HOW MANY MORE SPIDERS CAN I EAT?

This month has flown by despite it being half term. I'm sitting anxiously waiting for Sunday 3rd November to see if I've won the literary lottery and obtained a mentor from Pitch Wars 2019. I don't actually hold out much hope. I hear some folk have already been contacted for the rest of their work which puts the mockers on the whole 'wait until 3rd Nov' vibe. 

At least I have a letter, synopsis and my 4th novel to go. I've unearthed some Literary agents too. There don't seem to be many in the UK any more and where there are, a proportion have their submissions 'CLOSED' sign up. Several are names I remember from the past and I get that sinking feeling in my stomach like I've swallowed a spider and it won't die inside me. I might resurrect my old folder of rejections letters to see if I can find the same letter word for word trotted out to me again. "We're sorry but..."

Is that being a tiny bit defeatist? It might sound so, but regardless I still manage to plod along despite my moaning and wincing. One of my mottos learnt from living this writing life is, "expect the worse and you're not disappointed," another of my wise adages is "If its horrible, it can only go uphill from here."  I have a whole brain-full of these in my skull including some rather crude ones which I won't share here.

Meanwhile, in another part of Carol's brain - "lets get back to writing." This weekend I've been skirting around Quest for Courage and added a few more thousand words. This is the third book in the series which started with only one book initially and is starting to get cluttered as I try to keep the continuity going from the first book.
I hate introducing characters that don't do anything and don't have any investment in the main storyline. I see this is other novels where they seem to be brought in to fill a hole and then disappear. As well as new characters and white witches this time, I'm trying to bring back Lenny and Hope from book one, plus Maximus Mallory the sixteenth and Knife the Spider from book two. Can't give too much away though, just in case it doesn't pan out.

I haven't looked at Aquasapien three in a while so that's ripe for a catch-up. I remember leaving it at the climax (pun intended) of yet another sex scene. Also, when the full-length hard copy edition goes for re-print, like the kindle edition, it'll come back out as two books instead of one.

Finally, I left my exciting piece of news - potentially - until last. I have been approached and requested translation of my Sci-Fi work  for the Asian market. Still checking the contract, but I'll let you know whether that amounts to anything in November. I think the reason it is at the end of this blog and not the beginning is because I'm probably in denial that it will happen. Its a case of; "Don't get your hopes up or you'll end up eating more spiders," another of my useful mottos.

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