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The Phantom Pen

2016BlogNaNoWriMoProgThe Phantom Pen

Alaska

I’m a bit of a fan of Baked Alaska, in fact, after Artic Roll, it’s probably my favourite dessert. So it was with great glee that we booked a table at La Brasserie for the seventies night to celebrate its…
Del
22nd November 2016
2016BlogNaNoWriMoProgThe Phantom Pen

The Age of Glass

Thanks to my good friend Dee, our heroine Madzi manages to find gainful employment.  Not giving too much of the game away at this stage, but it involves glassware, tableware and an oyster bar called Oberts, although it might not…
Del
21st November 2016
2016BlogNaNoWriMoProgThe Phantom Pen

The Letter

When was the last time you received a personal letter that was hand-written and just full of news, gossip, chit-chat and a pleasure to read?  I’ve discovered that the letter is an excellent device for changing the plot, introducing a…
Del
20th November 2016
2016BlogNaNoWriMoProgThe Phantom Pen

A State of Grace

I find most home furnishing departments dull, desperately dull. Just how many shades of mushroom and grey does a girl need? To be in the right frame for novelling, I need brightness and colour around me, not beige. At least,…
Del
19th November 2016
2016BlogNaNoWriMoThe Phantom Pen

Dear Someone

Somewhere 18th November 2016 Dear Someone, My amazing, wonderful sister-in-law aka Wilcey is doing the most remarkable challenge to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support because, as she says, ‘Sometimes it’s time to say “Thanks”’. Next April, she’ll be walking…
Del
18th November 2016
2016BlogNaNoWriMoThe Phantom Pen

Beaujolais Day

A few more words uploaded this morning and I earned my 40,000 word badge.  Only two more to go, the 50,000 ‘winner’ badge and the ‘wordcount uploaded thirty days in a row’ badge.  It is quite exhausting trying to fit…
Del
17th November 2016
2016BlogNaNoWriMoThe Phantom Pen

Comfortably Numb

The novel is coming on apace.  I uploaded another 2,522 words this morning bringing my total to 35,172.  My right hand is feeling comfortably numb because most of those words have been written in fountain pen, as I do most…
Del
15th November 2016
2016BlogNaNoWriMoThe Phantom Pen

Passion

Today has been full of passion.  Passion for books (cataloguing and shelving my new purchases) and seeking passion for the novel. Let’s start with the new books and today’s pick from Paris is LNDN by Jens Masmann.  Even without the…
Del
14th November 2016
2016BlogNaNoWriMoThe Phantom Pen

Forgotten Sons

Today is Remembrance Sunday and MisterMac and I have resplendent home-made poppies – thanks Cathryn!  Although the UK acknowledges 11/11 as Armistice Day, we still hold our major ceremonies on the nearest Sunday, unlike the French who hold their National…
Del
13th November 2016
2016BlogNaNoWriMoThe Phantom Pen

Snail

I am a book junkie.  And the book-signings at PP tap into my weakness.  I buy more books than I can reasonably carry, dislocate my arms getting them back to the hotel, vow never to do it again and then,…
Del
12th November 2016
2016BlogNaNoWriMoThe Phantom Pen

Darktown

Although Paris Photo is an impressive way to see a lot of work in a short space of time, the Grand Palais can be a bit like a zoo, so today was about sampling the edges. I had intended to…
Del
11th November 2016
2016BlogNaNoWriMoThe Phantom Pen

Fugazi

My draft girl-power post had to be binned this morning. Today, unusually for me, I am in the a-picture-paints-1000-words camp. In other news, I managed another 1,700 words this morning bringing my #NaNoWriMo2016 total to 23,944, but this pales into…
Del
9th November 2016
2016BlogNaNoWriMoThe Phantom Pen

We Are What We Are

We are what we are.  I am an aspiring novelist (at least for the month of November) and Evelyn Waugh was a great novelist.  There is a world-wide pool of advice that tells the aspiring novelist what to do, but…
Del
8th November 2016
2016BlogNaNoWriMoThe Phantom Pen

Saevis tranquillis in undis

One of the interesting side observations about writing a novel is watching the adverts on Facebook and other websites adapt to my novelling-research surfing habits, which are now intense bursts of activity about the subject matter for the chapter in…
Del
7th November 2016
2016BlogNaNoWriMoThe Phantom Pen

Call To Arms

Today was double-up day on NaNo. And I did it! I started the day with 7,093 words and finished with 16,641.   I am totally and utterly exhausted, I have dashed around Paris, fallen in love, eaten too many oysters, done…
Del
5th November 2016
2016BlogNaNoWriMoThe Phantom Pen

Small Talk

Is it really only day 4 of the novelling adventure? I feel as though I’ve been in this novel for much longer, which, I suppose in my head, I have been. I’m slightly ahead of target as I sailed through the…
Del
4th November 2016
2016BlogNaNoWriMoThe Phantom Pen

Warm Wet Circles

‘The connection between authors, and coffee-houses must be kept up’ to misquote Boswell. Where would Pepys have been without his visits to the coffee-houses and his shagg gowne? The latter having little to do with coffee and much to do…
Del
3rd November 2016
2016BlogNaNoWriMoThe Phantom Pen

The Pleasure of Hope

My first day of my first NaNo (#NaNoWriMo2016) and NaBloPoMo and I am utterly and totally exhausted.  I’d like to say it was because the phantom pen has been working a long shift to get a good start to the…
Del
1st November 2016
BlogThe Phantom Pen

Namedropping

Fab evening at the Horse Hospital. Organized by Travis Elborough, starring Geoff Nicholson and friends. As I embark on the great novelling escapade, I thought I would pick the brains of the novelists around the table for useful tips on…
Del
20th October 2016
BlogThe Phantom Pen

Character Building

Enough messing around with stationery, playlists and excuses ... it’s time to get serious about this if I’m going to start and finish a novel in thirty days.  Tonight I’ll mainly be character building. Despite the picture, this will not…
Del
12th October 2016
BlogThe Phantom Pen

t minus 23

With twenty-three days to go until the start of The Phantom Pen, today has seen the novelling action move into a higher gear.  I’ve not only done some online shopping (essential books, five reams of paper and a jumbo box…
Del
9th October 2016
BlogThe Phantom Pen

The Phantom Pen

I’ve pledged to do it … How many times have you read a novel, tossed it aside in disgust and muttered “I could do much better than that”? So why don’t you? Because it’s not as easy as it looks?…
Del
7th October 2016