I'm revising the story!

Oh dear. I seem to be pondering a bit at the moment.

Whenever this happens I tend not to sleep. I have no problem falling asleep, but then  after a couple of hours I wake up and can't get back over. This is fine on the days when I don't have to go to the day job, but when it happens on a work night - like it did last Thursday - it irritates and exhausts.

And, it can't be the festive season on my mind, because apart from the food stuff my shopping is done and dusted (and wrapped) and my new story for Harlequin M&B is now complete (I'm still biting my nails awaiting a reply) so what can be bothering me?  

Well, a couple of months ago I did stumble across an old manuscript I'd submitted to Mills and Boon back in 1991 when I was 33. It got rejected, and after re-reading it, I can see the reasons why. But the story is still there - circling around my head, slithering into all the nooks and crannies in my brain and refusing to move. So, what did I decide to do this week? Yes, start it again from the beginning! Even though if you look in the body of the letter from Mills and Boon, the editor advised me not to revise that story but to start something new! Does that still apply 27 years later?

I can't remember what happened back in 1991 when I received that rejection. To be honest I can hardly remember writing the story! And, rejections hurt, of course they do, but did it hurt so much that I decided to stop writing and to stop submitting for all of that time? Oh, I know life gets in the way and we had two lively boys to bring up, but it turns out I didn't submit again to Harlequin M&B until 2015, when I got through to the last fifty of their global writing contest SYTYCW15. After that my first chapter was accepted by them, but when I submitted the full manuscript, rejected. 

I've also had the email from Kate Walker giving me homework for her Advanced writing course in Fishguard in February. And today, my dear friend, Andrea, who I met on Kate's course some years ago texted me with a reminder that there are a couple of writing competitions/submission opportunities out there at the moment that I really should think about.

My brain hurts.

Until next time

Kim xx

London calling!

So, in my endeavour to be a much better, much more regular blogger, here I am again!

I'm slightly jaded after a super weekend away in London. We ventured south for my sister-in-law's 50th birthday party which she held in style at a lovely little Italian restaurant around the corner from where they live in Marylebone. They already had a houseful of guests for the celebrations so we stayed at The Frontline Club with its gorgeous rooms and exceptionally tasteful bathrooms. Lovely! We were at the very top of the building so had a slightly quirky view over the chimneys and rooftops of London. Very Mary Poppins! 

View from our room at The Frontline Club

Our pretty little bathroom

The weather in London was horribly cold, and we had little inclination to do any of the usual touristy stuff because, well (a) we'd done it all before, and (b) we had very little time, but we did have a little bit of a wander, and I was shocked at the amount of scaffolding wrapped around Big Ben! Apparently, it will look like this until 2021! I know the repairs have to be done but I felt sad not to see it.

Big Ben clock, or is it?

It was great to see our family, but our weekend away meant I got very little writing done. What I do need to mention is that after much encouragement from Kate Walker - having attended her recent writing weekend in Keele - I've submitted the first three chapters of my new story - Signed, Sealed and Delivered of Twins - to Harlequin M&B. 

So, cue much biting of fingernails and gnashing of teeth over the next couple of months until I hear from M&B.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Until next time

Kim xxx

Life gets in the way.

I last posted here in May - yes May! That's five months ago. Which is very remiss of me. What can I say - I have no excuse - other than life is like that sometimes. The months pass by, things tend to happen, and before we know it - Christmas is almost upon us. Just like now.

So where are we now? About eight weeks to go? I've already started on the buying of gifts and today we even bought some Christmas goodies from Lidl, which I will stash in the cupboard and forget they are there. Or - and this is the much more likely scenario - we will eat them all before the big day and then have to buy more. We always do this. We should live and learn, but we never do. And I think this is what the supermarkets rely on. People buying early. Getting ahead. And in the end spending much, more money! In fact, here's a little something I bought earlier this week at a special Christmas event in Clitheroe. Oh dear.

This semester at work always passes quickly. September is mad, mad, mad because of the new students and then happily - because we always tend to holiday in October - when I return to work the rush has passed. Believe me, October is the best time to go abroad. The weather is still hot - yes, really - and the resorts are fairly empty. The sea is still lovely and warm and the beaches deserted. Who could ask for more? Trouble is we are now getting to be regulars in Minorca.  We are starting to see the same people year after year who greet us like old friends. But that's another story for another blog.  This year in the hotel was particularly interesting, and I promise to tell you all about it another time. Needless, to say, I was privy to several conversations, and gleaned enough information to write a very large book. But just to tickle your fancy, here's a photo of the very last sunset I took the night before we left Minorca. Oh, how I wish we were still there ...

But it's always the same. Like everyone else, I imagine, my diary starts to fill up with things I have on between now and the big day. This year we also have a relative's big birthday coming up so we are off to London in November. November is also the month when my youngest son was born so we have that celebration too. Then there's friends to see, and places to go, work's parties etc, so in the end there is hardly a weekend left that we don't have something to do! I've just counted up and there are seven weekends left before the BIG weekend that is Christmas, and already four of those weekends are booked. That leaves three - yes three. And no doubt before long there'll be barely a space. How do we cope?

But we do.  We always do. The madness that is Christmas builds up to such an extent that by the time Christmas Day arrives and we all get together with our nearest and dearest, the frenzy is forgotten. We take a breath. We relax. We count our blessings which, of course, is the most important thing of all.

Until next time

Kim xxx

A difficult couple of weeks

I started to feel poorly on the 9th May (the day after I flew back from Menorca) and today - the 27th May - is the first day I've felt like myself. Whoever or whatever infected me on that short return flight floored me like never before and left me feeling so weak and washed out, I took to my bed for nearly a week. Nasty recycled air!

During that time I managed only two days of work, and even then I was dosed up with painkillers the whole time. In fact, the only reason I returned to work that week was because the day after, on the Saturday, I was booked on a long-standing date with some lovely friends from the first job I had back in the seventies and I wasn't going to miss it. I don't know about you, but I never leave the house when I'm off sick from work and feel guilty if I do so. 

Anyway, by the time I got home from the reunion I was deteriorating fast with a horrible pressure in my head and eye. In fact, on the Sunday morning, I was crying with the pain. Monday morning saw DH rushing me to the GP who diagnosed a severe sinus infection and prescribed me penicillin.

So, here we are on Saturday 27 May after a horrendous week in more ways than one. Like everybody else, the news from Manchester left me traumatised and sickened. I cried over the loss of life, and the terrible injuries inflicted upon some of the people who survived. The attack seemed so shocking, and being so close to my home in Lancashire, it somehow felt so personal, too, especially as my son works in Manchester just around the corner from the arena. For some of the people in the arena that night, their lives will never be the same again, and that's what I'm struggling to get my head around.

On a happier note, however, we have a lovely, little visitor this weekend.

Meet Jasper.

Isn't he gorgeous? His mummy and daddy have gone to a wedding and asked us if we'd kindly look after him for the night. 

We've never had a dog in the house before, although my mother and father always had dogs before I was married. That, though, was almost 37 years ago!

We've been contemplating buying a dog for a while, so has our weekend visitor made up our minds? Not sure. Watch this space. 

Until next time 

Kim xx

It's May. Is it really two months since I updated my blog?

We've just got back from our holiday in Minorca. We stayed in es Castell in a super hotel near to Mahon, where we have visited before but only for the day. The hotel we picked this time was in a great location, and meant we could snap plenty of ship and ferry activity on the Med.

We enjoyed it so much we didn't want to come home! But, then we never do. And, although we seem to have brought the sunshine home with us this time, our next visit to Minorca isn't until early October, so I do have to admit to a little bit of sulking since.

I don't know about you, but our holidays always seem full of strange little incidents, and the first incident this time took place on a boat trip around Mahon Harbour.

There is a such a lot to see around the harbour - a lot of military history, both Spanish and British - but a young woman, dressed only in a bikini on her top half, proceeded to ruin the running commentary for the other passengers by accepting a FaceTime call from the UK right in the middle of it. Cue pursed lips and sour expressions, and that was just me and DH.

The second incident took place in the hotel itself on the last evening we were there. The evening meal was served between 7.30 and 10.00 pm and we varied the times we ate, depending on when we arrived back from our day-time activities. On this particular day, we'd come back early and decided to eat, then go and finish our packing. We were sitting outside having a lovely, refreshing gin and tonic on the patio when the dining room opened its doors. I decided to walk in the back way through an open door whilst my husband queued up at the front of the dining room and gave in our room number.

"Madame!" shouted the maître d' in a very loud voice. "What on earth do you think you are doing?" 

For some reason he'd taken great exception to what I'd done. I mean, how very dare I? How dare I sneak through the back and maybe inadvertently nab the best table overlooking the harbour from under the nose of the very annoying guy who by pushing to the front every night, managed to do exactly that?

"You should not have done that!"

"Should I not?" I said. "Why not?"

He never answered me, and for the rest of the meal a frosty silence prevailed.  He glared at me several times, and I have to admit, I glared back. Cue, once again, I'm afraid, my sour expression of the boat trip around the harbour. This unfortunate little fracas could have ruined our last evening, but I refused to let it. 

Honestly. Some people.

My fitness tracker was put to good use, though, as we walked 102,000 steps in a week which equates to around 41 miles with 658 active minutes. Good job too, as the puddings in the hotel were irresistible and we were never content to just eat just one of them!

Whilst we were there, I finished revising my second novel, so I'm pleased to report that when I submitted the synopsis for a Bombshell for the Barrister to the publisher I mentioned in my last blog, they requested the full. Hopefully they'll like it, so I'm keeping everything crossed on that one. Now, I just need to crack on with my NWS submission.

I'm about to send off my balance for the RNA Conference in Telford where this time I intend to be more brave with my one-to-one choices. Last year, stupidly, I cancelled a one-to-one with quite a well-known agent and the only reason for that was because I lost my nerve. I'm not saying the agent would have even liked my work but the trouble is, I'll never know now, will I?

Until next time

Kim xx

Under pressure!

Hurrah! It's February! So what's been happening? Well, nothing out of the ordinary, really, but just lately I've noticed the journey to and from work is not so dark. The birds are singing more loudly. If only it wasn't so darned chilly, we could almost be fooled into thinking that Spring has arrived.

It's my birthday soon, too, so I've asked for a fitness tracker, and as part of my new healthy eating regime I'll be trying to get out for more walks. I've cut out the carbs (mostly) and increased my vegetable intake (by a lot), so my clothes are more loose after the excesses of Christmas. If I could only get my dastardly blood pressure under control, things would be tickety-boo. When I visited the doc two weeks, it was so high they doubled my medication, so it's a matter of playing the waiting game and taking my BP every day on the monster below. Great.

It's not all doom and gloom as I'm doing much more writing. A short story here, a competition entry there, editing my last two rejections, and getting ready for my romance writing course in Fishguard, Wales, with Kate Walker. I first went on one of Kate's courses in 2014 at Weetwood Hall, near Leeds, where I met a fantastic bunch of ladies, most of whom I have stayed in touch with via email, or social media. Kate's advanced writing course is one of the highlights of my year, so, Andrea, Ingrid, Kate, Marie, Melissa, Nerys and Vasiliki - can't wait to see you all again xx

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I've been working on my hero, Jake Caballero.  Here's a little excerpt from my notes:

Jake’s mother died from eclampsia whilst giving birth to him. Before that his father crashed the light aircraft he was piloting - killing both him and Jake's older sister.  Brought up by his cold and unfeeling grandmother, Jake was starved of the upbringing he deserved. 

Although not fully rejected - she did, after all, give him a home and a private education - she never showed him a scrap of love or affection.  She never stroked his hair, kissed his face, or held him in her arms. Maybe she was grieving herself, or maybe her young grandson reminded her too much of the son she had lost? But the worst thing of all? She blamed him for his mother’s death, so imagine that being dumped on a young boy’s shoulders? Sent to an all boy’s day school, his only example back then of how the opposite sex operated was his grandmother.

As an adult Jake feels empty and incapable of love. With nothing to offer a woman - apart from his money - he has a love ‘em and leave ‘em attitude. He is determined never to have children, too, as he fears history may repeat itself, and he never wants any child to have to go through what he went through. The one thing Florence did instill in him was to always keep a stiff, upper lip - to remain strong even during the most challenging of situations. This, he knows, has got him where he is today, especially in the business world, but his private life is a joke. What woman would ever want a man like him?

Until next time.

Kim x

New Year, new me

Well, after a very indulgent Christmas and New Year, and lots of time off work (but not a lot of rest) I suddenly find myself with an extremely long to-do list!

So, here’s what happening:

One of my favourite times of the year is when I attend the Advanced writing course in Fishguard run by Kate Walker. This year, me and eleven other attendees will have to prepare in advance by reading each other's first chapter of their current WIP, and then, once in Fishguard, give our comments. This time, I’ve also asked if Kate can point me in the right direction with my characterisation, as it’s my characters who seem to be the stumbling block in my writing. At the moment, I’m putting my plot before my characters so that definitely needs to change.

I'd love to write more stories to submit to People’s Friend. I’ve taken on board (hopefully) the comments made by the lovely editor who rejected story number 2. Having only just started to submit to the Friend, I’m really hoping this will be the year I succeed at this.  I love writing short stories!

I need to carry on with my latest story for Harlequin M&B (first three chapters written) ready for the RNA New Writers’ Scheme. I have up until the end of August to submit this, but as I’m getting older, the months seem to pass by very quickly!

I’m also determined to rework my two rejections from Harlequin M&B (Tethered by Twins and A Bombshell for the Barrister) for a fresh publisher. At 50,000 words they are too short for, example, Choc Lit, but if this is one of the publishers I’m aiming for, I have a lot of work to do.

I must try and blog more often. Usually, I blog once a month, but this probably isn’t enough. I’ve also noticed that since I deactivated from Facebook, my blog isn’t getting quite as many views as I’d like, so I’m now on the horns of a dilemma - decisions, decisions.

I would really like to get my website AlexisJakes.com up and running properly and hopefully transfer my current blog on to there.

My youngest son assures me this can be done, and helped set up the website  initially, but pinning him down at the moment because of his accountancy exams is no easy feat.

Last but not least, and probably most importantly, is to try and get my health back on track. As someone who suffers from Type 2 Diabetes (it runs in my family) I’m fully aware of the  repercussions from this progressive disease. There’s absolutely no doubt that my eyesight, kidneys, heart and limbs will all be affected if I don’t start to stick to the straight and narrow (I saw it with my father). Furthermore, at my last Diabetes check-up I was also diagnosed with high blood pressure. This, unfortunately, is proving difficult to control, so I’m now in the tiresome position of having to try different medications, and being forced to return to the surgery every couple of weeks. 

Oh, the joys of getting older!

Have any of you made a to-do list for 2017?

Until next time.

Kim x