WILTED WRITER

This portrays a little how I feel this week, not only writing wise but any other activity which means moving, however slightly. We have been exposed to a heatwave here in Central Italy . Temperatures out in the full sun have regularly exceeded 50 degrees and I kid you not. We moved our temperature sensor out into the full sun (the rear of our house where we 'live' faces south, so sun from 11 til dusk) and this is what is has recorded.  
Family and friends who live in the UK can't understand why I complain about the heat when it's cold, grey and wet over there but there are balances in everything, including the weather. The only place I feel comfortable is by the shore edge, where I can dip in and out and actually it's much cooler. Luckily the beach is only a fourty minute drive so we've spent two afternoons there this week. And, thank heavens, because it's still July, there aren't a million bodies out there squirming like fat little worms so the sun can reach creases that really shouldn't be be put on show. So this is probably the first bit of real writing I've done this week. 


But it's not that I've been slacking. I've used the cool office (when I can find space between two large dogs) to start designing the cover for my short story publication, with the working title of 'Reflections'. I've been playing around  with images for the Writers Abroad Foreign Flavours Anthology. I've been reading, analysing how certain writers construct their chapters, scenes and points of view. And I've been people watching on the beach, behind a pair of dark shades, making up stories about couples and families and those funny men who stand like statues at the waters edge, watching all the bottoms wiggle by covered in a variety of ways - or not!


And this afternoon I was rewarded with some feedback on two short stories I'd submitted for a competition. I wasn't placed - Iain Pattison was a runner up, so what hope did I have - but the feedback was very positive and to quote...


Overall, your work is excellent. You need merely to address some trivial points of restructuring and enhancement, as I have suggested.  (Even excellent work can be perfected!)


So not a bad end to the week and the temperature is dropping and there's a cool(ish) breeze. Lots of catching up to do... Until Later,