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A Passion for History
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... of a Tea Drinking Historical Romance Writer |
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| 6.00am | The cats – Bob and Petra – wake me up, demanding that I let them into the bedroom. I know that if I ignore them they’ll rip the carpet to shreds so it’s easier to stumble out of bed, still with my eyes closed, and open the door. |
| 6.01am | I fall back into bed. It’s now a four-way fight for the duvet between Bob, Petra, my husband and me. I lose. |
| 7.00am
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I’m drifting off to sleep again on my remaining square centimeter of bed. The alarm goes off. I push my husband several times until he gets up. The cats move onto his share of the bed and stretch out. I shiver under my tiny bit of duvet. |
| 7.30am | My husband brings me a nice cup of tea, which at least helps me to warm up. The dog comes upstairs, begging to be taken for a walk. |
| 8.02am | I get up, dress in whatever comes to hand first and go downstairs to the study to switch the computer on. One of the cats has mysteriously transferred herself from the bed to my chair without appearing to move. I put her on the cushion in the window. She walks off in a huff. I sit down and start work. I’m up to chapter 10 of my next book, which is a Regency set in London during the Frost Fair of 1814. It’s loads of fun to write and very sexy. I re-read what I wrote the previous day, change a few words here and there, then get stuck into the next scene. I’m on a roll at the moment, writing quickly with lots of ideas. My husband takes the dog out. |
| 8.34am | The telephone rings, interrupting my inspiration. It’s my husband, who’s missing me because he hasn’t seen me for 32 minutes. This is sweet but when I put the phone down I can’t remember where I was up to. I resist the urge to stop writing and check my emails instead. |
| 9.30am | I look at the clock and realise that when I worked in an office I used to start at eight thirty. I feel very happy to be a writer. I also feel very hungry because I’ve forgotten to have breakfast. I make some tea and toast. In the meantime the cat steals my chair and the dog comes back and shakes his muddy wet body all over the clean house. My husband goes off to work. I take a break to wash my hair. I make another cup of tea. |
| 10.30am | I make another cup of tea. The writing is coming on well. |
| 11.00am | The need for a doughnut is getting quite strong now. I decide to go out to the nearest shop, which is eight miles away. I look at what I’m wearing and decide I need to change into some decent clothes because I want to be the sort of person who looks good when you see them buying their groceries. I set off. I’m so busy thinking about what happens next in the book that I get all the way into the car park before I realise that I’ve left my purse at home. |
| 11.15am | I drive back home to collect my purse, then decide I can’t be bothered to go out again. I eat a family size bag of crisps instead of a doughnut and notice that there is a message on the answerphone. It is from my husband asking where I am and pointing out that I’m supposed to be working. The cat is on my chair so I make another cup of tea to put off the moment I have to evict her. |
| 1.00pm | I re-read everything I wrote that morning and decide that it’s not as good as I thought it was. I’m about to delete all of it when I decide that might be a bit hasty so I go and have lunch instead. I give the cat a few prawns to bribe her off the chair. |
| 1.30pm | I feel very sleepy. I read my emails and wake up a bit when I see one from my editor about my plans for my next book. This is exciting but I’ll never make the deadlines if I don’t keep writing. I go back to the book and manage another five hundred words. |
| 3.30pm | I make a cup of tea and decide to look up a few things I need to check about Regency ladies’ underwear! I get some books out and settle down to do some reading and take notes. A scene is shaping up in my mind and it’s going to be sooo romantic, but rather naughty as well... Phew, need another cup of tea now! |
| 5.00pm | I start reading the latest romance by my favourite historical author. This is pure indulgence. I’m really on the slippery slope now… |
| 5.30pm | I re-read what I have written that day and decide it’s not as bad as I thought it was and I won’t delete it after all. My husband arrives home, pours us a glass of wine and agrees to cook dinner. What a hero! We sit down to have a chat and the cat immediately gets off my chair and onto his knee, purring loudly. Shameless hussy! I decide I won’t do any more writing that day. |
| 7.30pm | I have another idea for the book and decide I’ll just go and do a bit of writing. I need a cup of tea… |