After a week away in sunny Wellington, locked up in a hotel room alone to write, things are going great with the book. It’s amazing what you can achieve when you aren’t being interrupted every five minutes! The fictitious Scottish town has come alive with lots of crazy but loveable characters. I almost feel sad that the place isn’t real and I don’t live there! Meanwhile, my two main characters have turned out to be quiet complex individuals who don’t like being told what to do by each other – or by me. 🙂 All in all it was a fabulous week away. And apart from taking a big step towards a publication date, I learned a few other things too.  Like, there is such a thing as concentrating too hard.

One afternoon, while working on a particularly tricky scene, the maid knocked on my door. I got a fright and screamed – loudly. By the time I’d answered the door, she’d run for security. Five minutes later I had to explain to one scared woman, and two burly men, why I was dressed in Cookie Monster pjamas at three in the afternoon and why I’d terrified the maid. Turns out I hadn’t put the ‘privacy’ sign on the door handle – I’d hung a grocery bag on it. Apparently the bag had a half eaten bagel in it…  Not sure I’ll be going back to that hotel for my next writing getaway. In the meantime, here’s another picture of Scotland to keep you in the mood.