In 2014, I…
went to Hogwarts again (… well, Diagon Alley),
took some pretty killer “research” trips,
got around to France (finally) and rather fell in love with Brittany,
learned some more about grief,
danced on the lawn of Chatsworth (Pemberley) and in the Assembly Rooms (Bath),
helped make a WWI memorial, lived inside thousands of letters, and got published in a real book,
So I am in the British Library and they have this huge old globe in the treasures gallery, so I hang out for a bit looking at it and thinking about the map room scene. I move on to the illuminated books, happen to glance back, and A LUC LOOKALIKE WALKS RIGHT UP TO THE GLOBE. AND STANDS THERE STARING AT IT THOUGHTFULLY AND I JUST GAWKED FROM THE SHADOWS BY THE ILLUMINATED BOOKS LIKE A FREAK. IT WAS WEIRD. COULDN’T GET A PICTURE BECAUSE THERE IS A STRICT NO PHONES, NO CAMERAS POLICY IN THE ROOM, AND ANYWAY THERE WAS AN OLD COUPLE SITTING BETWEEN ME AND HIM AND THEY THOUGHT I WAS STARING AT THEM. THEY WERE GIVING ME FUNNY LOOKS. But that didn’t stop me from taking pictures on the sly when he walked out!
– From Facebook message to my writing group
accidentally ran into my character at the British Library,
lived it up in Claridge’s,
released a lantern over Corsham Court,
rewrote the first 100 pages of Blessings (twice) and… handed my baby over to a real live literary agency,
finished my first draft of Illuminate (all 100,000 words of it!),
got 25,000 down in Wake,
completed my master’s,
and chased rainbows in Iceland
.
Here’s to more adventures, challenges, and joy in 2015!
