tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59589485196146185152024-02-08T19:43:44.476+00:00THE YEAR OF MOUSE : PENNY DOLANThis is the year when children's writer Penny Dolan has her novel A BOY CALLED MOUSE published by Bloomsbury. Yes, the contracts are signed, the layout proofs are being checked, and the art work is almost done. But what happens next? Follow Penny as the year of Mouse progresses . . And catch up with school visiting news on Penny Dolan's Journal: http://www.pennydolan.com/journal/index.htmlPenny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-59830004264057368932011-01-20T18:19:00.004+00:002011-01-20T18:58:18.794+00:00A NEW YEAR, A NEW BLOG . . .Well, here it is, a new year, and I am feeling the need for a new blog now that my lovely novel A BOY CALLED M.O.U.S.E is out there roaming the world. <br /><br />It's been a whirlwind of a year - often without the time to blog about what I've been doing, where I've been and what's been happening, let alone all the lovely reviews that my boy Mouse gathered. <br /><br />And there's also things I've wanted to blog about - like the wonderful cover for Mouse's paperback version, which has to be secret until it is finalised. And things I haven't been able to mention, such as my big wranglings with the current Tome Two aka the Work In Progress. But with 2011 rattling its way through January, I need to move on.<br /><br />However, you can still catch up with what I'm doing over in my other blog <a href="http://pennydolansdiary.blogspot.com/"></a>Penny Dolan's Diary.<br /><br />Or you can watch out for my occasional posts as part of the Scattered Authors Society Group blog: http://awfullybigblogadventure.blogspot.com/An Awfully Big Blog Adventure.<br /><br />Or I may even be inspired to pop up somewhere else, and if so you'd be most welcome. Thanks for keeping me company for the last while. Happy reading and writing, people!Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-67313878763005891722010-11-06T15:14:00.002+00:002010-11-06T15:32:47.965+00:00The Way Through the WoodsI am just typing up Kipling's familiar poem. I will, possibly, read it aloud during some creative writing workshops on the theme of trees. And I have just realised - though I must have seen it so many times before - that the poem itself uses the word "road", not "way". <br /><br />Think I'll have to talk to my young writers about that word. "Road" now is petrol-fumed, tarmac-crusted and noisy. I hope their imaginations will reach beyond the A1 and M62. <br /><br />Can recall finding the Carrick Roads on a map. A highly pleasurable language leap.Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-51222787440701140872010-11-03T09:48:00.003+00:002010-11-03T10:13:15.135+00:00Not The NANOWRIMOThere's lots of attention all round the media for the eminent and glossy NaNoWriMo - see Nicola Morgan's blog - and all praise to the energy and organsiation of it. But it feels too much for me, especially as I'm in the middle of something that needs to be worked on with a bit of care, not free writing.<br /><br />So I'm going to opt for a much smaller version, a sort of brisk, self-made "Not the NaNoWriMo". As it may be a bonfire of my vanities, I'm getting ready to start properly on Friday 5th November.<br /><br />My intention is to keep a much sharper count of how many words actually written - no matter how few they are - and how long I've truly been working on the screen or the notebook - minutes or hours. Though I won't be posting any numbers here.<br /><br />With or without a timer, but spending definite time. Keeping that butt on that seat. That pen on the page. Those eyes on the screen. 15 mins focused attention on the plot problem and more. All the sort of things I've read in those How To books and that might - after a random summer - re-establish a good working pattern. Wish me luck. <br /><br />I've mentioned this over on the Scattered Authors balaclava forum if any SAS members reading this post wants or needs to come along for the write?Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-21335661916541359422010-10-30T19:45:00.004+01:002010-10-30T20:00:36.867+01:00Why No Blog?So, weeks have passed since my Big Publication Date, so why no blog? <br /><br />Because Bloomsbury suddenly asked me to do other kinds of writing around A BOY CALLED MOUSE! For example, a Young Writer questionnaire here, a Big Issue (Wales & Scotland only)piece on my ideas for the Five Books A Child Should Read Before 11 there, a short story for Bloomsbury's 247 Writing Project (check out their site), a Story Starter for WriteAway, the signing of 250 bookplates - my mind grows dim. It was BUSY, okay? <br /><br />Plus lovely times visiting Huddersfield Grammar School and Lindley Junior School c/o Sonia Benster of the Children's Bookshop and also St John of Beverley Primary School as part of Beverley Literature Festival. And a few other schools and writing projects alongside. And tidying my work-room which was neccesary although not a strictly useful task to have begun back at the start of October.<br /><br />But there has been time for a bottle of champagne to drink and a big bouquet of flowers from a Near & Dear, so all has not been been suffering. . . More soon!Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-1185110134435953542010-10-04T22:22:00.002+01:002010-10-04T22:33:23.279+01:00Today's the day! Taraaaaa!Well, it's here! Today's the day that my novel, A Boy Called M.O.U.S.E, is officially published. <br /><br />I am just so very pleased and relieved that several people who have read the book seem to like it, and that the older KS2/junior children seem keen to read it too. <br /><br />No party, fireworks or champagne, though might try a couple of those later when its not such a busy week. Instead I spent the day at a very nice school over near York that had a most interesting spiral staircase and some spooky stories that made my writing shoulderblades get itchy. (Mouse also got a great reception over in schools in Huddersfield last week too.)<br /><br />Morever, to my surprise, I also feel as if I've been freed up to continue with the next book in the sequence too, now.<br /><br />Just a few visits to go before now and then . . .Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-50918443732097063022010-09-21T16:46:00.002+01:002010-09-21T16:54:11.402+01:00SUDDENLY VERY BUSY!Well, it's suddenly getting very busy here! The Journey to the Centre of the Earth adaptation is now off and away. But - hooray - I now have my set of author copies of A Boy Called Mouse, and very handsome they look. They seem to have arrived at the Amazon warehouse too, as someone's just called me to say their copy has now been dispatched.<br /><br />Though I haven't had time to read my copy through yet, which I'm longing to do. Suddenly I'm writing a Mouse-related short story for the next Puffin Post. Deadline Friday! Be back soon.Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-7251748891913285882010-09-09T09:20:00.003+01:002010-09-09T09:44:23.834+01:00So it's not only me!Oh, Jules! At the moment, I am working most briskly on an adaptation of Journey to the Centre of the Earth, and was amused, working my way through the pages, to find a plot full of small holes, and by that I don't mean Verne's Very Bad Science.<br /><br />For example, the luggage that filled a garden in Germany and a cottage on arrival in Iceland becomes small enough to fit on the back of two Icelandic horses for the cross country journey. Then, after hardly more than a hint about the kit being carried UP the volcano by a few local men (and the horses never mentioned again, munch, munch) there is no account of these helpers going back! <br /><br />So is this why Hans (the strong-but-silent-man-of-all-work and guide) ropes Axel and Uncle Otto together as they descend the crater? Had the porters already fallen into the fiery crucible? Or is it a cover up? Were the porters pushed? Must avoid such ripples in the imagination and pace onwards. <br /><br />Must add that, studying my notes, I feel faintly relieved that I am not the only one who repeats phrases over and over again when writing. Yours, trembling again with fear and terror, PennyPenny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-63372434217797940982010-09-07T08:47:00.002+01:002010-09-07T08:58:32.852+01:00It's here! It's here!It's here! It's here! A ring at the doorbell and there is a postman, bemused the odd woman in a dressing gown who welcomed his parcel delivery by crowing with delight. Hooray! My author copies of A BOY CALLED MOUSE have arrived!<br /><br />A highly welcome event, especially after a few weeks of family emergency which was thankfully sorted out by Leeds General. <br /><br />Er, what happens now? Must get my "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" adaptation completed - it's going well - and start on some proper Mouse work.Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-82287535808799410462010-08-04T17:14:00.005+01:002010-08-04T17:37:16.310+01:00Mystery Reviewer, Aged 9Oh dear! What a long gap since my last post. Have been busy working, visiting, holidaying, writing and also discovering Facebook which does seem to eat away at a person's time.<br /><br />But - hooray! - I'm here to share what feels like the first real review of my novel A BOY CALLED MOUSE. It came on a postcard from a most kind reader aged 9. I don't want to give his name as I haven't yet checked that he wants me to post this up. But I'd like to commend him for working his way all the way through the bound copy. It is definitely not a quick read.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">"A BOY CALLED MOUSE is a really interesting book. It has a really good story with lots of funny bits and peculiar parts as well. I really enjoyed it."<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span><br /><br />By the way, I'm very much hoping that "<span style="font-style:italic;">peculiar parts as well"</span> means good things about MOUSE which is out on 4th October.<br /><br />Although I've had some very positive grown-up comments, a book never feels quite real to me unless someone young has read it. Now my new novel feels as if it exists.<br />Thank you hugely, my mystery reviewer!Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-74471475352951307002010-07-11T15:23:00.002+01:002010-07-11T15:35:24.007+01:00Maybe it worked?Had a great time last week, and now I've recovered, have just had a sudden idea about an important linking scene, and suddenly Tome Two is waking up again. The relief.<br /><br />Was it last week's inspiring company? The sessions, the talk, the giggles, the late nights? Certainly it all helped.<br /><br />Or was it possibly the choice of at least three plentiful home-made puds (or more) twice a day for four days? Maybe both factors, and maybe also the space to think.<br /><br />But something plottish has at long last clicked.Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-2068985511601482542010-07-04T18:04:00.003+01:002010-07-04T18:19:31.790+01:00An inspiring situation.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.berkshirehistory.com/castles/images/charney_manor.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://www.berkshirehistory.com/castles/images/charney_manor.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Looking forward to a week away at Charney Manor, an old manor house in the deep grassy countryside well west of Oxford. I am hoping my stay will include some time to think and work on Tome Two. Just now I'm playing with the "voice" of the story once my two heroes meet. Do I do one chapter in one and one in another? And do I mix in third-person too? The only true answer is to try it, becuase you're thinking about the story as you write too.<br /><br />My mind's been too full of other things. I've had a busy time catching up on tax returns, admin, a couple of shorter pieces of writing, and various odds and ends for an organisation I belong to. But they are all done - including putting the cover of A BOY CALLED MOUSE up on my website - so maybe my mind will be free enough to move the new story on a bit? Hope so.Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-21131178761443279752010-06-24T15:55:00.007+01:002010-06-24T16:27:52.767+01:00There Are Cats In This Book!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51mC8-kbuiL._SL500_SL160_.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 148px; height: 160px;" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51mC8-kbuiL._SL500_SL160_.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Just to show that I'm not totally preoccupied with Tome One and Tome Two in this blog, I want to mention someone else's book. I came across THER ARE CATS IN THIS BOOK, a totally effective and delightful flip-the-page picture book last week when calling into the tiny but well-filled Aldersbrook Library in Wanstead. <br /><br />It has a really easy but interesting use of pages and page shapes, together with three beautifully drawn cats: one red almost-kitten, one thin blue anxious cat, and one huge yellow tom-cat. Tiny, Moonpie and Andre, though the names aren't needed for the story.<br /><br />There's a flip-over-flap saying "biff!" on the pillow fight spread that kept a 3 year old boy flapping and laughing so much I almost feared for the pages. Mind you, he loved it all, and so did his six year old sister, and so did several big people too! <br /><br />Thank you for this great book, Viviane Schwarz.Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-56354317981342686352010-06-07T13:30:00.006+01:002010-07-11T15:23:30.776+01:00Doing The Mental ArithmeticFor someone who still gets anxious when faced with numbers, writing often feels surprisingly like maths. Just now I am going over (again, again!) the first part of Tome Two. <br /><br />All the time I am saying things to myself like "Does this add up? Does this truly make sense? Have I got this right?" <br /><br />Or things like "Is this bit logical? Does it fit into the pattern of the plot? If I do x and y, will I end up with the right answer for the reader?"<br /><br />Words and phrases are all very well but sometimes intense calculation (of a sort) is needed. Thank heavens I don't have to do it like a Ten Minute Test.Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-2649555917745523512010-06-01T15:35:00.004+01:002010-06-01T16:27:06.660+01:00Penny & the Halfpenny Bridge<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blog.hostelbookers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/The-Winding-Stair.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 281px; height: 500px;" src="http://blog.hostelbookers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/The-Winding-Stair.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Hello again. I have just come back from ten days in Ireland. The first weekend we spent in Dublin, where we revisited The Winding Stair Bookshop at the north foot of the Halfpenny Bridge, once known as a famous writers cafe.<br /><br />Writers - or anyone - could, for the cost of a coffee, pose enigmatically in the slanting light of one of the upper windows, knowing the famous footbridge would appear in the background of the photograph. Presumably, once snapped for posterity, they could then search for their works among the many shelves. The place had a definite if slightly faded and rambling charm. Posh it was not.<br /><br />Now the premises has now been split. There is a smart restaurant upstairs with all the window tables reserved. Any impoverished writer will have to pay out somewhat more for their refreshment than once upon a time. We got a last moment early evening table, but unfortunately chatted so long that we were asked - politely, apologetically - to leave halfway through our pudddings as the 7pm table sitting had arrived. So not quite the relaxed mood of the past, although the food was good enough to think of going back. Sometime. Someone there might have been Maeve Binchy. Or not.<br /><br />Downstairs The Winding Stair bookshop has risen again, piled with a splendid collection of books. I'd just finished The Secret Scripture by playwright Sebastian Barry. A sad tale, centred around an account of the early life of a woman committed to Roscommon asylum years before and full of the familiar tension between clergy and people. Although there was something about the book as a whole that didn't quite work for me, in many places the writing was quite wonderful. <br /><br />Browsing throught he crowded shelves, I spotted Barry's first world war novel, A Long Long Way. The young man in the shop said it was a better book than The Secret Scripture, so I bought it on his opinion. It was - as he said - a stronger book, and just as tragic. Both - though I haven't checked this out fully - seem to have grown from Barry's own family history. Anyway, thank you, helpful independent bookshop person!<br /><br />Annoyingly, when we returned via Dublin there wasn't the time to pick up some of the other titles I'd mused on during the week. Our lovely car passenger and her luggage were now all on ther way to Toronto so there'd have been no end to the books I could have fitted in.Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-39104863828667285152010-05-13T16:19:00.004+01:002010-05-13T17:01:14.204+01:00Getting Free of the Words<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.songbong.co.nz/images/djembe%20drumming.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 262px;" src="http://www.songbong.co.nz/images/djembe%20drumming.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />One of the problems - yet another, you cry scornfully? - of being a writer is the endless chattering of words. The continual jabbering away in the head. Questions about life and general stuff, of course, but also worries about all sorts of things to do with writing visiting and events, both those to come, and those done. Then the briefs and ideas you are talking to yourself and the ones you <span style="font-style:italic;">should</span> be talking to yourself about. <br /><br />Then there's the nagging doubts about the actual writing: is it okay? does anyone read it? why is my head so empty? does anybody even know my book exists? Move from that into the constructing with and editing of words, the weighing of one phrase, word or sound against each other, one after another after another. Words. Words. I love words, but sometimes I feel as if I can never get away from them.<br /><br />I tried to relax. Reading? More words. TV & screen stuff? The critic in the head keeps going, analysing all the plot options. Painting? Drawing? Working with the hands? Those make the mind even freer to keep talking.<br /><br />But I've found a way, a totally brilliant way to get an hours peace. Djembe drumming! Otherwise known as African drumming! Even though I am the most feeble drummer, I just love it. One of reasons is that time spent djembe drumming is an almost totally word free zone. When I drum, there's no room for words in my head. If I stop concentrating-and-counting for a second - even to think the words "Yes, I've got it!", my rhythm is likely to go, and I'll have to work hard to get it back. Djembe drumming quiets the mind - and it's fun and it's a sociable thing. It's a very unwriterly experience. <br /><br />Though there's a teeny tiny problem. I'm not good at music theory, and complex counting alarms me, so quite often I find myself muttering " "ONE and TWO and NO! and NOW" or "CHIP BUTTY, CHIP BUTTY, CHIP BUTTY" to keep a particular rhythm in my head and hands. So not quite truly wordless, but almost as good. Djembe drumming, the writer's friend.Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-21612957050178861072010-04-26T21:11:00.002+01:002010-04-26T21:36:13.828+01:00DON'T PANIC! DON'T PANIC!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/10/11/1255271916366/A-Dont-Panic-sign-at-Hitc-032.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 587px; height: 390px;" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/10/11/1255271916366/A-Dont-Panic-sign-at-Hitc-032.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />I am exhausted with worry! Late last week I read through the Uncorrected Proof of Mouse - see last post - only to discover it was indeed uncorrected and that some corrections I knew had been done with the copy editor weren't there on the page. <br /><br />Panic. Sleeplessness. Guilt (Why guilt?)Why weren't the corrections there? Was it something I had/hadn't done? Should I keep quiet or . . erm .. raise the matter? I went for the latter, and was told with some gently amused patience that the "book copy" can indeed be taken from an early stage of the mansucript and that all is still progressing nicely. <br /><br />There was also this Active Learning Written & Spoken Word project I've been involved in. At one level it's been truly great - seeing the same group of children, working out session by session which workshop should come next, seeing definite signs of development, getting to know some great people and children. But oh the paperwork! I have been battling with the session proformas - the downloading, the filling in with data, the observations and outcomes . . . Mercy! I'm a story-teller and my words don't fit easily into boxes.<br /><br />Please let me have an easier day tomorrow . . .Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-89762744460588853912010-04-14T19:25:00.002+01:002010-04-14T19:36:10.682+01:00DOOR WIDENING NEEDED, PERHAPS?What can I say? My last post told you the uncorrected proofs of A Boy Called Mouse had arrived. <br /><br />This post makes me feel even more boasty as I have now read from those very same uncorrected pages! <br /><br />Last weekend, at The Federation of Children's Book Groupa Conference 2010, I gave a seminar - well two if you count the repeat - on the theme of Following The Mouse. (Mice do keep popping up in my books!) <br /><br />And this meant that not only was I able to read from my beloved book "The Third Elephant" which is full of mice in minor but essential roles, but I was able to read a short extract from Tome One (ABCM). It was an amazing experience as this book has been a loooooooooooong time coming. but at last I feel it will truly exist. And I am so proud of it!Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-14811899461041941772010-04-08T13:41:00.003+01:002010-04-08T13:51:26.262+01:00PROOFS AND PUDDING?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.signedstories.com/cnt/txt/85/1/bloomsbury_logo%281%29.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 94px;" src="http://www.signedstories.com/cnt/txt/85/1/bloomsbury_logo%281%29.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Hooray! Today I found a padded envelope on my doormat. I opened it up, half-hoping, and yes - there were two Uncorrected Proof copies of my children's novel, A BOY CALLED MOUSE. <br /><br />I am so delighted. Thank you Bloomsbury! Now I shall have chocolate pudding with my lunch by way of celebration.Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-42768827890569442232010-03-27T17:21:00.003+00:002010-03-27T17:38:25.353+00:00MORE THOUGHTS ON GETTING BACK TO THE WORKThings are improving. The walking approach has helped. The "writing questions to my characters" and letting their answers start the engine of the plot again has helped. <br /><br />However, after my various school visits, the thought of writing the whole Tome Two Task feels daunting. So daunting that I had to get my IT Expert to remove the cover of Tome One from its place as my screensaver!<br /><br />So I have lately developed a sneaky, crafty approach.I have begun creeping up on the damn thing unexpectedly, so the Tome doesn't have time to grow to its full scary size. <br /><br />I wander to the key-board, having left, for example, the supper simmering on the stove. I scroll down the already opened m/s. Suddenly, with a few swift strokes, I've snuck in a phrase or two, got the intended scene started after all. A few lines, and the thing has started to come to life again. Now what's that scent of burnt risotto?Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-21008142212841841742010-03-21T13:53:00.006+00:002010-03-21T14:28:11.721+00:00GOING WALKIES!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload//4000/100/80/1/44181.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 567px; height: 480px;" src="http://cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload//4000/100/80/1/44181.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />The end of the World Book Day Travelling Circus circus is arriving, and I am longing to get back to Tome Two. I can feel this latest book lurking in my head again, ready to start speaking to me. I have 25,000 valid words there so far, but I have decided to do something different to get back into the thing. I am going to help Tome Two along by taking it for a walk each day. <br /><br />Things have started well. Tome has been something that snuffled grouchily in the corner while I wetn out bringing in money. Now it has started to run about a little, show an interest in its general surroundings, make various noises of approval or delight. Yes, being almost eager again. <br /><br />For example, yesterday, Tome spotted a new character in the distance. Today he raced right up to this personage, and showed me exactly how & why this new friend is needed in the plot. It all feels very promising - and in this surreal world, there's no hanging about by trees or carrying unmentionable plastic bags either. <br /><br />I just hope his bark will grow loud enough to keep me walking the pavements <span style="font-style:italic;">and </span>writing the words.Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-19387846250774055902010-03-19T17:38:00.004+00:002010-03-19T18:01:19.518+00:00NOW JUST CLICK HERE . . .<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ycorpblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/babycomputer.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 350px;" src="http://ycorpblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/babycomputer.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Today I'm struggling with technology. It's such slow learning that it makes real writing seem fast. Made even worse by the fact that children of ten can probably deal with all this with speed, wit and giggles. I'm battling with transfering images from one place to another, and with nothing arriving where it should. So, as Resident IT Guru is not available, I am stuck.<br /><br />Enough to make me get back to Tome Two and the To Outline or Not To Outline Question . . .Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-71534641750591492192010-03-12T16:13:00.004+00:002010-03-12T16:41:46.971+00:00SWINGS OR ROUNDABOUTS?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thesecretdiaryofadriancat.com/funny-cats/silly-cat-driving-car-cartoon-drawing.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 450px; height: 323px;" src="http://www.thesecretdiaryofadriancat.com/funny-cats/silly-cat-driving-car-cartoon-drawing.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />So much for my hopes for almost daily blogging! Whatever happened to the last two weeks? I have spent these days whirling from one school to another, moving from one group of children to another, very much enjoying my round of World Book Day celebrations, despite some too-early-and-frosty mornings. Thank heavens for the support of my satnav:I do love pressing that "Go Home" button at the end of the day.<br /><br />But even while I'm out trying to show that making stories is fun, there's always a slight tension I have to deal with: the writing! When I'm putting all my energies into visits, I find it impossible to do any proper writing work. And, annoyingly, just as I thought I'd cracked the tangle in Tome Two and was making progress. Swings or roundabouts?<br /><br />But my happy news is that something exciting is coming in the post . . .Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-34909275667996233642010-03-02T17:01:00.005+00:002010-03-02T17:50:08.513+00:00A ONCE AND FUTURE BOOK WEEK<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/images/2008/04/25/festival_of_books.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 458px;" src="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/images/2008/04/25/festival_of_books.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Its World Book Day week, and I had a suitably exciting moment yesterday. I discovered that "A Boy Called Mouse" has appeared on the amazon site, giving the publication date as 4th October 2010, the very start of the UK October 2010 Book Week. Not sure if that means that Mouse will stand out or be carried along in a deluge of autumn books. With luck, the first option!<br /><br />It has been a very long wait, but day by day everything inches closer. Must give some thought about how to celebrate that 4th October, as I have never arranged any publication party before for my books. However,"no cover image is yet available", so I am still longing to see the final cover design.<br /><br />I have also heard back from Wise Agent, who was very encouraging about the pages of Tome Two I'd sent her. She wants to know how my two main characters meet, which may be agent-speak for "Do get a move on with the thing, Penny!"<br /><br />Not this week though, as I'm out four days of five and one evening at a local Battle of the Books. No time for owt that's truly writerly at all.<br /><br />Happy travelling wherever you roam, all you visiting authors!Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-12161437425122208192010-02-24T16:40:00.006+00:002010-02-24T17:24:28.772+00:00THE STEPHEN KING THINGHow does he do it? How does Stephen King manage to get to the end of his writing day, shake off the horrors he's created and go pleasantly among his friends and family? Does he laugh cheerfully as he tucks into the contents of his stewpot? Does he feel peaceful when walking beside a lake? And does he go to bed without checking inside under the bed and in every wardrobe? <br /><br />How do such writers move from one horrific scene to another and still gather merrily at the fireside without severe drink taken? Or do they take the dog for long, long walks of an evening? Must go back to his great book On Writing and read for some reassurance. <br /><br />Sometimes - like just now- it's stupidly hard living with and through a story you care about. The feelings that you're writing tend to stick around a bit, a looming shadow of angst, even though it's all "made up stuff". Guess it's all that drawing from the deep well. <br /><br />I've recently been battling with an anguished section of Tome Two when all may be lost for my young protagonists. So yesterday, when Lad Home Here suddenly appeared in my workroom to ask a small but important question, I was almostready to leap at his throat. I think I did not speak to him at all kindly. Luckily, he understands. He says. <br /><br />However, when I'd finished for the day, I still had to stay hidden, pottering with wretched admin, while my heart beat went back to normal and my adrenaline calmed. Is this a healthy state? Writing can feel like a very Jekyll & Hyde type existence.<br /><br />Even Roald Dahl makes me wonder. How did he feel after writing about that disgusting beard in The Twits? Did he scoff his afternoon tea of scones with cream and jam without any single qualm in the stomach area?Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958948519614618515.post-38706307966024099992010-02-19T18:15:00.003+00:002010-02-19T18:44:52.859+00:00MENDED . . OR NOT?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.supportingyourclaim.co.uk/images/plaster_wall.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 188px; height: 138px;" src="http://www.supportingyourclaim.co.uk/images/plaster_wall.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />A most satisfactory morning, as I did find my writing-not-admin head once more, and managed to mend those last minute edits. Sent my corrections off before lunch, and heard this afternoon from my hard-working editor that the Boy Called Mouse manuscript has now Gone To Production. Sounds rather grand. Should I look out my mink wrap and sit on the chaise longue sipping pink champagne now?<br /><br />The email problem continues though. Great Author sent back a brief email to say that a simple message without attachments had reached him. So swiflty I re-sent the original, and . . . silence! Oh dear!<br /><br />Spent the afternoon happily working on with my revision of Tome Two - at least what I've done on it so far - until I reached that painful point where new plot meets old plot with a loud crunching sound. Back to a few hours of Big Thinking. Without champagne.Penny Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.com0