When I was young my parents had little money to spare so we often went on country drives for our weekend entertainment. My father loved driving and my mother found narrow roads for him to explore. As far as my brothers and I were concerned, the best parts of the journey were our picnic lunches with wonderful treats like devilled eggs, sandwiches without the crusts, fudge brownies, and a late afternoon stop for ice cream.
My writing career has that country road feel with twists, turns, dust, gravel, t-junctions and the clang of a railway-crossing bell. I’ve felt lost on occasion and have had to change course from time to time. I’ve been mired in the mud of rejection and experienced the fog of a dead-end story. Perhaps these words sound negative, or at least less than positive, but in reality each corner and dip has taught me something and the views have been spectacular. Wide-open spaces in which to think, hills where the far side is unknown, clouds pregnant with imagination, a refreshing jolt of chocolate ice cream.
Are we there yet?
FOR MORE ON READING & WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION follow A WRITER OF HISTORY (using the widget on the left sidebar)
M.K. Tod writes historical fiction and blogs about all aspects of the genre at A Writer of History. Her latest novel, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE is set in WWI France and is available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. Her debut novel, UNRAVELLED: Two wars. Two affairs. One marriage. is also available from these retailers.
One Response
“Are we nearly there yet.” The regular cry during the journey from our friend’s little boy who we conveyed home from school with our children … and yes on occasions over thirty years later he is still a pain! Take a child at seven … is not far wrong.
Earlier still my father used to hire cars for similar outings. We often got lost and the cars were not always trouble free. My best memory was being lost in HA Ha Road south of Woolwich Ferry with an pre Farina Austin A55 where the gearbox was un-inclined to go into reverse gear. A few extra blue words were added to my vocabulary.