And it's back to normality after 11 days in New South Wales: 7 days writing at Varuna, 1.5 days in Sydney researching four changes in location for The Fatal Span, 2.5 days in the Katoomba-Wentworth Falls area researching two possible locations for a site that will be used in Hells Bells (book 2 of the Max Murdoch series) which included one day of R&R, i.e. bushwalking for pure fun.
So this week's been back to work, and I'm not ashamed to admit I had trouble settling back the first few days. It's hard to wake up early and NOT walk to the Cliff View lookout and around to Echo Point, talk to the scrubwrens, and just gaze in awe at the sheer beauty of the view. And walk on flat ground - THAT is strange.
Yesterday I think I've finally managed to fix up one scene that's been giving me grief all week. I'll print it after I've walked around Mount Barker Summit (half the height of Katoomba), walk away from the computer and go over it one more time. Then it's deciding whether or not I'll change one paragraph in Chapter One, then it's full-steam ahead for one more draft - then a break to really hack out the novella, The Isthmus, and the short-story (remember I said that) The Toy Man from Company B. After forgetting my notes to take on the bus, I re-thought some of the order of things in books 2 and 3, and realised that two sub-plots need to be swapped around. NOW I can see both books working. At last! So forgetting things DOES have some advantages...including the passionfruit yoghurt that I had to try when I forgot my lunch on Thursday!
So this week's been back to work, and I'm not ashamed to admit I had trouble settling back the first few days. It's hard to wake up early and NOT walk to the Cliff View lookout and around to Echo Point, talk to the scrubwrens, and just gaze in awe at the sheer beauty of the view. And walk on flat ground - THAT is strange.
Yesterday I think I've finally managed to fix up one scene that's been giving me grief all week. I'll print it after I've walked around Mount Barker Summit (half the height of Katoomba), walk away from the computer and go over it one more time. Then it's deciding whether or not I'll change one paragraph in Chapter One, then it's full-steam ahead for one more draft - then a break to really hack out the novella, The Isthmus, and the short-story (remember I said that) The Toy Man from Company B. After forgetting my notes to take on the bus, I re-thought some of the order of things in books 2 and 3, and realised that two sub-plots need to be swapped around. NOW I can see both books working. At last! So forgetting things DOES have some advantages...including the passionfruit yoghurt that I had to try when I forgot my lunch on Thursday!
