Wednesday 23 November 2011

Two Lonely Girls

I have started work on Lilly Alone, and so far, so good - it will, of course, be a while down the line before you can read it, but here's a bit of a taster ... the first 200 words or so.
It's a little bit scary ... and it gets scarier!
Tony

Every night as darkness fell the terrible noises rose up through the house, and Lilly Cresswell lay in bed, frozen with terror.
During daylight the large house was a wonderful place, full of light, and happiness and toys for nine year old Lilly to play with. In fact she had so many toys that Lilly rarely left her room, but she did not mind this at all; and besides, Mrs Crow the housekeeper had told her many times that her health was delicate and she must be very careful to stay out of the sunlight.
So Lilly would sit in the dappled light of her drawn curtains in her large room, and though she could barely remember the last time she had left the room, and though she missed her parents very much, and sometimes it did seem that they had been away overseas forever, Lilly was very happy with her dolls, and toy boats and planes, and doll’s houses (she had five) and her wonderful books.
And, of course, she was not alone. She had Samson, her long-limbed black cat with its streak of silver fur that shot like a lightning bolt from between its pointed ears, down its back to the tip of its tail.
Samson lay at her feet now, curled into a ball, the silver streak a question mark in the darkness, as the terrible noise grew nearer and nearer and louder and louder...

Tuesday 22 November 2011

Goodbye Mabel, Hello Lilly

My work on the National Novel Writing month has halted, as I have been offered a contract by a publishers to write a new book, Lilly Alone. There's not much I can tell you about Lilly Alone - it's in its very early stages - except that it is a ghost story, and, if all goes well, you should be seeing it within the next 12 months.
Mabel Maybe will have to wait a bit longer, but, fingers crossed, Lilly might pave the way for getting Maxwell 3 published, and I might finally get the chance to get some of these other stories written too!
More nonsense soon!

Tony

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Pratchett and the distant siren call of 1K

Hit 971 words for Mabel Maybe today - according to the National Novel Writing Month website this means I'll now be finished by February 11, 2012 - I have to wonder about the science of this (and admit that I'm cheating, and have no intention of writing 50,000 words). So I'm nearly, but not quite at that 1,000 word count quite yet - I blame Terry Pratchett (am reading Snuff, his superb new book) and my slightly relaxed frame of mind as I approach my traditional mid-November forest holiday.
More nonsense tomorrow!
Tony

Tuesday 1 November 2011

Nano-Nano (Write)

I have decided to jump start my writing again by joining National Novel Writing Month. Today I (kind of) wrote 288 words - which, by their calculation, means I will be finished by April 12, 2012. Never mind, I shall crack on, and let you know how I get on. If it's something you fancy trying yourself go to: http://www.nanowrimo.org/ - I am "maxwellsdad" (I really am!) follow my slow (or fast, if I rise above the 288 word count) descent into madness.
Tony