HOLIDAYS ARE ALMOST HERE

The school term finishes on Friday and we get two lovely weeks of holidays. Because of New Zealand hosting the Rugby World Cup the whole school year has been tampered with, and the first three terms are longer. So our house is a tired house! With hubby being a teacher and me home schooling, we all are involved in school.

I'm looking forward to sleeping in, going for walks and drives, and watching movies. And in the second week, with my youngest away at camp, I'm hoping to get lots of writing done. I have an idea for a short story for our national Katherine Mansfield competition run by the BNZ.  Then the next Dunedin Writer's Workshop competition, due in June, is for Crime or Mystery stories. I have a few ideas with an historical twist.

Then of course there is my novel. I'm toying with a title at the moment. How about, 'A Convenient Arrangement'? Sometimes I like it, and sometimes I don't. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Soon I'm going to be tackling the characters of five young folk - siblings - who form the background to the main story and also I need to write out the back story in great depth. You see there is a mystery and I want to slowly divulge it, but of course I need to know it inside out and upside down first.

The same thing happened when I was immersed in the beginning stages of 'Blackbird'. Once I'd got the first few chapters down and had a basic idea of who and what the story was about, I spent hours writing character studies, plot points, back story, etc. until the place and the people became bricks and mortar  and flesh and blood.

And when that happens with my new novel, the writing will flow, motivation will be at an all time high, and in a couple of months or so I should have the first draft - complete!

A Dunedin beach. I hope I get to see lots of views like this over the holidays.