Happenings

Well, I am definitely visiting my old secondary school to talk about my writing next March as I have already confirmed it with them. I will be talking to Year 7 and 8 then giving advice about creating a newspaper on healthy eating. I am quite looking forward to it as I have already had a few ideas to discuss with the class. Meantime, I have been emailing more primary schools asking if they would be interested in me visiting them. No replies yet.

More happenings is that I have now got 6 people interested in joining a group for book signings next year and will be meeting up with 2 of them next month to talk about it. I can't wait as this is all new for me and exciting. It appears that group promotions are the rage these days as 2 of the interested authors have dropped out saying they will be possibly joining groups in their own areas. Great fun.

Meantime, have sent queries to two publishers about Allie and am working on Chapter 6 of Georgina, as well as finalising a short story for an anthology.

Nearly home time so shall go now to do my washingup.

First school booking?

I have had possibly my first school visit booking, for next year. A couple of months ago I emailed my old secondary school asking if they'd be interested in me visiting them to talk about my book. Well, earlier today I got a reply finally from them saying yes, they are interested in me visiting them next March during book week. They'd like me to talk about my book and maybe help a group of girls create a magazine about healthy eating in school. I have provisionally said yes because I have yet to get my 2010 leave card here at work, which won't be until next year. I think I will have to book the whole of that week off in case I get more invites. Of course I will charge them. I don't know what my mum will say because she has already told me she doesn't want me to go back there as I was bullied there. We shall see. But I do want to go there and get rid of any demons and bad memories I have of being there when I was a pupil.

Watch this space...

Research and schools

Well, I ended up researching publishers to send Allie to and found 2 that are possibilites. I will send a query to one this weekend and the other the following week, do both this weekend. I didn't do the typing I said I was going to do because I didn't feel like it, but intend to do it this weekend now.

In the meantime I am still trying to promote Rosie now that I have to find another publisher for Allie. I have started emailing more primary schools that are just outside my area and have asked on email loops if anyone would be interested in joining up to sell their books in a group. Quite a few authors, children's and adults, are doing this now and I think it's a v good idea. Beats not having to face people alone.

I am still on Chapter 5 of Georgina and hope to finish it this week. She now has two more team members to help her defeat her enemy and win her campaign to get others to go natural and organic with their products. Just like me really. I wonder where I got that idea from.

Well, this is all for now. Be back soon when I have more news.

Allie

Yesterday I emailed Pegasus asking them to either email or fax me a reply about Allie if they hadn't already. Then when I got home last night there was a letter from them. They are offering me a similar contract to the one for Rosie. I have turned them down saying that I need to save money now and had decided to try to get it published with a conventional contract. So back to square one for Allie. I already have a few publishers in mind to send a query to but it won't be for another week. I don't have time for researching it this weekend as I have a meeting in Holborn to go to tomorrow then on Sunday I want to type up revisions to a story I have done for an anthology. It will be the week after that I will send it off again, and in the meantime I will be looking at the submission guidelines for other publishers for Allie, as well as for Checkmate.

I will still be working on Georgina as I do like writing these books and so want them to be published.

Must get on with work now.

Rejection

I got home last night to find my novella had been rejected by People's Friend Pocket Novels. They said that it had promise but the romance took second place with the family search in the book and their novellas were about developing relationships. All is not lost yet though. I really liked that book so have decided to look into other publishers, small press and e-publishers, to see if I could send it to them. We shall see.

Still working on Chapter 5 of Georgina. Hope to finish it this week but quite a bit to write still.

Must get on with work.

What's happening

I went to the dr on Saturday after I had a phone call last Thursday to say that I had to repeat the last blood test I had. My iron levels are fine (which is what I thought the problem could be), the problem is my macrocyte count. It's the size of my red blood cells that are the problem, they are slightly higher than normal. The dr said it could either be caused by one of the tablets I'm taking or an infection. Not sure what that means. I will be having the blood test on Thursday.

Meantime, started working hard on Georgina again. Because I hadn't been working on it properly over the last few months I had forgotten what powers I'd given her and had to read the chapters I'd typed and printed to see what I had written. I now know. So far have typed up to near the end of Chapter 4 and it already comes to nearly 20,000 words, which I feel could end up being longer than Allie. Which then will mean that I will have a lot of cutting to do. I already have some in mind to do for the first chapter following the Fantasy workshop I went to 4 weeks ago, and some other revisions that came to mind after that.

Well, must get on with some work now.

The dreaded lurgy again

I have yet another cold. This is my third one in a matter of weeks, so I am going to the dr on Saturday to find out what is going on with my body as I don't normally get three colds in succession. Yesterday was the worst day as I was sneezing, blowing nose etc all day but today it's not as bad.

As well as recently contacting libraries, me and my book Rosie is mentioned in the Spring/Autumn issue of the British SCBWI's on line magazine Words and Pictures. More publicity, I am so pleased. I am still waiting to hear from Pegasus about Allie and am still working on Chapter 5 of Georgina. Should finish that next week if not tomorrow, when I go back to work.

Well, this is my news for now.

Be back at the weekend.