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60,000 words.

#WritingCommunity

#WordWeavers 24/10: Which character would survive the longest if suddenly dropped into our world with no money or identification?

Lucy will survive, and triumph. In the story she loses her job and becomes homeless, but she never has no money and she doesn't lose her identity and she is already in 'our world'. I think if this really happened to someone it would depend exactly where they were dropped and what time of year, and whether there was anyone around who might help them, rather than anything about their personal strengths/weaknesses.

#WritersCoffeeClub 24/10: What is currently provisional in your workflow/work?

It's half term right now so I'll be writing every day this week. And I'm first drafting which ought to be finished soonish. Then comes the fun part!

#WordWeavers 21/10: Your MC wakes up with the ability to read minds for 24 hours. Whose thoughts do they most want to hear? Whose thoughts do they least want to hear?

My original idea for my current project was called 'World without language' and involved the MC using her skill of understanding body language and entirely ignoring what anyone actually said. Reading people's minds can only be a magical ability, but understanding unspoken communication is an idea I have explored a lot in my stories. Lucy is a primary school teacher so she is very good at it - you could say she can already 'read minds'. She would never have a magical ability though cos she is not in a magical world.

#ScribesAndMakers 21/10: How cerebral do you consider your creative work?

Cerebral, according to my research, means to do with the brain or the intellect, or involving careful thinking/mental effort. My creative work involves interpretation of language, some of which involves reading, so I don't see how you could argue against it being entirely cerebral. Writing books and making up songs is incredibly difficult in no other way but cerebrally. Playing the fiddle/guitar also requires extreme focus and concentration. Lots of people seem to differ, but for me, reading a book or listening to music is meant to be intellectually challenging, otherwise it's boring, but reading of *any* kind is entirely cerebral cos you use your brain/intellect to do it.

#PennedPossibilities 1161: Do you have any mythology around the afterlife in your universe?

For sure there's loads, but none that is part of the story. There is no death or contemplation of death in this book.

#WritersCoffeeClub 20/10: What's the shortest work you've ever finished?

My shortest book is Dog: 22,000 words. It's a children's book. But I also write songs which are pretty short. This year I wrote a song called 'Happy birthday David Attenborough' which only has 2 sections and then repeats the first. It's probably less than 2 minutes long.