Branching Out

So, as you might have noticed my blog has been re-named.

I've realised that if I want to get anywhere with my writing I need to start making contacts with other writes, and blogging seems an excellent way to do so.

Additionally, while I LOVE my NaNoWriMo novels, and Sibylline Nights is my focus right now, they're not all I'm about as a writer.

I also have two short stories in mind, and a third novel that's also in the first draft stage.

So, from here on out, Clare's Adventures in NaNoWriMo is evolving into Clare Dugmore Writes.



The content will stay pretty much the same, with updates, excerpts, graphics, writing targets and other tidbits, only now my posts will encompass all my writing work, not just the stuff written for NaNoWriMo.  


I also have a Facebook page and Twitter page where I'll be posting updates on my work from Monday onwards. My other Facebook and Twitter accounts will now become personal ones, to keep my writing and personal life separate (mostly for easy for me). 


Finally, I want to thank everyone who has viewed, commented on and followed the blog thus far. Your support is greatly appreciated and means a lot to me. I hope you'll all remain with me as this blog evolves, and I hope I can meet some new friends along the way.


As a parting gift this evening, I'll leave you with another excerpt from Sibylline Nights. 

 

Esmee watched as Sebastian walked away, trying her hardest not to focus on his tightly toned butt, and telling herself how very wrong it was to even been having those thoughts.

Needing a distraction she looked around for Maggie, and seeing Quinn and Yuri just leaving her sister, Esmee suddenly remembered what she'd witnessed the previous evening when she'd interrupted a moment between the Maggie and Quinn.

Wanting to know the gossip Esmee approached her sister's bed.

"I need some air. Fancy taking a walk with me, Maggie?"

"Sure. It has got pretty hot in here," Maggie replied, casting a nervous glance in Quinn's direction.

"Okay, spill. What's going on between you and Quinn?" Esmee asked as soon as they were outside.

"Quinn and I what? Nothing? No. He's nice. We're researching wolves. I like his cat. Nothing is going on."

Maggie nervously played with the buttons on her jacket.

"Yeah right! You luuurve him!" Esmee said in a sing-song-voice.

"I do not love him."

"You do so. Maggie and Quinn sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Oh grow up! We'd … I'd … he'd … I've never kissed anyone before," Maggie blurted, embarrassed.

"You've never kissed anyone?"

"No. Why would I have? Its not like boys are ever interested in me. You and Nola got all the good looks."

"Oh Maggie, please don't ever think that about yourself," Esmee said embracing her sister tightly. "You're gorgeous, you just have to believe it. And besides, looks aren't everything. What counts is you're a good person, too. Quinn obviously thinks so or he wouldn't be spending so much time with you."

"I'm helping him summon a wolf, that's all!" Maggie insisted, feeling self-conscious, she took of her glasses and pretended to clean them with the hem of her jumper.

"There's more to it than that. Anyone here could help him with his summoning. He's close with Yuri, and he isn't helping Quinn summon a wolf. I think that's just an excuse to spend more time with you."

Maggie looked at Esmee as though her sister had just suggested they rob a bank. What Esmee was suggesting was insane. Boys didn't look at her in that way. Did they?

"What do I do?!"

"That depends. What do you want to happen? Do you want to know for sure if he likes you? Do you like him too?"

Esmee was bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet now. She loved playing match maker for people, and it would be especially satisfying if one of those people was her sister.

"I don't know. I've never done any of this before. What happens if I get it wrong? I do like Quinn I'm just not sure in what way. And what if he expects something of me I can't give."

Esmee realised playing match maker for her sister and Quinn would be like asking a baby duckling to swim the length of a lake. Maggie just wasn't ready for something so big. Not wanting to scare her sister, Esmee back-tracked a little.

"Then take it slowly. Keep spending time with him and see what develops."

"It's that easy?" Maggie asked incredulously. This whole liking boys thing was confusing to say the least. She'd never really noticed boys before, she'd always been too busy with her studies. She didn't know how Esmee did it.

Esmee herself was thinking that she wished her own feeling were that simple, and she yet again had to shake images of Sebastian out of her her.

"It can be if you want it to be."

"But what do I say to him now?"

"What would you normally say to him? What would you have said to him if we hadn't had this conversation?" Esmee asked, as though it were the most simple question in the world. If it had been list all the elements of the periodic table, Maggie would have known in an instant. This left her baffled.

"I don't know. We'd have kept talking about him summoning a wolf, I guess. He's going to ask Grams about it soon."

Maggie shrugged, unsure if that was the right or wrong answer, and replaced her glasses.

"Then keep doing that. Support him when he asks Grams."

"What if he says something about liking me? You seem pretty certain he does."

Esmee thought this over for a moment. "Be honest with him. Tell him you've never had a boyfriend before and you don't want to hurt his feelings. If he really likes you he'll understand."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then he wasn't worth your time to begin with."