My first choice of career was as a nurse in a busy A&E department. It was great fun, but one can only take so much abuse, and I had always toyed with the idea of being a solicitor, so off I went back to uni and seven years later, I qualified as a solicitor. During that time, I also managed to squeeze out a baby! So I went from saving lives, to probably ruining lives, to bringing another life into the world.
After a couple of miscarriages, (which affected me quite badly), I decided to quit work and stay at home with my one and only daughter, Juliette. She started school last year, and I had some time on my hands, not wanting to do too much housework, I started baking. I was quite good, or so I thought until I saw what baker, Ruth Clemens from The great British Bake Off was producing in her spare time! Which I can imagine was little, what with three young boys running around! (You can check Ruth out on Facebook or Twitter. She is known as 'The Pink Whisk').
I am now loving tweeting, writing my blog, trying to finish an assignment for this writing course I am doing, and moot some ideas for my novel for National Novel Writing Month. I have a couple of ideas. Are you interested? Well, even if you're not, I am telling you anyway!
Option one - A novel for teenagers. The Wirral, during the seventeenth century, was notorious for smugglers, wreckers and privateers. I am hoping to loosely base a bit of a girl meets boy from a different century kind of first love kinda story. Honestly, it will be better than it sounds. I don't want to go into too much detail, as that would ruin it!
Option two - I think I have already mentioned a chick lit kind of novel.
I am not sure which one? I love history and have a bit of a passion for the past, especially if it is local. Hmmm, what to do? Decisions decisions. The research will be fun anyway!
Anyway peoples, as the meerkat would say - its simples!
Hi Lisa! You should TOTALLY write the smuggler story for NaNo. I've been thinking that would make a great story for years, but I'm not really into privateers, etc., myself. Did you ever got down in the tunnels when they were open to the public? Fascinating stuff. (I do have another NewBo based story in mind, also with a girl meeting a boy from a different century, funnily enough.)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, a) I think it's a brilliant idea and b) it's easier to do YA for NaNo because 50k is plenty for a YA novel so you do have the prospect of a complete novel at the end of the month (albeit one that'll need a lot of editing). If you write an adult book, you've still got 30k plus to write. The adult novel I wrote for NaNo in 2004 still stands at 50k, while the teen novel I wrote last year is finished. :)
Hey, really glad you like the idea - not quite sure how to put it down on paper yet. But I am hopeful that will just happen! I would like to say great minds think alike, but I am convinced that as far as stories go, you beat me hands down!
ReplyDeleteI didn't get to go down the tunnels, I think that they were open when I was in Bristol. But I would love to! I agree it is fascinating. I did look at the whole smugglers thing for A level communications, and it got me my only ever A!
All of your advice is very much appreciated - seeing as I am going to lose child benefit, I need an income!!
Looking forward to your new book!