I'm still not entirely sure how it got to April. But I'm enjoying the longer days and the brighter sunshine that April brings (well, it has done today anyway!). I had hoped to do some spring cleaning, with new wardrobes built in the bedroom, but they're not ready yet so the clothes are still stored in all the wrong places and the bedroom has one bed and a table lamp in it!
So this weekend was crammed with work instead. The proofs of the latest title arrived rather late after a mix up in delivery so I had to do a rush job on those to get them back to my Editor by this morning. But I managed then and
Indebted to Moreno is now in process, ready for publication in October this year. The next delight ( I hope!) is seeing what the cover looks like.
Today has been spent looking at and planning the next course with Relax and Write. This will be at a new venue for me - the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester. I've never been to Cirencester so I'm looking forward to seeing what it's like. I've heard good reports.
The course - Beginning, Middle and End, Planning your Novel runs for the weekend of 15th - 17th April. It's getting well booked up now, but I can still squeeze in some more students if you've been thinking about coming but haven't booked yet.
Was your New Year resolution to 'write that novel'? Did you start out hopefully, wanting to write the story that was burning in your head ... only to find that now you've slowed down. Come and join a group and gain new inspiration. This course will teach you how to plan out your novel so that you have a much better idea of where you're going and how to create the best read possible. All inclusive fee £245 includes Sunday Lunch.
I always have so much fun on the weekend courses - as well as getting a lot of writing done! - so I'm looking forward to this a lot. And as I've just signed a contract for two new books, I'm going to find it really helpful for planning out my own new stories along with all my students.
Details can be found on th
e Relax and Write web site here.
I've been asked for the details of courses following the April one - so just to let you know that there is another course running in May in Swanwick.
. So here are the details:
13 - 15 MAY 2016 at THE HAYES CONFERENCE CENTRE SWANWICK DERBYSHIRE
All inclusive fee £249.
'The Writer's Repair Shop' with Kate Walker
A course for those with work in progress.
We've all been there - getting that nasty feeling that some things are not quite right with the book we're working on - but what's the caused it? And even more important, how to fix it? Problems that Kate will look at: Where to begin your story. Writers' Block and ways to break through it. Characters who don't come alive - how to sustain them as 3 dimensional beings. The sagging middle. Letting your story slip away from you/ lack of belief in what you're writing. Tropes or Cliches - it's all been written before. Individual voice. An excellent course.
I'm joined by the Babe Magnet in Swanwick (and in Cirencester too) so this is the course he's running:
Writing Non-Fiction' with Stephen Wade
Stephen Wade is a multi-published freelance writer, author of 70 books on true crime (modern and historical), genealogy, military history, biography and poetry. He has taught English and Creative Writing for over 25 years and currently lectures part-time at Hull University. He has contributed to Writing magazine, most Family history magazines and many other journals.
The aim of this weekend course is to work on producing a synopsis and sample chapter. Here, Stephen Wade will offer guidance in writing your synopsis for the non-fictional work you are developing. The course includes examples and case studies from Stephen's own writing.
After these two courses, I have a moment to breathe (and write!) before I head for Writers' Holiday in Fishguard in July.
But before then I have a dreadline . . . help!
So I'm specially grateful to Marie Frances who shared the article in the Guardian about her childhood writings and those of her sisters, Emily and Anne, because this is exactly what I wrote about in my MA thesis ('Fantasy and Prophecy') all those years ago, just before I got married. ...It seems to be the time to have started sharing that with my friends recently - yes, Sallyann Halstead? (Hope you're finding it interesting) And I'm planing on meeting my friend Noelle in Haworth very soon. All roads lead to Bronteland? 
I have wonderful memories of speaking in the school house where Charlotte Bronte taught - as part of the Festival of Women's writing in Haworth in 2011. But my proudest moment was knowing that the archivist at the Parsonage Museum had asked for a copy of my Modern Romance reworking of Wuthering Heights - The Return of The Stranger - for the collection in the Museum.
