It’s been a while. Christmas came and went. I finished the first draft of my 2nd novel. It’s called The Darkness in Light – but that might change. I like it. It’s short. More like a long novella if I’m honest. I’ve thrown out two complete story lines. Perhaps it can be a trilogy.
I’ve got patella tendonitis. It’s frigging painful and I can’t run. Every two weeks I give a physio £35 and he bungs in four needles (acupuncture), rubs it with an electro-massage thing and then straps it up with vivid blue tape. The tape un-glues over the next five days until I can bear it no longer. I rip it off and I’m getting to like the pain (the hairs that were there are long gone). I think (I hope) it’s getting better. I’ve no idea whether to thank the physio or if it’s just down to me not running on it. Probably more the latter, encouraged by Mr Physio and the chunking out of cash.
So, it’s the 2nd February and what have I got to show for the year so far? Well, apart from the above, work (as in paid, real work) has been busy. January is world bowls, summer bookings and entertainment planning month. Four days off in the last 31 days. So writing, as in at least an hour a day, has gone by the wayside. I have put in a couple of long stints when the family were asleep and I was too wired to join them, plus some half hours here and there. That’s what got n2d1 (novel 2, draft 1) finished – that and some heavy stints between Christmas and New Year.
Oh, and I’m doing a digital marketing certification. It’s 10 hours a week for 8 weeks. It’s a bit ‘american’, but there is some solid content that will be useful. It’s just another slice of the week that means the family and any form of relaxation have back-seated it, more or less with understanding grace.
Rattle Tales accepted my flash fiction piece and I will be performing it in Hove on Thursday 11th February. Bit of a bugger really. I had hoped my longer piece would have been accepted. It’s a long way to go for 240 words. But, my sister’s story was accepted too – so it’s going to be a bit of a family affair and so I’m putting the drive down to family time and my performance to deserved R&R. I should be fun.
Next on my agenda is to finish the n1d2 (The Providence Clause). I’ve thought through everything and decided on a 2 x pov construction – so I’ll hammer out the hard edit over the next month and get down to sentence detail after that, with a plan to have it completed by Easter. At which time it will be back to n2 for consideration of the next draft. I probably won’t write any short stories, but will look to edit a couple of my favourite unplaced ones and actively look for homes.
That’s it, I think. Adieu.