What if?

It’s one month since my last blog (sounds like the opening to a Catholic confession). But I’ve been busy between my two lives. Packing up to leave Italy for the winter, like some migratory bird (albeit weighed down with more than feathers) and settling in for the winter months in England. It seemed appropriate that we left Tuscany with the landscape half concealed in mist.

Between catching up with our family and nesting, I have had my head down with edits for my new book due out in February 2020. I know I have been bleating on about this and telling you I find edits hard but recently I have had a lightbulb moment. As is so often the way, simple is best and what helps, is the simple revelation that “what if” is  liberating and… fun. Why didn’t I realise this before?
I’m not talking about the “what if” in regret. What if I had done this or that? The negative, looking back kind of thinking. I mean the “what ifs” that can stir up my imagination.
So, when my lovely editor at Bookouture now suggests tweaks here and there, or to deepen the mystery, I’ve stopped those panic moments of despair that everything I have written so far has to be unravelled. Instead, I’ve had a great time thinking outside my original box of ideas.
Albert Einstein famously said:

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”

Deepak Chopra’s statement is a great help too:

“The best use of imagination is creativity. The worst use of imagination is anxiety.”

I feel the mist has lifted.

Changes…

I’m gardening and editing at the moment and the two processes are very similar. I received my second round of structural edits two days ago and as I move plants around, dig others out and stand back to gain perspective, it mirrors the thoughts mulling in my mind about my WIP.

There’s a lot of digging involved in my Tuscan garden. I have to remove nine very leggy lavender plants and I’ve come to the conclusion I shall need help. A shoulder operation a couple of years ago limits what I can do.
I am having help with my writing too. I am truly blessed to be working with my editor at Bookouture and she is very encouraging. When I read her opening words about what I had done so far, I was very happy: “Wow wow wow. I can’t stress enough how much I love the changes you’ve made at the last edit.”
But she is very honest too and there is more work to be done in the next couple of weeks, both in terms of packing up our Tuscan home and re-writing certain sections of my Tuscan novel. My editor’s words again: “Thinking in terms of dramatic thread, …[sic] what do these chapters add to the story – how do they progress the narrative?”
It is great to have this help. Having written over 100,000 words, it is hard to stand back and properly see. It is still my book, but an objective point of view from somebody who is in the business of selling books is wonderful. I would be a fool not to listen.

Two days ago, we also returned from the annual break we take once all our bookings for il Mulino are finished. We went south to Puglia. I hadn’t realised how tired I was, but a change is as good as a rest, they say. Before I went away – and even on the long drive south – I was typing words in my brain. But a break was needed and, after eight days, I’m ready to go again. When I am so immersed in my writing, I tend to neglect dear ones. I am sorry for that. A balance is necessary.

Just over the border into Basilicata, we visited the higgledy-piggledy town of Matera where people lived in caves (sassi) until the 1970s. Carlo Levi, a writer, painter and physician, wrote about their plight in Christ stopped at Eboli. Because of his anti-fascist activism, he was exiled to live in a remote area of Basilicata in 1935-36.

It occurred to me that I had to read this book over forty years ago when I was at university, but I couldn’t remember much about it. My copy is still in my bookcase in England, with my maiden name written inside. I shall now read it again, but with interest this time, rather than because it was on my reading list. Youth is wasted on the young is a phrase easily bandied, but I do think I would get more out of studying for my degree now. But what-ifs are pointless. I am enjoying life now. Some writing friends wish they had started writing earlier in their lives, but I think I had to gather lots of experiences and adventures before I was ready to embark on my books.

The trip has inspired another book and I can’t wait to get started on it. I am so in love with Italy and cannot help but be inspired. It has its problems, but… so do we in Britain at present. I am not looking forward to returning to the divisive atmosphere that Brexit has stirred up.

Here are some photos of Puglia and Basilicata. Let the pictures tell the story.

 

Now, back to those structural edits.

Ciao for now.

Allegories and edits…

Yesterday I went for a long walk despite needing to be finishing structural edits.
Discombobulated I was (love that word), and I needed an untangling session.

I’d believed I was nearly there with straightening out and layering my next Tuscan book. On track to send it a day before we leave for our little holiday in Puglia. But my lovely editor at #Bookouture sent me an e mail out of the blue. She was apologetic about the timing, but had come up with some fresh ideas. The rug pulled from under my feet, all at sea, up in the air, bothered and bewildered, headless chicken, raised blood pressure, panic… yes, all those things… all clichés, I know… but I felt them all.
The thing is, I was self-published before. Now, I have somebody guiding me and it’s all new. ‘It’s MY book,’ I wanted to scream. What are you doing to me?’
‘Be quiet, woman,’ I argued back. ‘Look how you’ve been helped with The Tuscan Secret Did you manage to sell over 21,000 copies in its original version?’

So, abandoning my scatterings of notes and pages, I went for a favourite walk. It usually helps. The climb up the mountain is steep; a narrow, stony mule track through woods.

The verges were studded with tiny cyclamens, like little promises. Lizards scuttled back under leaves as I approached. Four deer ran across the path above me and disappeared (much like the four chapters I had already culled). Was this a message?
My destination was the tiny village of Tramarecchia, the home of my main character, Massimo. It’s one of the many uninhabited hamlets dotted around this corner of Tuscany. There are signs that the owners still visit from time to time: a pruned fig tree, the chains for a child’s swing, rosemary and sage growing by a front door, half the grapes harvested from a vine. I sat by the washing troughs in the middle of the grassy square and asked my characters what I should do.

They weren’t really there, I know. They have stepped into my book. I had created them from imagination and borrowed stories. But they are very much in my head and I did talk to them. I began to calm down, sitting there in the quiet. Usually I pull out a notebook and jot down ideas. But I listened. If I had invented them in the first place, I could tweak what happened to them. Sitting there quietly helped me gain perspective.
I know my editor wants the book to do well. And I shall do my very best to be objective while I complete the next days’ edits. But that does not mean I shall change everything.
On the way home, I felt less coiled up inside. My shadow, as the afternoon sun lengthened the shadows, walked tall in front of me, leading the way back to my edits. I stepped over wolf prints in the mud, but the danger was past.

I would love to know how others cope with this process? Do let me know.

Don’t you just love coincidence?

And here is the new blog from another lady who attended #WriteAwayinTuscany. I’mlooking forward to reading her debut novel when it comes out in Spring.

Susie Sharp Scribbles

Or would you call it serendipity? Fortuity? Whichever term you prefer, I’m grateful for it. And here’s why …

Yesterday, a friend posted on Facebook. She recommended a blog on tips for using social media; exactly what I need right now. The article reinforced my belief that social media is the best way to build a productive network. Happily, I’ve ticked two of the boxes already. I just need to work on a Twitter account. Here’s the link … I recommend a read.

Today, I met a lovely lady. She’s the same age as the heroine in my next novel but, best of all, she’s a gardener. Exactly the job I’d envisaged said heroine doing! How’s that for chance? Fortunately, the lovely lady is holidaying near-by, so I will be able to pick-up a font of information. And, yes, I bet we end up as friends on Facebook!

View original post 41 more words

Writing In Tuscany

Lovely words from one of the participants in #WriteAwayin Tuscany that came to an end yesterday.

Rosemary Noble - author page

What a great week – I kept thinking of the quote from She Stoops to Conquer, which I appeared in twenty years ago now (a college production, I hasten to add). – “I love everything that is old; old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines.” So I love everything about a Tuscan writing week – new friends, simple, delicious food, free-flowing wine, great conversation, fabulous hosts, amazing venue and – time to write.

We sat underneath this bower of trumpet flowers each morning, staring up at clumps of ripening grapes, pen and paper at the ready for whatever exercise we were set, breaking for a lunch of fresh salads, different hams and sharp sheep cheese with vino of course. Then came time for our own writing or contemplation. I loved listening to the thin stream of water gurgling over the mountain strewn parchment of stones. One morning…

View original post 241 more words

Old friends…

I have quite a few friends who are older than me here in Tuscany.
Yesterday I dropped in on my ninety-nine-year-old gentleman friend. He was sitting on his bench in the shade. At his feet were a couple of dogs and a kitten rested nearby. It was very hot, and the flies were pestering him, and I helped bat them away.

He started to tell me of the time when he was a prisoner in Libya during the war. How sweltering it was during the night; how little water he had to drink. Sometimes he remembers a word or two of English, because he was in Nottingham for more than six years, working on a farm as a prisoner-of-war, and I take him shortbread biscuits to nibble on. He also remembers rice pudding with fondness… His son turned up at lunch time, having spent the morning searching for mushrooms and I said my goodbyes. Each time, I wonder when the last will be, but at least his stories will live on in my next book.

I love that Simon and Garfunkel song, “Bookends”. When it came out in the 60s, I was a teenager and I can remember agreeing with the line,” how terribly strange to be seventy”. But that age is not too far away for me now and my precious, elderly friends are in their nineties.
I cherish them and their words. Bruno says he feels fine inside, but it’s his body that lets him down. I could spend hours listening to my old friends. They know I like writing and they are pleased to share their experiences. Bruno is appearing in my next Tuscan book, disguised with another name and with slightly different adventures. (It is with my Bookouture editor at the moment.) Watch this space, as they say.

Ida (in her eighties) was making pasta by hand when I dropped in on her two days ago.

She used to live in the mill that we let out to guests; she has shared many details with me and they made their way into The Tuscan Secret. As a little girl she also travelled down to the Tuscan coast with her parents on the annual transumanza, to take sheep and cows to better pastures over the winter months. That is a way of life that has disappeared and, thankfully, our local tourist office is recording memories of our elderly folk before they are forgotten. We tend to romanticise the past, but most of them would not wish the hardships they endured on this generation. See Now and Then in Tuscany for more details.

One thing that the elderly do miss nowadays is the conviviality that used to exist in the community.  Neighbours sat with each other in the evenings, chatting, mending, sharing tips and advice. Now, the television blares forth and people don’t venture into each other’s houses so much. The veglia has all but disappeared.
At lunch today, Maurice and I shared a feast with another elderly friend in the old house where she was born.

[Evalina is on the right]

 

In the past, Evalina always catered, but she’s ninety-three now and frailer. So, we took along the food and wine instead, introducing a couple of dishes from Britain – including lemon drizzle cake. Afterwards, we sat in the shade of her plum trees that buzzed with insects, and she talked of the past. I lap it all up like a kitten with a huge saucer of cream.

They are all tiny of stature and I am tall even by English standards. “What’s the weather like up there?” they joke, and they call me “skyscraper”. I take it as a form of affection. I am certainly fond of them.
I won’t quote the Bookends song in full that I love, because I’m not sure about copyright, but look up the words some time, about the old friends, the winter companions… waiting for the sunset…
And, bless our elderly!

Dear diary…

July is nearly at an end and it’s been a bit of a baking, writerly whirlwind for me. Apologies in advance if this blog is all a bit me, me, me. Writing it is a little like recording in a journal. I’ll forget otherwise. Dear Diary…
I made a madcap weekend return to England from Tuscany, where I live in the summer, to attend the 2019 RNA Conference in Lancaster. The journey was quite stressful, and I’ve decided not to repeat such a “blink-of-the eye” visit next year. I will tag days on at either end to see family and friends.
But it was worth it. Although I arrived too late on the Friday to catch any talks, I finally met up with lovely Jessie Cahalin of Books in my Handbag .If only there’d been more time to talk… Jessie is now on the excellent New Writers’ Scheme and I wish her all the success in the world. She is so supportive of other authors; it is time to concentrate more on herself.

Jessie Cahalin – one of my heroines

 

I also met my fantastic editor from Bookouture for the first time and although Ellen Gleeson is young enough to be my daughter, it still made me feel grown-up. I still pinch myself at how my writing adventure is panning out and still can’t quite believe I have a publishing deal. As an author I spend so many hours hunched over my laptop or notebook, in the company of my characters and make-believe, so that to venture into real publishing world, to meet other authors and industry professionals, is a little scary. But, it’s very self-affirming.

I had just arrived from a plane and train journey from Italy when this was taken and gasping for a cuppa. Wine would come later. True Brit…

Forgive this selfie with amazing Katie Fforde and Jo Thomas (they didn’t seem to mind – what  sweethearts!)

I love the RNA. The title, Romantic Novelists Association, initially conjured for me an image of fluffy pink slippers and heaving bosoms, but there is far more to this organisation of clever, friendly authors than that. I could have dipped into all the sessions, but there is a limit. The weekend is full-on and tiring. These are some of the invaluable talks I attended:
• Keep that Sexy Momentum Going (hilarious and informative 😉 at 9 a.m.).
• Jo Bakers’ fascinating talk about her books: The Art of Revisiting the Past.
• Courageous Sarah Painter on: The Worried Writer (how many of us can identify with this feeling?)
• Four friendly authors chatted about their genre that blends romance with suspense. Thanks to Sue Fortin, Henriette Gyland, The Fake Date and Evonne Wareham on your talk about dangerous romance.
• On Sunday, I learned about word processing alternatives with Lynne Connolly.
• Cathy Bramley talked us through Brand building for Authors; how to put over the personality of our business.
• Hardworking author Kim Nash,  and chief publicity officer for Bookouture, introduced us to blog tours.
• And, finally, I joined in with a timely discussion, (in light of my WIP), on truth and sensitivity in romantic novels. The Courage to Write, led by Laura E James (about knotty issues). Do we have the right?
These were only some of the talks, showing the variety of genre and the inclusivity under the RNA umbrella.

Between sessions, it was so good to chat to other friendly authors, I love the writing community. (The food and wine were great too and my room didn’t smell of students. Sorry, students! I was once one.) With fellow CHINDI authors at the Saturday Gala dinner, Carol Thomas and Jane Cable

Other news from July:
• The Tuscan Secret rose up the charts and I was delighted to be awarded with an orange bestselling ticket on USA Amazon.
• Now and Then in Tuscany  and Mavis and Dot, my two self-published books are selling better than ever, and this must only be a spin-off from Bookouture’s publicity for The Tuscan Secret. Thank you kindly.

 

• My next Tuscan novel is about to leave the house for edits. So, more hard work around the corner.
I’m not always stuck behind a screen, but a lot of my time-out is spent on research. Here is a snapshot of some of the people and places I’ve visited recently for my next book, which is due to be published by Bookouture early 2020. (Title still to be decided).

 

Ciao for now from Tuscany.
A presto!

The long and the short of it…

It’s been a special week for me, seeing my revised Tuscan novel, The Tuscan Secret released by Bookouture and I’m so grateful for all the support I’ve received.But, I don’t like blowing my own trumpet, so let’s meet and congratulate the lovely Wendy Clarke today. She is one of my writing heroines: she’s had over three hundred stories published in women’s magazines, which is amazing. (I am happy so far with my baker’s dozen). I always enjoy her stories. They are easy to read and there is often a lesson to learn.
But she has branched into novel writing and has also been taken on my Bookouture. I chatted to her recently, curious to know how she approaches writing for these different genres. Her new novel, What She Saw is doing really well and I really enjoyed this psychological thriller of a page turner.

1. I know you are a very successful short story writer., Wendy. How differently did you approach writing your debut novel?

Very differently! When I write my short stories, I start with just a seed of an idea that germinates and grows as I write it. I absolutely never plan. Sometimes I’ll have the beginning, sometimes the ending and sometimes just a character or setting I know I’m drawn to. When I started writing my novel, it was a very different process. I started out with the attitude that I didn’t need to plan – after all, it had worked for the short stories. But I found I kept losing track of the storyline and wandering off down unexpected avenues and finding some of them were dead ends. Eventually, I found a mind mapping App on my iPad called Total Recall and it saved me. When I wrote my second novel, it was part of a two-book deal and I had to write a synopsis for my publisher. A synopsis! Not a word a panster likes to hear! I’m not quite sure how I managed it, but, with the help of my mind mapping App, I did, and it really helped me when it came to actually writing the whole thing.
2. What did you find easy and what did you find hard in writing a novel?
As I mentioned in the last answer, planning is the hardest part for me, followed by the blank first page before you start and the inevitable soggy bottom. Once the novel is written the structural edits can prove to be a challenge too! The easiest part is the last third… I whiz through that!

3. Can you tell us what inspired What She Saw ?
What She Saw was inspired by my love of the Lake District. With it’s beautiful, dramatic and ever-changing landscape, is the perfect scenery for building suspense. The fictitious village my protagonist Leona’s family live in, is based on Chapel Stile and their miner’s cottage is the one my husband and I have stayed in many times during our wonderful holidays there.
4.  Can you tell us a little bit about the process of being published by Bookouture? I know what this is like – they are fantastic – but it will be interesting to many authors.
As with all publishers, the process once your book had been accepted is a long one. First, you will work with your editor to make the novel as good as it can be – the pace, the emotion, the plot. These are the ‘structural edits’. Next come the line edits where your editor will look at your work more closely. After they’re happy, the novel will go to an independent editor for copy editing and proofreading. Four layers of editing in all! The final stage is the checking of the eBook and paperback proofs. Alongside this, your editor will be working with a designer to create a great cover! The whole process takes several months but is crucial.
5. Are you still submitting short stories to women’s magazines? If so, is it hard to switch from short story to novel writing?
When I wrote my first novel, it was without an agent or a publisher, so I had the luxury of being able to take as long as I wanted to write it. This meant that I was able to continue to write short fiction for magazines at the same time. I managed this but did find it hard to switch between the two story lengths and whichever one I was working on, I felt guilty for not working on the other. With my second novel, I was writing under contract and had to submit my novel within a stated time. Sadly, this meant taking the decision to stop writing the magazine stories in order to concentrate on my current project.
6. What do you like to read in your free time?
My one regret with writing novels is that I don’t read nearly as much as I used to. When I do, I like reading in my genre of psychological thrillers, although one of my favourite novels is The Promise by Ann Weisgarber. I rarely read fantasy or romantic comedy.
7. Where do you write? What time of day? Pen and notebook or laptop?
I write mostly in my conservatory in the summer and my living room in the winter. I have a writing room upstairs which I have never written in – partly because my dog isn’t allowed upstairs and I feel guilty leaving her! I write whenever I can fit it in. Morning or afternoon but never the evening. That’s my down time. All my writing goes straight onto the computer. I can’t even begin to imagine writing in longhand (besides, I’d never be able to read my writing).

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions, Wendy. I know you’re busy with a new two-book contract and your second novel We Were Sisters is on pre-order and coming out soon. Good luck with it all!

Meet Wendy

You can find out more on her website

On her Author Facebook Page

On Twitter

And see her delightful photos on Instagram

ANGELA PETCH – THE TUSCAN SECRET @Angela_Petch @bookouture #BooksOnTour #BlogTour #Review #NetGalley #TheTuscanSecret

Today is #publication day for “The Tuscan Secret”, a revised version of “Tuscan Roots”. I came across this review just now and it really has sprinkled stardust on me. Thank you so much.

Stardust Book Reviews

#BooksOnTour #BlogTour #Review #NetGalley #TheTuscanSecret

Release Date: 26th June 2019 / Publisher: Bookouture

Il Mulino. An old crumbling mill, by a winding river, nestled in the Tuscan mountains. An empty home that holds memories of homemade pasta and Nonna’s stories by the fire, and later: the Nazi invasion, and a family torn apart by a heartbreaking betrayal.

Annais distraught when her beloved mother,Ines, passes away. She inherits a box of papers, handwritten in Italian and yellowed with age, and a tantalising promise that the truth about what happened during the war lies within.

The diaries lead Anna to the small village of Rofelle, where she slowly starts to heal as she explores sun-kissed olive groves, and pieces together her mother’s past: happy days spent herding sheep across Tuscan meadows cruelly interrupted when World War Two erupted and the Nazis arrived; fleeing her home to join theResistenza; and…

View original post 510 more words

Write Away in Tuscany 2019

 

Once upon a time there was an old watermill along the river Marecchia in Eastern Tuscany, lost in the Apennines. It had perched on its rock for centuries in countryside where wild boar and deer still graze and where orchids and wildflowers grow in abundance.
Some people say this watermill dates as far back as the 13th century. The story goes that, way back, the owners sold it to the little town of Badia Tedalda further up the mountain. Then they changed their minds and a skirmish ensued, where four people were killed by soldiers sent by the disgruntled purchasers.
Mills were vitally important for survival. This particular mill ground wheat, barley, rye and corn for local people who brought their grains to the mill and tethered their donkeys to metal rings secured to the wall.
At the very end of the twentieth century, a couple from England fell under its spell. It had stopped working twenty years previously. Inside were mouse-nibbled mattresses, windows without glass, a roof that needed replacing, disused hoppers and millstones and dozens of horseshoes. It needed a lot of work, but we scraped together our savings and bought it.
Twenty years later, we are still in love with this inspiring place, set in a magical location and we let it out to holidaymakers from all over the world. It is such an important place for us. In this beautiful, unspoiled corner of Tuscany, we find time to take stock. It has inspired me to write and it has helped us both with our general well-being.

Last year we held a writing week and this year, from September 11th to 18th, we are doing it again.

 

The group is small, never more than ten. Last year, there were complete beginners and published authors. Here are some of the reviews:

REVIEWS from 2018
• “The course offered me true escapism through my own spontaneous writing and also that of others. I have made new friends and spent lovely times with old friends. I leave [Tuscany] feeling refreshed, totally inspired to write and just a little bit ‘proud of myself’.” (Novice writer and winner of Flash Fiction 2018).
• “Food was lovely. Excellent cooking and supply. Plenty of wine.”
• “Perfect! … Beds and rooms wonderfully comfortable.”
• “Excellent value! Been like living in a film set. Such welcoming hosts and wonderful atmosphere you couldn’t buy.”
• “Excellent value”.
• “I enjoyed the challenge and the discipline of the course. The accommodation was extremely comfortable. You had thought of everything we could possible want and added a few touches of your own.”
• “The meals were wonderful. In some ways the meals we had at Il Mulino were better than the restaurant meals because more informal and relaxed.”
• “One word – FAB – U – LOUS.”

In 2018 we had Sonja Price to tutor us and she was really helpful, but this year we are aiming the week at writers who have works in progress, for those who want to start to write and who need peace, tranquillity and space to write, write, write, without interruption. No cooking, no housework, just time to write and dive into the imagination.

 

 

If you want to join in, there will be discussions on all things writerly too: writer’s block, research, speech and dialogue and brainstorming beginnings, middles and ends for your story are some of the subjects. These sessions are all optional. Each morning will start with a five-minute limbering-up writing exercise to kick-start your creative juices.
On Friday 13th, One Stop’s Fiction Kathryn Bax and her son, Kent, will lead a day’s session on “Self-publishing tips for success.” We are really excited about this. Some local writer are dipping in for this.
If you are artistic and would like to have a break from writing, on Monday 16th September, a local artist, Joy Boncompagni Stafford will hold a morning session on watercolour. (This is an extra and will cost Euros 25, materials provided).

 

La torre di Gragnano

A couple of Joy’s paintings

Last year’s Flash Fiction Competition was very popular, and we shall run this again. Title to be announced on the first day of the course.
Participants are invited to send in one piece of work (wordcount 2,000 max) no later than three weeks in advance of the start of the course, to share and receive constructive feedback.
During the week there will be an opportunity to visit the enchanting towns of Sansepolcro and Anghiari, to include an (optional) writing exercise.

So, what does all this cost, I hear you ask?
This year we have reduced the price to £550.

This includes accommodation in our restored watermill. There is one double room, with en suite still available in the mill.

If you want to see more photos of the inside of our restored watermill, we have our own site: Il Mulino, Rofelle

And, within walking distance, there is a beautifully appointed guest house, or agriturismo for extra guests.  All rooms have en suite. Il Casalone

Our price includes food, drinks and wine, except when we eat out at a local restaurant or pizzeria on two occasions during the week.
It includes airport transfer to and from Bologna airport, as long as you arrive before lunchtime on September 11th. If you plan to arrive at a different airport, you will need to sort your own transport. We can advise on this.
It does not include your flight or the couple of meals, snacks or drinks when we go out twice during the week. If you prefer to stay at the mill to write instead, we can leave you food to self-cater.

If you are interested in one of our remaining spaces, or have any other queries, please contact me in the comment box below, on private message on Facebook or Twitter or via this email address: petchangela@gmail.com

Author Facebook

Twitter: @Angela_Petch