Cathie Dunn writes...

We took our car for a leisurely ride along the coastal route to St Andrews. Starting mid-morning, we had plenty of time. The sun was shining, temperatures warn, our obligatory bottles of water, and off we went. Shortly after the Forth Road Bridge, we turned off after the North Queensferry exit (we've been there several times) and the rolling Fife countryside surrounded us. We took our time, ambling along windy roads - and no, I did not hold faster people up! (Bugbear of mine, so I don't do it to others. LOL) The one place that struck us as lovely was Aberdour so we decided to stop on a country walks car park. Bottles in hand, we wandered off aimlessly, along the cliffside, towards the small town. And what a picturesque place it is. Immediately our thoughts went to finding a place to rent or even buy here. The small beach was clean, as were all the streets. Coming from dirty Edinburgh roads, we were in heaven. We explored the narrow lanes, and fell in love with the town. We'...

Last Sunday I took the train down to Manchester for a one day course in Copywriting on Monday. I had deemed it a waste of my time to drive all the way, alone, when I could instead sit, chill - and work! And although I had someone sitting next to me (at the seats with a table!), I still managed to edit an older version of my wip, and cut it into a new chapter. It's amazing how much new stuff you learn over the years, even after having finished the Creative/Novel Writing course 2 years ago. So out with the old - and in with the revised! ;-) Having spent all afternoon on my Macbook, I decided that the evening was perfect for reading. I had just uploaded an as yet unpubbed ms from a fellow writer, so I was happy to delve into the story. I do love a fine sense of humour in Regency romance. Just over 24 hours later, I continued my editing bonanza, adding another revised chapter, plus a completely new one. Very happy with the result! With music from my itunes in my ears, I occasionally pa...

I guess the feeling never changes. Nerves are frayed, all kinds of thoughts run through your mind, and your nails never grow long enough to shine with a bright coat of varnish as they're kept bitten to the core. Yes, it's the feverish anticipation for a response from a publisher. I must admit that I've only submitted one query with a partial in all my years of writing. Yet here I am, checking my personal email several times a day for news. Any news. Hopefully good news! This sub left my mailbox 15 weeks ago. Now I'm kindly informed by a helpful, successful writer that the cut off time for tentative enquiries as to your ms's whereabouts is 20 weeks! Ouch! My, how much does that test anyone's patience?! LOL I hope to submit a query for Doubtful Allegiance once I'm closer to the end. This is likely to be by June. No point submitting it earlier, as my daily working life might interfere too much to allow me to devote enough time to guide it to a fantastic ending....

After several years of playing around with historical WIPs (at home and in writing courses), I finally completed and submitted a ms in the winter. Of course, the subbed version varied much from the first drafts; even the storyline took a different turn than originally intended. But it all worked in its favour. As it's been 14 weeks since I submitted, I'm going to wait another two before I send a query email. I just want to know what's going to happen with it. Yes, patience is not one of my strong points, I'm afraid... Since January, I've been working on re-editing an older WIP which is 2/3 completed. Thankfully, my eagle-eyed crit girls seem to like it so I hope to move forward quickly with it and get it finished by the summer when my daily workload's going to explode for three months. But during a recent trip to the continent, I travelled with a group of three old friends by car to Austria. On the journey back after a couple of fun, but a bit hectic days, we a...

Dare we hope? Barely 10 days ago we had a sudden freeze with several inches of snow, and Easter was a complete washout. Not that I had a chance to notice, having to work Good Friday and Easter Monday. But it was a shame for friends who wanted to go camping. Soggy fields and mudbaths are not the signs of a good weekend away. But finally the tide appears to have turned. The last few days turned milder. And it stayed dry! I know! I could scarcely believe it either. :-) Today has begun sunny, with a few fluffy clouds scattered across the sky. So far so good. Time to get the washing on, to hang outside. And this lovely spell is said to continue. So DH and I will spend some time in our garden. Last year, we did this a few weeks earlier but our long, cold winter made my poor plants shiver. And a couple even died. I think today will be the day to visit the garden centre, and to fill our small square outside with colour. There's nothing more uplifting than a garden in bloom, full of sunshin...