Hard to believe it’s November – although the weather is making a valiant effort to convince me! It’s windy and bleak out there today, and I’m glad I’m indoors looking out. On the writing front, I’m approaching the final section of the current book (whose title I’m still not at liberty to reveal, I’m afraid – but soon . . .) As ever, it’ll be a relief to get to the end and hand it over at the beginning of December. Don’t let anyone tell you writing a book isn’t a slog, however enjoyable it can be at times: there are plenty of other times during the process when I’m at the point of pulling my hair out, and wondering for the umpteenth time how I ever thought I could write . . . the insecurities are never far away! But even though I’ll be glad in one way to finish, I know I’m going to miss my characters, because I always do when I wave them off. They’ll be back, of course – my editor will read the draft and send me her notes, and I’ll be diving back in at the start of January, fixing all the weak spots and hopefully ending up with a book I’ll be happy to attach my name to, and that readers will be happy to read.
In the meantime, I have no fewer than six Christmas cakes baked, and waiting to be iced – that’ll be my first job in December, when the book is handed over. I bake for a few different households every Christmas, and enjoy it – baking is great therapy after a day of writing, but I could do without the icing – it’s definitely not my forte! My finished cakes never look great, but hopefully the taste makes up. (Pic shows two of the cakes in the making.) After that I want to revisit a little children’s picture book I wrote earlier in the year, to tidy it up and fine tune it before handing over to my agent to get her thoughts. Fingers crossed . . .
Right, time to hunker down and get today’s quota of words down. Hope you’re cosy, wherever you are. Don’t hesitate to get in touch through the Contact page if there’s anything you want to ask, or tell. In the meantime, take care until next month,
love
