Completed

I finally completed Allie yesterday. Until I get any comments from Sue on the next chapter she sees then I won't be doing any more work on it. Until then I will start rewriting Georgina. First off will be revisions from the comments what I got from the conference crit night on Chapter One, then I will type and print that out. Then I will go back and put in the magical stuff I am keen to include, now I know that's what I like writing. Then put in magic in the rest of the book and make more of the art teacher like I did in Allie.

As well as that, I plan to carry on creating my ebook of short stories, and write tips and letters to more magazines, and write another story on Feathered Friends for Creature Features.

So am still a busy bee here.

Busy writing...

I am very near the end of working on Allie. Just a few more chapters to read through, and chapter 5 to delete a scene from and rework the scene after that from Sue's comments last week. Meanwhile, I have emailed the agent I saw last year with the first three chapters and synopsis now revised from when she saw it then. Says she remembers me and looks forward to reading it. It is also with the agent for the slushpile challenge, so that makes 2 agents looking at my work.

I am also working on other things. I am about to print a story off to send to Take a Break's Fiction Feast magazine. I read the column by a short story writer in the last Writer's Forum magazine about what she had read in one issue they had printed and how many words they were. One of the genres was just what I write - ghostly and fantasy, and she said that if you feel you have a story that will fit then send it off, so I am. I also have a story I want to send to a competition to sort out this week, plush I have been invited to blog on the SAS's blog ABBA (An Awfully Big Blog Adventure), so have to draft that, plus there is still my stories about feathered friends I see in the garden for Creature Feature, but might do that next week.

Oh, and I booked to go to the London Book Fair in April. I can't wait as it will be my first time, and maybe the last, I go there.

So busy bee I am right now.

Recycling round up

So what have you recycled and decluttered so far this year? Me a lot. From clothes to manuals for old computers. I have recycled a lot of paper, put more paper for reusage, given a charity shop clothes I've not worn, an air humidifier thing I've not used, lots of books. I've put lots of clothes and other recycleables in textile and recycling banks. And I still need to sort out a drawer full of stuff and file things away.

Also I have emailed the local council about recycling things at home and found out I can recycle the following: can labels, empty stamp books, jam jar lids (they can be removed in the recycling process).

I have also emailed Sainsbury's about my local branches recycling banks, esp their ones for mixed plastics. For 2 weeks running they were overflowing and had to stuff my things in to them or use another one. I got a result in the end. My comments have been forwarded to the store manager who will investigate with his team and make ensure that the bins are emptied regularly.

My next aim is to possibly email companies whose products I use to ask them what their containers are made of and how I can recycle them. Watch this space.

Writing round up

Well January was quite busy with my writing. Allie is coming along at a good pace now. Have more chapters than I originally did, with comments from Sue Hyams that I put in which made longer chapters, so split those into shorter chapters. Also hard at work emailing letters to magazines and have had luck so far with one published in Healthy. My last stories submitted to Creature Features magazine were published too, with the one before that being selected by the readers to be in the special volume coming out soon. Need to email the publisher to find out how to get that when it does come out and if I can buy some for people I know. Also the first two chapters of Allie went to the SCBWI slushpile challenge and now the agent is going to read them with the other 34 mss sent and will hear early March the result.

Meantime, this month I have a children's story nearly complete to send to an ezine, then will work on an adult story for a magazine and another for a competition. Whilst working on Allie still.

Next entry will be out recycling roundup.

The Read-In

Yesterday was National Library Day where lots of authors did read-ins in their local libraries that are threatened with closure. I did mine at Sydenham library and it was a success. The library was packed and just after 12 noon the readings started. First was a local Baroness, then children's poet Chrisse Gittins, then Karen Wall and her husband Jim who are an author and illustrator of children's picture books, then they brought back the Baroness because when she did her first reading, we couldn't hear her because of all the noise. Then came me. I had to use a microphone, and it wasn't too bad. I read the bit from Rosie that I read at my book launch and said that if anyone was interested in a copy I had a few to sell. After that was Lucy Mangan reading from her book, then we all went outside to see balloons being released, and they didn't go that far. There was a cake donated by a local cake store, and hot food donated by another local business. I'd had my own lunch so didn't eat anything. I met all the other children's readers and talked to them, giving them my card. We all had our photo taken by a man from Lewisham Newsshopper paper, so I might be in next week's copy and hope I get it. Then we wandered round saying goodbye and I went to the bus stop. Whlist there, an elderly lady came up to me saying she'd heard my reading and wanted to buy my book and couldn't find me. She had now. I signed a book for her grandson and she paid me. A book sold. Yay. All in all it was a good day on Saturday what with having a letter in Healthy magazine that morning. I do hope that what went on on Saturday makes an impact on the decision to close the libraries, as libraries are truly needed for our next generation.