Archive for March, 2007

March 16, 2007 | 2 Comments

I know I should be working but I got back from a job to find I’m getting the proofs of Wish You Were Here next week and I am doing a little woo-hoo. Hey - it’s a real book now, after a year of writing, re-writing and planning.

In celebration, below is a pic of me doing some research on location in Corsica! (Just after this a wasp flew down and stung the bottom of a woman who was wearing a thong bikini. That doesn’t happen in the book, however.

March 15, 2007 | 1 Comment

Last night I was running through what I might read - and talk about - at the library evening next Thursday. I’m really looking forward to it but I do hope no one expects Victoria Wood!

I’ve chosen an extract from Decent Exposure and I’m going to look at the ms of Wish You Were Here and read a bit of that.

My books are very high on dialogue and I find narrative easier to read aloud. Dialogue needs ‘acting’ I think, to get the best out of it. If I could drop on anice TDH actor with a Northern accent, that would help, naturally.

I did find a dramatic, emotional stretch of narrative in Decent Exposure until I suddenly stopped half way through and said out loud (I was on my own). “I can’t read that!” It was rather rude, you see…

I wonder how authors decide which bits to read and use as excerpts - how far through the book can you go without revealing the plot?

March 14, 2007 | Comments

Okay. I lasted five days so far. While I’m working on Other Stuff That Pays My Bills (a huge project for a national animal charity, mainly) I suppose I ought to put up the Test Card. Now, if you are under 35-ish, or from outside the UK, you probably won’t know what on earth a Test Card is, so here’s a link.
(Warning: don’t follow that link unless you have insomnia or like trainspotting.)

And while the Test card girl is ok, she’s not as cool as Sam and Gene from Life on Mars . The Test Card plays a majorrole in this stonkingly original BBC drama which manages to be thrilling, moving, politically incorrect, time-travelling and absolutely RFLMAO funny. Oh and for a short guy, Sam is quite sexy. Some ladies like Gene but …the camel hair coat does nothing for me.

Posted by Phillipa in Uncategorized @ 7:41 am

March 9, 2007 | Comments

I won’t be posting for a while as I’m taking a few weeks off to concentrate on my business.
And don’t forget - if you are around KIngs Norton Library, Birmingham on Thursday March 22 6-7pm, it would be lovely to see you.

Posted by Phillipa in Uncategorized @ 11:14 am

March 6, 2007 | 3 Comments

Yesterday I wrote a short story in the first person and having read a great extract on Julie Cohen’s site, I asked her about writing ‘first person’ sex - i.e. was it more challenging to write than third person sex.

Click here to see Julie’s post then my comment is below. Do comment and tell me what you think, how you write different narrative viewpoints and how you feel about reading them.

Wow - thanks for blogging about this. I’d love to try writing a first person novel and last night I wrote a first person short story that set me wondering. As for the sex in my current books, I have got over the ‘invisible mum/aunty’ quite a while ago. I do admit to empathising with the characters in all the scenes, sensual ones included. However,those scenes are appropriate to the characters and plot - they’re not the ‘author’. Sorry to disappoint you!

My new novel, Wish You Were Here features more tentative, tender encounters (early on at least…) unlike Decent Exposure which focuses on the characters circling around each other and playing power games with their sexuality.

I’d love to hear how other writers approach this.

In a separate, unrelated but spooky incident, ’someone’ who shall remain nameless decided to bring a smile to my face by sending me a fascinating book called The Joy Of Writing Sex by Elizabeth Benedict. It’s a serious, literary exploration of the place of sensual scenes in all genres of fiction and how writers can approach/improve them.

Posted by Phillipa in Uncategorized @ 5:05 pm