I have just finished my first novel and haven't really started to send it to publishers and already, a second story has been nagging at me. It has actually be doing so for a while but only vaguely. I've known for a while that I wanted the second book to be inspired by the Gothic genre, and that I wanted my main characters to be male, especially a young boy of 11-14 with an unusual personality. Ideas have started to burst into my head at an increasing rate these past few days and I have become completely obsessed by it... Which is positive, I presume... Yet, I shouldn't lose sight of my first novel and should work on a longer version of the synopsis to send to hypothetical publishers...
A busy 2011 as far as I'm concerned...
I am not usually a very optimistic person, but I am allowing myself some hope...

I have been spending so much time working on my book over the past few months that my normally intensive reading has been somewhat curbed.

Problem is, I just cannot stop buying books in Charity shops, and people buy books for me too (not that I am complaining about it...). The only book I have found time for since October has been Christopher Fowler's "Off The Rails (A Bryant and May murder mystery)". The work on my novel is now finished, and I am having a short break before starteing on the next one. My shelves are crumbling under the weigh of unread books.

Here is the list of the books I will be reading in the next few months (not in order of reading): 
 

Full Dark House - Christopher Fowler

Remarkable Creatures - Tracy Chevalier

Fingersmith - Sarah Waters (I'm 1/3 into the novel, had to abandon it, couldn't find the time!)

The Widows Secret - Brian Thompson

Daphne du Maurier - Margaret Forster

Footsteps in the dark - Georgette Heyer

The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein- Peter Ackroyd

The Great White Palace, the story of Burgh Island - Tony Porter

The Gormenghast trilogy - Mervyn Peake

Hunting - Ghost Stories (illustrated) - various

The Ghost Stories of MR James (illustrated)

Histoire de Ma Vie - George Sand

Oh, and 38 volumes of an Agatha Christie collection!

So, apparently, it is very important for a writer to define the genre(s) in which he/she writes.

I haven't decided yet, you know, because I don't want to limit myself and my creativity. I don't think I could write a detective story, but this is now, and I might decide that it's what I'd like to write at some point in the future.

I think I'll have to come back to you on this later...

TBC.

At last, after a year and three versions, the manuscript of my first novel, I Am a Muse, is ready.
It was send yesterday as an entry for a writing competition.
It is 93,538 words ...
If I am convinced that I will not win - or even be short listed. The reason is not a ghastly lack of confidence or self-doubt. It is just because I have the feeling that the competition organisers were after more sweeping, epic, adventurous storylines.
Entering the competition has provided me with a strict  deadline; it has forced me to put aside my dreadful perfectionism.

There is still a lot of work to do: I have to put together a longer version of the synopsis and choose chapters to send to publishers. Then I have to write the dreaded "biography".

2011 will be an exciting year: trying to get "I Am a Muse" published, working on my second novel and deciding what to do with my collection of dark texts, "Dysfunctions".

I have been working on a synopsis for a few hours now. I have posted a version on the "I Am a Muse" page of this website. Only a few things to check now and the novel will start getting sent out next week. First for the competition, then in January to other publishers.

I am not really sure I have chosen wisely. Weebly is too flimsy... Why can't I have the same font all through and certain blogs cannot be formatted?

Phew, finished with the corporate work. I am about to start the editing again, and hopefully, this time, I won't get interrupted until I have finished.
My personal deadline is still 23rd December, the day I will be sending my novel with the synopsis for the competition I am doing.
I am not sure my novel fits the bill, at least it does in terms of word count. After all, this competition is only one of the numerous places I will be sending my manuscript. All I want to do is

Typical, just when I'm about to edit my novel I get some work and cannot do anything... ah, money...

Today, I finished the first draft of my novel.

Admittingly, there is still a lot of work to do before getting to draft 2 - the one that will be sent to the competition address.

There will be some re-writing to do.

96,675 word count: scary.

It feels strange, because I have wanted to be a writer since the age of 5 - the age I learnt to read and write. I had never finished a novel, especially not one that long!