Surviving the Move

It's been over three months since my last post. Some of you have stopped looking for me, I know. Well, everyone, having recovered from the stress of my move, I am as back to normal as I can ever be. (I wasn't that normal to start with.)

From where I'm sitting now, I can hear a bunch of rainbow parakeets chattering and screeching in the trees in the courtyard here. Members of the parrot family, they are the noisiest birds in the world, but I love every minute of it. They sound so happy to be alive! I don't know if it's their exclusive food, but they hang out in bottle brush trees (so called because their red blossoms look like bottle brushes), and they sip on the nectar all day long. Having two of these trees directly outside means I hear all the action.

So I know where I am; it's audible. Then there is that unique smell - of eucalyptus, jacaranda, and other flora that gently surrounds you the minute you land here. It's as different to Brighton (in both England and Canada) as tea is to coffee, or whiskey is to vodka, but I'm always grateful I've had the opportunity to appreciate all these places, along with the others. I'm a wanderer. Like the song. But time to stay put now, not just for my sake, but my dear cats.

I finished Summer Must End back in August as I predicted. I have yet to pull together a one-page synopsis and shorter jacket blurb for it, but there's plenty of time to do that. With the two other manuscripts patiently waiting their turn, I doubt much will happen for quite a while. Does that matter to me? Not at all.  I am already well into my fourth novel and I'm guessing that there will be more before Summer comes under the microscope. You have to have huge patience in this writing game. But you guys already know that.

The great news is - dare I tell you? You might recall that I dropped an agency last year, and perhaps you thought I didn't  take the process seriously enough - I have a new agent. She is absolutely lovely. The ideal for me always (a bit of a fantasy, I thought)  was having an agent who was very friendly, uncomplicated, excellent at her craft, and available. And then there she was, like an old friend in the way she responded to Hafan Deg (although I'm persuaded that title should change to something more recognizable). It's quite a shock to deal with someone who communicates so easily. I send an email, and she replies immediately, always sounding enthusiastic. Oh, my... (Pinching myself again.)

Jeeves longing to get out there...

Baby contemplatng the garden...

So there it is.


The move to the Antipodes is over; my cats survived it with only a little resentment; I'm working on my new novel; I'm agented for the first. Oh, and another bonus: the local library is directly across the street. What more could a girl want? Seriously.

Love being back here. More about the new book next time.

Reliance On The Kindness of Writers

I was somewhat taken aback this last day or two, since I posted about the request for the full manuscript of Hafan Deg with the thirty-day exclusivity attached. So many of you congratulated me, encouraged me, shared this fragile snippet of hope as if it were your own. I know some of you are already at the same stage with your books, and it moves me to see how unstinting you are with your concern for me. I've said all of this before, but it's worth repeating how much it means - and how constantly amazed I am at your generosity. Thank you, again.


I am heavily involved in Strachan's Attic. The book was meant to be a revision, an update of the original MS, but I find I am re-writing great chunks, and it's taking far longer that I'd originally planned. I'm not complaining, because when I read the previous day's work the next morning, it's satisfying to see it taking on a fresh new life. Perhaps I should stop calling this an old book, and refer to it now as my new novel; certainly it retains the original idea, but the characters have completely changed - for the better, I hope.

The research is ongoing, as I come up with some new aspect of World War II that I want to reflect. Browsing through the archives at various sites, I come across stories that engulf me so completely, even though they're not relevant to my book, that I can't tear myself away. Many, many people have offered their individual memories to these sites as a permanent record of that poignant time in history. Most of the writers, if they are still with us, are in their 80s or 90s now, relating things that must still cause strong emotions in them. Some are written by relatives, even grandchildren trying to connect to their own pasts. This is also a reminder to you to record your family history, to question aging relatives about their stories, otherwise it's lost forever.

I mention this because there is such a wealth of material out there for the writer interested in an earlier time. I've found enough story ideas from this one decade to write a hundred books. So many of these people in uniform were high school age, seventeen, eighteen years of age. Late in the war, boys joined the Navy at fourteen, easily getting away with the lie that they were older because no one questioned too deeply; the War Effort needed every able body it could get. It's emotional work, this book, although I suppose all our writing must be in different ways. If we didn't invest our own vulnerability in it, how convincing would it be?


There's a lot of stuff out there about literary agents - what they think, what they want, etc., but I don't think we ever tire of hearing about them. They're our greatest challenge, our Everest - sometimes, when we're feeling low, even our bete noire. I came across a discussion between four young agents at the Poets & Writers site which I found interesting enough to link here. They make a couple of points that I hadn't thought about, and it's a rewarding read. Perhaps you'll find it useful.


Have a great weekend, all you lovely, thoughtful, sensitive souls. If you must write, have a good weep over it, or a loud chuckle, love every word, and remind yourself how lucky you are to be writers.

POSTSCRIPT: Just received a request for another partial for Hafan Deg. This is new to me, so I wrote a polite response explaining the thirty day exclusive on the Full MS. I'm assuming I'm not meant to send partials during this time either. Anyone know for sure? In the meantime, I've removed the 3-chapter Link from here as well, to be fair. Hope someone out there is smarter than I feel right now...