2017 - the possibilities are endless

Happy New Year to readers of the Scribbles, wherever you may be!

There's always a strange feeling around New Year, isn't there? It's like a full stop in an otherwise unpunctuated page, a point where you pause, take a breath, turn back to look at what went before, then look ahead with a mixture of trepidation and excitement at what might be coming next.

So I'm sitting here now, looking back on an unforgettable trip to India; remembering a serious operation for Mr Squidge; how I learnt to sail; at my first novel published; at precious time spent with family and friends; at political upheaval, terrorist atrocities and untold human suffering; at the gift of parenthood to several who'd been waiting for SO long... Moments of pleasure and pain that have been and gone and I'm a different person because of them all.

And looking forward into 2017?

'New' is going to feature highly in the Squidge house this year, I think.

Mr Squidge is planning to build a garden room - supposedly a writing den for me, though I have the feeling that it'll be used by everybody apart from me if the stove, pool table, band rehearsals and parties planned for it are anything to go by! (It's not even built yet!). Mr Squidge and I are also contemplating the upheaval of a new kitchen after doing very little to the one we've had since we moved into our house 25 years ago. The lounge also needs a new carpet; it's threadbare in places.

There will be the new experience of having a child go to university, assuming everything works out the way Squideling J hopes it will.

I will have a new novel - Kingstone - mid-year. (Will there be another book besides? Not sure yet, as Crystal Keeper's Daughter stalled somewhat thanks to me falling ill back in September and the writing mojo's only just coming back with fuller health)

The rest is unknown. I have no idea whether the spaces in-between those events will be filled with laughter or tears, with success or failure, with beginnings or endings.

The possibilities are endless.

So look for possibilities in 2017. Seize them with both hands if you are able and make this year a year to remember, so that when we're sat here at the same time next year, we can look back on a year well lived and forward to one ripe with potential.

Being lazy - again!

The last week has been totally hectic because of the church flower festival. The only writing I've managed are blogs about the festival over on a different blog site, so forgive me if I send you over there now to have a peek at what's kept me SO busy!

Having said that, I'm hoping to get a bit more of Kingstone drafted before I go to York for the Festival of Writing  - yes, it really is that time again! - and the evenings are drawing in, so I can cosy up in the lounge with my notebook and pen...

There's also the StarMark competition - got to find a winner!

So I'll leave you with storytelling in flowers for now and come back to you when I'm writing 'properly' again.

Kingstone gets a cover!

Delighted that my second children's novel now has a cover!

Kingstone tells of Katia's fight to become a priest in the Temple of the Triple Gods; the cover shows the symbol used for the gods of sun, moon and mountain. The book is due for publication June 2017 and you can find out a bit more about the story by following this link to Dragonfeather Books...

Holiday time for Squidge and StarMark!

Me and StarMark have been on our holidays!

First up, a family holiday in Menorca, learning how to be competent crew on a sailing boat. 

Overlooking the harbour in Mahon

A quiet moment whilst sailing

Everyone needs something to read on the beach...

The black lizards of Isle de L'Air preferred
eating tomato to books...

Returned home and within twelve hours, was packed and off to Charnwood 2016, the Leicestershire Scout and Guide International camp. 

Bedtime reading...though not for long!
Find out why in a later blog.

I will blog about both separately, but at the moment I'm still catching up on:

a) the washing that only a seven day camp can create (x3 - me and the Squidgelings) 

b) sleep and 

c) emails and news about Kingstone.

Catch you later, once the washing's done!

A teensy weensy announcement

This is going to be short (like me) and VERY sweet!

I am delighted to announce that my second children's novel - Kingstone - has been signed by Dragonfeather Books, an imprint of US Indie publisher Bedazzled Ink, who've recently published StarMark.

The ink's not wet on the contract yet so I don't have much else to tell you at the moment, other than I'm pleased as punch that Bink are willing to take on my second novel before StarMark's proved its worth.

I'm looking forward very much to introducing you to Katia and her story at some point in the future...

Moving...

Well, not me personally. Things in general, especially (thank goodness) the writing.

You might remember that a week ago, I posted briefly about something I wanted to write not going well, and that the fresh look I was taking at Rurik had stalled too?

I'm pleased to say that since then, Rurik's going better. I've cut around a thousand words already, and the story's feeling a lot tighter and faster-moving. Interesting that some of the characters are behaving a bit differently too... Maybe I'm just getting better at letting them tell their own story, rather than directing it for them?

I'm not sure whether the end result will be worth the rewrite, but there will definitely be improvements made! As I read through, marking up a paper copy, I found myself writing 'bleurgh!' or 'boring!' or 'ugh!' or 'rethink' next to certain sections.

Now, I thought the story was good. I have worked on it A LOT. It had a major edit back in the days when I had an agent interested in my work (though the result of that edit meant that our association ended, so obviously it couldn't have been THAT good...) The second major rewrite came after I did the Writer's Workshop Self-edit Course, after which I posted off to another agent.

Unfortunately, the use of rings as a device in the story let it down; 'too much like Lord of the Rings'. Which it isn't, but the association, once made, is hard to get away from. So I changed the whole 'ring' aspect and focused on powers and mages - instead of being Book 1 of a series called Rurik and the Rings of Issraya (which, as someone pointed out, is not a good title if you have a speech impediment), it became a standalone title called Adventure in Ambak, with the potential to be the first story about Rurik in a series called The Issrayan Chronicles. 

Even then, poor old Rurik's story wasn't getting the nods of approval I was hoping for from agents etc. Not exciting enough, still too nice... So I set it aside, believing that no writing's ever wasted, I've learnt a lot, it doesn't matter if it never gets published...

Who was I kidding? Myself, mainly. Seems I can't give up on it, so Rurik's out of the closet and being pulled into a different shape.

I think Kingstone's made the biggest difference to how I'm approaching this current edit. In Kingstone, I let the characters write themselves, I did a lot of playing around in a notebook before writing up the story, I kept it lean and mean and got into Katia's head...which meant it was her telling her own story, not me. (As an aside, I've had good feedback from beta readers and I'm now waiting to hear back from BInk to see if they think Kingstone is publishable...)

I'm hoping that, as I know Rurik's story inside out by now, I can edit it to be more Kingstone-like in its feel. I'm trying not to be too constrained by what's already there - it's so easy to think 'that bit's good, I'll keep it' when in fact, it doesn't fit the new style and you end up with a disjointed feel to the writing. I am being pretty ruthless and killing lots of my darlings...

I'll keep you posted. Who knows, it might just be Rurik's time...?

Feeling a bit...lost

My last post celebrated the fact that I'd finished Kingstone. Today's post is a little less celebratory in tone, but relates to the same novel.

The initial euphoria has worn off. I find myself at a loose end, feeling like I should be writing - wanting to write - but there's nothing left TO write. I ought to be thankful, really; I've completed what I set out to do and given myself one less thing to think about in the run-up to Christmas.

But I don't feel like that at all - it feels more like I've experienced a loss, that I've 'lost' Kingstone because I can't do anything else to it, (other than email it to beta-readers) and I don't want to do any of the things on my to-do list which I know I should be doing in its place...

It's weird. I don't remember feeling this way after completing StarMark or Rurik. Perhaps in their cases, when I first said 'finished', I wasn't. There was still lots of editing to do (still might be on StarMark!). In Kingstone's case, I feel it's been written much better, much earlier in the process and it really does feel 'finished'.

Do other authors have a time of - grief sounds wrong, belittling of real heart-wrenching loss - but it really does feel like a loss at this moment.

Am I the only author to feel this way at the completion of a long-term project?  

Beta reader time...

I have just finished the third edit of King Stone.

*waves pompoms, cheers loudly, then slumps into exhaustion*

It's taken me a month - NaNoEdMo - but I am really pleased with the result. The novel has ended up just short of 50,000 words, which isn't bad for a children's novel. I daresay I could've padded it out a bit, but I'm not going to fiddle any more - for a while at least... The story is complete, and I'm happy with it.

Now, it's time for whole-novel-beta-reading by other people. *gulp* (And, perhaps, a celebratory snifter of ginger wine this evening because I've done what I set out to do and cleared the decks in time for the editing of StarMark!)

So, anyone fancy a read?

Challenged by Chuck Wendig

I don't always have time to create new work in line with Chuck's challenges on his terribleminds blog. Fortunately, this week's challenge is to paste 1000 words of your NaNoWriMo WIP (National Novel Writing Month Work in Progress for the non-writer readers of the Scribbles!) in your own blog space and link it to his blog. Chuck extended the challenge to include current WIPs as well, so I thought what the heck. (By the way, welcome any fellow terribleminds fans who drop by - my blog's a bit different to Chuck's, but I hope you still find something to enjoy here.)

As regular readers are probably aware, I'm not writing a new story this month - I'm NaNoEdMo-ing. That is, editing my WIP: Kingstone. It seems to be going well.  

Here, for your amusement, are the first 1000 words of Kingstone, a fantasy adventure novel for 9-12 year olds, third draft. 

King Bertrann’s ship slid past Indigon’s famous purple-grey cliffs, far enough out to avoid the deadly rocks jumbled at their base, yet near enough for those on deck to make out the black holes of the mine entrances pockmarking them.

            A bubble of happiness swelled inside Katia’s chest at the sight. Home at last, after six months that had felt like a lifetime. Thank the gods she hadn’t had to wait the full two years to return, unlike those she’d left behind at the Academy. No wonder they’d made things so uncomfortable for her after the announcement.

            Mind you, no-one had been more surprised than Katia herself, when she was told she’d be part of the king’s entourage for this unexpected and hastily arranged trip; she wasn’t exactly top of any classes and there were plenty of other novices who deserved the honour much more than she did.

            But – and this was the important thing to remember – you didn’t say no to the king’s priest when she picked you for something. Not if you wanted to get on in the temple. And more than anything else, Katia wanted to get on…

            Tiny lights twinkled high up on the cliffs, lighting the wooden walkways which connected the separate indigolite caverns. Somewhere up there, Katia’s Da and brother Ned would be nearing the end of their ten hour shift, having worked hard to earn their money.

            A pang of guilt stabbed at Katia but she squashed it quickly. It wouldn’t be wasted effort on their part, not if she tried really hard–

            “It looks as though the rock is sparkling.”

            “Gods!” Katia yelped, and with more haste than care made the greeting to the woman who’d appeared noiselessly at her side.

            Right hand, circle for the sun. Left, a crescent round the circle for the moon. Now fingertips of both hands together: mountain.

            The woman sighed. “Left for sun, right for moon, Katia. Like the symbol.”

            “Sorry.” Katia dug her nails into her palms and hid the fists deep in the folds of her skirt. She was still getting it wrong, even after six months at the Academy. Her right hand took the lead every time… She sneaked a sideways glance at Elder Sevanya, whose attention was fixed on the lights high above them.

            How did the king’s priest manage to look so perfect, even after days of travelling? Sevanya’s purple dress was uncreased, her grey travelling coat unmarked by salt, and her pale hair was still tightly braided – as expected of Senior and Elder female priests.

            By comparison, Katia’s own cream novice’s robe was watermarked at the hem and stained with gravy because plates refused to stay still on board a ship. There was a button missing from her brown wool coat and her hair was sticking out at all angles despite every attempt she’d made to tame her dark curls. No wonder her fellow novices were always finding fault and telling her she’d never make it to Junior priest…

            The beads woven into the ends of Sevanya’s braids rattled quietly when she turned away from the cliffs. “Tell me, Katia, have you ever been up there, on the walkways?”

            “Yes, Elder. Once, at night.” Katia shivered, remembering the sheer drop to the rocks and sea, hundreds of feet below. “My brothers bet I was too scared, but I went to the first entrance and back. At least the wind wasn’t blowing when I did it. Da says when the wind blows strong, the miners hug the cliff face and make sure their safety straps are clipped to the ropes, otherwise they’d get blown off.”

            “I should think a fair few prayers get said to the mountain god, asking for firm footing up there.”

            “Definitely. I know I said lots.” Katia tried to ignore the fact that Sevanya was watching her closely. She had the feeling that the priest was looking for something, but what?

            Suddenly, Sevanya sighed. “Katia, are you sure that you want to give your life to the temple of the triple gods? You don’t have to be a novice to say prayers, you know.”

            “What?” For a moment, Katia was so startled, she couldn’t say anything else. The bubble of happiness which had filled her chest just moments previously burst, leaving a hollow sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Yes, of course I do,” she managed eventually. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

            “And your family? Is it what they want for you too?”

            She had to think hard before answering that one. “No, not at first.” In fact, they’d positively discouraged her, thinking the training beyond her and far too expensive. “But once they got used to the idea, they supported me completely.”

            By taking on extra jobs and working all hours the gods sent, scrimping to make ends meet, and standing up against those who thought your dream was impossible to achieve… 

             “But things are not going very well for you at the academy, are they?”

            “No, but–” Katia swallowed hard. How did Sevanya know that? Surely keeping track of the novices and their training wasn’t a job for someone in her position?  

            “Your tutors have repeatedly informed me of your poor progress. It is that which made me decide to bring you on this journey.”

            They picked you because you’re so bad?

            Katia tried to concentrate on what Sevanya was saying through the buzzing in her ears.  

         The priest looked serious. “I am sorry to say that, during our time here, if you cannot demonstrate to my satisfaction the duties expected of a novice after your first six months of training, I shall have no option but to leave you behind when we return to Eraton and consider your novitiate at an end.”

November means editing

There are a lot of writer friends doing NaNoWriMo this month - that is, writing something every day during November to hit a 50K word count by the end of it. (Good luck to everyone doing it!)

Now, I've already documented my lack of discipline and my shaded squares method of keeping track of how much/little I'm writing. Recently, I've not been colouring in so many squares - not because I've not been writing, but because I started a new rough notebook and haven't transferred the sheet over. Fortunately, the habit of writing often seems to have stuck and I'm managing more days writing than not, so I'm not too worried about recording it.

Anyway, this month, I shall not be doing NaNoWriMo. Instead I'll be editing draft three of Kingstone. So far, it's going OK. I've got a much better feel for Katia's voice and a style that's consistent throughout the novel. I'm incorporating comments that fellow cloudies have made too; I was fortunate that in the main, they identified areas which I also felt were weak (great minds think alike!) and my aim for this third edit is to get it all hanging together and feeling like a real story instead of just well-written, separate chapters.

So there you go - November with its nights drawing in and fireworks and fair (in our town, anyway!) means editing. I'll keep marking off the squares and see what I've got at the end of the month...

The end is in sight...

I've mentioned King Stone a couple of times on the Scribbles so far - it's my current WIP.

It took 74 writing days (as in, I wrote on each of 74 days a varying amount of words, but not necessarily purely on KS) to write a s****y first draft - going from an A4 notebook filled with notes and sketches and questions and ideas to a typed up version on a memory stick.

It's taken me a further 63 writing days so far (again - not all on KS) to have solidified 22 of the 23 (possibly 24, I'm not sure yet) chapters into something that actually reads like a proper, put-together story. I'm hoping that with a push, maybe in another week, I'll have finished and can lay claim to a completed second draft.

Funny thing is, this 'second' draft is actually more like a first. The first type up was simply me, telling myself the story - the second is the 'real' version. I have a theme, I have strong characters, I have conflict...and, I hope, I actually have good writing.

As I've been going along, I've been sharing the chapters with a few folk, testing the story to ensure everything's hanging together well and my characters are coming across as I want them too. The feedback so far is that it does, although of course there's still a good amount of work needed in places to bring King Stone up to scratch.

I am excited by this story. I was excited by StarMark - still am, as it'll be published next year - and I was excited by Rurik when I started to tell his story. But King Stone...there's a whole different level of something here that I can't put my finger on. Something to do with the fact that my confidence has grown, that I have found a distinct voice as an author, that I have told the story that I wanted to - without any of the 'industry' telling me what I should or shouldn't be writing. It's been an amazingly liberating process, and I hope bodes well for stories I might want to tell in the future.

Who knows? If this 'second' draft gets finished and I leave it to rest for a while, I might even be able to plan something new for NaNoWriMo at this rate...

The King Stone...?

#FOW15

Tomorrow, I'm off to York; Festival of Writing 2015, here I come!

There's always good news after a festival when folk have MS requests or win competitions - but this time there's good news even BEFORE I get there; two cloudie friends have been shortlisted for the Friday Night Live Event, and another has received an email from an agent who is very excited about what my friend submitted for her 1-2-1 session.

I've had the privilege of reading work by all three friends; I shall be rooting for them all and hoping that this festival they'll all get their big break, because every single one of them deserves it.

So what's Squidge hoping to get out of the weekend? Lots of laughter, lots of fun, lots of food... and some idea of whether King Stone is working from the feedback of two rather wonderful book doctors. I want to take away lots of fresh approaches to my writing. I want to see a certain agent and tell her that the question she asked in my 1-2-1 last year - did I believe in StarMark enough to rework it - spurred me on to do exactly that and I ended up with a contract for my first children's novel. I want to hear how the killer leprecaun author's doing a year on, and talk Terry Pratchett with someone who's never read him... And I want to meet a very special pooch and his very special owners.

I will try to blog over the course of the festival, but the posts'll be short and sweet - there's always so much else to do!

Whatever you're up to, have a great weekend - I'll see you when I get back.

x

When things don't feel good any more...

I haven't blogged much recently. Things - generally - have stalled on the writing front.

It's not that I don't want to get on with projects or post blogs - far from it! But there are several things on the writing front that are out of my hands at the moment and I'm playing the waiting game. Which seems to be sapping my writing energy, big time.

It's affected King Stone pretty badly. As you know, I'm working through the first draft, editing and filling it out. I was blasting along quite merrily, getting a chapter done a day, and then...

The pace slowed. It felt like I was wading through treacle and - I admit - I let it get the better of me. Combined with the things that are out of my hands, everything simply...stopped.

Talking sternly to myself didn't help. I mean, I'm not going to move forward if I allow myself a 'meh' moment...or day...or week, as it finally ended up being. I was getting crosser and more frustrated by the day.

Plus it's coming up to York and the Writer's Workshop Festival of Writing. For some reason, I don't feel excited about it this year. I only entered one competition (which I stand no chance of getting picked for, but hey, it was the only one I had something I could submit); I couldn't bear the thought of not being picked for anything.

(Fellow authors will recognise this syndrome - hoping like mad that this year will be your year in the competitions, followed by crushing disappointment and horrid jealousy when it proves not to be.)

I know it'll be great once I'm in York - I'm booked into some fab workshops, have 1-2-1's with two wonderful book doctors and I'll meet lots of Cloudies, but it doesn't seem to hold quite the same magic when the writing's not going well. (As usual, blogs will follow... I'm taking the laptop with me this year, so you might even get a couple over the course of the weekend itself.)

Having said that, in literally the last couple of days, things have begun moving again - on King Stone at least. I was bemoaning to an author friend how I could not get past a scene.

"Could be your character doesn't want to go where you're sending her?" she said.

"Hmm...could be. She certainly doesn't want to go to bed!" says I.

"My character sometimes she doesn't want to do something, so I ask her what she wants to do instead. I write a scene talking to her and she usually comes up with something better. And yes, it sounds crazy, but it works for me!"

So I tried it. It does sound mad, (feels it, too, the first time you try it!) but somehow your subconscious kicks in and supplies the answer your gut was trying to provide all along. I asked my character why she wouldn't go to bed after a traumatic experience, and she told me EXACTLY why she couldn't afford to sleep - she had to keep travelling to stay one step ahead of the baddie! Since then, I've rewritten a large chunk of the chapter and only need to add a short section at the end before signing it off as official second draft material.

This post isn't all doom and gloom then. Thank goodness! I shall just have to be patient with respect to the other projects - and trust that they'll start moving again at the right time...

100 days of writing. Tick.

Yesterday, I achieved my target - 100 days of writing. Almost a third of a year - in words.

Not exactly pretty...but it does the job

I started back in April, inspired by a friend whose husband had made her a writing chart. I didn't think I could realistically go a full year, (as she is well on the way to achieving) so my chart stopped at 100 days.

Here's what I learned about my writing patterns over the last 125 days...

Overall, the ratio of writing to non-writing days on average is 4:1. (In June, I achieved a 6:1 ratio)

The longest unbroken stint of daily writing was 13 days.

It took 74 days to complete the first draft of King Stone.

The summer holidays were responsible for just over half of the non-writing days.

I tend to be able to write for 5 days comfortably and then need a break. However, more than a couple of days 'off' in a row and I get twitchy...

Having a visual prompt helps me to keep focused and reminds me just how much time I'm not spending writing.

Will I carry on? Definitely.

Here's to the next 100...

Creativity, Squidge-style

Our summer hols have been more of a stay-cation than a vacation... especially after T's axe-ident which meant he wasn't able to get out and about in the first few weeks. (Pleased to report all is healing nicely).

Anyway, the Squidges have still had plenty of time to get creative, and there are a few summer projects to share with you...

1. The waa-waa box.

Apparently it's a technical term - honest; T was given a bass guitar effects pedal last Christmas from his uncle. However, said waa-waa box had to be built from scratch. Now we're not really into electrical engineering in this house, though Mr Squidge knows enough to get by. So Squidgeling T and Mr Squidge sorted out their resistors from their transistors, got to grips with a soldering iron and hey presto;

Doesn't look much on the outside...

...but it's spaghetti junction on the inside.

There were a few teething troubles when they tried to connect it to the amp, but after a bit of playing with the balance knobs, the bass sounds brilliant - all ready for WBV Rock Club in the new term.

2. Airfix.

Another Squidgeling T project - a model of a Type 45 Destroyer. It's yet to be finished, but there are, I'm informed, some VERY fiddly bits on this one, so it's taking a lot more time to put it all together.

The official Airfix desk

3. Extending the tree house.

When the Squidgelings were one and three, Mr Squidge decided to build a tree house in our pear tree. Fine, says I, just make sure it has a retractable ladder so they can't climb up without us. We ended up with a shaped platform and roped sides which looked a bit like a boat. And a retractable ladder which cunningly folds in half as it's lifted. (Hooray for engineers!)

Pirate 5th birthday party on The Jolly Knickerbocker Tree-house Ship.
(Squidgeling T is on the platform, second from left...)

Thirteen years later, and it's time for an extension. T drew up the plans (floor space long enough for a bed, walls, ceiling, a solar panel for the TV and a cat flap) and he set to work with Mr Squidge. Again, it's not quite finished, but it's coming together.

Squidgeling T, nine years later, cutting the old ropes away...

The new platform takes shape

4. The electric violin.

Squidgeling J plays her normal violin with an electric 'pick up' through her amp - but after borrowing a friend's dad's electric violin for a production, she decided she'd like to build herself an electric violin of her own. Except it wouldn't look like a normal violin. The core would be wood, but the shape would be cut from acrylic and lit with LED's. Plans were laid for the building of a prototype; various bits arrived in the post, wood was hewn, acrylic was cut - and it all came together yesterday. Granted, some bits are still sellotaped on, other bits need a few tweaks, but it worked!

From this...

...to this!

It looked like a violin - albeit a funky one - and this morning, Squidgeling J tuned and played the protoype. In fact, I think she only put it down to eat her dinner...

5. The King Stone.

I'm not able to help much on the technical side of the aforementioned projects (Mr Squidge has been kept VERY busy!) so I  have used the time when the rest of the family was in the garage/garden/their bedrooms to work on the second draft chapters of my WIP. I am up to Chapter 10, and tomorrow will see my one hundredth day of writing since I began my 100 days challenge. Hooray! Here's to the next 100!

So - got any summer projects of your own to share?

Aaand...back to writing

The King Stone. My latest WIP.

It's coming on...slowly. I'm test-running the first draft by a few cloudie friends at the moment, trying to see whether the story's holding together. They seem to think so...

(It's also helping me to keep busy before I receive the edits of both StarMark and a second Random Writer's anthology. Had I told you that there's going to be another Random anthology, by the way? And that I've got another story in it? No? Oops... well, there is. Soon. Stories about what happened after the 'happily ever after' of the fairytale/myth/legend. And being a Random project, they all had to have a twist, so they're set in a historical time and event that is significantly different to the original...)

Anyway - back to King Stone.

What I'm finding interesting in the editing process at the moment is that I had a really naff first draft. Yes, I'd thrashed the story out, knew where it was going, but in itself, it's a pretty dire example of a novel. But allowing myself the luxury of a naff first draft gave me the chance to identify where I needed to tweak the start of the story to backfill some gaping holes that only became apparent as the story developed.

The officially-draft-two chapters are looking more like officially-draft-one-and-a-half in some cases. They're still incredibly rough and the readers are picking up, for example, that Katia (my MC) is not coming across very strongly in them. Yet in some of the earlier chapters where there weren't so many plot holes, the testers could tell I was in my stride and the writing was more confident.

At this stage, the chapters are also very fluid; it's good to be able to test where I feel the chapter break should be with the readers, even if it's actually sitting somewhere slightly different when I present the chapter to them.

And I'm skipping around as I deal with draft 2. I missed out chapter 4 as that needed building from scratch, presented chapter 5, went back to make notes for chap 4, posted chap 6... Next stop will probably be to tighten the notes and make Chap 4 something that actually looks a bit more like a chapter than my deranged thoughts for an outline. It's quite liberating, actually!

What's really good about this whole process is that it's still within my 100 days of writing challenge. I'm up to 87 days now - not all of them consecutive - but it's a great way to track my progress and remind myself to write. In fact, due to visitors recently, I've had the longest non-writing period (three days) since I started! I was itching to get back to the WIP and colour in another box...

I'd like to be able to put stats to this novel - to show myself exactly how long it took to produce a first draft (74 writing days), how long to do a second, a third...and so on.

But in the meantime, draft one-and-a-half-and-sometimes-two beckons...