A Walk back in time - Sutton Hoo

I am approaching the end of the Prudence trilogy of books and as I have been looking for a little inspiration for the planning of the final battle I felt a walk was in order!  I decided to forego all my usual haunts in favour of Sutton Hoo, an ancient burial site close to the estuary town of Woodbridge in Suffolk.  History has long been a passion of mine and particularly ancient history.  I love coming to places like this where you can see little clues, ancient tidbits of a life long gone, but where real, solid evidence of that life has gone also.  It's perfect fuel for an active imagination!
Sutton Hoo is the only known ship burial in the country, and that in itself makes it a little bit special.  It is believed to be the last resting place of King Raedwald who died around 625 AD  the findings when the site was excavated have also been dated to this era.  The exhibition hall is well worth a visit, packed with information video's, photographs and replica's of the finds made during Basil Brown's original excavation.  (The actual finds are housed in the much more secure location of the British Museum in London.)  There is also a full size reconstruction of the burial chamber and the size of it gives some idea of the effort that must have gone into burying this king with his ship - whether it was King Raedwald or not he was clearly a man of great importance to his people.

However even if you are not a history buff, the walks around Sutton Hoo are lovely.  There are two main walks in the guide, both are said to be about a 50 min walk but I  kind of cobbled together both walks and it took me about an hour.  I was lucky with the weather; it was a clear bright morning, if a little chilly, but was perfect walking weather.

The first part of the walk takes in the site of the burial mounds, which I found particularly inspiring as I sat absorbing the atmosphere  and  taking myself back over a thousand years to Raedwalds time.
The walk then heads off into the surrounding countryside and most of it is through woodland.  Yep, more pictures of trees, sorry!

Couldn't resist taking a photo of this knobbly old fellow!  There was also plenty of wild life to spot including sheep, pigs, deer, squirrels and even a dragon - which kind of wound up the walk perfectly for me!

Once again I must apologise for the poor quality of the photo's.  I really need to sort out a new camera - my phone just isn't up to the task!  But, hopefully this has just given you a little taster of my walk and given you food for thought when planning your own inspirational walks!

have fun,

Kim

judging a book...............by its cover?

I am reaching the point with the third and final instalment of the Prudence series where I need to start thinking about a cover for the book.  Actually I've already thought about it and have pretty much decided exactly what I want.  The stage I am really at now is wishing I could improve my drawing skills to something a little beyond stick men.  Now, I know what you're all thinking, practice makes perfect and all that, but believe me I have tried and stick men are about as good as it gets.
I have been trying to tell myself that it is the content of the book that is important, but as we all know, the hard part is getting the reader as far as actually opening your masterpiece so that they will naturally go on to make this epic discovery.  So, is it the cover of the book that makes up our mind to delve inside?

Recently I found myself in the happy position of having some book tokens to spend so I thought back over what had actually made me make the choices that I did on that day. I've realised that, for me there are five things that can influence my choices.

1.  The author.

Okay, this may be a bit obvious, but if you have read a particular author before and enjoyed the work why not stick with something you know, especially if the book, or books have been particularly good.  Unfortunately, in my experience this hasn't always worked out particularly well.  What if your beloved favourite decides it's time to try something new? What if the series you have loved so far suddenly starts to veer off into a totally unexpected direction that sours the whole thing for you?  What if they kill off your favourite character?  This has happened to me in the past and so now I tend to look less and less at who the author is as a guide for my choices.  It may be a consideration, a passing "Ooh yes I've read her/him before", but it won't completely sway my decision.    

2. Recommendations

Again this can be dangerous territory.  I have a very good friend who, like me, likes to read, but we like completely different books.  She'll rave about a book she's read "It's about this woman who was abused as a child, left home when she was sixteen got into an abusive relationship with an older man........................"  Okay, I've already switched off.  I have no doubt that the story is an inspirational tale about overcoming horrendous hardships, but that's not what I want from a book.  When I sit down to read I do it as a way to escape.  I don't want to turn the pages just to be reminded of all that is awful with this world, I want to lose myself in something as far removed from reality as possible, whether it be a classic fantasy, a step back in time or a trip into space.  We all have to live real life I don't want to be bound by it when I'm reading.
So, if I am going to guided by any recommendations it will be from those that I know like to read the same thing as me - like my mum! Although some of her choices can be a bit bloodthirsty for my tastes.  I'm still not sure about the Deathstalker series!

3. The blurb

Obviously an integral part of the decision making is the book blurb.  This really is one of the main weapons the author has to hook the reader; they've actually picked the book up off the shelf, now you've got to persuade them not to put it down.  If you're a new author the reader is not going to know your name, nobody is going to recommend you; this is where you have to sell your work.  So it needs to be good.  One of the books I picked up on my aforementioned shopping trip was called 'Stranger of Tempest' by Tom Lloyd, not an author I have read before, but the blurb on the back of the book started like this:

"For a damsel in distress, she was rather more spattered with someone else's blood than Lynx had expected.  And naked.  Very naked............"

I didn't put the book back down!  Still haven't read it yet, but will let you know when I have and what I thought!

4. The title

Book shops; wonderful things!  You step into a cave full of shelves with row upon row of book spines facing you.  All you can see is the title and the author's name - what do you go for?  We've already established that the author's name is not always a safe option so the title needs to do the selling; the title needs to reach out and grab you.  The title needs to entice, intrigue. It needs to stand out, be a little unique - it needs to outsmart all the other spines you're looking at.  Easy, right???????

5.  The cover

Finally, we come to it;  do we judge a book by its cover?  Okay come on admit it, yes we do!  You've looked at the rows of spines, an author or title has enticed you to take one from the shelf, do you immediately turn to the blurb or look at the cover first?  You may not consciously do it, you may not say to yourself 'hmm that looks interesting wonder what the cover is like', but I bet 99% of the time you subconsciously glance at the cover before doing anything else.  And, of course, when you're shopping on line, scrolling through endless lists, the visual effect of the book definitely needs to be more striking, more eye-catching.  It doesn't have to be fussy; it doesn't have to tell the whole story in one image, again it just needs to entice.  

So, for me getting the cover right is important.  My name is not well known enough, I have not sold enough books to rely on recommendations therefore the title, the blurb and yes, the cover need to be right.  you never know one day people may say 'oh look, Kim Watts, her last one was really good!'
For now though I'm back to the drawing board!  Well, I'm off to find someone else to get back to the drawing board for me - Stick men just aren't going to cut it!

Happy reading everyone!

Kim

Inspirational walks 2: Knettishall Heath

Today is Sunday, and as I had no other plans I decided to have a full writing day starting with a little inspirational walk before breakfast!  So, armed with camera and some suitably inspiring tunes  I set off for Knettishall Heath.  Knettishall is a lovely little country park practically on my doorstep - well about twenty minutes away.  It is located just off the A1066 between Diss and Thetford in sunny Norfolk.  It's quite a popular little spot locally and I often come here with my grandchildren.  The kids love to swim or paddle in the river and there are some well marked out routes if you fancy a stroll through the woods or the heath.  There are picnic tables here and public toilets and, if you're lucky, an ice cream van!

It is a beautiful, peaceful and certainly for me, an inspiring place to walk.  I got there this morning at 7.45 and apart from a few dog walkers had the place to myself.

The heath is also home to a herd of wild ponies so if you're walking with a dog there are parts where they have to be kept on a lead.  Also at certain times of the year when there are birds nesting on the ground, again dogs should be on a lead but there are always plenty of information notices about so it's not difficult to follow the rules.

As you can see there are a combination of heathland and woodland walks here and as I believe I may have mentioned in previous posts, I love trees!  I have woodland pictures all over the house; I find them so relaxing somehow and today I got the chance to add a few more to the collection!

So if you're looking for a nice, quiet, inspirational walk to get the creative juices working; somewhere where nature can nurture your spirit, this is a perfect choice - especially at 7.45 on a Sunday morning!

Happy walking!

Kim

Plot points and Stepping stones

So how do you plan a story?  I have to admit that in the past I didn't really plan anything at all, I just got an idea and started writing.  This wasn't very practical of course and back then in the prehistoric times before computers it could be very time-consuming!  So, when I started taking my writing a little more seriously I knew I had to become a planner.

When the idea for Prudence first came into my head I thought about the story for a long time before ever putting pen to paper.  She sat outside the office of the headmistress of her school (where the books begin) for about two years waiting for me to continue her story.  I made a list of all the things I needed to know before I could move forward; who was Prudence? Why was she here? Where had she come from? Who were her friends, her family - if indeed she had any?  What were her likes, her dislikes, her hopes, her fears?  Once I had all of this worked out the basic plan of the story came quite easily and so did the ending.  I knew before I wrote anything else exactly how I wanted the story to end.
I then began to develop a few character bio's for those who would be joining Prudence on her journey, principally Maggie, Sam, Rupert, Miles and Alaia.  I also had to think about the 'bad guys', Gideon, Tristan and of course, Mareck.
With the beginning and the end of the story sorted and all the major players in place, plot points naturally began to form; things that I wanted to happen and things that needed to happen to not only propel the story forward, but also to develop Prudence's character from the person she was at the beginning of the story to the one she would be at the end.  Entwining her story into the Arthurian Legends was the final link in the chain, the element that brought the whole thing together.
So, armed with my beginning and the end, the plot points and character bio's it was then just a case of creating little stepping stones to thread it all together.  And, that's when I started writing.

I'm not going to say that I have stuck rigidly to the plan; the bane of a creative mind is that the creating doesn't tend to stop and new ideas - even now - are still popping into my head, but having the plan has helped so much with avoiding constant re-writes.  I'm actually quite proud of how it's gone so far.  Being the disorganised person I have always been, having the patience to sit and sort through the plot like this was really quite an achievement!

It is definitely a process I intend to use again.  Once you have found a successful formula it only makes sense to stick with it and this is definitely the way forward for me.  I have become a planner!

Keep writing, keep planning.

Kim

Walks of inspiration 1 : Southwold

Southwold

I have often spoken on here of how I find going for a walk a wonderful source of inspiration so I thought I would share a few of those walks. I am going to start with one of my favourite local places to visit, Southwold.  If you have never been to this lovely little town then it is definitely worth
putting on your list of 'places to see'.  It is situated on the Suffolk coast and for me it is only about an hours drive away from home.  I love it here!  It is a quintessentially English seaside town that has not lost it's charm to the brassy commercialism that has taken over so many other coastal towns.
The lighthouse, the beach huts and the pier are probably the most photographed and recognisable parts of the town and there are a range of lovely little shops, art galleries and places to eat.
However, if you are looking for a nice quiet walk to get the creative juices flowing then there are plenty around the town.  The beach, of course is a great place for this.  Who can not be inspired by the ocean?  Or, you can head out of the town, which is what I did on this particular walk, towards the harbour and enjoyed a walk along the river.

It was quite a grey day, but warm and, after all the rain we have been having lately it stayed dry, if a little damp under foot in places!  Also, because of the lovely typically English, wet summer that we have had some of the paths were a little over grown and I ended up with soggy trousers - although I was wearing the right foot wear so feet stayed dry!

The Clockhouse is my favourite place to end a walk in Southwold; it's a little coffee shop on the pier and this is where I like to sit, by the window with a coffee (and maybe a piece of cake!) and a notepad and bring together all the ideas that have popped into my head during my walk.  This is where I sat and mapped out the second volume of the Prudence trilogy and now I have done the same for the third volume.  I hope they never close this place down!

So if you are ever out this way pay a little visit to Southwold and let it work it's magic on you!

Keep inspired,

Kim

Let Music Be the Food of...........Creativity?

This is really just an update to the recent post about my writing corner.  I have, this morning made a vital addition to my writing area: Music.  I can't stress enough how important music is to my creative process; without it I'm not sure where the inspiration would come from.  If I'm feeling a bit low or I've come to a bit of a brick wall with the narrative I usually go for a nice long walk with my headphones and come back suitably inspired and ready to go again.
So what do I listen to?  Well that depends a lot on what I'm writing.  My writing playlist at the moment consists of a lot of classical music and movie soundtracks.  For the Prudence series which is of course a fantasy story this kind of music seems to inspire the right mood.  One of my favourites at the moment is Hans Zimmer's soundtrack to the movie 'King Arthur'.  There are some very stirring pieces on there and I have found them particularly inspiring when writing the battle scenes in the Prudence books.
With the ghost story, 'What It Takes', the music was a little more contemporary.  One particular track has come to represent the book for me more than any other; at one point in the story Sean Hanlon attempts to show his friend what inspired him to buy a broken down old house in the wilds of Cumbria when his life and work all centred around London.  Whilst I was writing this part of the book, with my o.s. map of the Lake District on the floor in front of me, a particular track came on that has now become synonymous with the book for me.  It was a song by Bob Seger called 'Roll me Away' and now every time I hear it I'm back with Sean and Brin hiking through Langdale!  If you've read the book listen to the track and you'll know what I mean!  Also on the same c.d. was a track called 'We've got tonight' which for me has definitely become Sean's and Karen's song.
 Even the title of this book came from a song;  Aerosmith's 'What it Takes'  There are a couple of lines in that song that go,

'Tell me what it takes to let you go
Tell me how the pain's supposed to go

And, that seemed to sum up the character of Tom Harper to a t.

With my second ghost story which is still a work in progress and as yet untitled I also already have a piece of music that brings me back to the story each time I hear it; 'The Longships' by Enya.  You'll have to wait until the book is finished though to see the connection there!

I could ramble on about this subject for ages, but it's Sunday, I'm not at work and I really should be getting back to Prudence!  Just in case you're wondering, as I write this I am listening to the soundtracks to the Lord of the Rings movies - if that doesn't take me back to Ealdhun I don't know what will!

So, let music drive you on,

happy writing,

Kim

The Mini Library

I have recently found myself with the distinct luxury of having a 'spare' room.  My son has flown the nest and so it is time to decide what to do with the space he left behind.  After much pondering (well actually not a lot of pondering at all really) I have decided to create my own little library.  Being a writer goes hand in hand with being an avid reader also and having a house with its own library has always been a little dream of mine.
Now as I have said before my house is not big so this is not going to be anything like the grand plan I would like it to be, but it's a start!  I have been scouring the internet for ideas for this room but I think basically I'm just going to fill it with books - oh and a sofa! Whereas the writing corner was to be light and airy and inspirational I want the reading room to be warm and cosy; somewhere to snuggle with a good book!  Here are a few of the images I've found of some very creative idea's of others..............

As you can see there are some ideas here that haven't been thwarted by size, odd shaped walls or even stairs, therefore my relatively square room should be a doddle! Obviously the main ingredient is going to be books, so at the top of all birthday and Christmas lists from now on is going  to be book tokens!  I'm already looking forward to many a happy hour scouring the book shops!  I'm really excited about getting started with this project - as you've probably gathered - although it is going to be something for later in the summer.  Updates will be provided!

Happy reading everyone!

Kim

The writing Corner

For those of you who read my blog regularly you will know that I am currently in the process of redecorating my house, not a huge project when you consider the size of the place (it's tiny!), but I bought the place from an old lady in her nineties and suffice to say the place was built in 1981 and there it has stayed ever since!  This last year I have been re vamping the downstairs and am pleased to report that the task is nearly finished and hopefully no longer a distraction for my writing.

I have been without a designated writing area for about six months now, which at the start I didn't think would really be a problem, I have a laptop so surely I could park myself anywhere and carry on writing?  This unfortunately has not proven to be the case and it is only now that I have my little writing corner back that I really appreciate how much I missed it!  I have read blogs from other writers speaking of the merits of creating your own writing space and now I fully understand what they mean, although different writers seem to like different things included in their 'space'.  So, here is what is essential for me..............

Firstly although I am not really an antique kind of person both the bureau and the clock belonged to my Grandad and are here out of sentimentality more than anything else.  I'm sure Grandad would be pleased to see them both still in use.  (I can still picture him sat here, sorting out his papers - he was much more methodical than me.)

Next, no window.  Others have said how inspiring the right view can be, but for me I think having my writing area by the window would be just too much of a distraction.  Instead I have two pictures (with more to go up) that are there for inspiration purposes.  The first is of my wonderful Grandchildren Darcie and Henry.  I started to write the Prudence books when I learned that my daughter was expecting my first grandchild, Darcie and she and her little brother now are still a constant source of inspiration.  The other picture is by local photographer, Ray Mears and is called 'Woodland Walk'.  I love pictures of trees and intend to get more to go up around the house.

Next to the clock is my scentsy, which for those of you who don't know is a device for melting scented wax without having to use a naked flame - much safer to have especially when you have cats in the house.  I am currently enjoying a 'by the sea' moment - very inspiring!  Flowers are another option to create the right aromatic mood, but again when you have cats, especially the clumsy pair that I have, flowers around electrical equipment is not a good combination!

And finally the one ingredient always needed to ensure a productive writing session - a cup of tea!

So that's it, I have my writing corner and this is where I intend to stay for the rest of the day.  Let me know if you feel there are any vital things that I have missed that you would have in your writing space.

Happy writing,

Kim

Mini Menopausal Meltdown!

I mentioned in my last post (Yes, I know this was back in January!) that 2015 had been something of a stressful time; setting myself the target of getting two books finished that year as well as having lots of other stuff going on in my life - the day job, the continued effort of trying to lick my house into shape on limited funds, and dealing with what my Gran would have called 'being at that 'funny' age'.  I think we give it the more affectionate term 'the menopause' these days.  Now I don't want to be all dark and dismal, but to be quite honest the menopause sucks!  Mood swings have been marvellous things, I've been going from being happy, buzzing with idea's and inspiration to 'what the heck am I bothering with all this for?' at the flick of a switch. I know that writing can do this to you anyway; writing highs and lows are part of the process, but throw a few raging hormones into the mix and, well, lets just say it's probably a good thing I live on my own! There are no two ways about it I have been a grumpy old mare at times!
I'm not about to now tell you all the wonderful things I've done to combat this stress because, to be quite honest I haven't.  I've done what most people do, carry on regardless, but since my last blog post in January I have hardly written a word.  In my head the third and final volume of the Prudence trilogy is formatted and finished, but every time I sit down to actually write anything I end up staring at my laptop for about half an hour and then going off to make a cup of tea and not going back!  It probably doesn't help that Prudence is in a bit of a dark place in her story as well.
My sleep pattern seems to be all over the place too, hence why I am sat here at ten to one in the morning writing this post when I know that tomorrow, at work at about three I'll be desperate for a little re-charge nap.
 Getting back into writing will be the perfect tonic for me, that much is obvious but that is the common sense side of me talking and the hormones can be very argumentative when it comes to common sense. Who needs common sense when your hormones are quite determined that now is the time for a little unnecessary meltdown?
There have been some positives, it's not all doom and gloom on the writing front, some little things  have happened to stop me from giving up completely on the whole writing process( and a little encouragement goes a long way).  Recently a friend told me how she had gone to see her granddaughter and had arrived to find her curled up and engrossed in my book.  Little things like that mean so much.  It may seem trivial, but to me this was a real little person who was enjoying spending some time with Prudence, - what more could any writer ask for?
So here I am, digging in and trying to swim against the tide of my hormones!  If anyone has any hints about surviving the menopause with your sanity intact please let me know.  I'll be the one sat in the corner staring at my laptop and talking to the cat..............


Kim

No resolutions for 2016

This time last year I wrote a post called reflections and resolutions about my plans for 2015.  I have just read it back to see how I held up to all my grand aspirations.  Mostly, I have to say, I didn't do too badly.  My main aim was to get the second volume of the Prudence books published and also to publish one of the ghost stories I had on the back burners from ages ago.  I succeeded in both of these although I did go for a different ghost story to the one I had originally intended.  (I must add though that on the 'eat less chocolate' thing I failed miserably!)

So if last years resolutions turned out okay, why the reticence on making any for this year?  To put things in perspective I think 2015 was the first year I have set my resolutions and actually stuck to them.  I usually find that whilst I am busy making bold ambitious plans to get fit, loose weight, publish my first book, Fate is usually standing right behind me, laughing and saying, "Yeh, that's what you think!"  You find yourself by the end of January back in your usual routine wondering how that happened whilst Fate just stands there chuckling
 It was challenging trying to get two books finished and published in one year and I don't think it is something that will happen again in a hurry.  Whilst I enjoyed the challenge (despite the stress, the moments of frustration and the many, many "Why am I bothering?" lows) 2016 is definitely going to be a more laid back year for me.  I am a bit of a selfish writer; I write primarily for me, because I enjoy it, and that's what I want to get back to.  It is all well and good setting yourself goals, but if those goals are just too unrealistic, no amount of optimism or self belief will combat the feeling of failure when all your ambitious plans crumble around you.  Yes, I know I'm sounding very depressing, but that's the way resolutions often work; it all sounds great at the time, but so many unexpected things can get in the way of your plans and frustration is not a good working partner.

So, 2016 I have no idea what you have in store for me, we'll just have to wait and see.  That is not to say I don't have my hopes and plans for the year, it is more that I'm not going to stress over what I should be doing rather than what I want to do.  Hmmm does that sound like a kind of resolution?  Oh dear!

 Good luck to everyone who has made resolutions for the year; I hope they work out for you whatever they may be.  And good luck to me in my efforts to be more chilled!

Kim