What I'm Doing This Month - November

November is here, harbinger of winter and bringer of light in the form of Bonfire Night (a very British celebration). The darkness arrives noticeably earlier each afternoon and the central heating is on. I've taken to snuggling up in my shawl when I write, hot drink to hand.

After the house move in September, visiting Chester Festival and planning Hallowe'en costumes for my children in October, November feels like an altogether more quiet month.

On a personal note, I'm about to start learning Italian (enough to pass as a tourist at least) for a birthday trip/delayed honeymoon to Venice in the new year. I'll let you know how both of those go.

I'm also suffering from a shoulder injury which means I can only spend short amounts of time at a keyboard without my shoulder and arm clamping up. Bedtimes are a series of contortionist feats to sleep without pain. As the doctor said when I went to see her about this, "Perhaps ice skating at your age wasn't such a good idea". We'll see.

My Novel

Following my meeting with Carrie Kania at the Chester Festival last month, I'm making the final edit on my novel. My cover letter is written (thanks to Carrie's advice) and I have a list of agents ready. It's going well and the intention is to have it finished mid month so I can begin to send it off before the end of November.

Fresh Blood

In between everything else that happened in October, I managed to draw up a plan for my next murder mystery play. I'm not saying too much about it at the moment but once my novel has been sent off, I'll start penning the new play.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to take a break from the keyboard to rest my shoulder. Time for a hot drink and some lunch. Ow. Grumble. Ooch. Sigh.