Fingers Crossed.

I went to my writers' group anticipating hearing the last chapter of the novel one of our members has completed, but he wasn't there!  I'm going to have to wait another two weeks to find out how he manages to pull all the threads together.  I've finished the rewrite/editing of my own novel and it's gone out to an agent, so fingers crossed. 
The weight loss isn't going so well, 1.5lb on this week.  Oh well, at least I'm lighter than I was but I am beginning to doubt I can reach my goal weight in time for Number 2 son's wedding.  I think I'm going to have to do something drastic, like the microdiet (remember that?)  Onwards and upwards.

Good Feedback

It's been a few days since I last posted.  A week was taken up by a nasty virus that laid me low, then we went to Center Parcs with our small grandsons.  We had a great time, just what I needed to perk me up after feeling so ill. 
    I got the feedback from Bubblecow and I'm really pleased with it.  My novel isn't as awful as I imagined, it needs several tweaks and a bit of reworking in a couple of places but all in all I feel pretty good about it.  Somehow, the formatting went crazy during the sending and the indents and line gaps adopted a pattern all of their own.  I have no idea why that happened.  I have an essay to submit this week but after that, I will get to work on editing my novel.  I have to think of a way for Martin to be thrown into the sea then get rescued a day later, without ruining the photos in his pocket.
    The weightloss is going well too, another 3.5lb this week.  I wish I could eat more sometimes as I feel hungry quite often,  but I need to lose weight for September, when number 2 son gets married. 

Marking Time

I feel like I'm marking time. I stayed the same weight this week and I haven't had the feedback from the literary consutancy, although to be fair, they did say I'd hear by the 7th and it's only the 3rd. 
Number 2 son had his birthday but celebrations were muted as the house is full of chicken pox.  Oh well, I hope next week is more interesting.

Is it relevant?

I still haven't heard anything from the competitions I entered, oh well.  I'll find some more.  I've been too busy to write much this week, I just seem to be running from pillar to post and haven't had time to sit down and really think about what to write.  I have dusted off another novel I began a while back.  It's true when they say you should put your work away then look at it with fresh eyes.  I'm not sure if it's because I have learnt more or because I've had a break away from it, but I could see straight away that it has promise but needed urgent revamping.
     I did well with the weight loss this week, another three lb off.  I've still got a long way to go but I'm beginning to belive that I won't look too bad when number 2 son ties the knot.
     Going completely off the subject, I read a report in the Daily Mail about a terrible fire that has killed 4 children in Manchester.  One thing about the report bothered me.  It mentioned that the children are believed to have been fathered by at least two men.  Why did the paper feel the need to print that?  The only reason I can think of is to invite the reader to judge the woman.  How is this relevant to this tragedy? The woman was said to be a good, loving mother who did not claim benefits, in fact she runs two hairdressers.  This was not a report on the breakdown of families, not a report on state spongers or even a report on feckless single girls having babies; this was a report on a tragedy that destroyed a family and the mother's domestic details are no-one's business.  I feel quite cross about it.
    

Professional Help

I've decided that I need professional help with my novel, Unwanted Visitor.  It's the first book in a saga set in Wirral that spans the period from the second world war to the present day and deals with the theme acceptance versus alienation.  The description I've put in my agent's letter is as follows:-

    

Everywhere he goes, Martin Fischer knows he is not wanted.  Amidst the chaos of war, he tries to build a normal life but everything and everyone he cares for is snatched from him.  An attack by the Norwegian resistance leads to his capture by the British.  He is taken to a POW camp in Wirral and sent to work on a farm.  Despite some local hostility, Martin finds the sense of belonging he has been seeking and elects to stay in England after the war.  When he meets tragic Jane Fellows, he is smitten but to the people of Brimstage, Martin is the face of the enemy, the unwanted visitor in their midst.  He and Jane must again struggle to overcome tragedy and prejudice to find acceptance in rural, post war Wirral.

 
What do you think?  Does that interest you?  I've been chipping away at it since 2007 and I have reached the stage where I can't do any more with the book or the letter by myself.   
   I've researched literary consultants and decided to trust my baby with Bubblecow after I saw they had a decent write up in Writers' Forum (or was it Writers' News, I can't remember, it doesn't matter.)  I'm bracing myself for the feedback and the revelation that the novel I've worked on for so long is unsaleable rubbish.
http://bubblecow.co.uk/
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/BubbleCow/202063449025

Making plans

I haven't heard anything about the competitions or from the magazine.  I'll give it a few more days before I admit defeat over the competitions, then I'll have to find some more to enter.  The magazine says it could be four months before they get back to me. Ages!.
     On a plus note, I lost 5lb last week :-).  I was feeling very upbeat about sending so much writing out, perhaps this week's loss will not be so good. 
     I'm eyeing up the writers' conferences and book festivals.  I went to the conference at Winchester a couple of years ago and loved it.  I want to go back but it's difficult to plan ahead because the husband works abroad and doesn't know what dates he'll be away during the year.  Sod's law says he'll need to be taken or collected from the airport on the days of the conferences I want to go to.

Dreams

I sent of a couple of short stories today, I hope they're accepted.  I worked hard on them and I think they're as good as I can get them.  It's hard to get rejections, they make me wonder whether I have any ability.  Sometimes I think I'm not as good as people tell me I am but then something happens, like coming 3rd in a competition which reinforces my confidence.  At the moment I am quite upbeat.
     Perhaps because I'm upbeat, the weight loss has been going well.  The Fat Writer isn't quite as fat as she was. There's still a long way to go.  Number 2 son is getting married later this year and I want to look reasonable in the photos.  Wouldn't it be great to earn enough from my writing to help him get a deposit for a house.  Get published, lose weight, help the kids.  These are my dreams.