I have been doing some line editing on what I have written so far of Draft 1 of The Right Place.
I am quite happy with it so far, but find it difficult to put together and am not sure how to move the story forward.  I don't have writer's block but some kind of performance anxiety... So many things have been interfering with my writing and have stopped me from writing entirely for such a long time that I find it tricky to easy myself into the writing process again. I just need a long spell of free writing time, which I hope will come from early May. 

Unfortunately, I cannot "throw" myself into writing because I am a slow writer who needs the mental space to write - in order to be able to sit down and resume my story, I'd need to know that I have a clear run of several weeks, otherwise it just won't happen. I really envy those writers who can sit down anywhere and just get on with it, in whatever environment. 
I personally need peace and quiet and can only listen to music which is relevant/related to what I write. No writing in the café down the road for me - which would be a bit tricky anyway as it's located on the extremely windy seafront overlooking Chesil Beach! 

I might have a few announcements to make soon about events, watch this space! 

This book is simply superb. I cannot wait to read Raynor Winn's next two books! 

I was back at St Catherine's Chapel today.
Some key scenes of my forthcoming novel, The Right Place, take place there, at the top of Chapel's Hill and in the surrounding landscape. I was glad to see that people still come and leave prayers in the small recesses in the wall. I have written them into the novel... I am just resuming writing this week, still a lot of work to do to complete draft 1.
The Right Place is inspired by the lyrics of "The Wind", a song by PJ Harvey about this very chapel.

"These little hollows, carved into the southern wall of the exposed chapel, would at times reveal so many snapshots of human stories. Kat had often stood in front of them and quietly read the messages, which were sometimes accompanied by a few extra items: coins, ribbons, feathers, small candles, and always dried butterfly wings, tragically decaying and mixing with the stone dust on the rough surface of the recesses... Sometimes there were pictures that would stare back at you almost too intensely. Kat often wondered about those people who carried on appealing to a saint who had fallen out of favour in the late 1960s. What were their names? Where did they come from? What had led them to the little chapel at the top of a hill? Had St Catherine been their last resort, the ultimate support they had sought when nobody or nothing else could help them? Had they been granted the divine support they had sought within those walls? Had it at least brought them some level of comfort? "
                        The Right Place by Carya Gish, extract of draft 1. Pub date is late autumn 2023.