Gardening leave

After months of thinking of nothing but my new novel, I'm having a break. Three writer friends are reading it, and while I wait for their feedback I'm gardening. Just like Sally Howe, I have a passion for sweet peas, and my windowsills are crammed with yoghurt cartons full of compost and sweet pea seeds (just coming up) and I've been trying to dig 4 tons of manure into the garden. (Yes, it may well be the wrong time of year for it, but this is the time I have.)

The other treat is that I can read fiction again. If I read novels when I'm writing it messes up my work. I worry about someone else's style infecting mine, but also, I can only inhabit one fictional world at a time successfully, and if I'm writing, then mine is the one I want to inhabit. I've finally started reading the latest Anne Tyler novel Digging to America, which a friend gave me for Christmas.

Sally Howe is also waiting for feedback ( from her agent) on her latest draft of Fast Work. Check out her blog to see how she's filling her time...

Tinkering

Oh, I have to stop tinkering with ZuZu's Petals! I have been editing the new book and rewriting bits and I now have three writer friends lined up to read draft 4 (haven't I been busy?) I am hoping they will think it's good just as it is, but if not, I'm hoping they'll have some suggestions as to what I can do with the chapter that I don't think is good enough - the one that's causing me to get my pyjamas in a twist as I lie awake and try to figure it out.

Sally Howe has just posted the latest draft of her book to the agent she's got interested, so let's hope she'll be making us laugh a bit more on her blog...