Truth

 It's been a month, according to the date on my last blog. My consistency apparently leaves much to be desired.

Writing news...I sold a story two days ago. It was a story set on Weston Super Mare pier. I wrote it after a day trip there about five months ago, so if you are an impatient person, don't bother submitting stories. Or, if you want to, it's a great way to develop more patience! It can take as much as (in my experience) two years to get a yea or nay. So, good news there. The not-so-good news was PF don't want the Hindu serial Daughters that I'd been working on. I'd written character analyses, a synopsis and the first instalment of 5000 so that's very disappointing. The editor felt it was too 'downbeat'. A character with Alzeimers might make readers uncomfortable about what could be around the corner, but the editor loved the family members and felt that a different story using the same characters could work.

So, back to the drawing board, but not right now. I've been working hard on my Hillsborough novel. I tend to have bouts of revisiting it as it is a tough subject and I worry that it is somehow 'untouchable' via fiction. However, I have courted some opinions, including someone who was there and someone else whose cousin was too, and the unanimous vote was to go ahead. They would welcome it. I have had a long-term interest in the idea of keeping up awareness of one of the most despicable cover-ups in this country's history. I came to realise that much of the younger generation have heard of the Hillsborough Disaster, but don't really know much about it. The details are somehow irrelevant, but we all know that they are not and never should be. I feel strongly that it is something that should stay in the public consciousness as a warning. Don't believe the newspapers. Don't take what the authorities tell us as gospel. Don't ever give up searching for the truth. So, I am back in the depths of the story again, dipping in and out. It is the most strangely-written story I've ever attempted as it is from four points of view and visits many different timelines. It sort of blows my brain up - I have various chapters written and am often writing extra ones to slot in after or before something I've already written. I am constantly rewriting a list of whose POV each chapter is from and when it takes place. I'm on about 28-29000 words at the moment, so there's still a LONG way to go.

Better get on with it, really. I'm off to the cinema in less than an hour and have been distracted this afternoon by trying to book a holiday for after the wedding. So, let's have a quote from someone clever...

“The freelance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.” —Robert Benchley

Oh, how apt!

PS Just been to see The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. I read the book years ago when it came out. Written by Rachel Joyce (as was the screenplay), it is a beautiful, heart-wrenching story, so if you are looking for something to read or watch, don't miss out.