Fresh air and editing

Editing, I am tired of thee! 
I like it in small doses, but when I opened Banners of Alba I saw with horror that it was 147,000 words in total. (Remember I wrote this about 15 years ago and published it 10 years ago.) I'm a third of the way through and down to 144,000, but as fast as I take some out, I add some in. Let's hope I can cut more from the next  chunks. I've done two good stints today and now deserve the glass of white wine that is waiting for me downstairs. I like to break the sessions up because my editing eyes fails if I do too long in one go. I end up reading instead of editing.

Spring is hovering around with daffodils in flower and catkins dancing on the wind. The frogs are back in the pond, all four of them this time and Tim is fascinated. I don't know if he's seen them yet, but he hears them and the splash as they disappear from his view. Today neighbours have been cutting their lawns, and the fields are greening up nicely. Now if only the 45 mph winds would die down, we could have a lovely time out in the fresh air.

Take a Break

We've had a week of splendid weather and I've spent a lot of it outdoors, so writing has taken a back seat. Considering it's only April, the weather has been amazing, reaching temperatures of 20 and 21 degrees. I'm so not used to such heat that working at anything was a trial! The forecasters claim the weekend is going to be cold, so I tell myself I'll catch up then.

Sometimes I need a break from working at the computer day after day. I get some relief every day now I have my dog, because he's a high energy type who needs a lot of exercise. He gets three walks every day and he's just impossible if he doesn't get those walks. While I'm out with him I see how much new growth there is on trees and shrubs, even on the meadows as the grass begins to grow again. The range of colours in tree foliage is beautiful and changes day by day. Watching him bound across streams, leap fallen logs and bouncing through mud patches is such a joy.

But sometimes the three walks a day are not enough and the temptation to abandon the computer becomes too much. So I give in to it, because I know that I won't produce anything worth while until I've refreshed my mind by pulling lots of fresh oxygen into my lungs. There's nowhere better for that than walking in forests.

Procrastination

I know now why I haven't finished anything in a while. It's because I keep starting over with something. Bad habit, must break it. Not only am I editing Matho's story, but I've started over with Blood Feud. Some people would call "starting over" editing, and I think I shall have to in order to preserve my sanity. It's a good thing I did take a new look at BF, because I discovered that I have two versions of a scene. So I spent yesterday with the two versions isolated and on my screen so that I could view them together and amalgamate into the best version. It wasn't hard to do, but what if I hadn't been reading through in a continuous sequence, I probably wouldn't have found the fault. It's something critique partners might not notice, because they read chapters weeks apart sometimes.

To add to the procrastination, I've started sending chapters of Matho's Story to Wattpad. I wondered what kind of reaction - if any - it would receive. There are about 6,000 people registered for the Historical fiction group, so there should be plenty of readers. We shall see!

As for real life, we had a sharp frost the other morning, but today I had to take my jacket off as I walked Tim on the riverside or I would have been far too warm. Spring is here. The grass is growing, much to dh's disgust, and some of the trees and shrubs are showing tiny new leaves. Daffodils are poking through, heads still pointing down, and snowdrops - those delightful hardy little flowers - are everywhere this year. The pic is a track Tim and I walked yesterday. Still muddy, but delightful in the sunshine.

Added to this I just got a good review for Dark Whisky Road on Amazon, so things are looking good today.
 Here's the link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Whisky-Road-Jen-Black-ebook/dp/B00AT4NPTA

Spring?

It really seems like Spring is here. Clumps of snowdrops are blooming on the riverside walk I do most days, and gorse has been in bloom for a week or two. Usually it flowers in May! Bulbs are three inches high in the garden even though the lawn squelches when Tim runs across it.

All we need is for it to stop raining and the wind will dry everything up nicely. Down south it may be different, but here the river is flowing fast enough to take all that water way out to sea. The Tyne was back up to flood levels again today, and bringing more and more rubbish with it as it comes. I took a picture yesterday of one of the the new bank levels where previous floods have deposited all the debris. It doesn't look good, but I suppose one day it will either be swept away again, or soil will be deposited around it and a new bank will come into being.

I think this picture shows that we have green grass through the winter, even under snow. Not that we've had any so far. I know some of my American friends doubt me when I say we have green grass through the winter, but we do. The paths are wide and muddy and the grass is getting pretty worn, but it is there, and it's started growing again.

It would be really cruel now if winter came and creates a big freeze. It's happened before, but I hope it doesn't happen this year.

I'm getting close to the end of my Viking story, and once I've read it through I'll put it up on Amazon. I shall have to start thinking of a cover.

Spring

Spring is here.We've had the snowdrops and daffodils, the wood anemones, primroses and violets - and now the bluebells and garlic are blooming in the woods  around us. But we still have cold nights -it was down to -2 last night. Not time yet to change the winter-weight duvet for the summer one! I wish we had  clearly defined seasons as they do in other countries where they reach a certain date and decide it's time to pack away all the winter clothes until next year. We can't do that. Even in July and August we can get days of cold rain and wind, and we need the woolly sweaters and heavy jeans. Telling people what to pack when they come to the UK is difficult!

We're going out for a meal with friends this week to the Feathers Inn here and I thought a swift look at the website might intrigue some of you. After Thursday I'll let you know how we got on!

Are you being funny?

Soon the bluebells will be gone, but I've caught some wonderful sights this year. This patch, tucked away at the back of the formal gardens at Seaton Delavel, is just one of them.

The snow last winter resulted in so much glorious blossom this Spring, its just a pity that the wind has been so strong this last ten days or so that walking or cycling has been unpleasant. As far as fitness goes, that's not a problem, because we have an indoor exercise bike, and I can remember some step sequence exercises. Still, I miss the walks through the woods, fields and hedgerows.

Being indoors has resulted in lots of work on writing. I'm currently reading through Treason, to see what I think of it after a year away from it. Tweaking is mostly a case of removing odd bits of repetition, padding or bits I like but have little or no relevance to the plot. Only another fifty pages to go and then it'll be perfect - cue hollow laughter.

I've been reading Haze Osmond's blog this morning. She's talking about writing humour, which is something I'd find terribly difficult to do. Inadvertant humour is my forte; if I had to stop and think about it, I'd be lost. Hazel wonders when humour crosses the line and becomes cruel, a line that all writers must tread warily. If your writing is comedic, take a peek and see what you think: http://hazelosmond.co.uk/page7.htm

Spring is here

Spring has arrived. How do I know? Because three days ago, under bright blue skies and warm sunshine, we had five full-grown frogs in our tiny garden pond – having an orgy. Their contented croaking echoed around the garden all day. Result? Patches of frogspawn next in the murky water next day. There’s also a drake and two ducks on the castle pond and he doesn’t let them more than a yard away from him. Looks like there’ll be more ducklings this year. The trees flourish buds and tiny frills of green about to unfurl. The grass is growing again. There’s no doubt about it – Spring is here.

Spring at last

I promised lambs and daffodils to celebrate Spring, so here are the lambs...carefully marched away from us by anxious mum.

We attended our first BBQ last night. Invitation arrived in brilliant sunshine at 2pm. By 3.30pm the skies darkened and the rain slashed down and we gave up all hope. By 8.00 it was fine and bright again, so off we went, and stood under huge umbrellas when it rained again. It could only happen in England - but it was a fun evening.

Now that I'm re-working the old story that was once published by Triskelion, I find it is growing and changing out of all recognition and I shall gave it a new title. I hope that is legal. The story side of it is fine, but I cannot shake off the formatting imposed by Trisk, so I've decided to start again in a whole new blank document, which is just as well as so much of it is changing.
I've also been trying to make Document Map work for me after someone sang its praises but I think the instructions I have must be for a later version of Word than I have, for I didn't achieve anything helpful.

After a day of exasperation and wasted time, we sneaked off for a day out on Friday and walked at Wallington. The magnolias are coming into bloom in the walled garden, and the blossom on the wild cherry and rhododendrons was a welcome sight. Makes me feel good on the inside.

I checked today and saw that Far After Gold is listed by both Gardners and Bertrams, major book distribution centres in the UK, which means that Waterstones and other bookshops can order it as a stock line for their shelves. Perhaps it is time I introduced myself to the local bookshops....and if anyone has been disappointed that they couldn't find it anywhere but Amazon, take hope. One day you might find my books sitting on your local Wasterstones' shelf. And if you ask, they should certainly get it for you.