Come On Spring!
I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a bit of sunshine, this winter has been so long, and the last summer, what a wash-out! But as I sit here writing I can see snowdrops and daffodils trying their best to fight off the snow and blackbirds are fighting for their territories in my garden, so surely spring must be around the corner.
I love spring, trouble is I can't settle down to write, I get itchy feet and have to wander into the garden and look at the plants that are fghting their way through the cold earth. Or I go for a walk just like my Alice in FOR THE SAKE OF HER FAMILY up the fell and just sit and look around me. A little bit of sunshine would make all the difference.
This month I've been hard at it, putting words together for my third novel, which I hope is to be called FOR A FATHER'S PRIDE. I sit and get so involved in the character's lives; in fact they take me over sometimes. I found myself crying the other night over a certain scene when a young lad said goodbye to someone he loved. My husband Ronnie, despairs with me and often asks me whaen I'm talking about something "Is this the real world or Diane Allen's world?" When I say "Agnes is going to Settle today". He must think he's living with a complete mad woman. Still it's all good fun and I hope my characters have a heart and personality, which I hope readers enjoy.
Somebody asked me at a recent talk do you plot the stories? To which I answered I didn't. I start with a main character and an inkling of an idea and waht is going to happen to her and then waht ever follows depends on how the story develops. It can be a little scary at times especially when when you think of the pagination that is required from you by your publisher and you are trying to reach it.
I also write with a Yorkshire dialect running through my head and then amend to what I know people out of the area will understand. I'd love to write in my native dialect but it wouldn't be commercial enough for mass market sales.
I'm looking forward to seeing the cover artwork for FOR A MOTHER'S SINS which Pan Macmillan are to publish in November. It always brings my heroine to life and I find myself tenderly caressing the cover with a tear in my eye. It's a strange feeling to see the woman that you know so well come to life in a picture and your name to be above it.
I do hope that you will enjoy my next book, Molly Mason; the main character is quite a lass! The story is set around the building of the Settle to Carlisle railway, it had to be because my family are so inter-linked with the line.
Anyway must get back to my writing, here's to the coming of spring and lets hope for a lovely warm summer.
Love
