Tuesday, June 3, 2014

I'm back... and I'm sorry!

So ... I failed at my blog for a while. I  fact I think it was as long ago as August when I last dropped by. I could make all sorts of excuses - I ran out of things to natter on about, the time zone thing was tricky for group blogging and life just got in the way.  All are valid excuses, and are true but that's no excuse. I really just dropped the ball. I'm sorry. But I'm back! Possibly not as frequently as I used to be, three times a week takes up a lot of my WIP writing time, but I'm definitely back.

There's a lot that's been happening in my life lately I'm not quite sure where to start! Over the New Zealand summer I worked at an amazing theatre company in Christchurch called The Court Theatre. I loved that job and lived everything about that place. I was so sad to leave but the reason I left was because I took off to the other side of the world and spent 6 weeks trekking through Africa on the most incredible trip of my life. We went through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya then up to Egypt. It was life changing and I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. I was going to write an entire post about that adventure but then remembered this is my writing blog and you may not be particularly interested in that little part of my life! If you do want to know let me know... I'm one of those annoying travellers all too willing to talk about my travels!

The incredible sand dunes in Namibia

Making friends with a Cheetah, Namibia

Falling in love with these beautiful two lion cubs, Zimbabwe

Lions in Serengeti, Tanzania


After Africa I spent some time in Turkey, Greece, France and The Netherlands before moving to London. The last two months have been a little bit like being in limbo, looking for a job and a place to live but it's a fun city!

The city of love? Paris, France!

King's Day in Amsterdam, Netherlands

Giza, Egypt

In the heart of Athens, Greece
Kalkan on the Turkish Coast where we spent our days lying in the sun by the pool reading for an entire week :D

London! My new home!

Being unemployed has its benefits in that I have had a lot if time to work on my book.

When I last posted, I was still plugging away at my WIP. Well over the new year I finally finished that puppy. Then I let it sit. I mulled it over and thought about my characters then gave it to a good friend who gave me some excellent feedback. When I was in Africa I had a lot of ideas of ways I could alter my WIP for the better in the second draft.

A month after I arrived in London my computer finally arrived and I was reunited with my WIP. I knew it needed a lot of work and felt there was really something integral to the story that wasn't working. I spent a few weeks looking at my characters, looking at what makes them who they are and act the way they do... then I looked at the world my story is set in and the plot I had developed. Eventually I found the problem. It only took me a day of brainstorming before I figured out what the solution was. Typically it involved completely gutting my entire WIP. I sat there telling myself over and over that it was completely normal to rip to shreds your first draft and it was 100% necessary but it was still sad.

So now I'm starting again, but this time I know my characters and my world much more intricately. I know them inside out, the way I always should have. It's a nice feeling actually and I'm confident this story will be much stronger for the changes.

So, what did I miss around here?!

2 comments:

  1. Oh, wow! Those photos are incredible, Samantha! And all of your travels sounds fascinating. :-) It's nice to have you back!

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    1. Thanks Jaime! The travels were amazing - if you ever want to go somewhere a little different I highly recommend Africa! Life changing! It's so nice to be back online though!

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