Ideally with ‘Arrival of The Birds’ playing …
ππππππππππππ
I did it again.
I left you with no more than,
A kiss to the cheek.
A polite hug.
Within hours I am gripped,
By a panic.
It’s a feeling of loss.
Of being too late.
And the cruel consequence,
Is having to relive the moment.
I see sands of opportunity,
Slip through my fingers.
And I watch it fall away.
Staring eyes.
Memories of you jostle,
In my conscience.
The skin on your neck,
Where the shortest hairs start.
And become the place,
Where my fingers feel at home.
Pulling you closer,
Smelling your clean clothing,
The bottled scent I gave you,
Warmed by your body.
Too late to tell you,
That I’ll be yours forever.
Even though our paths,
Shall never cross again.
There were connections before you,
But none so deeply powerful.
You change me.
You changed my world,
And I wanted you in it.
But a free spirit is one quality,
You illustrated so well.
Showed me how to become one.
ππππππππ
Hello my gorgeous lovelies … I’m on a train, with my earphones in and was inspired to write you a little cuddly poem. It’s been far too long that I’ve ignored you all. Forgive me…
I read a poem recently by our great blogging friend Patti at Lovenlosses and I do hope she stayed safe during the recent hurricane.
I’ve also said hi to Mike, over at ReadafterBurnout who continues to entertain daily and I’ve downloaded his book which he released 9 August this year, so many congratulations on achieving this π
A dystopian world awaits the reader and what little time I’ve had to read it so far has given me no less pleasure than I expected from this very talented author. A teacher on the surface, a storyteller in ‘real life’ … I shall be review and starring it once I’ve finished ππΌ
Another supporter of mine is the wonderful Joseph at FlowersinBloom who appears to have had a blogging break of a similar length to mine. Totally unplanned, that, but I think of him from time to time as it was his recommendation of a Gail Tsukiyama novel which started my love affair with all things zen and bonsai trees (don’t ask to see mine π« I’ve yet to discover the art of keeping them alive).
I continue to chat also to my fellow writer, the beautiful Italian living in Ireland, Sabina at Ortensia72, whose posts always have me laughing out loud at family life, and nodding with recognition… her Book 1 is also on my kindle and it’s appalling I’ve not yet come to it.
But.
I do have good reason.
In the time it’s taken to ignore you for the best part of the summer, I’ve somehow managed to edit my novel. On a structural level I’m talking now. I think I finally have something I can send out!
I’ve simplified the plot in some areas, because guess what? I wasn’t actually required to write the next instalment of Luther after all!
I sent my manuscript off to be critiqued by a Reader for the New Writer’s Scheme; part of the Romantic Novelists Association, and boy, did it need it! My Reader was kind. But honest. I don’t know who it was (their identity is kept on a need-to-know basis, and we don’t need to know).
However, I’d love to hug and assure them I was not in the slightest offended by any suggested change. I utilised about 97.8% of them in fact because the new words and grammar and alterations changed not the plot, but the tone. The maturity of the prose. It’s still my story but it’s got High School clothing now, rather than the rather shabby primary wear it had been used to.
I like it. And so did two agents at the annual conference. We must not get too excited because agents love ideas – it’s their job to find new authors’ books enticing. Once they read the whole thing, as opposed to those first three chapters we all work so hard to perfect, their enthusiasm could easily wane.
I decided I needed some serious help at this point. My first book. My first time digging up the roots of my literary baby. So I employed a mentor!
For six weeks (and we are four weeks in) I have an expert at my beck and call, someone to bounce ideas off, someone to moan to, someone to share excited moments with. She is paid to respond to me, which is great.
However.
My mentor is also very honest. Calls a spade a spade and wouldn’t choose between two sentences I emailed one day when I was stuck. I had to choose myself, can you believe it π€£
It was the best thing. My mentor asked me to dig deep and think about which of the two would have a greater emotional impact on the character at that point. Genius. I knew the answer, and went ahead and implemented the correct choice.
I’ve re-written my synopsis with her guidance and now am in the process of researching agents with a view to start submitting from the end of the month. I’m a big girl and am aware initial interest does not always lead to offers of representation, but wow, I’m having fun! I’m also going to find a spike to stick the rejection slips on – Stephen King did that. I read his writing journey in ON WRITING and fell a little bit in love with him to be honest. That book in itself is a masterpiece, let alone his novels, of which I know own six.
If we were to look back to this time last year (which we won’t bother doing) I suspect my blog posts were all about …. well, I can’t even remember. What I do remember from that time is only having 24,000 words!
I’m on my second high speed train of the day, en route to York. Attending another annual event run by the RNA means a chance to catch up with published authors and other hopeful authors-to-be ππ₯
Enough about me. What are you all up to?
In the meantime, excuse me while I start this book.
Kate, just setting off on another ride now that the sun is out. Writing is a punishing challenge. It gets me down frequently before unexpectedly lifting me up. I have a friend who writes plays for BBC Radio 4 and he has suggested that I submit AWOL to the Beeb for the story slots. So far, I have not done so as I doubt that that book is good enough. I rarely blog beyond reposting and putting up extracts of what I am currently writing. I think that best advice anyone can give a writer is to keep going.
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Enjoy pedalling the miles. Youβve written miles over the years and, really, very entertaining stuff.
Now. Whatβs the worst that can happen if you start submitting it and it gets a barrage of βNo!βs ?? (It might get a yes, but letβs think for a moment about a tsunami of No!s)
Youβll feel crap for a while, perhaps. But any worse than you occasionally do now?
Youβve inspired me to do a post on this subject later .. x
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Cycle complete, recovery underway. It’s not just about submitting work, but geting my work to a standard that I am happy with. I like AWOL, it’s a rocking young adults’ book and I like The Story of Eve which is just about complete. My Grimm novels are my best work to date and I don’t want to push them out of the nest just for someone to decline them. I’m not afraid of of rejection, just want to develop some perfecting. If that makes sense.
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Perfect sense. Itβs why I darenβt self-publish because my story may not be itβs best self yet! Iβm enjoying learning the craft. I started attending weekly classes on zoom with an author I really admire.
Have you heard of Dream Author Program? Run by Sophie Hannah. Iβm doing this too! Spent some saved pennies on it and feel so much better about my writing!
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Wise move. I am just trying to teach myself (as I’m a teacher) and I am getting there. Things are happening, but I still keep straying into the deep woods. Structure is going to be my saviour.
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I remembered youβre a teacher and bet myself two small cakes youβd remind me. But, I dare to mention you might be too close to your own work to know if itβs βworkingβ on a commercial level, surely? (Which I know it will be, btw)
Feel free to ignore me! Youβre finding your own path, as we all do, and as long as youβre happy, it doesnβt matter how long it takes.. ππΌπ
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The commercial level is another matter. I thought AWOL would be commercial but I could not find representation. My Grimm novels? I’m just trying to write and structure as best I can. It’s a difficult line to follow.
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Keep going and keep submitting AWOL π
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Viola, came across this post the other day and it took me by surprise – had not heard from you for a long time. I quite liked my AWOL but the literary representation didn’t seem to care much. It was a book for boys who liked action to race alongside their thinking. I have written the companion book which is Eve’s story, I like that more. At the moment, I have written two books based on Grimm’s fairytales and the pandemic (all part of a series Pepys with witches). All of that came about because I almost met my maker after coming off my bike and having morphine-induced hallucinations in hospital – drugs are great for creativity. Hope you are well.
Mike
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Hey, Mike!!
Jeeeeez. Iβm so sorry to hear of your accident. Thank goodness youβre ok. And many congratulations for continued writing efforts. I think all our learning books take us further along the road towards our best selves. Of course, we can publish at any time, and be proud of our efforts. But if the improvements are visible (I know I write vastly improved sentences from those I penned two years ago!) then why not keep moving forward with new/related projects!!
I really must regroup with WordPress, but I pressed pause to complete my suffragette novel and now itβs being critiqued!
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Good stuff. I am just writing. It’s much better than before, but it is so up itself that it doesn’t want to be seen in public.
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Iβve started a new site today Mike.. would love to see you over there. Really missed blogging and hope to post weekly so I can maintain it this time!!
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Well done on your progress. It all sounds very promising. Stay golden!
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Bless you π§‘ xx
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Congrats on how far youβve come, Viola. It all sounds so exciting and I canβt wait to see where your submission journey takes you. Good luck!
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Thank you so so much!
Its posts like yours, here and on Instagram which keep me inspired to carry on. Iβve absorbed many of your tips along the way xx
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Aww, thanks! It makes me so happy to hear that π.
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Very sensual poem. Good luck with the novel.
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Thank you so much π
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Viola is so Goood at writing anything sensually, when can we expect the erotica between Jesica and Amber the human-sized sentient ice cream cone to be released, Viola?
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Well, now..
Patience is a virtue Joseph π
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