Writer
Part 2 (read part 1)
At first I dabbled with writing about our project in France. But fuck that. How boring? Very, judging by how often my own dribble and snoring kept waking me up. Nope, cement and septic tanks were not my forte. And since before I’d left England two ideas I had for stories grew in my mind. But writing a novel was a daunting prospect, especially for someone who had barely written a word of fiction. And so, with the help of the internet still on dial-up connection, I set about learning my new craft, and have been doing so for the last seven years. I wrote the first draft of both ideas, gradually (I still had babies to look after and they took up most of my time). But finally I had an outlet, somewhere to express myself wholly and without restriction. I could use my brain. Days of Ceebeebies and ABC/123 had an intellectual light at the end of their ‘long dark tunnels’. ;)
I still haven’t finished these novels. But now the kids are at school I’m on a mission. The term ‘she’s lost the plot’ brings on new meaning entirely than the throwback comment it used to be when someone had ‘participated’ a little too much in a night out clubbing.
So, what am I writing about?
Currently revising with plans to submit by early 2015: The Deadliest of Errors (a novella) — A group of seven young backpackers go for a guided tour in the Australian bush, but after a moment of midnight madness, only six come back. Prejudice, school yard spite, and intense rivalry dissolved what should have been a fun, adventurous trip into a vicious war for love and hierarchy, and the local rangers have suspicions. Was the disappearance an unfortunate accident, or did something more sinister occur?
Next project: Loved UP (novel) — Peddling drugs to pay off the debts of her addicted boyfriend, runaway Stella hopes to break away from her small-time dealing racket, get a decent job and make something of her life. Maybe then she could go back home and win the long coveted respect of her father. But in the midst of the 1990s' recession, and with not a GCSE in sight, it's proving harder than she thought. When a confrontation with her best friend's psychopathic boyfriend ends in disaster, Stella flees to London, taking her friend Kirsten with her. Thrust into the city's underground rave scene, she soon realises that the best way to keep on top of the rent and pay off her ruthless suppliers — of whom she is in no doubt will come to hunt her down — is to become a party organiser herself. But big raves require copious ecstasy, and Stella knows that if she wants to run a legitimate business she first has to establish herself any which way she can. As the 1990s rave scene increasingly unifies the nation's youth and divides them from 'normal' society, the uproar attracts the wrong kind of attention and Stella finds herself caught up with organised crime. Her sights of a legitimate career seem to slip further away as she is dragged deeper into Britain's chemical romance and London's gangland. Can she steer herself back on course or will her ambition drive her down paths she never imagined she would take?
Loved UP seeks to explore the ongoing debate between legalisation and prohibition and our recreational relationship with intoxicating substances.
So why the blog?
For a long time now, fellow writers have been telling me I need a blog. ‘Write about your life, write about France!’ they said.
Yeah, right.
A few years ago it would have gone something like this:
One, no, two, cows walked past my back window. A tractor drove past and left clods of mud in the road, and it rained. Again. The kids are well funny, but very messy. And they always wake up during the night. I’m so tired.
Went to the supermarket. Woo.
Well, that would have been a winter entry, anyway. In summer it’s a different beast altogether. There’s too much to do, if you like car boots and cheese markets. And in recent years there’s been improvements — more gigs, more businesses opening, more people taking action into their own hands and starting up various entertainments.
But I had to find my own angle. Something that interests me. So I thought back to my roots. I thought about what I spend most of my time doing during the summer months and how that contrasts to the quieter winter ones, which equated to this:
Music -- getting out and about; writing -- holed up and head down.
So there you go. An ex-raver in respite rooting out replacement recreation. How's that for alliteration! Why the hell not?
