Writing Heat

Friday

It seems crazy writing a novel set in the North East of England in the middle of winter, while languishing under intense blue skies in the south of France in temperatures rising into the eighties. But somehow it’s possible and I’ve already got twelve thousand plus words! The writing is hot.

 In order not to overheat I’ve been writing in the cool belly of the house – the kitchen, inside the thick stone walls of what was once a bakery – and then coming up for air onto the terrace. Often there is a cool breeze here and we can now plug in laptops and kettles thanks to a carefully rigged extension the lead as long as a house.

 To remind me of winter weather I am using my weather diary which I kept from January to March – no more than a few lines a day just enough to keep my characters bathed in fog and ice – while I wander through the many markets of Agde.

 There are markets here on Sun, Wed, and Thurs selling everything from: fresh produce of every kind see lickedspoon  for mouth watering photos, to modern clothes, basket ware, jewellery, leather goods, soap, hats, shoes etc and then a brocante: (flea market) with lace, linen, cutlery, glass, ironware, vintage dresses, fabrics…..the French adore their markets.

My new novel is about a former prison governor, reluctant Private Investigator (he’s minding the shop for a friend) called Danny Beck – whose office is above an Indian restaurant at the back of the Quayside in Newcastle – it’s a thriller, a suspense novel so it needs to be fast moving – the pace has to be hot.

 I’ve been thinking about this novel for some time now, writing fragments and trying to uncover the characters and the story. This is something new for me. In the past I have tended to steam straight in and sometimes had trouble digging out the story. Perhaps being short of time (due to my work in the prison) compelled me to work in this way. Sometimes I think I was afraid that if I stopped to think I would never write again because there was so much else to do. Now it’s different and all this thinking, slow cooking and sun seems to be paying off. What’s more I’m beginning to feel at home…….