As clear as mud

I read through my previous versions of the new book and they weren't half bad. I am pleased with my latest version though, and it is the best, so I am going to keep with it (sounds familiar, doesn't it?). However, I might be able to use version four (or part of it) as well, and the other efforts have helped solidify things in my mind. Here is to productivity!

As regards writing...

I haven't recovered fully yet from my cold, which has left me feeling really drained of energy. However, the muse is strong and I am getting the writing done. Unfortunately, I am beginning to have my doubts about my opening of the book (this is my fourth attempt). Maybe it is because I am not feeling well, maybe it is because I think the opening for In Search of the Moon was so good I want to equal it or better. Maybe I should just press on and leave the weak opening for the second draft (maybe the opening isn't weak). Maybe I should start on opening number five. I think it is important to set the tone of the book from the beginning.

Maybe I should leave it til tomorrow when I feel more rested. :S

Congratulations Michele!

A huge big congratulations to Michele and Blackrock Bay (aka J.B) for coming fourth yesterday at the 1 day event in Dunany. You are both stars!

(the above picture of Michele and J.B was taken in May at a Derby day in Cheval, where she also came fourth. Maybe Valerie could give me her pictures of Michele's triumphant day yesterday so I could up date it?)

Happy Birthday Michael Biehn!

50 today.

Ggrrr Arrgggg - watch out for bears!

Silence is golden.

Writing is easy (but not at the moment).

I'm grumbling and growling through my porridge (there was no milk this morning).

I'm trying to break my block.

Until it is broken, I'm sulking.

More difficult than I thought (lost post found)

Til the Moon Fails is proving to be a little troublesome. Questions are popping up in unexpected places. My first draft of the first chapter felt more like an extension of In Search of the Moon than a new book. I want to start with action, but I still have to introduce the characters and bring the reader into the world. I can't assume they have read the first two novels and I want each book to stand well on its own feet, as well as working as a trilogy. Problems are cropping up like how much do I tell of what has gone before? Does it slow down the action? How do I get past the difficult bog of character exposition? Where do I start the story? Maybe it was easier writing In Search of the Moon because it is set two years after the first book, maybe I had the same problems when I started, I don't remember. All I remember were blissful days in France when the words tripped off my fingers like honey and I started each writing day thinking "Where are my characters going to take me today?"
Not so much with this one, but I guess every birth is different.
Here's to another three months of labour pains!

The cruelty of life

I just wrote a beautiful post about writing and struggling with starting my new book, and it didn't publish. I won't try to recreate it, suffice to say, I am finding it hard to get the right perspective and tone.

The book I am reading at the moment

Goals for week three

1. finish part one of Til the Moon Fails
2. Finish part two of Til the Moon Fails

Blueberry update

Took Blueberry into the vet this morning. His jaw is still stable but he has a wound on the side of his mouth which is still bleeding, so he has more antibiotics to take. He has to go back next week to get the stitches taken out and in another five weeks to have the wire taken out. He can't go outside again until he has the wire removed. He loves going outside so much, I don't know if he will kill me or if I will kill him first (he is rather objectionable in his efforts to get outside). Maybe he will learn to be a good cat.

I feel like Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window today (no, I don't have a broken leg, I am not a photographer, I don't have a block of flats across from my house and, oh yes, I'm not male) but it is really hot and someone is playing the piano and I remember from the movie some composer was always tinkering away at the ebony and ivory. It is nice. Making me feel sleepy though.

Review of Goals

1. Finish In Search of the Moon - completed
2. Start Til the Moon Fails - completed
3. Write short story - Not started

I wrote 8,760 words this week, which is a little less than last week, but I did spend two days working on the plot of Til the Moon Fails.

I am taking the day off today. All work and no play makes Iseult a dull boy (or, I mean, girl).

In the zone

It is a beautiful day, I've done my exercise, I am feeling creative and I am ready to get my word count written by lunch time so I can take the rest of the day off.

Well, I've started it

I have officially started the third installment of the Moonwolf Chronicles, titled Til the Moon Fails. It is quite a slow start, not as easy as the first two, but I hope it will smooth out in the next few days and the flood gates of creativity will open.

Fudge

As requested...

Fudge as a scruffy little kitten (isn't he cute!) and...
Fudge as a more mature adult cat (still cute though!)

The book I am reading at the moment

A poem for Blueberry

BLUEBERRY
A POEM
By Tottie
Blueberry - you look like hell
Please God - soon you'll be well!
Blueberry - you gave us a thrill
when you were fit and healthy still,
with a throaty purr
and silky fur
You deafened your enemies with a frightening roar.
Blueberry, hurry and give us a bell
and let us all know once you are well!

(This was posted as a comment by Tottie Super Rabbit, but it was so good I had to put it on the blog. Thanks Tottie!)

My second favourite tree

I remember when my mum bought this eucalyptus. I don't think I was even ten years old. Every week I would go outside with my mum and stand beside it to see how much it had grown. It started off smaller than me and then slowly reached the same height and grew and grew until it surpassed me by many metres. It is really tall now. It is still an exotic wonder to me. I almost expect to see a Koala sitting in it when I look out the window.

Some things of note

1. Fudge has been with me six years today. I still think of him as a scruffy little kitten so much in need of love, even though he isn't a little kitten anymore.

2. Simon and Danielle's wedding anniversary today

I'm FINISHED!

Hurrah! Finished In Search of the Moon today. It isn't my best writing, I feel the ending is slightly incomplete (the problem with middle books in a trilogy) and I am strangely sad at finishing it. I think it took me so long to get to THE END because I was afraid of completing it. Now I have to decide how I will celebrate! I just want to lie down and have a nap at the moment. Maybe I will buy Catatonia's greatest hits CD that I saw going cheap in a shop last week to treat myself. I must start book three tomorrow. I shouldn't feel sad at saying goodbye to Hans and Janna because I am going to be working with them again for another couple of months. I hate to think what kind of downer I will have when I finish the third book!

Blueberry update

Here is a picture of Blueberry that I took at lunchtime while I was giving him his meds. You can just see the stitches in his lower jaw and he looks really badly. I saw the x-rays last night. Imagine his lower jaw like an inverted V with the narrow end at the front of his mouth and the wide ends attaching to his upper jaw. What he has fractured is the narrow end, and what the vet has done is placed a wire around the narrow end of the V to draw it back intogether. They have also looped a stitch all the way around his lower jaw and into his mouth. As you can see, he can't close his mouth properly. Some of the wire sticks out under his chin. He has to have it in for 6 weeks and then he has to have another operation to get it removed.
If you compare these pictures with the one posted a few days ago (taken when he was fit and healthy) you can see how badly he looks. He is in a lot of pain and can't get comfortable. He wanted a lot of cuddles last night and is meowing a lot when I leave him alone. I hate to see him suffering so much. I wish I could take the pain away from him. He is on antibiotics and painkillers.