NaNoWriMo is the yearly marathon for writers. The only rule is to write 50,000 words between 1-30 November. Anyone teetering on the edge of taking part? Don’t! Just go for it, have a got. What have you got to lose??
For those brave enough to try it, I’ve got a double list today: 5 things to keep you focused and at your desk, and 5 things to stop you wasting your precious writing time.
Continue reading “5 + 5 things I do to prepare for NaNoWriMo 2018”
I’m French, I live and write in English, and I am ready to admit Icelandic is not an obvious choice for me. But I am an amateur linguist, and I love teaching myself about words.
I studied English, Spanish, Latin and a bit of Greek at school. (Thank you, Education Nationale!).
As a twelve year old introvert, I also taught myself some Italian – only just enough for going on holiday or reading recipes.
More recently, I dabbled with Gaelic and Welsh (unfortunately, I couldn’t get past the pronunciation pages).
While I was dreaming up the Skyriders world, I fell in love with the idea of them having a language of their own, that none of their neighbours could understand. Continue reading “Why I’m teaching myself Icelandic…”
This question is on my mind because I’m shivering in my office under a blanket and a quilt, and I’m writing about a massive snowstorm, while listening to blizzard soundtrack (yes, you can find anything on YouTube!).
Here are 10 ways my characters survive whatever weather I place them in. Please let me know what you think in the comments box below! Continue reading “10 ways Skyriders survive the winter and you can too”
This year is panning out to be a pretty rubbish writing year! I had successfully managed to firmly reattach my derrière to my writing chair, but then life – again – happened…
Hubby broke his shoulder cycling (surgery plus six weeks in a sling), then daughter sprained her wrist playing football and is wearing one of these velcro straps things that apparently renders her incapable of motion.
To top it all, we’re having our only bathroom redone.
So I have become nurse, taxi and project manager… My writing career is more than likely over. Continue reading “The writer’s work/life what?”
Let me be clear, food is important to me! I love eating, but I also love feeding other people. So I was never going to let my characters starve…
When I started building the Skyriders’ world in my head, I spent a lot of time wondering what these poor people could eat after an earthquake destroyed their self-sufficient community.
Ever since childhood, I’ve had an affinity for foraging and picking mushrooms or berries. (I can still occasionally be spotted parking my car by the side of the road to gather fallen hazelnuts or apples!)
The Clan have a long tradition of eating wild food, and have lived off their land for centuries, hunting, gathering and farming. Continue reading “The Skyriders’ diet”
