Daynote - Tue 3 Jun
Pitching and planning.
Bit windy and rainy today, so I skipped the walk. But I got nicely stuck into a couple of pitches.
ON DECK: 540 new words today, across two pitches. I track word count against pitches and outlines mostly just to give myself a sense of progress, but it's essentially marketing material rather than prose. Although quite often things I write in the pitches and outlines end up in the book in some form, whether as jacket copy, online marketing or just phrases and concepts in the novel text itself. So while I'm not actually writing a book, I'm still counting it.
LISTENING: Really enjoyed this interview with Michael Idov over at The Conversation with Nadine Matheson. I've heard Michael speak about his work on a couple of podcasts now and his novels sound great.
WATCHING: We watched the first episode of THE RESIDENCE last night and hugely enjoyed it. A hilarious and really well made murder mystery set in the White House. And the 'doll house' zoom in/zoom out portions are so much fun, showing where hundreds of people are inside the building.
READING: A couple of chapters of THE HIROSHIMA MEN yesterday. It's got an intriguing structure, looking at the overlapping technologies, programs and life stories that all led to the fateful day. It's a refreshing change from history that focuses purely on personalities and ignores the huge role of systems in the background of historical events. Really enjoying it.
LINK: The Cymera Auction is still running, and there's the chance to get your hands on a signed, personalised hardback or paperback of A RELUCTANT SPY. Or, if you're a writer, I'm offering a 50 page beta read of the opening of your novel. Get bidding, the auction ends on Friday!
UP NEXT: Some exciting stuff happening this week! Paperback launch! Other cool stuff! But all of that is out of my hands, so for now I'm cracking on with writing pitches. And on Friday, I'm heading to Cymera for three days of SFF malarkey. Can't wait.
Onward!