Skip to main content

Snips and Snails and Fairy Tales, That's What My Summer's Made Of!

So I'm back and the wedding's over. It was a glorious but small affair in the gorgeous Grand Hotel perched on the edge of the Jurassic Coast. I met family members I've never ad the chance to meet (they were born after I emigrated ) and was reunited with many more. I wasn't there for nearly long enough but times are tough and purses are not over-flowing.

Durlston Castle

I haven't finished reading any of the books I recommended in the last post - not because they aren't superb but because I stocked up on some second hand bargains during my stay at home! I love charity shops and Swanage is stuffed with them, I found a hardback copy of Violin by Anne Rice that I haven't read - hadn't even heard of to be honest, although the character was touched on in the Prince Lestat. Looking forward to diving into that. Didn't get hold of her latest book but I'll ask for it for Christmas! The one that has really got me stuck though is Second Nature by Alice Hoffman - I love her stories they are pure magic realism that I would love to capture! I even found a box of books up at Durlston Castle which I practically emptied - there were super reads for my kids - one kid's rubbish is another kid's treasure!

So as for writing. I have several things pending with publishers and several rewrites going on but this summer it's my intention to finish my first fairy story. I've got about 12,000 words down but no ending as yet. In fact, I'm only just going into the adventure! I'm taking the kids to up to a tiny cottage in the forest where they'll run free and I'll be inspired to write, at least that's the plan. Wish me luck!

Comments

  1. There's treasure in those shops !! Dorset is in my blood too. A Gran I need met was from Wimborne. Best as ever Stevo

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Anniversary Scribblers' Den! Cover Reveal: The Den of Antiquity

I have had a band of virtual friends for a little more than a year now, and this week marked the second anniversary of that group: The Scribblers' Den in the Steampunk Empire . Today we are holding another 24 hour party spanning the world East to West, starting with sunrise in Australia and ending at sundown in Haiti, why not join us and see what you are inspired to create? Last years party gave birth to the idea of The Denizens of Steam anthology through a flash fiction competition we held during the party. This year we are celebrating two years of joyous companionship and to that end I will be revealing the cover our second anthology The Den of Antiquity! This book is bursting with short stories rather than flash fiction and is sculpted rather than being an instinctive creation. But before I reveal the wonderful cover designed by Bryce Raffle, I thought I'd send my roving reporter, Antigone Nix, out into the Steampunk Empire to track dow a few of the members of the Scrib...

The Den of Antiquity - Be Charitable - Get Your Copy Today!

READ ALL ABOUT IT! ANTHOLOGY TO DONATE ROYALTIES TO DISASTER FUND!  Amazon US Amazon. UK Barnes & Noble Kobo With today's release of The Den Of Antiquity you can not only entertain yourself, but also make a contribution to a worthy cause . The collaborative opinion when we at the Scribblers' Den decided on a new anthology, was that any money made should go to a charity to be decided closer to the date. As one of our Scribblers' Den members actually lives in Haiti and has first hand experience of the destruction caused by Hurricane Matthew, the collective opinion was that the International Red Cross will receive whatever royalties we earn in order to help people who literally have been left with nothing more than the clothes they stand up in. Watch the video below to see what you will be contributing to if you buy the Den of Antiquities today. READ ALL ABOUT IT! THE SECRETS BEHIND THE STORIES IN THE DEN OF ANTIQUITIES! A den is a snug place to curl up ...

Where do you get your ideas?

Ask a 1000 writers and you'll get a 1000 answers. It's one of those bug-bear questions. When I get something published (hooray!) I try to tell the story behind the story but it ain't always easy (and sometimes I simply don't want to share!) In this post I thought I'd let you into my thought processes.   This is a gorgeous treasure chest that sits just inside the front door of my godmother's house. I've always loved it as it's got gorgeous colours and seems pretty old - about a century if I were to hazard a guess. Due to the fact that it is a delightful hiding place for palm-sized hairy brown arachnids it has never really been used for more than dumping empty carrier bags. This summer I thought I'd do it up so that we could use it for storing winter blankets. The brass plate at the front has been painted with horrid poo-coloured gloss which I have no idea how to remove but the paper lining, which was all torn, wa...