the man with the shield.
Are they all like that in bonny Wakefield?
Things to do...
It's my birthday and I'm tardy with my blog.
Life catches up and either you have things to do with house and children or you feel so tired all you want to do is veg. or so i feel at 45...
Joined the Leicester Writers Club, very good too! I am looking at visiting once a month and perhaps making a reading of some work. On manuscript night, you can read up to 2,000 words and then people give their honest opinion. I read the first 1000 words of book 1 and well, yes and no. There was a lot to think about in terms of how it felt. Good opening, but slow on dialogue. Quick flash forward to narrator's present stopped the flow etc. I need to have another look.
I also was aked to consider writing the chapter in 3rd person to see how it felt, which i will try. Finally, there were conflicting messages on the colloquial voice. that's always been a dilemma for me. If I have one too honest, the use of 'like' and 'right' and 'innit' would swamp the dialogue, but I opted for a sort of midway and try not to make it too English - it's set in Mid Wales after all!
In the emantime, I have rached Chapter 21 at Book3 , so close to the finish and an interesting part of Owain's life. i need to finish it and then address these points or maybe do a bit of both.
Lots of things to do...
