Claire Waller

I should have tagged @bric of course… Sorry

It’s a really fab interview – I so want to read this!!

Just brilliant notes.

Many, many thanks for this Kaz. Multiple lightbulb moments. As Philippa says, it can make a big difference finding a model that works for you (and indeed, different ones might apply themselves better to different works). I’m trying to structure a novella at the moment, which is obviously somewhat different to a novel, and some of the more s…[Read more]

Oh Jane – yes, I can totally imagine that. And Richard – it would be so much easier if they actually had the right info on the signs, wouldn’t it?!

Toutes Directions, yes yes, Autres Routes, yes yes yes, but where is the bloody road to [insert town as appropriate]?…

I parked the car in the middle of Rennes once and after I’d wiped away the tears, got out and walked until I found the road I needed…

None of the holidays we used to have in France (we haven’t been there since we’ve acquired a sat-nav) used to be quite complete without getting comprehensively lost at least once.

I am so glad to hear that I’m not the only driver who goes through this!! Part of me was thinking I was a real idiot for getting so worked up after over 30 years of relatively trouble-free driving…but maybe getting majorly lost somewhere is a rite of passage that I’ve just managed to delay?!

Oh I think you could make it work @bellam. On one level the house could be a sort of manifestation of the forces inside Molly’s head keeping her imprisoned and I like the duality of it being a safe place and a prison at the same time.

You have my sympathy on two counts, Squidge. Fifteen or so years on, I still shudder at the memory of my only encounter with the Boulevard Périphérique in Paris – which will remain my only encounter if I have anything to do with it. And losing the GPS signal just when you need it: I’ve been there too, more than once. So frustrating.

Glad the d…[Read more]

The Coventry Ringway was designed by someone with a grudge against all mankind.

Thanks both – I can honestly say I have never experienced the stress/panic I did yesterday. Once I knew I was safe – ie at the school – I was OK. Quite cathartic to write it all out though and wonder why I responded like I did when I don’t usually react in this way.

Oh dear Squidge. My sister lives in Coventry and I go to great lengths to avoid driving on any part of the Ringway so I sympathise. Sounds as though your day went brilliantly though!

So here it is – Part 3, the conclusion of the story of my publishing nightmare, and how I finally recovered the rights to my novel from an intransigent and uncaring publisher. It was financially costly – but not nearly as costly as it might have been, and taught me a great deal about what not to do next time. Final blogpost, with as much in the…[Read more]