The obligatory new year's resolutions post

Happy New Year, everyone!

Things are just getting back to normal after a very busy December. Writing-wise, I got very little done last month, but I’m trying not to beat myself up too much about it, as I knew in advance that would happen. I had two major proofreading projects to complete and two lengthy family visits to contend with, so there simply weren’t enough hours in the day to write and still get a full night’s sleep. I envy people who seem to be able to write into the night without it affecting them; losing sleep makes me ill and miserable—not a good state for facing Christmas! However, yesterday I finally waved off my brother and his family (all of whom will be missed, I hasten to add!) and today I’ve written just over 1000 words. I’m starting 2016 as I mean to go on—writing at least 1k per day.

I’m not one for making a great long list of new year’s resolutions, but I have made one other resolution, and that’s to get out for a walk or bike ride every day. Sometimes when I’ve got a tight deadline I bury myself in my work and don’t go anywhere until I’ve completed my set target for the day. But that can be counter-productive, as exercising improves my concentration and helps me achieve more when I get back to my desk. So this year I’m going to get out in the fresh air every day, even if it’s just to walk the mile to the shops and back. Aside from the exercise, I hope being out in the middle of the beautiful Shropshire countryside will give me plenty of inspiration.

Has anyone else made any resolutions?

Blog revamp: a medieval feel

I’ve decided it’s high time I gave my blog a facelift. As I’m writing stories set in the twelfth century at the moment, I wanted to give it a more medieval theme. After much digging through old photos, I found this picture of broken floor tiles that I took at Much Wenlock Priory last year. I’m rather pleased with the effect—what do you think?

 Looking at photos of medieval buildings has also helped put me in the mood for writing my WIP. I’m at the planning stage at the moment and really excited about my new characters; the photos are giving me inspiration for the twelfth-century world I’m building around them. I thought I’d share a few with you here. Enjoy!

White Ladies Priory, Shropshire. Some of you may recognise it as the picture on my Twitter profile.

Ludlow Castle. Ludlow never fails to inspire!

Great hall and keep, Stokesay Castle, Shropshire.

Windows inside Stokesay Castle.

Update, a local legend and November targets

View from Gelert's grave

I went to Beddgelert last weekend for my writing group's annual retreat. I managed to add about 6,000 words to my work in progress as well as polishing a couple of short stories, so I consider it time well spent.

Beddgelert is in Snowdonia and the scenery is stunning. In my last post I wrote how I get inspiration from scenery, so it won't surprise anyone to learn that I managed to fit in walks each day. It's one of the most beautiful places in the world. I only wish I could have stayed longer.


Something I didn't mention in my 'inspiration' post was local legends. As a writer of historicals, I like to collect local legends. Then I dip into them to help me create depth to a setting. There's a wonderful story associated with Beddgelert and the clue is in the name: Beddgelert is Welsh for 'Gelert's grave'. (Note to self: Gelert is a great name. I must use it sometime.)

Here's a photo of the plaque at Gelert's grave that explains the story. Have tissues ready - it's sad.

And finally...my target for November. I was tempted to join in with NaNoWriMo, but due to family commitments at the end of the month, I thought 50,000 words was over-ambitious. But I like the idea of pushing myself, so I've set a 30,000 word target. That way, I'll have broken the back of my first draft and hopefully have it finished by the end of the year. I'm already 15,000 words in, so I'm well on the way :)

Aids to creativity

Following advice from someone in my writers' group, I've been working on identifying things that put me in a more creative frame of mind. Here's the list I've come up with so far:

Hawkstone Follies - always an inspirational place for a walk

1. Walking. I've found that if I'm stuck with my writing, there's nothing like a good walk to sort things out. There's something about walking that sends my thoughts zipping along pathways that hadn't occurred to me before. I don't consciously think of my plot or characters, but I'll often get struck by a thought that gives me the key to how my characters are behaving, or reveals a plot twist that makes the story. 
2. Cycling. As for walking, but I also use it more consciously for fresh inspiration. I'm very lucky to live in Shropshire - one of the most beautiful counties in England (not that I'm biased!) It's predominately rural and filled with historical remains: stone circles, hill forts, Roman ruins, castles and priories...all the way to the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. I don't have to go far to see any of these, and on my bike I get the time to take in the atmosphere of the place and think what the place would look like in Roman times or the twelfth century, how the land would shape the people who lived there. If I've already got characters sketched out, I try to picture them there and look at the place through their eyes. It really helps me to get to know my characters better.
3. Music. There's something about music that switches on that part of my brain marked 'inspiration'. It puts me in a more receptive frame of mind and whatever I listen to - from classical to rock - always gives me fresh ideas. I have to be careful, though - I once wrote what I thought was a real tear-jerker of a scene, only to find when I read it through that all the emotion had come from the music I was listening to at the time. Without the music, the scene was dead. Until someone invents a way to add incidental music to books, I now plan with music on, but write with it off.
4. Cross-stitch. Maybe not one for everyone, this, but I find that concentrating on cross-stitch helps focus the part of my mind that's worrying about the everyday niggles, and frees the rest to go walkabout. I've come up with some great ideas, while working on a birth sampler for my niece. Who's now three...

My trusty steed, about to carry me over the Severn at Coalport. How easy was it to cross the Severn in earlier centuries?

So that's my list. I'd love to know what other people do to find their inspiration.

In search of heroes

It takes a special kind of hero to look good in lycra

Yes, I know I've been quiet, but now the Olympics are over, I can get back to posting here more regularly. I will admit to being distracted during the games, but who can blame me with the inspiring heroes and heroines performing there?

I'm going to stick with the heroes in this post. I write historical romance, set in post-Roman and medieval Britain. My heroes are driven warriors, struggling to carve out a life for themselves in dangerous times. I'm always looking for inspiration for my next hero, but living in a time so different from the ones I write about means there's a dearth of brooding warlords roaming the streets.

But now my eyes have been opened. The Olympics were full of exactly the type of man I model my heroes on. Maybe they've swapped their destriers for bicycles and swords for javelins, but they've all made sacrifices to achieve their goals, struggled against set-backs and fought tooth and nail to gain the edge over their rivals. Every Olympian is a winner, whether or not they are a medalist. And they all have a story to tell. If I find myself needing fresh inspiration, I now now where to turn.

Roll on Rio!

Fresh targets

I'm just back from a weekend away. Now that I can forget about my finished ms for a while it's time I set some new targets.

I've got some decisions to make. Firstly, what period of history to set my next novel in. I've already decided to go for medieval rather than Roman this time. Although I love Roman and Dark Age historicals, I don't think there's so much of a market for them. Certainly M&B don't have many slots for them, so I need to expand my repertoire. At the moment I'm torn between two periods of English history: the reign of King John and the Anarchy. Both exciting times with plenty of potential.

My second decision is novel or novella? I love the Historical Undone series and I'm tempted to try my hand at a novella. It would be good discipline for me to write something where I have to focus so closely on the characters' relationship and conflicts.

I'd also like to write some more short stories and try for publication in a magazine. I got so buried in my ms that I abandoned my short story writing. I think it's time to have a go at it again.

So I've decided to declare this week an ideas week. Time to read up on my chosen periods in history, sketch out some character ideas, scour the internet for some faces for them, and review all the short story ideas I jotted down in my notebooks over the past year and promptly forgot.

The inspirational effect of wearing rubber gloves

As painful as it's been, writing my synopsis has been a valuable experience. It's really made me get to grips with my hero and heroine's conflicts.

Towards the end of the story, there's a scene that I felt wasn't moving the story forward, so I was going to delete it. However, I kept hesitating to do it, because I had a nagging feeling that it was necessary. I just couldn't put my finger on why. Doing my synopsis - in fact, I was doing the washing up after a spell of working on the synopsis - it hit me why the scene is important. It's the moment where the hero lets go of the toxic emotion that's kept him from the heroine; I just hadn't realised it myself. A bit of tweaking later, to make the moment more obvious, and now the resolution of the conflict is more convincing. All thanks to the synopsis.

I'll never moan about synopses again. Well, not until next time...