suttope

Sound the Retreat!

This weekend I’ll be attending my first writing retreat (but not my last as I’m also booked onto Milford in September.) I’m not entirely sure what to expect but aim to create a revision plan for Certainty and write the first draft of at least 1 story for Museum (and maybe more!) as well asContinue reading “Sound the Retreat!”

Everything is banal and jejune (or what I learned about writing by growing a beard)

When my beard was short I got a lot of comments that I looked like this guy Last year I let my beard grow (mostly – it does get tidied now and then) And now I think I look like But what lots of other people think I look like I mean, obviously a lotContinue reading “Everything is banal and jejune (or what I learned about writing by growing a beard)”

So long 2019

This year was mainly filled with procrastination (although I am well on the way to having two books to hand in this year & I did edit an anthology but that won’t be out until next year either) so my round up is on my reading: So my goal was 5 books off the TBRContinue reading “So long 2019”

The dark half

And so Bristol Festival of Literature is mostly over – just 1 event left, a fringe one: Sky Light Rain in which Judy Darley will launch her latest collection and the great and good of Bristol’s Lit Scene will gather and chatter. BristolCon went past in a happy whirr – as usual I don’t feel that I didContinue reading “The dark half”

The Once and Future Con

Last weekend was the Clydebank FantasyCon (not Glasgow by any stretch) which was fantastic. It took place in a pretty weird hospital hotel – which, just like the Scarborough venue, would work as a horror film/book setting. I did some programming (Special thanks to Kit Power who organised Tales of the Dark which was a brilliantContinue reading “The Once and Future Con”

100 Days to Write a Novel Day 100

In a real way I’ve failed. I have a half novel, a novella, and not a novel at all. However, I’ve learned a few things – the most important of which is that I can’t write every day (even if I wanted to) and that some targets are millstones not milestones. The Certainty of DustContinue reading “100 Days to Write a Novel Day 100”

100 Days to Write a Novel Week Thirteen

The penultimate week The MS stands at a couple of hundred words less than 35k. But the work I’ve been doing on it this week isn’t really reflected in wordcount. I’ve been doing a lot of highlighting (what’s immediate scene, what’s narrative summary is one highlighted file. The different character’s dialogue is another) and markingContinue reading “100 Days to Write a Novel Week Thirteen”

100 Days to Write a Novel Week Twelve

Day 82 18 days left 32477 words which is around 400 words a day (almost) “For more than three years I wrote more than 400 words every day. I mean, every calendar day. If, in those pre-portable days, I couldn’t get to a keyboard, I wrote hard the previous night and caught up the followingContinue reading “100 Days to Write a Novel Week Twelve”

100 Days to Write a Novel(la?) week eleven

I did a bad thing. I should be at 55k now, I am a lot less than that and it’s because of the bad thing. As I’d slowed, a lot, which is usual in the middle slog, I went back to the beginning and re-read. And edited. And lost a few thousand words. Oops. OK,Continue reading “100 Days to Write a Novel(la?) week eleven”

100 Days to (Not) Write a Novel

Another week has flown by and another disappointing wordcount. I’m still behind, at less than 40,000 words when I should be on 50,000 at this point. Ah well, blame politics – I’ve not been able to tear myself away from Twitter and news sites for the absolute shambles that’s on display. It’s been simultaneously hilariousContinue reading “100 Days to (Not) Write a Novel”