Writing the Book

Coming out and saying I'm writing a book feels like a big step even though I've been writing for years: making my living as a writer indeed for some time. but whenever I talk to people about the snail business they ask when the book's coming out. 'There's got to be a book in it', they say... and maybe there is.

I went to a book launch last night for Katherine May's first novel Burning Out published by Snowbooks: http://www.snowbooks.com/author_May.html. You can see all about Katherine and her books on: http://www.katherinemay.co.uk/, see Katherine reading an extract on Youtube and watch her next book slowly develop by following each day's first and last lines on www.twitter.com/mustardpepper. I haven't read the book yet but I am certain it is going to be well written and a joy to read as Katherine's work always is. I am grateful for the invitation to the event because it spurred me on to make as much use of August as I can while other work is on the back burner.

I met Katherine first through Medway Mermaids the writers' group she set up: http://www.medwaymermaids.btik.com/. I joined because I wanted to move sideways from non fiction academic work to experiment with writing fiction. I felt I wanted the support of other new writers to help me make that shift. With the members I experimented with all sorts of writing: scripts, poetry and historical fiction and learnt a lot especially about 'show' instead of 'tell'. We're always happy to see new members so if you are reading this and looking for support with your writing please make contact.

From the beginning of the snail business I kept a daily journal, partly so I could look back and see what worked and what didn't, as there was a lot of experimenting involved in their care. I've now started re-writing some of the early pieces I wrote, to try and weave it into a coherent shape. It seems to be settling into chunks that correspond with months of the year and events in the East Kent countryside. This, so far amorphous mass of writing, has the provisional title: Of Molluscs and Me, but I don't think I'm ready yet to share it with the wider world. Maybe there will come a time when I want to post extracts up on the net but not yet.