Signs of Autumn

-
Taking a stroll along the Mawddach river today, I found I needed not only a warmish coat but also a hat and gloves. It wasn't cold exactly but there was a keen breeze and, as I walked, I noticed sure signs that summer is finally coming to an end.

The leaves on the trees are still green but their rustle was a dry one and they are beginning to fall.  Flowers have bloomed and faded, the river is full of water after the long hot summer, and the cricket field is being prepared for the last match of the season next weekend.


The heating isn't on at home yet but the mornings and evenings are feeling cooler now so it is only a matter of time. 

However, even though the heatwave is already a distant memory, my summer has been a productive as well as a pleasant one.

I took a fortnight off from one of my part-time jobs during August, with the goal of completing three chapters of one of my two WIPs. By aiming at a thousand words a day, and sometimes writing even more, I managed to do that this week. Now comes some polishing and final edits, prior to submitting it later this month.

So, although the end of summer is always a bit sad, autumn is a lovely season. The colours of the trees, the sharpness of the air, and those long cosy evenings indoors are things to look forward to.  And, as the nights draw in and the mornings get darker, I will be switching my focus to my time-slip novel, with a view to reaching 30,000 words by Christmas.

What are your autumn plans?


Comments

  1. Sarah Snowdon12 September 2018 at 08:39

    Hi, Melissa. Sounds like you're busy and the writing's going well. Autumn is my favourite season. Warm in the day but cold enough in the evening to curl up with a jumper, hot drink and a book. My days will be dictated by school now the new term is in full swing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lissa Morgan14 September 2018 at 08:49

    Hi Sarah, you've just described a perfect autumn evening, though I would add a cosy log fire too - if I had one ! Happy writing and hope to catch up before too long xx

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

RNA Conference 2016

-
The annual Romantic Novelists' Conference is one of the highlights of my calendar, and this year was no exception. Held at Lancaster University, the venue was lovely even if the weather wasn't exactly sultry and summer-like.  Getting together with good friends over a bottle or three of Prosecco was the absolute high spot of a wonderful couple of days. The sessions were interesting and inspiring, among them HQ Harper Collins 'Reaching the Top in Commercial Fiction,' Vasiliki Scurfield on 'Writing the Foreign Hero' and Kate Walker on 'Emotional Punch.' One of the most illuminating sessions, from my point of view at least, was Sonia Duggan's workshop on 'Rekindling your Romance with Writing.'  Having been writing for almost ten years and as yet unpublished, this one really struck a chord with me.  Sonia gave us an exercise on composing a Dear John letter to our writing and what I wrote both surprised and shocked me and, for the first time, I was...
Read more

RNA Conference 2018

-
Image
As a writer, the annual conference is definitely the highlight of the year for me and, surprisingly, it seems to come around quickly each time. This year was no exception and, from counting down the months, then the weeks, then the days, suddenly I was packing and wondering which shoes would go with which dress! Welcome with Nicola Cornick and Jan Jones This year, the conference was in Leeds Trinity University, a campus just outside Headingly. Leeds is a lovely city but I didn't see anything of it beyond the train station. Horsforth, where the campus is located, was really nice though, and I enjoyed a short and pleasant walk from the train station to the campus with HMB author Rachael Thomas . The conference sessions were useful and enjoyable and included a double presentation from Mills and Boon. This began with editors from the longer 'Trade' imprint giving a summary of the recent rebranding of the company, and concluded with the Series editors outlin...
Read more

Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus - Happy St David's Day!

-
Image
Okay, I am a bit late posting a happy St David's Day  here, but as it isn't officially a public holiday in Wales - at least not yet - most people are celebrating it today, Saturday.  I imagine that many leeks and Welsh cakes are still being consumed even as I write, though sadly, this year, Dydd Gwyl Dewi Day has rushed up at me rather, and was gone before I knew it! My publisher, Mills & Boon, remembered however, and put together this fabulous image for my Warriors of Wales series - the daffodils are my addition!  The first in the series, The Warrior's Reluctant Wife , was out in September 2023 and the second, The Warrior's Forbidden Maiden , will be out in June. This second book features the Abbey of Ystrad Fflur (Strata Florida) where the Life of Dewi Sant was possibly preserved after the Normans demoted the mother church of Llanbadarn, where it was written by Rhigyfarch, son of Bishop Sulien. The story features the Life of another saint, almost as revered in th...
Read more