Done - well for now!

In the midst of chaos I finished with A Cornish House as far as I can go - for now. Tomorrow I print and send. Fortunately it is not going to agent or editor but to eyes who will accept that it's not perfect - yet. However it has grown well.

In the next three weeks I have to pack two boys for school (which includes sewing in labels), build seven flat pack Ikea boxes, paint a room, clean the house, ready two boats and kyak for storage, and have a family to stay :-)

When I get back to Dubai I will await the word on ACH and prepare....I have two open doors - one agent and one editor who said no to August Rock but wanted to see ACH.

I'm so ready to start the next book too! Where are you at the moment?

Past the Half Way Mark

Well, I have past the half way point of A Cornish House on this read through and quite edit. Thus far I am pleased to say it all hangs together - miracles never cease:-)

Of to enjoy the sun on the beach if manages to stay out!!!

Signs of Summer

Even though we have seen very little of the sun it is clearly summer. The sign tells us all. Visitors have arrived and if they follow their sat nav they end up going down lanes that twist beyond 90 degrees and if your car is bigger than a Fiesta you will rip the end out of your bumper. So summer is here - now if mother nature would help!

Back to School

I'll will be the first to admit I am totally hopeless at grammar. As a dyslexic it made no sense to me and I didn't like Miss Brown who taught it. I have always relied on my reasonably good ear to make my way. Looking back, I sometimes wonder how I received a degree in English. Somewhere along the way I mastered what I called paper-ease English and lost the natural syntax in my head. This natural syntax came from my grandfather who lived with us while I was young. He was originally from Donegal. His speech was naturally poetic, well at least to my ears.

However as I graduated back in the dark ages, 1985, I have forgotten everything. This morning I have spend hours here trying to master my tenses and exactly what is passive voice. Yes, I know I should have done this years ago but well it just didn't interest me. Now as I am wading through A Cornish House I need to understand this and more. However I haven't much time before this bl**dy thing must be sent off to New Writers' Scheme and as much as I will slap a big sticker on it saying beware not polished I do have some pride - not much but some.

So I'm finding myself making my sentences too simple because at least that way I know they are correct. This, however, leads to boring reading if all the sentences are too simple. So here's a choice for you:

Scattered around her were easels and canvases, all the requirements of her life. Well they had been her life and must be again. Bending, she opened a box and the smell of turpentine hit her. Something must have leaked. She dug into the box and found a pile of cards. She dropped them quickly and groped for anything else as the tears welled up. Her hand came to rest on a cool bronze finish. This wasn't any good. Who had packed this box? Who put his cards and the bust she had made of him with the turpentine?

or

Scattered around her were easels and canvases, all the requirements of her life. Well they had been her life and must be again. She bent and opened a box the smell of turpentine hit her. Something must have leaked. She dug into the box and found a pile of cards. She dropped them quickly and groped for anything else as tears welled up. Her hand came to rest to rest on a cool bronze finish. This wasn't any good. Who had packed this box? Who had put his cards and the bust she had made of him with the turpentine?

Confession - even as I read through the paragraph above I struggle to identify all the tenses I have used. I need to go back to school .

So are you a natural with grammar, a keen study, or do you flounder like me?

To the LIghthouse

Yesterday we decamped to the north coast and spent a glorious windblown few hours huddled by some rocks. The kids did a bit of boarding and general messing about on the beach. It was a day to clear cobwebs and anything else lingering in my head.

This morning I woke early and finally sat down to do a critique of another writers work. When I first attempted to do this last year, I was too scared to be as hard on her as I was on myself and also didn't think I had any skill for it (she has assured me otherwise). I was also feeling guilty that I would be totally hopeless at helping with grammar and spelling.......However when I finally took the plunge I had no idea how much it would give me back. By being a tougher reader for her I learned how to be tougher on myself. So I am now hopefully setting myself up for a brutal read through of A Cornish House. I must be ruthless. I have found myself going through first pages of books in shops again trying to find what makes them work for me and what doesn't. I am also seeing things which I think could have been cut. Let's just hope I can hold onto this vision for Monday morning!

Have you done a critique for another writer? Was it helpful to you? Was it horrible? Did you gain anything from the experience?

p.s. the photos is of the Godrevy Lighthouse which V. Woolf used for her book To the Lighthouse which somewhere in the back of my mind i know I have read but can not for the life of me remember it.