coffee with katja
May 2012
31 May 2012: not enough time in the day

The 21 June 2012 deadline looms. The book covers are in progress and I'm turning into a Kindle Publishing expert!
o
17 May 2012: too much time on my hands

Shepherd's Prayer is in the safe hands of Laura Boon and Rana Eschur, my beady-eyed editors.  Nerve wracking.

I've given myself some time off from writing, so my days are filled with reading (I've just started The Bellweather Revivals), and the nights are for work: preparing agent material, book cover brief, Kindle blurb. Such fun to use a different part of my brain again.

Creative writing takes up every breathing living moment of my day and I really struggle to do "other stuff" when I write. The beds don't get made and French admin is ignored . It's probably a right-brain/ left-brain thing, but my to-do list is much easier to keep short when I'm working on the business side of writing!
o
15 May 2012: time to read

Two weeks since I finished draft number 5 (!!) of Shepherd's Prayer, and I feel terrified and exhilarated. My computer is off and I'm in reading heaven. 

Out came my old favourite, Midnight's Children. I loved it in my 30's and love it even more in my 50's. Rushdie's prose is intoxicating. The kind that makes you doubt your own.

Next was Sarah's Key. I read it in a day. Yes, it was moving, but also disappointing. The image of that little boy locked in a secret cupboard by his sister to save him from the Nazis haunts me still, and yet the writing didn't bowl me over. You're right to call me a know-all... it's done so well after all! A humbling reminder that most readers will forgive ordinary craftsmanship if the story moves them. 

Will readers be moved by Shepherd's Prayer? I hope so.
o