Blog
October 2021
Sunday 3rd October 2021
We're waiting for our ship to come in...literally! We packed up our house and moved to the USA from the UK in late June. Having done this ocean-crossing move 4 times now we expected to see our household goods no later than the end of July. We hadn't counted on a container, ship, and berthing shortage. Fortunately, we were able to buy a bed, couch, and a TV, and a very kind neighbor has lent us an outdoor table and chairs, so we have managed. The house is a breeze to clean and I have lots of excuses for my lack of enthusiasm when it comes to cooking although I do miss baking.
Fingers are crossed our stuff will make it from Savannah (where the ship is waiting for a berth) to Norfolk, where our container is due to be offloaded before being placed on a train up to Baltimore (don't understand this step) and then trucked across the Chesapeake to us.
As there is not much I can do to progress the moving agenda, including worrying, I'm using my energy on my writing, which is what I much prefer to do anyhow. I've finished an outline for Judging from a Distance and have also put some flesh on the bones of my characters. Now if I decide to change someone's name I have to be careful—I've already given name 'A' personality and appearance. A name change to 'B' could alter those. Because names always conjure up images, I spend a lot of time investigating them and luckily computers do make name changes relatively easy to accomplish. Places also are very important—my characters are always on the move. I need to know all about the places they are from and where they are going. While I enjoy doing research for my books I can't let a lack of immediate knowledge about something stop me. I simply put a reminder note in the text and keep going. I'll come back to the question when I have the time to do the research.
I wonder how many books will come out of the world's battle with Covid-19. Murder mysteries, thrillers, cold war or spy novels, science fiction, romance? I've given this some thought—is there a Covid book inside me? Following my usual modus operandi, every news story I come across is regarded as a possible lead or cornerstone for a book. So far nothing about Covid-19 has inspired me. The only genre I can think of that really fits Covid-19 is tragedy—I write for escape, adventure, and fun.
For now, I'm going to keep my head in the clouds looking out for silver linings. I need to stay hopeful—about conquering Covid, global warming, and the hundreds of other appalling issues we face living on planet earth. And I need to keep writing—it's my way of giving myself a break. I hope by reading my books, you're getting a well-deserved break as well.
Photo was taken from our hotel balcony in Page AZ looking west.
