February | 2018 | jenjsilver

Braced for the great snowstorm of 2018 here in the UK – billed in the media as the ‘beast from the east’ – my wife’s shopped for the impending snowcalypse, along with everyone else in the area who have faith in the weather forecast. Excellent business for supermarkets as the shelves are emptied of bread, milk, alcoholic beverages…

weather

Will we be waking up to a snow-covered landscape Tuesday morning? Will there be traffic chaos, cancelled buses and trains, school closures? Perhaps in some parts of the country. But I think we’ll get a few snowflakes drifting about here, barely leaving a covering on the grass.

I grew up in southern Ontario, Canada. I don’t recall ever missing school because of snow. Then I took a job in a town in northern British Columbia. I was advised to invest in long underwear as soon as I arrived in October. And to buy cross-country skis as soon as I could. Temperatures regularly plummeted to -30F (this is where I learned that -40 is the same in either Fahrenheit or Celsius). No one ever missed work because of snowstorms or freezing cold temperatures though.

The last time we had significant snowfall here was in December 2009, lasting well into January 2010.

Anne_snowpeople

Pictured here: My wife with two snowpeople we created on Christmas Day, 2009 – staying at a hotel on Lake Windermere – the lake completely obliterated from view in the background.

Above: At home in January 2010, looking across the valley from the high school playing fields. The school was closed for an extra two weeks after the Christmas holidays that year.

So although I wouldn’t wish the disruption to everyone’s lives that a massive snowfall can bring, I’m sort of hoping for something big from the ‘beast from the east’. I would like to make a snowperson in my garden. Even if it only has a short life, like this snowthing I managed in January 2015, melting rapidly the day after its creation.

snowthing2

Snow, or no snow…this is always a good time of year to settle down with a book. Happy reading as the shortest month moves rapidly towards March!

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Buying Links:

Changing Perspectives: Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords

Running From Love: Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books / Smashwords / Apple iTunes

The Circle Dance: Affinity eBooks /Amazon US / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books/Smashwords / Apple iTunes

Christmas at Winterbourne: Affinity eBooks / Amazon US / Amazon UK /Barnes & Noble /Bella Books / Smashwords /Apple iTunes

The Starling Hill Trilogy:

Starting Over: Affinity eBooks / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books /Smashwords / Apple iTunes

Arc Over Time: Affinity eBooks / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books/ Smashwords / Apple iTunes

Carved in Stone: Affinity eBooks / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books/ Smashwords / Apple iTunes

The Starling Hill Trilogy Omnibus edition: Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords

Middle of February and I’m feeling out of it. The weather’s crap so I should be writing up a storm. No plans to be anywhere, no commitments. But, can I write? No. Sitting in front of the screen, looking at the page, seeing my project target stuck on a lower number than I would like. After 22,000 words, my latest WIP has hit a brick wall. I know where I want the story to go, but I can’t get there.

project1

Fine. So, what do I do? Go back to the previous WIP that stalled on 3,400 words back in November. This one should be easier. The characters are from the short story that appeared in Affinity’s Christmas Medley anthology – Maybe This Christmas. I like these characters. The setting is where I live, an area that I love writing about.

That seemed to part of the problem with the other story. I was finding that I didn’t like the characters or the situation. If I don’t love my characters, then I can’t expect a reader to want to read about them.

Okay, so the extension of the Christmas story is a good possibility. Emma and Zan are two months into the relationship that started then. They seem well suited to each other – what could possibly go wrong? That’s one theme to carry forward. Then there’s Emma’s best friend, Sass. I know that her story needs developing. Of the group of friends in the Christmas story, she’s the one who has the most potential for a story arc.

Wow, I almost sound like I know what I’m doing. I’ve noted down some ideas and managed to write 600 words this morning. Maybe not quite as quickly as the water rushing over the weir or with the enthusiasm of the tree branches reaching up to the blue sky…but I know the words will come through…eventually.

water

branches

I really hope I can keep this story going. When I’m not writing,not excited about a project, everything feels a bit flat. Time to shake that off and perk up. March will be here soon.

On another note, I’m pleased to find that my novel, Changing Perspectives, is doing well. This was the one that took me 24 years to finish. Hopefully my latest WIP won’t take that long to complete – even though it feels like it might at the rate I’m going at the moment.