Life Update 2020
It’s been a long time (again), but a lot has happened. Some good, some bad.
Bad: I got The Virus. Well, I think I did: after feeling a weird rattle in my chest for a couple days, I suddenly found it hard to breathe. Then I got cold and was shivering. And then, my arms started aching. The breathing issues continued for several days, and at one point it got really uncomfortable, and due to all the bad news surrounding Covid, I ended up imagining all the worst-case scenarios, of me fighting with a respirator on a war-torn ward in Lewisham Hospital, writing down all my social media passwords and locations of all my novel drafts for my husband to continue my writing legacy after I’m gone.
But I’m feeling better now.
Secondly, the agent from this blog dashed my hopes in the end, and said the story wasn’t for her. She mentioned something about marketing yadda yadda, and after a few days of feeling very bitter (I mean, Tom Watson, former Labour politician and not a writer, was given a book deal and an agent a couple days after my DOMINO got rejected. It was hard for me to see this game as a fair, talent-only playing field). But after a little mope and a strop, I divested from my work of two years and started writing other things. This newfound productivity helped me migrate over to Good News Town.
Good news?
I joined a writing club. I am absolutely sure, after speaking to three different agents about this story (during informal 1:1 sessions), that DOMINO is a good idea. It’s a unique story, and it is something that no one is writing about or talking about right now. The recent buzz over Noughts + Crosses confirmed for me that there is an audience for DOMINO. But there is something I’m doing wrong. Something about the narrative, the conclusion, or the plot isn’t making agents say “this makes sense” or “this is a tight, well-rounded plot”. And I can no longer rely on beta readers or people that I’m friends with to provide fresh feedback on it. So, after speaking to an agent recently, I decided to join the [redacted]. For £10 a month, I can attend events, meet agents during advice evenings, and get group feedback. The club is run by two agents with a lot of industry experience. The [redacted] also runs a novel masterclass, at the end of which we get to pitch to an agent from the Blair Partnership. I hope that by the end of these four months, my novel will be the best its ever been, and I can finally say “yes someone has offered me representation.”
Other good news…I started writing two other projects. They make me excited, because I can envision being published and announcing them to my little 400 followers (valued, treasured mutuals) on Twitter (lol).
THE SCARLET SOCIETY is a novella that I will be uploading here on the site. I’m just editing it and getting some feedback at the moment.
DOWNEY (working title) is the first of an urban fantasy series based on the Gerald of this story [link now removed, sorry!], and his accomplice. Yup, it’s time for a Black London fantasy story! I don’t know when I’ll finish this one, but I won’t put it on here. I would like to release it when I’m published and agented because I think it deserves a wider audience.
I also need to give this site a makeover… expect things to change around here. I’m hoping that from April, I can pull myself together and start doing weekly updates here. I have a lot to say, but sometimes my motivation is low. Sorry about that.
Here’s to a better 2020? We’ve not yet reached post-apocalyptic mayhem, right? Might be time to re-read THE STAND and get some survival inspiration. For what its worth, I’ve changed by twitter handle to RANDALL FLAGG.