Confucius, the Chinese philosopher is alleged to have said "May you live in interesting times". I think he meant it as a curse. John Lennon was equally eloquent when he said, "Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans."
I think this is accurate for most of us at some point(s) in our lives. Certainly, here in the UK, everything seems to be in a state of flux. Our monarch of 70 years died suddenly - well suddenly to us - and we have had 2 prime ministers in the course of 6 weeks. It is unsettling. When that spills over into your working and private life, it can prove very difficult. A series of family illnesses, including a couple of "end of life" situations certainly puts a strain on every aspect of your daily routine. But the best thing to do is to stick to that routine if you possibly can. To keep all the balls in the air or, for those of us who remember the variety hall act, to keep all the plates spinning on top of the sticks.
My writing plan, after finishing the Tudor Crime and Punishment book for Pen and Sword and the edits, was to concentrate on picking up a book I began in 2013 as a prequel to the Tudor Enigma series published by Harlequin, and which features Luke Ballard, the apothecary in the Outer Green of Hampton Court Palace. The setting is an alternate Tudor universe that, had Anne Boleyn carried her boy baby to full term in 1534, could well have been true.
However, things didn't work out that way, either for poor Anne or for me. Harlequin decided to keep the series to three books, so the fledgling The Danger of Destiny became an unfinished manuscript. However, having had my rights to those books returned, I decided to finish the prequel. Everything started well. I managed to write the final two chapters. And then came the formidable task of filling in the gap.
All writers are aware of a pitfall called the soggy middle. That is what confronts me now. And for me to get through it, I must employ a couple of disciplines. Focus. Concentration. For writers, that manifests as sitting down at the keyboard and doing the job. It has a name. Bum Glue. The fact that I am sitting here, surrounded by notes of what has to happen in the gap between 55k words and 90k words and I am writing this blog instead, is indicative of my current butterfly brain. However, the instant I have written this, I promise I shall crack on.
Luke's greyspring is called Joss. She is there to protect him when he goes into trances and help when he encounters the mortal enemies of elemancers - sunderers, whose only aim is to sow discord and hatred. They also have helpmeets - little black dogs called umbrans.
The year is 1546 and Henry VIII lies ill at Hampton Court, stricken by a mystery illness. Luke Ballard, who has only recently discovered his elemancer talent, is taxed with investigating what ails the King. Young girls have been found murdered with evil signs cut into their bodies. Then another girl goes missing and one of the kitchen scullions is found drowned in the palace soup vat. It quickly becomes clear sunderers are doing their utmost to destabilise England, but just who are they and who is their master? More importantly, can Luke hide his talent enough to ensure the sunderers are unaware of him?
With luck and a following wind, I should have this first draft finished before Christmas. Wish me luck.
