Tagged

Yikes, I've been tagged. Thanks, Amanda! And the question of this particular tag:
"If you could write a novel about any subject, what would it be?"

Before I get into my answer, I want to say that Amanda's lovedotcom (see her tagged entry on her blog - and no, I don't know how to put links in my posts yet) was fabulous! She sent it to me to read when she first started critting my writing for me and I loved it. It's a shame she hasn't still got a copy of it but at least she's managed to recycle some of her characters. I've done that too!

So, what is my answer? I've been thinking about this for two whole days and I'm not sure I have an answer. If I could write a novel about any subject, then I guess it would always be the book that I'm currently working on because that is always my favourite book at the time.

The first book I ever wrote was called The Wrong Brother and was about a woman who joins an online matchmaking service after a couple of years of being single again (after her husband left her for another woman), falls in love with a guy she meets online and then, when she goes to meet him for real, finds out he's actually her brother in law. That all happened in the first chapter and the rest of the book is them working out their relationship. I loved that story and I still do.

Jump forward two mss to the next one I'm still in love with (what that means is that there was a rubbish one in between!) called The Italian's City Bride.

OK, I'll stop rambling about past mss and talk about the current one now. To be honest, I'm not sure I should write it. It's about a woman who doesn't have any children and doesn't actually want any. Why am I unsure if I should write it? Because not wanting children seems like a crime these days!

However, this story has been running around in my head for at least 12 months and the desire to write it gets stronger and stronger each time I look at it. I probably shouldn't but...

Family events, Jake Wellington hated them. People went out of obligation, not because they really wanted to be there. They spoke politely to each other, smiled for photographs and then usually ended up getting drunk.

Except he didn’t think this event would involved that much alcohol. This event was supposed to be about a person who couldn’t drink. A child. But that didn’t usually stop his grown up relations from turning celebrations into a drunken party.

Still, he didn’t intend on staying long enough to find out. He’d go outside to join in the party for long enough to say hello to the family. Out of obligation. Then he’d make his excuses and leave.

It was already arranged. In precisely thirty minutes his mobile phone was going to ring. He’d take the call and would, reluctantly, have to leave to attend an urgent business meeting.

‘You look like this is torture for you.’

Jake turned towards the voice, ready to defend himself. ‘You don’t look so happy yourself,’ he retorted, guilty at having revealed his thoughts. Hopefully Rosie and Justin hadn’t noticed his unwillingness to take party in what was supposed to be a happy family event.

The woman shrugged. ‘I don’t like christenings.’

There was something in the way she said it that told Jake there was much more to her short statement. Then it suddenly dawned on him. ‘You can’t have children?’ he asked, followed quickly by ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.’

He was surprised when the woman laughed. ‘Oh, it’s much worse than that,’ she said with a tinkle in her eye.

He raised his eyebrows in question.

‘It’s not a case of not being able to have children so much. It’s more a case of not wanting children.’ She paused to glance at the guests, most of whom had a child or two. ‘It’s something of crime around here.’

He smiled. ‘I know.’

‘Don’t tell me they pester you as well? “When are you going to get married?” “When are you going to have a baby?” “Don’t leave it too late – your biological clock is ticking”.’

He nodded. ‘They do. ”Isn’t it time you found yourself a wife to have children with?” I get that one every time I come to a family event.’ He grinned. ‘So how is your biological clock?’ He ducked to avoid the flowers the woman threw at him.

That is the opening for the ms I'm calling No Maternal Instinct. I have no plot. I'm just writing it as I go, putting the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Another ms I'd write if I had the time is about a group of woman who share an allotment. I've done the research but I need more of a plot (no pun intended!) for this one. I've got several opening pages but none of them have grabbed me yet. And, I had a title but I saw a new book out with the exact same title when I was in Tesco yesterday checking out the new releases.

OK, so I've prattled on enough. Who am I going to tag? Only four or five people know about this blog and three of them have either already answered the question or been tagged. So I'm going to cheat a little bit. If you haven't already been tagged, tag yourself and leave me a comment so I know to pop over to your blog to read your answer.