Feet up with a glass of Merlot after the second evening of the Starting to Write a Novel course running in Nottingham.  The course has been set up by Writing East Midlands and is tutored by Niki Valentine, a local novellist and tutor at Nottingham University. A group of about twenty of us have been set various tasks and exercises,  all aimed at encouraging us to think about how we write and developing the skills we will need. So far I am enjoying the course and finding it very thought provoking.  I hope my writing will improve as a result, I think I am justified in feeling confident of that.

I have finally finished a story I’ve been working on for some time, it was inspired by an H P Lovecraft (lots of information here http://www.hplovecraft.com/ ) story and set in the uphill part of Lincoln, an area steeped in history and well worth a visit, (again, more information here; http://www.visitlincoln.com/ ).

My fingers are firmly crossed for the story and how it fares. It is always a strange feeling when you stop editing a story and ‘let it go’. After weeks, in the case of a novel months or years, of working on a project, thinking about it frequently, if not constantly, you send it off and it either lives or dies. Whichever way it goes it is out of the writer’s control, the story, article, novel takes on a life of its own. The alternative is to keep on editing, to carry on looking for little improvements or to banish it to the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet, or the electronic equivalent, and never let it see the light of day. That seems too harsh an end for a piece of writing, the writer will never know how if it would  have been successful or not.

And now, onto the next project …

A quick check under the deck in the engine room yesterday morning revealed a significant amount of diesel in the bilge. So I spent most of the day pumping the leaked fuel into a can and clearing up the mess. It is most uncomfortable spending so much time sitting or lying on top of the engine and reaching down underneath it. Still, I had wanted to clean up under there anyway, I just did not expect to do it yesterday or while swimming in diesel. I found the leak, a slightly loose union in the spill pipe which carries unused fuel back to the tank.

The leaking joint was hidden underneath this plate.
All cleaned up now and fresh absorbent sheets placed underneath the engine to aid spotting any future leaks.

The sheeting is the lighter blue material under the engine and gearbox, goes nicely against the dark blue of the mechanical stuff.

Had an enjoyable weekend with Chris, including a trip to Beeston yesterday, first time out since arriving at Castle Marina. On the journey to Beeston we spotted a heron standing on the bank with its wings outstretched, clearly enjoying the sun’s warmth. Unfortunately I did not have my camera or even my phone to hand but this morning we spotted a heron perched on the rear fender of a neighbour’s boat. I wonder if it is the same bird keeping an eye on us.

After a week on narrow canals the Trent is a bit of a shock

The great journey continues along the Coventry Canal.

And then through Fradley Junction and onto the Trent and Mersey Canal.

7.30pm, moored between Alrewas Barton under Needwood, and cooking pasta for tea.

Just a quick post to start things off.

Thanks to Clive (www.clivecatton.co.uk) at Octagon Technology for setting up and helping me with this new project.