A week is a long time in the real world and an even longer time in the world of writing. In the space of 7 days, characters can cover burning deserts, climb lofty mountains, and sail across endless oceans. Some characters can even find themselves in the trash bin, because let's face it, if they're not going to pull their weight and do something interesting, it's time to be brave and 'get rid of them'. I haven't done anything quite so drastic this week but I've been close. I've wanted to scratch my red pen through pages and pages. But I've stopped myself because I don't think what I've written is necessarily 'bad', it just needs fine tuning. My urge to shred it all is a dramatic way of coping with a frustrating week - school problems, soccer team problems, not to mention this weather is driving me nuts. So - my coping mechanisms this week have been to avoid the computer, because I don't want to delete something in a temper tantrum, eat lots of chocolate, and immerse myself in a bit of research. Reading has a wonderful way of soothing the savage beast. Now - I know someone else said that, and it wasn't about reading, but I still think it's pretty apt.

Monday March 4th 2007

As this is my first post, I will tell you a little bit about my life at the moment.

I love writing. I love the whole process, except maybe spell-checking and deciding what to do with those pesky little apostrophes. Creating worlds excites me, and when I immerse myself in the research necessary to create those fantasy worlds, I couldn't be happier. I adore my characters, especially the 'baddies', and weep over the trials I set them. I like to base my fantasy worlds on fascinating places in the 'real' world, and long to travel to the far away and exotic places I find in books and on the net.

Over the last 10 months, I have taken one of my short stories, 'The Wish Genie', and developed it into a full length children's novel. In fact, it is now 'The Chronicles of Sahaar', and has become a 4 book series. I have completed the first instalment, 'The Stones of Sahaar' and am now editing it. I once thought the hard work was actually getting a first draft finished, but I was wrong wrong wrong. The hard work is just beginning. Over the next few months, I would like you to join me on my journey - as I edit 'Stones', finish the first draft of 'The Jewel of Rajpur' and plot out the last two instalments: 'The Voyages of the Sindbaran' and 'The City of Sorrows.'

Regards, Joanne.