Harlyn Bay

I ventured onto the beach this morning to take a photograph of the cave. (see previous blog) Sadly the sun wasn't shining, but hopefully the above picture paints a clearer view in your mind's eye of the cave where I set a scene in one of my chapters.

This is my Brittany spaniel called Harlyn, enjoying the beach at Harlyn Bay. We named her after our favourite place in Cornwall, and as you can see, she's the same colour as the sand! Harlyn also plays a part in Lies and Linguine. She belongs to my hero, the troubled but talented artist, Daniel Cavanagh.

My other dog is called Brook. She's a springer spaniel but never stays still long enough to have her photograph taken! I've taken a few pictures of her this Christmas break, but they're either of her rear end disappearing into the distance as she runs after a stick, or she's swimming in the sea. Harlyn on the other hand, is a natural born poser!

Being days away from a new year, I believe it's time to mull over some changes/resolutions which I'd like to achieve in 2011. I don't so much want to change anything major. If anything I'd like to accept who I am and what I do. I'm a writer - I write.

But it's so easy to compare myself with other writers and find myself wanting. How do some writers turn a fish soup into a rich warming bouillabaisse? They add ingredients to a story which I wish I'd created. But I know this doesn't really matter - writers should never compare. How boring would bookshelves be if we all wrote alike? The bottom line is, I love the process of writing and become engrossed with my characters, their storyline and more importantly - my hero. My life merges into theirs, they become 'friends' which I can communicate with through my pages. It's so important to feel that connection. To be best friends with my protagonist and to have a crush on my hero makes dialogue so much easier to write.

Now my manuscript for Lies and Linguine has been sent away to my agent, the new year heralds the introduction of new friends in Sugar and Spite, my second novel. I'll fall in love with a new hero and I'm relishing the thought! What is his name? What will he look like? What will he do for a living? How will he and Erin meet ? (my new protagonist - I love that name) It'll also be a lot easier to use a possessive apostrophe without the name ending in an 's', like Tess, my previous heroine!