That Darn Squirrel

This morning, I finished the pre-edits for Monday's Child, the follow on novel from Sunday's Child. Afterwards I went into the garden to get some fresh air. I checked the bird feeders, then saw some holes on my lawn. That darn squirrel dug them and buried peanuts. I don't begrudge the creature some food but this is too much.

Plans for New Novels

I've nearly finished writing Monday's Child, the sequel to Sunday's Child, set in 1814. I am now planning the next follow on novel, Tuesday's Child, who is full of grace'. I realised the heroine I first character I chose, who appeared in Monday's child lacks inner grace. After much thought I selected the right character to be the heroine, who had a walk on but very important part in Monday's Child. She is not a beauty but moves and acts with grace. Phew! That's sorted.

Writing and Gardening

A friend wrote in her newsletter that Stephen King said novelists should finish a new book in 3 months. Ouch, it's taken me much longer to write each of mine. Anyway, this morning I wrote Chapter 27 of my new novel, Monday's Child (the sequel to Sunday's Child) set in the Regency era, and began the next chapter. Approximately 7,000 words to write before I finish the book, revise and edit it before I submit it. Phew!

I spent the rest of the morning working in the greenhouse and the garden. I picked tomatoes, cucumbers, runner beans and radishes, planted out lettuces weeded and tidied up. It's a sunny day, the sky is blue and the bees were busy collecting nectar from the lavender and other flowers.

Now I'm tapping away on the laptop with my feet up. Later on I'll probably pop out in the garden to do a bit more.

Revision

Recently, I mentioned that when I work on the final revision of a novel I get replace as many adverbs as possible with a strong verb.

Something else I check is how many times I write 'and'. It is amazing how often I use the word and how much stronger the prose is when I eliminate the word as often as possible.

And now, to get on in my garden having worked on my new novel, Monday's Child, the sequel to Sunday's Child a traditional Regency novel published as an e-book by MuseItUp Publishing.

Adverbs

I am searching for ways in which to improve the sequel to Sunday's Child, Monday's Child, which I am writing.

One of the things I check when I read through each chapter is my use of adverbs. A strong verb is more effective than a weak verb plus and adverb. For example I wrote: the colonel walked quickly and replaced it with the colonel marched.

When I write the first draft of a chapter I'm in a hurry to get on with the story. Afterwards I fine tune it several times. Another example is: he held her hand tightly which I replaced with he gripped her hand.