Booktique event in Camberley, UK

I will be dressing up as an 'eccentric author' for the day and giving out information about my books whilst talking to people about fitting in writing novels when holding down a full time job.  As you can see in the poster, The Belgae Torc has become 'The Belgae Torch'!  Never mind, I can live with that.

Whitstable, my home town.

Whitstable Harbour is a small fishing harbour a few minutes walk from the town.

When my Dad was a boy he used to swim in the harbour.  He and his mates would tie a bicycle to a piece of rope and ride it over the edge, they could then pull it up and have another go.

The oldest railway in the world used to run from Canterbury, (about 10 miles away), into the harbour and there was a station there, but not much remains of that today.

This is part of a selection of sheds, small retail units that form Whitstable Harbour Village.  Live music is played here at the quayside bar which is really popular with visitors.  I have been known to buy hats from the shed that is partially hidden in the background. :-)

A view of the beach showing 'the street', a spit of land that appears at low tide, it runs out into the bay for about a mile.  The Isle of Sheppey can be seen in the background.

Whitstable beach is stony but the water sport and swimming is good.

There are windmills about eight miles off shore.  The Greta, and old Thames Barge, offers boat trips from the harbour in the summer, you can go out to see the windmills and World War Two forts in the estuary.  Seals can often be found basking on the sandbanks.  

Whitstable, (Tankerton), Castle where you can have your wedding ceremony, party or just take tea in the orangery.

My grandfather told me some stories about this place but they are for another time.

These pictures were taken on Saturday 25th January.  The weather as you can see is lovely, the temperature is about ten degrees C.  One of my favourite sayings is 'The sun always shines in Whitstable'.  :-)

First blog of the year

I can't believe how quickly the year is going already. Before Christmas was busy enough with book signing events and trying desperately to hit my deadline and finish the sequel to The Belgae Torc. The sequel is almost done; I have about 120,000 words in their raw state which desperately need editing. I still have to write a suitable ending which leads nicely into the third and final book in the series. This is proving to be the problem. I have the ending in mind but my characters keep on prolonging the last few chapters, it’s as if they don't want this book to end. Anyway, apart from that, I'm back on the road attending book signing events. The first was in Ramsgate, England on the south eastern coast near to where I live. It was a good day with loads of people attending a craft fair and looking in on what my colleague Carol, another author, and I were all about. We did sell a few books between us but I ran out of literature and bookmarks, I completely underestimated the number of people who would be about this soon after Christmas.

Carol and I at The Custom House, Ramsgate, Kent UK 18th January 2014

Margaret, one of my fans!, at The Canterbury Library September 2013

Who would you invite to your Christmas Dinner table?

I would invite these, my favourite people to share my Christmas Dinner.

Dame Maggie Smith

I’m full of admiration for Maggie Smith.

I would invite her to my Christmas dinner because of her elegance, her smile and her wit.  I’m sure she would have some great stories to tell whilst we are taking our brandy and coffee.

Fiona Bruce.

I have always admired Fiona Bruce.   She brightens up my day whenever I see her on the television.  Her intelligence and her views would be a welcome addition to the conversation around the table.

Sir Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill is something of a hero of mine.  He was a writer; painter and he loved to travel especially in France, these are also favourite pass times of mine.

He would I am certain prove to be a popular and essential member of my Christmas dinner party.

Manuscripts and notes

My friend asked me if she could see some of my notes so here is the working manuscript, or part of it, and hand written notes for my next novel.

There are ten notebooks in this pile, this is some of the handwritten chapters to the sequel of The Belgae Torc.

356 pages of manuscript, about 90,000 words in the first draft.

A sneak preview of the quote at the start of part one.

First edit of draft manuscript.

Another view of a page complete with red pen.

Hand written examples.

So there you are, a selection of both hand written and typed script from my next novel.  The typed manuscript is just the first edit so don't be too critical if you are able to read it!

Random stuff

Christmas Tree at Chez Moi.

My bookshelf is blocked by the tree so hope I won't need those books for the next few weeks.

The original painting of Josie MacDonald, the main character in my novel The Witness, looking very festive.

A view of my study showing my laptop and squeeky chair!  My notebook laptop is on the chair, I use that for typing up my manuscripts and editing.

Notebooks on top of my printer are handwritten chapters of the sequel to The Belgae Torc, work ongoing you might say.  The next step will be to type them up ready for the first edit.

 

Another view of my study showing some slightly distorted views of my paintings.  The file on the floor resting up against the cabinet contain research notes for my current novel.

The crazy decor is a left over from the days when this room was my sons bedroom.

Our family coat of arms.  Mitchell is Maria's maiden name.

Light at the end of the tunnel.

At last, just past the 100,000 word post for the sequel to The Belgae Torc. Now just have to complete the 'exciting bit', the finale. Once that's done I can focus on editing the manuscript and making it ready for the proof readers. It won't be long now!!!