Books: Like London Buses, My NaNoWriMo Adventure

Like London Buses was largely written during the crazy month called National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, in November 2013.  I'd had the idea for a follow up to Follow Me! for ages and, as with lots of ideas, it had begun with an image, that of Cally falling off her bike cycling up Jack Straw's Lane in Oxford, a route I knew well from my time living and working in Headington but attending regular meetings (and the odd pub - another of Cally's characteristics) in the city centre.  I'm glad to say that I never actually fell off on the lane, but didn't always make it up the hill either!

As in the first book, it was the characters who led the route to the conclusion; I knew where we were all going but only they could find the path.  By the end of November I was 65k words in and becoming ever more disabled by difficulties with my joints.  Somehow taking increasing levels of pain relief made the whole process much easier and by mid December I wrote the final words, saved the file and shut my laptop and went to the doctor.  The book had not been re-read, edited or even spell checked - I just wanted it to flow day by day and usually knew exactly what I would be writing after another sleepless night.

Getting the novel to the point of publication in took another nine months of hard graft, much of it trying to discern the meaning behind the gibberish I had often typed.  But the structure and flow were bang on and remained largely unchanged.

It is now mid-October and another NaNoWriMo begins two weeks today.  I have an image or two in mind and know exactly where I'm starting and finishing.  The main character is a familiar imaginary friend already: unlike Cally, I like her, she's older than me and boy has she had a rough time of it.  In the last days of October I'll write down a broad structure and then on Saturday the 1st I'll start scribbling (once I've done normal Saturday chore like make cakes!).  It may work, it may not, but it'll be fun!

To celebrate, Like London Buses, my first NaNoWriMo adventure will be half price in the UK from 17-19th October 2014. Click here to download a copy.