Bedtime Reading and the distraction of writing

I have a collection of books beside the bed to dip into before I sleep. At present I have Magma's Spring offering which I'm behind with as the Summer edition, is or will be, out soon. Also the latest from Brittle Star which I am liking more and more. A great find, this magazine. I also have a back copy of The London Magazine which I subscribed to for a while and considered re-subscribing to, but it is expensive and some of the articles I don't read.

Sometimes I take the book on Forensics (Val McDermid) to bed with me. I am nearly at the end of it and will be posting a review very soon.

Because I have been writing so much lately everything else is piling up - one day the washing never got out of the machine until it was too late to put it outside, the dinner was late and I had to drag myself away from a very emotional scene to go and chop vegetables. Magazines are piling up unread, housework gets done when really necessary and I think I've upset everyone in the house over the last week!

The chaos of the final push

However, my latest project is finished! My goal setting really works for me because I have done it ahead of time and kept to my other targets. Admittedly, I have been obsessed in the last week and as I got nearer the end I just went for it. One day I wrote all day with a few breaks, the longest ever I have spent writing, My characters are weirdly very real to me and when I hear something or see something on TV I find myself saying - 'that's exactly what so-and-so would have done'. That is scary stuff!

I am sure my family will appreciate the fact that I have ironed their clothes today and they might actually get fed later - though I have failed to go shopping again today, so it might be a freezer job! This project is now shelved for editing. I will talk about it more when things are coming together. For now I have to go back to my novella and take one more look at it, probably re-write the first few lines or scenes (that first line advice came at the right time at the Winchester Writers' Festival) ready for submitting for a competition.

I keep thinking about my poetry. I haven't had time for it but I am aware that I have missed deadlines for competitions and must try to seek out magazines instead as I do have a couple of poems worth trying with.

Finally, I had a really nice surprise today. I had a Tweet from Alison Wells to tell me I had won her blog competition answering the 'question why read books?' I had completely forgotten about it so was absolutely thrilled. I have a £10 Amazon voucher winging it's way to me, along with a signed copy of her book 'Housewife With A Half-Life'. Can't wait.