An A - Z Challenge TAG

Jenny at the Pearson Report - a co-host of the Blogging A - Z Challenge - has started a game of TAG.

I'm going to answer them now, and then it's your turn, should you choose to accept!

HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS:

Are you signed up for the A to Z Challenge? 

Yes, yes I have! My first time... I'm a little scared!

What is your sign-up number? 

I'm at # 145 Wake up, eat, write, sleep

Are you ready? If yes...explain yourself. 

Well, I've got my theme. I've got the letters Q, V and Z sorted. I've even written two posts, and I've already had to cheat on B!

If you’re not ready...what’s your excuse? 

Well, after A, B, Q, V and Z, it all goes a bit downhill. But I'm sure I'll be ready by April. I'm absolutely, positive I'll be ready by April... Did I mention I've got my theme?

So now it's your turn. Just copy and paste these questions in your post and encourage your followers to do the same!

What are you waiting for...you’ve just been TAGGED!

If you haven't signed up and you want to, click the link to the Pearson Report at the top of the page.

And off again....

Yep, only just had time to put my bag down and bash out a post about killing things, and I'm off on my travels again - this time to Linda's blog, Excuse Me While I Note That Down.

Linda has also given me my first review, so thank you Linda, it was great fun!

Murdering my darlings

Phew... the past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of activity, without a single word of new material written. So, at the weekend, I put all thoughts of marketing for Cat and the Dreamer on hold and got out my soon-to-be-submitted trilogy of novellas and read them as a whole, and - yay! - they worked. I held my breath, I got goosebumps, I wanted a character to do the opposite to what she was planning. I got caught up in my own stories!

Except for one. The second story in the collection was the first to be written - written eight years ago, to be exact. And as I was reading, I spotted a lot of changes that needed to be made. Even the first sentence, which I thought was spectacular when I first wrote it, now seems dated and cliched. And then, I saw it. I saw the worst piece of writing - a whole section that I'd shoehorned in, because I needed to get my character from C to D.

Out came my red pen, and... my darlings are gone - all 2000 of them. Murdered, slashed... gone :-(

Deleting words is not usually something I do. Not because they're all good, you understand. But because my work is usually shorter than I'm hoping and I spend a lot of time increasing the word count.


Currently there's nothing instead - just a big gaping hole in the plot. In this section, the MC has to lose her job,  introduce another character to the guy she likes, watch them flirt and then have an argument with him. It sounds easy enough, doesn't it? But the spectre of the old version is lingering. Even though I'm sitting down with a completely blank piece of paper, with my beautiful fountain pen poised, I'm struggling for inspiration.

So today's question is: have you ever needed to delete huge swathes of your work, and how did you fill the hole it left behind?

Over at Teresa's

Today, I'm featured on Teresa F Morgan's blog, answering questions, and sharing the origins of the title. 


Thanks for inviting me over, Teresa!

Tagged!

I was tagged by Rachel at Writing on the Wall. Rachel has asked eleven people to answer eleven questions of her own chosing. In turn, after answering the questions below, I have to ask eleven people to answer eleven questions of my own chosing, and so the tag continues. I hope that's clear!

1. What is one item on your bucket list?
 I would love to climb the Eiffel Tower. That sounds easy, but I'm scared of heights, so that makes it all a bit more difficult.

2. Please share a goal you have accomplished.
All my goals have been writing based. So publishing my novella is the most recent.

3. What's the next book on your To be read list?
 I keep looking at The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore when I'm stood in Waterstone's, so I imagine it'll be that. I tend not to plan.

4. What's the last book you loved?
 I've just finished The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender, which was strange, atmospheric and perfect.

5.What author would you love to meet? (Alive or dead is fine, it's a fantasy afterall.)
 So hard to chose - I'm going to say Daphne du Maurier, because I love her short stories but find her novels difficult to read. Maybe she could explain them to me?

6. If you could pick a name for yourself, what would it be?
 I love my name. At secondary school, with over 1100, I only had to write Annalisa on my work, because I was the only one. I always feel a bit gutted when I see someone with my name. Luckily, I've never met anyone in person, I might not be responsible for my actions!

7. What was your first pet?
 A dwarf lop-eared rabbit called Mufti.

8. Chocolate or caramel?
 CHOCOLATE!

9. Do you like to read about the past, present or future?
 Mostly, the present.

10. Where would be your dream vacation?
 New Zealand, or a tour of Scandinavia.

11. What did you have for dinner last night?
 Left-over lasagne, with Christmas cake to follow.


And now for my questions:
1. Which book, that you're supposed to love, do you actually hate?
2. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
3. Name four people (dead or alive) you would like to invite for dinner.
4. Can you remember your first teacher?
5. In which order should Star Wars be watched: IV, V, VI, I, II, III or I, II, III, IV, V, VI?
6. Which fictional character would you like to be for a day?
7. Sweet or savoury?
8. Do you have a tattoo? How many?
9. Do you still have your first teddy bear? (I do.)
10. Oggy, oggy, oggy... Does anyone know what comes next? (hehehe)
11. What are you reading right now?

If you're on this list, you're tagged! If you choose to play, you have to answer the questions above and pass 11 new questions on to 11 new people!

Julie at From Pen to Paper...
Maria at First Draft Cafe

julie fedderson at Gypsy in my soul
Life by Chocolate: Robyn Alana Engel's Blog
Jessica Salyer at Just Following a Dream
Tina at Life is Good
Patsy at Patsy Collins
Amy at Stuff and nonsense
Tasha Seegmiller at Tasha Seegmiller
M Pax at Wistful Nebulae
Julie at What Else Is Possible?

Is it bedtime yet?

Porthleven, Cornwall Easter 2011

I didn't sleep last night. Not a single minute. Instead, I wandered around the house, wrote a few lines that change the ending of a novel I'm working on, and worked out how I would extend my house if money was no object - I even know what taps I want!

I finally fell alseep at 7am, and woke up a couple of hours later. Adding this to the vertigo that's left me unable to sit up for more than ten minutes at a time - almost a week now - I feel awful!

So I thought it was time for a gratuitous photo of a gorgeous Cornish village that I visited for a music and food festival last Easter - on what was probably the warmest April I've ever known.

And it's working. I haven't thought about all the writing I'm not doing for about five minutes now!

Just so this isn't a wasted post, I'll also do another shout-out for the wonderful Blogging From A-Z April Challenge.

It occurred to me, overnight, that I've got at least three followers who are not writers... and fear not! You guys can be included too. Just chose a theme and find a subject for each letter of the alphabet.

Writers are not islands, they have crafting, dieting and fitness interests too... Just click on the logo to signup!

Off to see Jacqueline

Today, I'm over on Jacqueline Howett's Blog, having a chat. Please pop over there and say 'Hi' to us. There's also a chance to win a copy.


The links to Amazon, Vagabondage and Nook are on the left-hand side of this page, just down a bit... a bit further... that's it!