Monday 1 February 2010

An Epiphany

Crumbs, is it really February? Although, to be honest, writerly wise I’m glad to see the back of January! What with the MS coming back, and then three rejections in quick succession from The Weekly News – not a good month, I can tell you.


Kronburg Castle

It was a great month otherwise though. Me and the other half trundled off to Copenhagen for a few days. Freezing and expensive, but totally worth it! We lived on Pringles because everything was so dear - £6 for a cuppa, £10 for a glass of wine, £22 for a breakfast and £30+ for a meal! Still we ordered ‘one’ breakfast to our room and shared it – there was enough food for two, and we even had enough to pack a roll for lunch each! Tight-wads or what? HA!

Copenhagen was magical – as I knew it would be. What with the influence of H.C. Anderson and Shakespeare all around us. I came back half wondering whether to write children’s stories. Or perhaps a modern day Hamlet! HA! Perhaps not! But I did have an epiphany!

The thing is, I’ve spent the last eighteen months wondering which genre to write in – I feel like I’m being pulled in several directions – I’m doing all the pulling of course. But then it came to me, I really want to concentrate fully on Women’s Commercial Fiction – Chick Lit to be more precise! And I’m so loving it; it’s so much fun to write – I have a gormless smile on my face all the time I’m clicking away on the keyboard – It’s great!

So my second novel is now 16,000 ‘happy’ words in – and I will return to Novel 1 shortly and ‘chick-litty-fy’ it!

Of course, I’ll still write my short stories for Womags - as I absolutely love that too! And I’m not saying I will never write any other genre again. But for now, CHICK-LIT is the plan. So we’ll see how that goes, shall we?

22 comments:

Becky said...

This is good news Amanda.
I can really identify with that experience of an epiphany and the feelings that go along with it. They happen only a few times in life don't they . I can recall major ones in my life, each of which have been the end result of some jouney I have had to work through.
I strongly believe all things happen for a reason :-)

Old Kitty said...

Hi

What a fantastic ephiphany! Maybe I ought to trundle off to Copenhagen for my own personal light bulb - but with lots of pringles and discreet flasks of beverages (£10 for a glass of wine?!).

Good for you for enjoying what you're writing now - and 16,000 words in a few days - brilliant!

Chik-lit-fy away!!

Take care

x

HelenMWalters said...

Sounds like a good plan to me.

Carol said...

I do think it's important to find out what style works for you!! I'm still trying to find my Art style...I'm quite happy with my pen and ink black and white stuff but people I meet keep telling me I should use colour, have I considered doing something using charcoal...etc so I'm having a play about. I'm so glad you've found your calling though....bet you find the words just flow out now :-)

I've always quite fancied Copenhagen but with £10 for a glass of wine perhaps I'll pass!!

C x

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

I love reading and writing chicklit. Always cheers me up too.

DAB said...

£10 squid for a glass of wine! Blinkin' eck, bet you didn't spill a drop of it? Chicklit sounds good m'dear, it's all about word flow methinks. So keep tapping and firing out those words of yours. You’ll strike lucky, I can feel it in my waters ;-)

Paula RC said...

Glad to see you're back again even though you are broke...lol

I feel the same now I know what I want to write, which is half the battle.

Good Luck with February hope it brings you something positive in the next post.

Kath McGurl said...

Yay - chicklit and womag rule OK!

Glad you feel you know your direction now. It's good to try different genres but eventually you need to work out what you;re good at and what you enjoy.

Carol said...

There is an award over at mine for you :-)

C x

Amanda said...

Thanks all so much - it's great to have such super blogging friends xx

p.s. and thanks for the award, Carol!

Colette McCormick said...

Congrats on finding your voice and good luck with everything that you write.

Flowerpot said...

Can't believe that Copenhagen was so expensive but it sounds a magical place. Glad you've made your decision about which genre - go for it!

Amanda said...

Thanks Colette :-)

Yes, it was really dear, FP - but it was so worth visiting - I loved it! :-)

DJ Kirkby said...

You're sounding really positive which is nice as I know Jan wasn't nice to you. I love the word epiphany :)

The Accidental Author said...

I think it's really important to write in a style that makes you happy. I've just spent the past few months being pushed in a direction that just wasn't me. As an accidental author anyway I didn't have the confidence before to stick to my guns but having produced what was, to my mind, a bunch of utter crap I felt I had to say something before it all went horribly wrong. Fortunately she agreed. I love the idea of writing Chick Lit, it seems so much fun! Good luck!

Suzanne Ross Jones said...

Copenhagen sounds lovely.

And yay for your epiphany. I love chick-lit.

XX

Amanda said...

I do feel quite positive now, thanks DJ :-)

Thanks PVLIF - so glad you got your writing all sorted with your agent!

It was super, Suzanne - and thank you x

Cheryl said...

Glad you are feeling more positive about things. I am trying some new genres but think I need to start my course before I start exploring as I am causing myself more work. Just need to get the internet sorted grrrrr.

Jan said...

Never been to Copenhagen....but imagine it's ( particularly) wonderful in Winter.
Setting for some writing?

Amanda said...

Thanks Lily - It's exciting experimenting with genres - and can be rewarding!! :-)

It is wonderful Jan - and, yes, a perfect setting for writing!


XX

Karen said...

Copenhagen sounds fab - if expensive - I'd love to visit one day.

Long live chick lit! So nice to feel certain about what you want to write - it took me a while to get there :o))

Amanda said...

Yes, it was lovely, Karen!

And yes, it's great to know what I want to write! :-))