NaNoWriMo Possibility?

Image: Black Knight

I mentioned yesterday that my wife only took a handful of photographs while in Portugal but the ones she did take were of a sunset. Well, I took some too, quite a few in fact, which is the reason they still aren’t ready to show off. I spent a while going through them last night, resizing and cropping, and I promise to post them tomorrow once they’re complete.

Anyway, the location that these sunset pictures were taken is also the place that started the generation of a new story idea. I shall explain.

Leading from our hotel complex were two dusty paths. Each of these took you through a secure gate that led to a cliff-top path. Cutting into the cliff at one section was a man-made staircase leading to the vast golden beach, but it was the cliff-top that provided me with the inspiration; the views from it were simply stunning.

You could see for hundreds of miles out to sea and in either direction along the coast. The height of the cliff was quite alarming at first; the sheer drop as you approached the edge several hundred feet down onto sand-ravaged rock. There was nothing to stop you from falling and with warning signs explaining the cliff was made by nature and worn away by nature, treading too close was at your own risk. Naturally, as a writer of many things including crime fiction, this sparked a wildfire of ideas.

When I left the Greek island of Rhodes two years ago, I had a fully formed story in my mind involving an earthquake, a missing kid, a holiday rep, a marital affair and false accusations. This time, though, all I have are some characters and a location. I don’t know yet how they all knit together but I have a fair idea.

So far, I’ve got an English barman called Mike, who works in a café and lives on the outskirts of Vilamoura; a party girl called Latte, currently holidaying with her “Sugar Daddy” on his yacht moored in Vilamoura; an unnamed bloke on a writing retreat in a small secluded cottage near the beach, a Scottish gangster hiding out in the Algarve for tax fraud and who would also like to be questioned with regards to a series of armed robberies in the UK; a secret romance and a murder on a treacherous Algarve cliff face. Do I have the sound of something you’d like to read? Could this be the formation of a novel for November and something I can use to dip my toe back into the pool of NaNoWriMo? Stay tuned because I think it may.

I’ve not done NaNoWriMo for a couple of years because it didn’t form part of my overall plan. The years I have done it I have enjoyed it immensely and I think if I have the right story and my annual pan works out kind, I’ll jump back in and give it another go. But no promises to me or anyone else. 🙂

In the meantime, I promise I’ll post the pics tomorrow.

I received notice and payment that my poem, THE FINAL NAIL, will appear in Every Day Poets today or tomorrow. If you haven’t subscribed you can do so by visiting the site and they will email you the poem when it gets published. Otherwise, I’ll post the link when the poem is up.

I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about next year, where I am compared to where I planned to be, what I want to achieve, how I can change things, etc. I revisited “Devon Ellington’s 1 to 25” in order to do this and will use the outcome to start generating my final GDR for the next year. It’s a good starter and basis for thought before I get into the meat of it all.

I envisage settling on a smaller set of goals that will be more achievable, that I can focus more intently on, and that will provide more benefit to me and improve my chances of publication. I also need to start pushing myself out more and more. Believe it or not, watching my wife promote her photography business has been a huge inspiration because she seems to have more ‘get-up-and-go’ than I do—and I thought I had a fair amount to begin with!

I ended my night by watching ‘Another Audience With Freddie Starr’. What a scream. Not as funny the as the original show but still superb entertainment. I was lucky enough to see him play in the Glasgow Pavilion many years ago. My mates and me went for some food and a bevy before piling into the theatre and having a great night of raucous laughter. Shame he’s given it all up.