Happy Christmas-ish!
Admittedly it's a bit late, but I hope it found you and yours well.

Writing-wise, the plan had been (as the plan always is) to use the hols productively and, having finished the plan of the novel (previously titled Destined, for want of a better one) I started the first draft! Woo!

Then, 300 words in, it didn't feel right. Anti-Woo. I get this thing with openers where if the feel isn't right I can't get into the other 70,000. My opener, despite (or perhaps because of) being heavily planned, didn't feel right. I know I can go back and edit it, but it just wasn't working for me.

For a few days I sort of mooched around and considered my skeleton manuscript, and I realised didn't particularly like it. I think this is one of the virtues of planning - I realise now I don't like it, rather than 200 hours in! I love my starting concept for it, and really want to tell a story based around it, but the one I'd gone with had turned out a bit... flat. Dull. Lifeless. (like my previous hair, hehe - more on THAT later!)

I took a while and tried to remember what it was that had excited me when I started planning this, a good few months ago now. I wanted something atmospheric and slightly gothic, while sticking to the Regency era. I'd also like it to be quite funny. Jury's out on that one:p

Continue reading here...