My New Local

I am finding that, in this busy life, if you want a little peace and space then you have to schedule it... Accordingly, I am experimenting with a little scheduled space for myself on a Monday evening. Usually I catch my 2 trains home... a trip of 2 hrs, and fling myself happily into family life as soon as I walk in the door.

We are trialling this system of a Monday night space and time...we'll see how it goes. I have found this rather elegant little lounge bar, generally empty on a Monday night, where I can set myself up in a corner of the sofa, drink at hand, a little music, enough light without being intrusive.

I feel so civilised! I write and write and before I know it it's time to catch the late train.

With a busy day job, marketing Crisp Whites for all I'm worth and a busy family life, this little apppointment is magic!

Time for Writing??

It's been a big week for me, blog-mates. Lots of good things have happened... my mum took delivery of the first sale copy of Crisp Whites and that was exciting. I have had to come to grips with the bucking horse of marketing - thank goodness for my planning-mad hubby! Just to keep me on my toes, work has been hectic and the family has lots going on. Is there anything wrong with wanting to live several lives at once?

Novel 2 is waiting for me, though... something is gonna hafta give!

Characters!

Is there anything more fun than trimming and moulding and sleeking a character until it leaps off the page and takes the plot off in an unexpected direction? Sometimes I front up to the keyboard and think to myself ‘where will the story go today?’

This happened regularly while I was writing Crisp Whites. Based (very) loosely on my experiences when I joined the Navy, I found myself needing to create meatier back stories for the characters... things that I may have not had a clue about with regards to some of the real folk I spent time with... Of course, once a character has a detailed back story, they have motivations... and away goes the story! To find that some plot twist eventually wove together other happenings was often a wonderful surprise to me.

Crisp Whites tells the story of Nina Yusof’s initial training – the most life-changing six months imaginable. More than once, Nina feels doubt – what has she gotten herself into? All of her assumptions about herself; her life, her work and the nature of love, are turned upside down. She is challenged, exhausted and far from home, but she is tougher than she realises...

Need a break from the every day? Run away to the Navy with Nina!