Conceding Defeat

I'm flying back to Dubai this afternoon because I admit I can't face the driving conditions on the way to Cornwall especially as the wiper fluid in the car is frozen and it means stopping at virtually every lay by to clear the windscreen. I am not a wimp when it comes to winter driving having spent my life until the age of 26 in New England and then did a stint in Calgary. Snow and ice do not hold terror for me - I can drive through them with care. However many of the drivers currently on the road do not have years of experience and that's all I'll say.

I love snow - it's imprinted on my psyche. I can spend hours at a window just watching the white stuff fall. This patch of white weather has given great delight to DD who has little experience of it. So she has made her first snow angels and pelted some well aimed snow balls at me. Her return to school was delayed by a day and she enjoyed every minute.

I loved waking early listening to the special silence that comes with snow fall and then the ensuing crunch when you venture forth....bliss. Here are a few photos of my brief stay in the UK.

I will miss Cornwall but I hope that on my next visit, taken in less than two weeks) I can make it to my lovely home.

My last post promised some links. The first is from agent Jenny Bent and in thispost she sums up concisely what a novel should be.

Anita Burgh has come up trumps again with so many fantastic posts - rejection, pace.... that I will just link to the blog Read and learn.

Finally an interesting post on what is romance vs women's fiction from Guide to Literary Agents.

Where I Work and Links

Two great links today. One for sheer enjoyment - Ben Johncock's blog for The Bookseller had me laughing into my coffee this morning. I had never thought about the comparison of a writer's 'study' to 'the bedroom of our youth' but it's so true.........books, pictures of things that inspire (gorgeous men - for research and inspiration only I hasten to add, exotic locations, words of wisdom..... ). Of course I have a dream study in mind, but generally work on the dinning room table where everything gets swept into a drawer at the end of the day and here in Cornwall I sit in a large red arm chair with my back to the window overlooking the garden as I would never write a single word!

The other link is from agent Jenny Bent on her blog. It's a timely piece (pun intended-see blog) on making your luck by keeping aware of the market, but still writing the book of your heart. Now off to check out if August Rock might not fit the bill that she was talking about with a little tweaking!

Pleased to report that I am writing. It may well be crap but at least the word count is climbing and the plot seems to be moving forward. I haven't yet figured out to tie it all up into the ending I want yet but somehow I'll get there (or at least I have in the last too books!).