Fi Phillips

This month's writing exercise is intended to set your creative cogs whirring. You're at home on your own. It's dusk and you're settling down with a hot drink. As far as you're concerned you won't be going out and you certainly aren't expecting a visitor. There's a knock on your front door, a quiet, hesitant knock. You put down your drink and stand up. There's a second knock, this time heavy and insistent - knock, knock, knock, knock, knock. When you get to the door, you put the chain on and gingerly open it. There's nobody there but as you look down, you see a cardboard box has been left on your doorstep. You take off the chain, cautiously open the door and peer out. There's nobody around. You step outside and examine the box. It's sealed but there's no address, label or writing on it. What do you do? Do you open it on your doorstep? Do you carry it inside? Do you ignore it and  close the door? If you do open...

Last week, I had a wonderful excuse to escape the mountain of unpacked boxes still filling my new home, dress up and head into Chester. On Monday last, as part of the Chester Literature Festival  held at the Storyhouse , I met with Curtis Brown literary agent Lucy Morris to go over the opening chapter of my novel and the accompanying synopsis. The feedback on my chapter was brilliant but what proved to be the most helpful was the discussion of my synopsis.  I had always played a bit of a guessing game when it came to writing my synopsis, pulling from the information offered by literary agent websites and online writing advice. Talking to Lucy cleared all of that up for me.  The definition of a synopsis that I grew up with was a break down of a novel's chapters. I knew that this wasn't the case anymore and that an overview of the storyline was preferable but that was as far as my idea of a synopsis went. Lucy began by asking me to tell her what ...

It's finally here - the day my family has been waiting for. It's felt like the whole process has moved at a snail's pace but we got there in the end. We're moving! When I next post on this blog, it will be from our new house (well, new to us). There'll be a lot to sort out - boxes to unpack, change of address notifications to send out, finding a place for everything - along with continuing to run our normal life too. So, although you will hear from me this month, most of it will be taken up with settling into our new home. Wish me luck.