Sunday 25 July 2010

Works in Progress and Reads in Progress

Wondered what you were all doing, so thought it might liven up the blog to see where we are all at. I am currently reading Tracey Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures,which has taken me off to a quieter and more genteel age, and the fossil strewn cliffs of Lyme Regis. What I admire about Chevalier's writing is that it all seems wonderfully restrained, and this suits the women's repressive lives rather well. (see, I'm already saying "rather") When I read Girl with the Pearl Earring I was similarly impressed by the way she managed to capture  the spirit of the times. I am dabbling as well with a lot of non-fiction research books, including a very readable book called The Elizabethan Underworld - strange how yesteryear's criminals become somehow picturesque rather than despicable when put into print.

Work in progress - well I'm at the stage where it is nearly done but I'm picking over it trying to smooth out all the wrinkles. I am about to have the luxury of a whole day writing, good job it is wet and the garden can wait. I have a couple of events lined up for The Lady's Slipper at local branches of Waterstones - signings are odd events aren't they? I'm never very sure how much entertainment I am supposed to provide or whether my mere presence is enough! Which it probably is if you are very well-known. I have met some very interesting people at my various events though - orchid enthusiasts and people interested in local history.

This feels a bit like one of those Round Robin letters that people send at Christmas, oh dear.

If your update is long and interesting maybe put it in a separate post.

7 comments:

Frances Garrood said...

Dee - like you, I am currently coming towards the end of the WIP, which is proving rather more difficult than I had imagined. And I'm reading (again) To Kill a Mockingbird, which is quite superb. I can see why Harper Lee had no need to prove herself further. Re Tracey Chevalier - I enjoyed Girl with a Pearl Earring, but really didn't like Fallen Angels (the only other one of hers that I've read) which has rather put me off trying her again.

Since this is neither long nor particularly ineteresting, so I'm posting it here.

Ellie said...

I am trying to finish a WIP, too. While my children holiday around me. Sigh. I am thinking about relocating to the very dusty garden shed.
I have been busy with Jubilee promoting, which is obviously a good thing to do, but it has involved a lot of driving around over the last six weeks.

Eliza Graham said...

er, sorry, that is me (Eliza) above.

Len Tyler said...

Re wip - I need to get the next book (provisionally entitled Herring on the Nile) finished by the end of September. Now I'm back from the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, I can focus on that for a while.

In the run-up to Harrogate I was mainly reading crime novels, but I've just got Pepys' Diaries from the library as a bit of a change of pace!

Eliza Graham said...

Len, The Herring in the Library kept my 13-year-old entertained on a long and hot journey home from Greece! Is he your youngest fan? He was particularly amused by the way that Elsie's narrative subverted and utterly contradicted Ethelred's version.

no said...

Am half way through my WIP and the title has changed eight times in eight days. Doing well. I love it so far but think nobody else will. Still, really enjoying writing something just for myself.

As for reading, I got sucked into the other-reality of Harvest Moon: Rune Factory on my Nintendo DS and haven't picked up a book since. Most unlike me.

mattfwcurran.com Web Admin said...

Hi Dee
Late to the party as usual, my WIP is all a bit bonkers at the moment.  I have 3 WIPs which can be a little confusing. 

First up is The Black Hours which should be finished by the end of the month.  The next WIP will depend largely on the progress of my agent in finding a permanent home for The Secret War books.  Until that happens, the 3rd book in the series (which is currently at the 2nd draft stage) will be put on hold while I start writing a dark-fantasy/crime novel called PURGATORY.  PURGATORY will be a short project compared to the previous books and should keep me occupied while my agent hikes the Secret War books around publishers.  It's quite different again to anything I've written before (I've never attempted to write anything remotely like a crime novel before, though this will certainly not be a conventional crime novel in the same mould as Brian's, Len's or Ryan's books).  My agent loves the idea and thinks I've got the skills to make it work, so I'll be concentrating on that for the next 12 months or so, unless a publisher comes in and demands the 3rd Secret War book...