Category: NaNoWriMo

First Dig Two Graves – the editor’s final draft – Day 1

This book has been sitting in the ‘to-be-done’ tray, so this month it is going to get the final revision.

…

At the end of the first book in the series, Alistair, Zoe the assassin’s handler, was killed.

As far as he was concerned, Zoe had reneged on the contract to kill a target, and for that, she had to be punished, just to let the rest of the team know they could not decide arbitrarily who or who they would not kill.

For her sins, Zoe had been captured and was about to be executed when John, the man who wanted to become her boyfriend, turned up on a luckless and unplanned rescue mission.

But as ad-hoc operations go, that one was very successful.  Zoe, though badly injured aided John in a do-or-die escape.

Alistair learned to his chagrin, that a badly injured Zoe and untrained well-meaning friend trumped overconfidence.

Of course, Alistair’s death does not go unnoticed, and his mother, a renowned and very capable ex-KGB agent with connections, wanted to avenge his death.  Her influence reaches as far as the upper echelons of the State’s intelligence services, and requests from her would never be ignored.

Such a request for information is made, and so starts the next book in the series.

Revenge.

Of course, nothing to do with Zoe or John, or their relationship, runs smoothly, and once again in pursuit of the impossible, makes it his mission in life to win over the assassin-on-sabbatical.

But first, he has to find her., and sort through the lies and treachery of his best friend who is also looking for Zoe, but for entirely different reasons.

First Dig Two Graves – the editor’s final draft – Day 1

This book has been sitting in the ‘to-be-done’ tray, so this month it is going to get the final revision.

…

At the end of the first book in the series, Alistair, Zoe the assassin’s handler, was killed.

As far as he was concerned, Zoe had reneged on the contract to kill a target, and for that, she had to be punished, just to let the rest of the team know they could not decide arbitrarily who or who they would not kill.

For her sins, Zoe had been captured and was about to be executed when John, the man who wanted to become her boyfriend, turned up on a luckless and unplanned rescue mission.

But as ad-hoc operations go, that one was very successful.  Zoe, though badly injured aided John in a do-or-die escape.

Alistair learned to his chagrin, that a badly injured Zoe and untrained well-meaning friend trumped overconfidence.

Of course, Alistair’s death does not go unnoticed, and his mother, a renowned and very capable ex-KGB agent with connections, wanted to avenge his death.  Her influence reaches as far as the upper echelons of the State’s intelligence services, and requests from her would never be ignored.

Such a request for information is made, and so starts the next book in the series.

Revenge.

Of course, nothing to do with Zoe or John, or their relationship, runs smoothly, and once again in pursuit of the impossible, makes it his mission in life to win over the assassin-on-sabbatical.

But first, he has to find her., and sort through the lies and treachery of his best friend who is also looking for Zoe, but for entirely different reasons.

First Dig Two Graves – the editor’s final draft – Day 1

This book has been sitting in the ‘to-be-done’ tray, so this month it is going to get the final revision.

…

At the end of the first book in the series, Alistair, Zoe the assassin’s handler, was killed.

As far as he was concerned, Zoe had reneged on the contract to kill a target, and for that, she had to be punished, just to let the rest of the team know they could not decide arbitrarily who or who they would not kill.

For her sins, Zoe had been captured and was about to be executed when John, the man who wanted to become her boyfriend, turned up on a luckless and unplanned rescue mission.

But as ad-hoc operations go, that one was very successful.  Zoe, though badly injured aided John in a do-or-die escape.

Alistair learned to his chagrin, that a badly injured Zoe and untrained well-meaning friend trumped overconfidence.

Of course, Alistair’s death does not go unnoticed, and his mother, a renowned and very capable ex-KGB agent with connections, wanted to avenge his death.  Her influence reaches as far as the upper echelons of the State’s intelligence services, and requests from her would never be ignored.

Such a request for information is made, and so starts the next book in the series.

Revenge.

Of course, nothing to do with Zoe or John, or their relationship, runs smoothly, and once again in pursuit of the impossible, makes it his mission in life to win over the assassin-on-sabbatical.

But first, he has to find her., and sort through the lies and treachery of his best friend who is also looking for Zoe, but for entirely different reasons.

We are taught not to be selfish, but…

Today I decided to take some time out and read a few blogs, to see what the rest of the world is doing leading up to CampNaNoWriMo, and sometimes read some news that’s usually a few days old, not that I’m complaining.

And still working on the James Bondish piece that set my mind on fire.  Last I heard, he has almost completed a successful, almost suicide, mission.  There’s just a small matter of a rebel helicopter with air-to-air missiles trying to shoot down the escape plane.

I try to keep away from the news if it’s possible, but it comes at you from everywhere.  My browser somehow decided to allow notifications and every few minutes a little popout slides out from the bottom right corner and tells me what’s gone wrong.

Never any good news by the way.

And yes, I have Windows 10, but I can’t be bothered reading the manual to find out how to stop them.  Maybe, subconsciously, I don’t.

I never thought one man could generate so many headlines.  We had one, given the nickname, the human headline, but Trump, he is in a class of his own.

I used to like watching him on The Apprentice, believe it or not.

But again I digress…

I saw the word selfish popup in a number of posts, and it reminded me that, at times writers have to be.  There are only so many hours in a day, and after emails, blogs, reading, news, life, there’s very little time left to write.

So, we need to be selfish at those times.  I am because when I sit down to write, there shouldn’t be any distractions.  As a writer, I’m not seeking popularity, maybe one day that will come, but I’m in this writing thing because I have stories to tell and I want to get them down.  Nobody may ever read them, I may never rise above mediocrity, but I am doing something I love, and very few of us out there can say that unequivocally.

Most of us have a day job or something else that consumes a great deal of our time.

Oh to be a successful author like James Patterson?  But how does he do it?  I guess it comes down to hard work, and a little bit of luck.

And maybe, one day, if I work hard enough, some of it might come my way.

We are taught not to be selfish, but…

Today I decided to take some time out and read a few blogs, to see what the rest of the world is doing leading up to CampNaNoWriMo, and sometimes read some news that’s usually a few days old, not that I’m complaining.

And still working on the James Bondish piece that set my mind on fire.  Last I heard, he has almost completed a successful, almost suicide, mission.  There’s just a small matter of a rebel helicopter with air-to-air missiles trying to shoot down the escape plane.

I try to keep away from the news if it’s possible, but it comes at you from everywhere.  My browser somehow decided to allow notifications and every few minutes a little popout slides out from the bottom right corner and tells me what’s gone wrong.

Never any good news by the way.

And yes, I have Windows 10, but I can’t be bothered reading the manual to find out how to stop them.  Maybe, subconsciously, I don’t.

I never thought one man could generate so many headlines.  We had one, given the nickname, the human headline, but Trump, he is in a class of his own.

I used to like watching him on The Apprentice, believe it or not.

But again I digress…

I saw the word selfish popup in a number of posts, and it reminded me that, at times writers have to be.  There are only so many hours in a day, and after emails, blogs, reading, news, life, there’s very little time left to write.

So, we need to be selfish at those times.  I am because when I sit down to write, there shouldn’t be any distractions.  As a writer, I’m not seeking popularity, maybe one day that will come, but I’m in this writing thing because I have stories to tell and I want to get them down.  Nobody may ever read them, I may never rise above mediocrity, but I am doing something I love, and very few of us out there can say that unequivocally.

Most of us have a day job or something else that consumes a great deal of our time.

Oh to be a successful author like James Patterson?  But how does he do it?  I guess it comes down to hard work, and a little bit of luck.

And maybe, one day, if I work hard enough, some of it might come my way.

“Opposites Attract” – The Editor’s first draft  – Day 30

This book was the effort put into the last NaNoWriMo November 2023 exercise. I have now picked it back up, and working on a more polished first draft for the Editor.

…

The end or is it the beginning.

…

It’s always fun to get to the end of the story.

This one, at times almost wrote itself because the elements were such a joy to write.

It started in a dance, two people who knew deep down they were in love with each other, they just either didn’t want to acknowledge it or didn’t think it was possible the other would ever see it.

How many of us sometimes look wistfully at the one we love and know it will never happen?

I’ve been there, and I know that feeling.

And then, when it is recognised, in a mad moment of realisation, you go from not having it to having it and not wanting to mess it up or wanting it to end.

Love is one of those emotions that is very hard to understand, or control, or manage, and as it is often said, the heart does what it wants to do and you sometimes have to go along for the ride.

And sometimes put yourself out there and be damned to the consequences.

It’s going to hurt, one way or another, and we can only hope it’s a good hurt and not a bad one.

But will it help to go from relatively poor to very, very rich?

That of course is another story.

…

“Opposites Attract” – The Editor’s first draft  – Day 30

This book was the effort put into the last NaNoWriMo November 2023 exercise. I have now picked it back up, and working on a more polished first draft for the Editor.

…

The end or is it the beginning.

…

It’s always fun to get to the end of the story.

This one, at times almost wrote itself because the elements were such a joy to write.

It started in a dance, two people who knew deep down they were in love with each other, they just either didn’t want to acknowledge it or didn’t think it was possible the other would ever see it.

How many of us sometimes look wistfully at the one we love and know it will never happen?

I’ve been there, and I know that feeling.

And then, when it is recognised, in a mad moment of realisation, you go from not having it to having it and not wanting to mess it up or wanting it to end.

Love is one of those emotions that is very hard to understand, or control, or manage, and as it is often said, the heart does what it wants to do and you sometimes have to go along for the ride.

And sometimes put yourself out there and be damned to the consequences.

It’s going to hurt, one way or another, and we can only hope it’s a good hurt and not a bad one.

But will it help to go from relatively poor to very, very rich?

That of course is another story.

…

“Opposites Attract” – The Editor’s first draft – Day 29

This book was the effort put into the last NaNoWriMo November 2023 exercise. I have now picked it back up, and working on a more polished first draft for the Editor.

…

Home again, home again…

…

After rescuing Tim and not fulfilling the mission, which might seem to become a running theme in the relationship between the grandmother and our boy, they arrive home, hitch a ride to New York in the corporate jet, and then dispatch it to Switzerland where Annie is booked into a clinic.

Good deed for the day done.

And in a last-minute move he didn’t see coming sister Darcy, best friends with everyone, has gone with Annie to be someone familiar.  Tim of course goes with her.  A ride to Europe in a private jet, and the prospect of a holiday was worth sacrificing being at the wedding.

Well, the first wedding.

But the bad news is, while our boy was away having fun in helicopters the grandmother’s condition deteriorated as anyone with stage four cancer knows.  One minute you’re reasonably OK the next, at death’s door.

Fresh off the plane, there’s just enough time to change and get to the ceremony.

There is no time to reflect on the merits of what is essentially a shotgun wedding, it’s done.

Of course, there’s a little sidebar in doing it, one that may play out in a sequel.

…

“Opposites Attract” – The Editor’s first draft  – Day 30

This book was the effort put into the last NaNoWriMo November 2023 exercise. I have now picked it back up, and working on a more polished first draft for the Editor.

…

The end or is it the beginning.

…

It’s always fun to get to the end of the story.

This one, at times almost wrote itself because the elements were such a joy to write.

It started in a dance, two people who knew deep down they were in love with each other, they just either didn’t want to acknowledge it or didn’t think it was possible the other would ever see it.

How many of us sometimes look wistfully at the one we love and know it will never happen?

I’ve been there, and I know that feeling.

And then, when it is recognised, in a mad moment of realisation, you go from not having it to having it and not wanting to mess it up or wanting it to end.

Love is one of those emotions that is very hard to understand, or control, or manage, and as it is often said, the heart does what it wants to do and you sometimes have to go along for the ride.

And sometimes put yourself out there and be damned to the consequences.

It’s going to hurt, one way or another, and we can only hope it’s a good hurt and not a bad one.

But will it help to go from relatively poor to very, very rich?

That of course is another story.

…

“Opposites Attract” – The Editor’s first draft  – Day 30

This book was the effort put into the last NaNoWriMo November 2023 exercise. I have now picked it back up, and working on a more polished first draft for the Editor.

…

The end or is it the beginning.

…

It’s always fun to get to the end of the story.

This one, at times almost wrote itself because the elements were such a joy to write.

It started in a dance, two people who knew deep down they were in love with each other, they just either didn’t want to acknowledge it or didn’t think it was possible the other would ever see it.

How many of us sometimes look wistfully at the one we love and know it will never happen?

I’ve been there, and I know that feeling.

And then, when it is recognised, in a mad moment of realisation, you go from not having it to having it and not wanting to mess it up or wanting it to end.

Love is one of those emotions that is very hard to understand, or control, or manage, and as it is often said, the heart does what it wants to do and you sometimes have to go along for the ride.

And sometimes put yourself out there and be damned to the consequences.

It’s going to hurt, one way or another, and we can only hope it’s a good hurt and not a bad one.

But will it help to go from relatively poor to very, very rich?

That of course is another story.

…