I know a lot of people welcome this month. Start of Autumn, pumpkin spice, falling leaves, all that stuff. Some consider it a time for new starts, the feeling of the beginning of the new school year, even when not involved in anything educational.
Me - not at all my favourite month. Summer soon to be gone, nights drawing in, cold wet days coming. Not for me. And what's with the glut of Christmas books already on the shelves, and the festive chocolate I saw in the supermarket today? Buy now and they will be read and eaten well before Christmas - which I suppose is the motive as you will have to buy replacements. Yep, I've always been cynical.
So, not a time of the year I enjoy. But I'll get over it. On a plus note the WIP is progressing. Slow, but in a positive direction. I have another of those peer workshops coming up, where a group of friends get together to do a crit on work submitted. The opening of the second section of the new one is going to be my entry, although it will not be anonymous as people know who it belongs to. Which does give me the opportunity to ask questions on the work. One of the issues I'm wrestling with at the moment is showing my heroine's vulnerability, after life has thrown some terrible stuff at her, but not making her sound like a wimp. I'm hoping I've done it, but constructive opinions will be welcome. It's not for a few months yet, but I'll let you know how I get on.
I took the manuscript to a number of meeting with agents and editors at the recent RNA conference, and got some excellent feedback and food for thought from professionals generous with time and ideas, particularly so as they were not looking at a completed book, but only the very start of one. And I have to say, it is not developing in quite the way I expected. But they never do, so I don't know what I was thinking. It's leaning into thriller and gothic, with a strong streak of conspiracy theory, which is the unexpected bit. The usual complex tangle, but my twisted mind enjoys the challenge. I'll keep you posted.
