Week 29 - ...and the winner is...

When you undertake a project that will last a year, there are always going to be good and bad weeks.

This has been a good week.

As the banner at the top of this blog states, I am now the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook Official Blogger for the next 12 months.

This came about after I bought a copy of what is the writers’ bible back in early September. I read on the inside cover that they were holding a competition for the best blog dealing with a writing or illustration experience. As I was just about to start my 52 week crime novel odyssey, it seemed a moment of Kismet. So I entered and last week heard the news that I had won.

I have received many congratulations - which is nice, including a message from Greg & Kate Mosse and Keith, designer & owner of Scrivener. http://www.literatureandlatte.com/index.html

Definitely a good week.

Of course, the writing world continues and I have still been working through all the structure issues of my first draft, hacking away at its rock face to create something that might resemble a second draft.

Lest my recent success goes to my head, the second draft is proving to be harder work than I imagined. I am hoping that this is because the earlier chapters will need more work because of how the book developed later. Progress has been so slow that I have not got to the point where I am introducing the new character I mentioned last week.

I have just six weeks before the end of this stage when the actual re-writing begins and I still have 24 chapters to work on. Hopefully, the structure will need a lot less work as I progress, especially as I am going away for a few days - taking Kate Mosse’s advice for a bit of distance. http://www.mosselabyrinth.co.uk/advice/28.asp

I will be staying in a hotel that has been the location for one of the great detective novels of the twentieth century. It should be a great experience and will hopefully inspire me to infuse a little of that golden age magic into my modern detective novel.

In the best traditions of the genre, you will have to wait until next week to find out where I have been - and what it was like!

Whatever happens over the next six weeks, I know that a lot of hard work lies ahead, so I will have to turn down all the requests to attend premiers and royal banquets that will result from my blogging success. Sadly, I have yet to receive an invitation from Carla Bruni.

Never mind. It’s still been a good week.