A 30-year-old A Level student in Malta

Recall that sunset and the cloud cover metaphor I used a while back? Okay, think really hard - I realise it was a while back since anything was posted on my blog. To give your memory a nudge I was riding off into the sunset after securing myself a literary agent with my novel At Long Odds. The sunset then became overshadowed by cloud cover when unfortunately the publishing world weren’t as keen to take At Long Odds on as I was to foist it upon them.
Well, I think I might stick to that metaphor with the continuing saga since it implies horses and romance and - yeah, you get the picture, don’t you?
It would seem the horse I was riding off on has become lame. Is it worth saving? Maybe but it’ll be some place further down the line. Instead I’ve jumped on a shiny new steed in the shape of Keeping The Peace, my latest novel. It went through the nail-biting process of the Romantic Novelists Association New Writer’s Scheme (with two critiques) and under the sharp scrutiny of my agent. And the good news is I and Keeping The Peace appear to have come out the other side unscathed. Since it’s submission I think I’ve undergone more changes than the novel (see below).
And now we’re at that point again of waiting. Waiting for publishers to say those magic words. Going back to that metaphor, Keeping The Peace is a stronger, fitter, better-looking and more well-proportioned horse to be riding off on than At Long Odds. Here’s hoping it’ll last the distance (it had better because I’ve just started the sequel).

In other news, I am now officially qualified up to Level 2 standard now after completing an Access course in Creative Writing, English Literature and Journalism. In some ways it doesn’t have the impact that having 3 As at A Level does, but in other ways the work was (apparently) the same difficulty level and was compacted into one year’s study instead of two, making it harder than A Levels. I don’t know. All I do know is that it was a terrific experience; I met some amazing people, both students and tutors and some might say most importantly, it’s got me the grades to get into Anglia Ruskin this September to study Writing and Film Production (is it wrong to tell people when they ask that ‘I’m going to study in Cambridge’? It’s not really lying after all).

And this monumental moment in my life, which usually occurs when people are turning 18 happens the week of my 30^th birthday*. I’ve bid farewell to those short carefree years of my twenties and am now preparing to settle down, behave, act responsibly and get published in my thirties - oh, did I mention I’m going to become an university student in a few weeks’ time? Maybe I’ll just concentrate on getting published in the next decade.

And to bring you more or less up to date with everything in my more than a little haphazard life, I’ll fill you in on the short holiday recently taken by my mother and I in Malta (by the way, this is where I underwent the ‘change’ I referred to earlier). That change came in the form of extremely painful sunburn followed by a beautiful if somewhat patchy tan. For ten lovely hot days, I felt like the island was honeymooning me and I’ve come away having fallen in love with the land and its people. If you’ve been to Malta you probably recognise this feeling. If you haven’t been, then I strongly recommend going. It’s the best place to unwind and just chill out (so long as you have the air-conditioning on).
The best thing that came out of that holiday for me was the inspiration juices it got churning again. I finished my final writing project/beginning and synopsis of screenplay for my Access course while relaxing in Ta Peter's Restaurant, which earned me a distinction and recommendation from my tutor to pitch it as a 6 part drama series to then be adapted into a feature film, using State of Play as an example.  Only if Dominic West or Tom Hardy act in it is all I can say.
On top of completing my course project, I had time to dwell on my next book.  It's slowly beginning to take a more solid shape, characters are becoming more defined and plotlines less blurred. I think holidaying in Malta is going to become an annual event for me (finances allowing of course. When I tell people I’m excited to be going to university in seven weeks’ time, I don’t mention the main reason is finally getting a student loan). And who knows, if I become tired of writing horse-themed novels, Malta isn’t a bad backdrop for a book. It’s just a pity there aren’t any horses there.

Anchored at Crystal Bay

Cocktails at Cafe Puccini

Cathedral in Mdina

　
*thanks for the party, Mel; I never thought I’d enjoy drinking sparkling wine and listening to John Denver on full blast quite so much.