Darren Shan - St. Albans talk.

A wonderful time with Darren Shan.

What a wonderful way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon – squashed in a small theatre in St. Albans with around 100 other Darren Shan fans. We were hot, sticky and dare I say there were a few odours drifting on the air once the air-conditioning was started up.
Fans from eight to eighty were visible in the auditorium all enthralled when Darren took to the stage. We were treated to a reading from 'Bec' book four of the Demonata series. Darren gave such emphasis to his characters making the stomach tighten and the skin to crawl as we listened captivated by the scene unfolding before us. We then were treated to a snippet from the current book 'Blood Beast' which had us all eager for more. But it wasn't to be – well not yet the best was yet to come.
Opening up the questioning, Darren was a wash with eager hands waving like a sea of snakes in the air. One by one the children quizzed and delved trying to get more information about characters, Darren and what will happen next. Darren neatly sidestepped some questions he wasn't prepared to give answers too, and happily offered snippets to keep everyone happy. The session could have gone on for so much longer but as is want with these things it was coming to an end - but what an ending. Darren surprised everyone by reading a choice section - from book SEVEN. Again it left you wanting more. But what of book SIX – well that is being kept under wraps. Darren is keeping that close to his chest. So everyone is now waiting for October when Book SIX (title unknown) will be placed on the shelves. I wonder how many seconds it will take for most of them to disappear?
Thankfully Darren was prepared to sign books (as many as you had with you) have his photo taken and chat briefly. I think he would have been lynched had he not. The queue was immense. My group were towards the middle of the line. You may have noticed a couple of photo's if you are keen eyed.
I'm hoping some of that talent has rubbed off on me.
Darren thank you for a great afternoon.

www.darrenshan.com

Writing for Winchester

Having had a dryish period with my writing in the last few weeks, I've at last started re working Granny Liz a short novel idea for 7-9 year olds. Having cut out half the text from the first couple of chapters and dumping the last four I'm now flying along with the story. It is like cutting your manuscript up into a jigsaw puzzle and then tossing half of it away. Then you try to fit the pieces together with other pieces from a different jigsaw. Not easy, but once accomplished it is exhilarating.

Just back from Harrogate

Hi all, it seems such a long time since I've posted anything on my blog, so I'm deeply sorry to those who have been awaiting news.
I've been to Harrogate and had a wonderful time meeting up with other writers, all or most of them winners. I caught up with writers from the Talkback on the Writers' News website and put faces to names. It will make contacting and forum chat a bit brighter I feel.
Harrogate as a place was steeped in history. I'm just sorry I didn't get a chance to spend more time looking around. I will however book a break there very soon. I was fortunate to stay in the magnificent Majestic Hotel, and could imagine it in its hay day. The chandeliers were impressive and so many of them. I couldn't help imagining the glamour and elegance of staying in a place like this in the 1920/30's.
In the town my friend Lesley and I discovered the Harrogate Brassiere - It was beautiful, just how it should be. Dark burgundy walls, black and white images depicting various scenes. Small beautifully laid tables and live music gently playing in the back ground. The food was excellent. Both Lesley and I went for the lamb on a bed of mash with a redcurrant sauce with seasonal vegetables. It was perfectly cooked and the presentation extremely pleasing. We didn't have a starter but all were tempting. We instead both seem to have a sweet tooth. Again the menu was vast and all elegantly presented. We went for the brandy snap basket and three flavours of ice cream. Hmmmmmm it was scrummy. We finished off with a bottle of champagne to celebrate our successes so far and to toast our future achievements in writing to come.
During our stay we attended the Writers News prize giving where I picked up a cheque for £100 my prize money for winning the Foster Mum short story competition. I'm hoping to invest it in more ink. I've added a couple of pictures of some friends and myself at the awards.

The before and after....still more to do.

How the kitchen and bathroom were, what they are now. I've still work to do, but it is getting there. I've managed to decorate most of the rooms, but only by slapping white paint over everything. It looks clean and fresh. Due to woodworm I've had to stop, just now. Floor boards have to be replaced, joists checked and the stairs looked at. Once that has been completed, I'll pick up the white paint again and make it look all fresh. Hopefully it will be finished by the Summer holidays.

I'm off to write now. I'm working on plots for two books and hope that they'll be enough subplots to make the books worth writing. They are looking good so far.

Winchester competitions....

I've been sorting out what I'm going to be sending to Winchester Writers Conference this June. I'm hoping to send in four items, two for the children's, one short story and the opening chapter of a novel. I've got lots of work to do, but I'm getting there.
The rewrite of Granny Liz is coming on nicely; it is amazing how much I'm tossing aside. I just hope it still makes sense when I print it off and re read it as a novel. I'm working chapter by chapter and it is changing dramatically. I'm about to go off and bring in the changes to chapter three and then attack chapter four. It is scary pulling things apart, but it is astonishing how different the work is once you've really worked on it. I just hope at the end of it the puzzle pieces will still fit together.

A welcome break

Sorry for not updating my blog for such a long time, but I've been having major work done at the house. New kitchen, bathroom, rewire, central heating and now I'm awaiting the arrival of the woodworm man. He is going to remove all the woodwormy floor boards, treat and replace with new ones. I'm just hoping the joists aren't also effected. If so that will be another major job. I'll stick a couple of pictures up here soon to show you.
I'm off for the Easter holidays, its great working in a school. I've finished decorating because of the woodworm and have picked up the laptop and started writing once again. I've sent out a few things and am currently working on rewriting two novels. Yes I'm doing them together, it keeps them fresh in my mind. They are both so different.
P.s for those of you who saw how old I was, I'm not but I'm not going to let you know exactly how old I am. A girl has to have her secrets.

Preparing for Harrogate after rejection...

I can't believe it has been this long for me to get back to my blog. Things have been going wild here. I'm having a new kitchen and bathroom put in to the house and now it needs a full rewire too!
I've been cleaning out cupboards ready for the demolition to start. It is weird that I feel I needed to scrub the cupboards clean before hand. I've also found lots of worrying cracks in the walls, which have appeared since my neighbours have had there horrid extension built. I wonder what will happen once the wall cupboards; tiles and floor units are removed. Its something I don't really want to think about just now.
On the upside I'm organising things for my trip to Harrogate. This is going to be an exciting time for me going to receive my prize.
On the downside, I've received a big rejection for my second rewrite of Symidan. The image to the right is my attempt of drawing the main characters from two of my books. Symidan the dragon and Smyth the Seeker from my current project. However the rejection was a good rejection. The editor loved the idea, my writing was said to be tight and the character good, the problem the plot needs more. So I'm off again to do a third rewrite. However on the upside, I've been invited to continue submitting anything else that might be suitable. This is a great opportunity, which I'm ever thankful for. I've just got to work even harder, but I will get there. I need to be a children's author. I need to share my stories and need to get it right.