Fi Phillips

Progress on my novel is coming along nicely and by the summer, I should be starting back on the submitting to literary agents trail. Am I the only one who finds that process scary? According to Write It Sideways, while the process may be a tad terrifying, it's also good for you. Check out their article - 5 reasons querying is good for you to find out more. On a completely different note, writer Suzanna Williams asks, Real life doesn't make sense but does fiction have to?  Finally, I have a video from Piers Blofeld, who is a literary agent himself from Sheil Land Associates, on the 5 types of rejection (and what to make of them).

Easter has been and gone. The chocolate eggs have been chomped and digested. I've started a new diet. What else is going on at Fi Central? Working on my novel Now that I'm working full time hours, any non-paid writing is being put off until evenings or weekends (including these blog posts). For a long time, I felt blocked with my novel. I could blame my lack of writing on how busy I was with my new business , or school holidays, or just needing 'thinking space'. I won't call it writer's block because that always seems like an excuse. I prefer Steven Pressfield's term 'resistance'. And boy, was I resisting planting my bum on that seat to work on my novel. There was an element of self doubt involved but the more I drilled down into why Inner Fi didn't want to write, the more I realised that with money coming in from my new business, the motivations to be a novelist had changed. Having my novel out there is no longer about earning a ...

Yes, that's the same image that I used for March. April will be much the same as last month. Murdering The Text This month, I'm concentrating on finishing my twenty year anniversary murder mystery. It's still as yet untitled but already the characters are sharing their stories. I can tell the writing process is going well when I can picture the characters moving through the play on-stage. Once the script is finished, that isn't the end of it. I then have to put together character histories, motive sheets and a guidebook for the director. Copywriting I'm now firmly settled into this career path. I have one main client for now which is fine while I gain valuable experience. I do wonder why I didn't try this out before now. Apart from that, I'll be enjoying the spring weather and getting the family out and about over the Easter break. There'll be chocolate eggs and dog walking, not a bad combination. See you next month.

I put off posting until this time because in the UK, today is April Fool's Day where jokes can be played all morning, hence the multitude of fake articles on cities being taken over by coffee shop empires, film directors quitting and proof from the space station that UFOs really do exist. This month starts with the Easter break. My children are on school holiday so I'm keeping them amused (oh yes, and fed too) along with all the things I normally have to do each week. On top of this, I'm taking on the April Camp Nanowrimo . My target is to write 30,000 words of the first draft of my next novel before the end of the month, that's 1,000 words each day. Today, I met my quota (just over the thousand). Fingers crossed, I can maintain that pace throughout April. I'm therefore doing my best to avoid taking on any extra workload this month so that I can concentrate on my writing but of course, if anyone out there wants me to write them a murder mystery script I wou...

This month's photographic inspiration is a shot of Bodelwyddan Castle in Wales, not far from where I live. It's a building that has gone through many changes - from family home, to army barracks and hospital, to school, and now split between a museum and a hotel. The castle is very, well, castle-y, with it's turrets and battlements, but internally it is also very homely. I can imagine a family living there. It's supposed to be one of the most haunted places in Wales. What do you think? Happy place or scary haunting ground? Practical and down to earth or otherworldly? What does this image inspire you to write?

This week and next, I'm on holiday. Or rather my children are on holiday from school and I'm organising (although school holidays do release me from ironing school uniform and making packed lunches so I get a bit of a break too). For me, holidays have always been a time of family coming together. There are days out, days in, maybe travel to another country. The majority of my most memorable holidays have involved the beach - ice cream on the Yorkshire coast with my parents, my first taste of 'abroad' at a beach barbecue on Majorca, my one year old daughter's widening eyes as she dipped her toes in the sea in North Wales (her first holiday). The photograph above reminds me of a holiday to Canterbury with my family. My husband was working there and for a week, my children and I joined him. While he worked, we would spend time in the city, visiting the Cathedral, the museums, the ceramics cafe, and the park. When he was finished, we would drive out of Canterbu...