Category: NaNoWriMo

NANOWRIMO – April 2024 – “The One That Got Away” – Day 15

A new meaning to ‘a change of life’

…

It was not the thought of having a large house in the most expensive part of London, the servants, or what he could do with the money.

That was all for the charitable intentions she had set out a long time ago when he had mentioned that there was a lot of good she could do rather than just spend it on drugs parties and alcohol.

Yes, that was the first of what he called the doosie arguments.

After that, it was the unkind remarks of her friends, what he called the hangers-on and aristocratic deadbeats.  It earned him no kudos, so he went off and did his own thing.

He should have tried harder.  It was clear she had loved him, but there were too many forces pulling at her, the friends, the lifestyle, the parents, the aristocratic blood.

That all came back in that moment he saw Adria, her best friend and perhaps the only other voice of reason, and who had been in the beginning his arch enemy, the one who tried hard to prove he was just like any other man; and in the end, became an ally when she found he wasn’t anything like she expected.

Just too late, the damage had been done.

This visit brought back some very raw memories, and having to work with her again was going to be difficult.  Perhaps it would only be fleeting because this was going to be a fly-in fly-out job, sort out the mess, and move on.

He could see the original bequest to her charitable organisation had been sequestered from everything else, and all he had to do was divorce the new charity, pull out her interest in it, or that of her organisation as a parent and let them sink into what she had called ‘piggie quagmire’.

It was what he had always feared would happen that someone like her father would intervene and take everything from her.  Having met Howard, he could see that would never have happened.

…

Words today, 1,863, for a total of 27,696

Mistaken Identity – The Final Editor’s Draft – Day 9

This book has finally reached the Final Editor’s draft, so this month it is going to get the last revision, and a reread for the beta readers.

…

Today Jack is about to become as confused as he ever will be. Well, maybe not as ever, but it’s the start of a time when he will not know what is happening.

Firstly, there’s Maryanne. Whilst the full extent of the enigma she will be for nearly three-quarters of the book, may need a little adjustment when it comes to the first edit, I know something about her now, and those characteristics will gradually be dropped in front of the reader.

Some will say, after this chapter, that she is in trouble. Jack has known that from the start, but that assessment really comes from a distinct lack of understanding of women in general. Yes, he had had girlfriends, but not like Maryanne.

And, before you asked, yes, she is, in part, modelled on a woman I once knew, and she was nothing like any other woman I had known. She was genuinely a beautiful soul, and very much misunderstood.

Jack is fortunate in that he is hesitant to take that last step, though I suspect he might want to, but there are reasons for holding back.

These will be more apparent in the next chapter … I hope.

It’s written in my head, and I’m tempted to stay up and write it, but it’s late, and life other than being a writer will impinge on my time tomorrow.

More tomorrow.

Mistaken Identity – The Final Editor’s Draft – Day 10

This book has finally reached the Final Editor’s draft, so this month it is going to get the last revision, and a reread for the beta readers.

…

One third of the month is gone and this writing job is not getting any easier.

The notion that we can sit down and over 30 days, we can write a 50,000-word novel would be, to some, a preposterous notion.

For me, it is not. I have done it for three years in a row, and even without having a plan.

This one has a plan, but that plan only sometimes stretches to a day or two ahead, depending on how I’m going.

Today, it had been hard going because I set time aside to just sit down and write it, but you all know how fickle that can be. Devote time, and the words don’t come, have no time and try scratching in between a lot of other jobs, and the words are flowing.

It is annoying to say the least.

Bit, for today, Jack has discovered he does, indeed, have a doppelganger, and that he is related, which explains the uncanny likeness. Of course, he has been followed to the island, and run to ground in a park where the two meet face to face. Oh, and the doppelganger has a name, Jacob.

It could have got ugly, but Maryanne is there, though Jack is still not sure why, and her presence averts what could have been an ugly showdown,

Instead, some words of advice. Jack must ask his mother for the answers.

A fine time for Jack to discover that his mother has been lying to him for his whole life.

But, of course, any attempt to get her on the phone is proving difficult.

And it might mean the end of his holiday.

Our Jack is not a happy man.

Yes, word-wise we have reached the halfway mark, but story-wise, it appears it will take a little longer.

More tomorrow.

NANOWRIMO – April 2024 – “The One That Got Away” – Day 15

A new meaning to ‘a change of life’

…

It was not the thought of having a large house in the most expensive part of London, the servants, or what he could do with the money.

That was all for the charitable intentions she had set out a long time ago when he had mentioned that there was a lot of good she could do rather than just spend it on drugs parties and alcohol.

Yes, that was the first of what he called the doosie arguments.

After that, it was the unkind remarks of her friends, what he called the hangers-on and aristocratic deadbeats.  It earned him no kudos, so he went off and did his own thing.

He should have tried harder.  It was clear she had loved him, but there were too many forces pulling at her, the friends, the lifestyle, the parents, the aristocratic blood.

That all came back in that moment he saw Adria, her best friend and perhaps the only other voice of reason, and who had been in the beginning his arch enemy, the one who tried hard to prove he was just like any other man; and in the end, became an ally when she found he wasn’t anything like she expected.

Just too late, the damage had been done.

This visit brought back some very raw memories, and having to work with her again was going to be difficult.  Perhaps it would only be fleeting because this was going to be a fly-in fly-out job, sort out the mess, and move on.

He could see the original bequest to her charitable organisation had been sequestered from everything else, and all he had to do was divorce the new charity, pull out her interest in it, or that of her organisation as a parent and let them sink into what she had called ‘piggie quagmire’.

It was what he had always feared would happen that someone like her father would intervene and take everything from her.  Having met Howard, he could see that would never have happened.

…

Words today, 1,863, for a total of 27,696

Mistaken Identity – The Final Editor’s Draft – Day 10

This book has finally reached the Final Editor’s draft, so this month it is going to get the last revision, and a reread for the beta readers.

…

One third of the month is gone and this writing job is not getting any easier.

The notion that we can sit down and over 30 days, we can write a 50,000-word novel would be, to some, a preposterous notion.

For me, it is not. I have done it for three years in a row, and even without having a plan.

This one has a plan, but that plan only sometimes stretches to a day or two ahead, depending on how I’m going.

Today, it had been hard going because I set time aside to just sit down and write it, but you all know how fickle that can be. Devote time, and the words don’t come, have no time and try scratching in between a lot of other jobs, and the words are flowing.

It is annoying to say the least.

Bit, for today, Jack has discovered he does, indeed, have a doppelganger, and that he is related, which explains the uncanny likeness. Of course, he has been followed to the island, and run to ground in a park where the two meet face to face. Oh, and the doppelganger has a name, Jacob.

It could have got ugly, but Maryanne is there, though Jack is still not sure why, and her presence averts what could have been an ugly showdown,

Instead, some words of advice. Jack must ask his mother for the answers.

A fine time for Jack to discover that his mother has been lying to him for his whole life.

But, of course, any attempt to get her on the phone is proving difficult.

And it might mean the end of his holiday.

Our Jack is not a happy man.

Yes, word-wise we have reached the halfway mark, but story-wise, it appears it will take a little longer.

More tomorrow.

Mistaken Identity – The Final Editor’s Draft – Day 9

This book has finally reached the Final Editor’s draft, so this month it is going to get the last revision, and a reread for the beta readers.

…

Today Jack is about to become as confused as he ever will be. Well, maybe not as ever, but it’s the start of a time when he will not know what is happening.

Firstly, there’s Maryanne. Whilst the full extent of the enigma she will be for nearly three-quarters of the book, may need a little adjustment when it comes to the first edit, I know something about her now, and those characteristics will gradually be dropped in front of the reader.

Some will say, after this chapter, that she is in trouble. Jack has known that from the start, but that assessment really comes from a distinct lack of understanding of women in general. Yes, he had had girlfriends, but not like Maryanne.

And, before you asked, yes, she is, in part, modelled on a woman I once knew, and she was nothing like any other woman I had known. She was genuinely a beautiful soul, and very much misunderstood.

Jack is fortunate in that he is hesitant to take that last step, though I suspect he might want to, but there are reasons for holding back.

These will be more apparent in the next chapter … I hope.

It’s written in my head, and I’m tempted to stay up and write it, but it’s late, and life other than being a writer will impinge on my time tomorrow.

More tomorrow.

NANOWRIMO – April 2024 – “The One That Got Away” – Day 14

It wasn’t a hard decision

…

Michael may have thought he was done with the complications of life with the one woman he ever really cared about, but no.

Even in death, the tendrils of that time together come rushing back, just at the mention of her name.

And it explained that sudden almost crippling feeling he had several days before, that he could only assume was the moment the love of his life died.

It never occurred to him at the time it could be anything other than a virus or something he ate.

It was too soon, perhaps the punishment for the prevaricating.  Ever since the visit from Monte, she had been constantly on his mind, and it was partially the reason he had come home.

Yes, he had considered getting back in contact with her. Certainly, he had followed her life from the moment they parted, hoping she would change, that common sense and purpose would prevail, and eventually, they did.

It was also fascinating that she had children, the ages of which surprised him because the way he calculated it, they were conceived when they were together, convincing him she had been, as he suspected, having an affair.  Why she hadn’t married the man the moment she left was also interesting, but not something he pursued.

She had made her feelings clear, and her father didn’t have to try very hard to persuade him to leave.  If anything; he should have been more disappointed in himself.

…

Words today, 2,279, for a total of 25,833

Mistaken Identity – The Final Editor’s Draft – Day 8

This book has finally reached the Final Editor’s draft, so this month it is going to get the last revision, and a reread for the beta readers.

…

The story proceeds. That underlying suspicion of Maryanne’s motives rears its head again, but for different reasons.

Of course, Jack, the main character has a name, if not a little trite but it suits him, has always been suspicious because he’s not the type to be approached by beautiful women, and yet, so far has managed to allay those fears but is the perfect companion.

But, what’s a self-confessed gate crasher got up her sleeve.

Out of the hospital and on their road trip, they’re heading for an island and a hotel that overlooks the Mediterranean, which might be synonymous with the perfect location for romance.

But all of that is shattered when he sees her with another man, at the rear of the ferry, and the animation in her manner tells him the man is not just someone who ran into her.

Jack knows who it is, and what he does, so that makes the meeting even more mysterious.

And perhaps dangerous.

Yes, we are exploring the theme of ‘everyone has secrets’.

More tomorrow.

Mistaken Identity – The Final Editor’s Draft – Day 9

This book has finally reached the Final Editor’s draft, so this month it is going to get the last revision, and a reread for the beta readers.

…

Today Jack is about to become as confused as he ever will be. Well, maybe not as ever, but it’s the start of a time when he will not know what is happening.

Firstly, there’s Maryanne. Whilst the full extent of the enigma she will be for nearly three-quarters of the book, may need a little adjustment when it comes to the first edit, I know something about her now, and those characteristics will gradually be dropped in front of the reader.

Some will say, after this chapter, that she is in trouble. Jack has known that from the start, but that assessment really comes from a distinct lack of understanding of women in general. Yes, he had had girlfriends, but not like Maryanne.

And, before you asked, yes, she is, in part, modelled on a woman I once knew, and she was nothing like any other woman I had known. She was genuinely a beautiful soul, and very much misunderstood.

Jack is fortunate in that he is hesitant to take that last step, though I suspect he might want to, but there are reasons for holding back.

These will be more apparent in the next chapter … I hope.

It’s written in my head, and I’m tempted to stay up and write it, but it’s late, and life other than being a writer will impinge on my time tomorrow.

More tomorrow.

NANOWRIMO – April 2024 – “The One That Got Away” – Day 14

It wasn’t a hard decision

…

Michael may have thought he was done with the complications of life with the one woman he ever really cared about, but no.

Even in death, the tendrils of that time together come rushing back, just at the mention of her name.

And it explained that sudden almost crippling feeling he had several days before, that he could only assume was the moment the love of his life died.

It never occurred to him at the time it could be anything other than a virus or something he ate.

It was too soon, perhaps the punishment for the prevaricating.  Ever since the visit from Monte, she had been constantly on his mind, and it was partially the reason he had come home.

Yes, he had considered getting back in contact with her. Certainly, he had followed her life from the moment they parted, hoping she would change, that common sense and purpose would prevail, and eventually, they did.

It was also fascinating that she had children, the ages of which surprised him because the way he calculated it, they were conceived when they were together, convincing him she had been, as he suspected, having an affair.  Why she hadn’t married the man the moment she left was also interesting, but not something he pursued.

She had made her feelings clear, and her father didn’t have to try very hard to persuade him to leave.  If anything; he should have been more disappointed in himself.

…

Words today, 2,279, for a total of 25,833