Wednesday 15 June 2011

BEAUTIFUL, AND BEREFT.....

I'm featuring this rose because it's beautiful.
(And wondering what colour you'd call it?)

Not just "yellow" but maybe marzipan or saffron.....?

Have just delivered my manuscript - a lot of blood, sweat and tears have gone into the story of Sheikh Hassan Al Abbas and Ella Jackson and now all I have to do is wait (rather neurotically) for my editor to come back to me.
All kinds of worse-case scenarios will flit through my mind - but none can possibly be as bad as the time when I said (quite earnestly) that I thought my submission was pretty good.
And then she phoned back the next day to ask for extensive revisions (read: rewrite!). Ever since that day I've never offered an opinion on a book....

So now I'm in that strange space where there is no longer a pressing deadline making you feel guilty if you're not writing. No alarm ringing at 6am to send you stumbling sleepily towards the computer. No conversations in your head which will suddenly make you understand a man who is very complex. In short, I'm missing my characters!

Which is why I'm hoping you'll tell me what you're doing, wherever you are in the world....



6 comments:

  1. I found it quite touching to discover that an author also misses their characters. Some of my favorite books often leave my wondering what the main characters would be up to in the days or years after the story's ending. Of course, I then just pick the books up and read it again. There are about a half-dozen books that I love so completely that I must pick them up at least once every couple of years to re-read them... It's like visiting old friends.

    To answer your question, Sharon, right now I'm working and looking out my window and watching the rain falling from a slate-grey sky. I'm hoping that the rain ends soon; I've been looking forward to a walk to the park where I could sit on a bench and finish the novel that I've been reading. It's all about the simple pleasures...

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  2. Ohh it looks a bit like "soft peach" to me. LOL I sound like someone who chooses the names for paint tins! Congrats on finishing the latest MS and fingers xrossed...Caroline x

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  3. p.s what IS with Blogger at the moment? Is it the full moon or what. Won't let me post as little 'ole me anymore! Caroline x

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  4. Dan, aren't simple pleasures just the best? It's been grey and raining here as well - but you made me think about books I re-read. Perhaps I'll do a post on it.

    I've had other complaints about Blogger, Caroline - and thanks for "soft peach". I once painted a sitting room in a shade of paint called exactly that!

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  5. My days? Hard work! Only 2 days left 'till I get my rank...! I'm excited and nervous...And congrats to you for your delivered book! I'm sure you miss your characters when you finish your books, I miss them too after my reading! The rose... I don't have the name of a colour but I'd rather call it "a rising sunset"... Do you know what they say about yellow roses...?

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  6. Gosh, I'm seeing only now that I left my "question" above floating in the space...
    Well, a yellow rose - in the language of flowers - represents the vexillum of jealousy... In my case, this won't be easy to forget since I once received a wonderful "big bouquet" with 300 yellow roses from an admirer saying: "When will you stop making me jealous?" ... I didn't even know about it! Later I discovered that this admirer was my former boyfriend's bestfriend. This life can be grotesque sometimes...

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