18/10/2023 0 Comments Grass rootsLast night, after an eleven-month absence, due to my health, I returned to my regular local writing group. I’d kept in touch via emails and competition entries but it felt so good to be seated amongst the mix around the table, listening and sharing. There were a few new faces who I had the pleasure of meeting, which bolsters the numbers towards a healthy attendance. Plus, a welcome supply of homemade cheese biscuits!
I’ve spoken about this writing group several times. I originally joined some twenty-odd years ago when it had a heaving membership and we could hardly fit in our allocated space in the back room of a pub. The gathering was too big to be enjoyable, as we couldn’t sit within speaking or hearing distance of each other. It was very hit and miss as to whether you were chosen to read out your offering, which you’d worked on all month to receive insightful feedback. I regularly attended and returned home with my short story still in its folder, untouched as others had been chosen to read theirs out. I knew what I needed: encouragement and vital feedback. Although feedback can feel brutal at times, it was the only way I was going to improve with this writing malarkey. I attended for about a year, before my interest waned, annual subs were due and I didn’t renew. Fast forward twenty-odd years, and having been published for several years, I started to ask questions of myself in relation to my creativity. There was something missing; I could feel a yearning void. I had plenty of author friends on whom I could rely for a chat or support. I had plenty of time to write but still there was a niggling ‘something’. The answer was I missed being amongst the ‘grass roots’ of my creativity. I needed to be part of a local writers’ group and listen to other people’s work, enjoy the camaraderie of supporting others, witnessing their improvement, enjoying the various genres expressed and loved by others - I needed to return to my roots. This epiphany moment occurred as we neared a new year, so after a quick internet search I discovered the writing group were still going but in a different location. I vowed a return would be my new year’s resolution. It felt strange returning that first night, stranger still when two members remembered me, which was lovely. Though my ten published books came as quite a surprise! And so, I returned to the fold. To be given the agenda of meetings, competitions and events nights - to which I vowed to attend, as many as was feasible, and pay my annual subs. In the eleven months running up to my health issues, I attended every meeting, entered each competition and was duly placed 2nd in two categories. Plus, I failed miserably in the November quiz! Last night, I sat with my cuppa, listening to poetry about ‘crepe suzettes’, chatter about Stephen King novels and voting on themes for future competitions and I knew, I was back! Back to my roots as a writer, as a creative, as an expressive human being who absorbs the energy and atmosphere that surrounds her and which somehow fuels her ability to write!
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13/10/2023 0 Comments Author Q&A sessionJanet Emson has kindly offered to host a Q&A session for my latest book 'Christmas Wishes at the Lakeside Cottage' on her regular book blog. Why not take a little look and perhaps browse some of her previous 'Author Q&A' posts - you might find a new author you've never met before! Press here for Janet Emson's Blog 2/10/2023 0 Comments Daily reflections
2/10/2023 0 Comments October!October has arrived! Which means I'm planning for NaNoWriMo starting in four weeks! Yep, I am. I visited the official website this morning and have entered my project details. My working title 'R at the Lakeside Cottage'* is purely a reference for me, as titles frequently change before publication. I've started to write this story, but will pick up the pace in the coming weeks.
The goal is to write 50,000 brand-new sparkly words during the month of November - just 1667 words a day. It's a fab way to tackle a first draft which goes some way to explaining why I love October and November. When I say planning, I don't just mean polishing the post-it note planning I've already created for my current project, I mean my daily life. My home, food, pets, social life and weekend tasks - everything gets attention in October in preparation for NaNoWriMo. And, despite my best intentions, life can still throw me a curve ball! My excitement for this NaNoWriMo is heightened as my July experience was muted by my recovery; I had to rest. So I did. I am ready to join thousands of writers around the world, aiming for their word count - that's a huge writing group. For further details: press NaNoWriMo website *apologies - my working title looks like 'rat the Lakeside Cottage' - it isn't, I promise. 26/9/2023 0 Comments Going to the match - LowryWhilst writing, I tend to draw on aspects of my childhood and drip feed them into my stories. My latest book is no exception. I still love L.S. Lowry’s art. A man who could paint the ordinary occurring within every day life yet make the world stop and look at the extraordinary scene, complete with its match stalk cats and dogs! A canvas print of this painting, ‘Going to the match’ sits at my right shoulder as I type. A scene I’ve studied over many years and I still spot something new on occasion. I’m posting it because come Thursday, if you venture inside my latest book, you might wish to check a specific detail, once you reach the end of the 'Christmas Wishes' story. I wanted to provide the proof, for it to be ready and waiting for when you sought it. Yesterday, I spent a fabulous day surrounded by all things literary: poetry readings, enthusiastic speakers and a very appreciate audience in Harbury, Warwickshire. I had been invited to speak at the festival many, many months ago and had gleefully agreed when the date was a distance dot in the future. I can’t thank the organisers and audience enough, I was quite overwhelmed by the warm reaction with which I was greeted. If you’ve ever been present whilst I’ve given ‘my talk’, I am simply me, an ordinary woman. I tell you the truth, the whole truth and nothing, but the truth. I don’t try to glam it up or embellish my publishing journey to make it look pretty – you hear the truth, as my journey to publication took a long time! I start by taking the audience back to 1994! I kid you not, a few small references and those that lived the era are back there! I then move forward to the present day. The ups, the downs and the funny bits in between! Afterwards, I deliver what I always wanted published authors to tell me, as an aspiring author, when I’d eagerly attended festivals but they rarely did. Today, I tell the audience how I write, what I do, what I use, how I lay things out, my toolkit, my hours, my likes and dislikes of the entire process. I tell them, I don’t hide it – it might help someone to complete a book – so I openly share. And that’s my joy! I try my hardest to ‘give back’ because if you’ve followed my journey or heard ‘my talk’ you know other generous souls gave to me! If you haven’t heard ‘my talk’ or heard ‘my shares’ as an aspiring author then my next talk is Redditch library on Saturday, 30th September 2023 starting at 11am. See you there! 20/9/2023 0 Comments New book - book 14!Finally, I've started to write my new book for the Lakeside Cottage series. I've had to overcome some stumbling blocks this month like the driveway incident known as 'I'll never do again', a cast of characters who didn't like their chosen names or was that me? Plus, a few days of copy editing which didn't go as I wanted but hey ho, I'm there now. This morning, I wrote a thousand words straight off in one sitting. My fingers were dancing across the keyboard just as fast as my brain could give instruction - well, almost. The names thing threw me, as I'd chosen the entire cast from my collated list but after days of mulling them over they didn't gel as a group. That probably sounds mighty weird if you aren't a creative bod, but others will get it. I'm a funny one regarding names. If they sound clunky, or prickly, or too mellow, or too pretentious it doesn't sit right with me. I've got to live with these people for the next five months or so. It's the first time that I've thrown the entire cast out though, usually I simply replace the ones that are irking me. This time, I started from scratch by going on walks to my local graveyard and reading the inscriptions on memorials and headstones, searching with fresh eyes. That gave me three of the six names, I needed. A TV series promo gave me another. The royal family another name. And a Facebook post named my final character - which is a surprising but beautifully unique choice, as I'd never heard of it being given as a name before! Don't say you're surprised by my choice of unique names - you know I love um! So, I've made a start with writing book 14 - which is excellent. Though I am still polishing book 13 which I desperately want to hand over by 30th September. Though I do have a good excuse for juggling both, given that tomorrow, 21st September, London Writers' Salon are launching their 100 days until the new year challenge. 'I can write draft 1 of book 14 in that time,' she says! 15/9/2023 0 Comments Coping with a deaf dogAfter months of close observations, it's become apparent that my writing assistant is suffering from partial deafness. It appears to be in his middle range, as he still responds to high-pitch or low sounding noise. My normal speaking tone falls into the void. To be fair, after nearly thirteen years together - I don't blame him for switching off to my jabbering! He's been my constant companion, whilst I've written each of my published books. Though he sat beside me without passing judgement during my early attempts too. It's quite sad seeing him jump in surprise when he doesn't hear me approach or on waking, when I have to tap or stroke him to gain his attention. He's always been an attentive dog, but now his little button eyes rarely leave my face. I'm grateful that his puppy training had included hand gestures, as it's these which I'm now relying on. Though he's clearly learnt to cope by knowing my routines and associating specific objects as signals anticipating commands, actions and events throughout our day. I suspect he's probably been doing that for a while, before I realised the issue. Good job the opening of his 'treats' cupboard doesn't appear to be affected - now, that would be a disaster! They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but I beg to differ; he's responding nicely to a range of new hand signals and whistles. 14/9/2023 0 Comments Did you know ...
6/9/2023 0 Comments September challengeI'm back at my desk today. Starting my September challenge a little later than planned, after the weekend's incident. I tried working yesterday morning but my brain wasn't ready to settle. But today's different, I'm back! For Book 13, I've spent the morning writing a new chapter to fill a current gap. Which feels like a pain when you're writing within parameters of the plot but has given me space to drip feed a few additional details about all the characters. With the new project, I'll be spending the afternoon sifting through character names. I'm not loving the couple I'd already selected so I may well start from scratch with the cast. I'll admit to having certain criteria for naming bods in my books. There are certain letters of the alphabet that I dislike the phonic sound of - they get rejected immediately. I have the proverbial list of 'I know them in real life names' which I'll never use due to association or fear of offending. Then I have my long, long, long list of 'I love that name' names which I attempt to ration myself but usually end up selecting at least one. Or three! Yeah, I've squeezed three into book 12 - ha, I try and kid myself that I show restraint but I don't. I can't. I flex that artistic license when it comes to naming characters. Update: After browsing my usual naming books and choosing a cast, I ended up wandering around my local graveyard. Don't act so shocked - you know that I do that. I love graveyards for various reasons: the names, the carved masonry/statues and the history. |
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