Clare Flynn’s Blog
Infiltrating The High Range Club
I need to say upfront that the photo on the left of the famous (men only) bar of the High Range Club in Munnar was not taken by me but plucked from the interweb. Read on to find out why. I've been dying to visit this famous bastion of tea planters as a lot of action...
A Sleepless Night with a Firefly, and Farewell to Savanaram
Last night was like trying to sleep on a bed of nails - strange as I went straight off the night before. My only diversion during the small hours was a super bright firefly that had followed me into the room and stood guard by the bedpost twinkling at me all night....
Sunshine But No Elephants Yet
Well I’ve made it – with a few misadventures on the way – all of which have righted themselves (forgetting my adaptor – cause of major anxiety as its loss would put the blocks on my working – but they’ve found me one), forgetting my iphone lead (turns out it was in my...
Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum
What a fantastic and moving exhibition is Life and Death in Pompei and Herculaneum at the British Museum. I've been to Pompei (but not to Herculaneum) and thought it would offer little new, but this proved to be an incredible insight into everyday life in the two...
Looking Around The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne
My characters in Kurinji Flowers stay for a brief honeymoon at the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne - in the winter of 1936. As I happened to be in Eastbourne this weekend to meeet up with old schoolfriends I asked the hotel if I could have a look around and was treated to a...
Plotting or Procrastinating? – I Try Storyboarding
I've been trying to crack a plot problem and it's been driving me round the bend. I can't even decide if I want to simplify the story or make it more complex. I've been going round and round in circles (correction - in a vortex of doom) and can't seem to make any...
Pondering About the Parthenon
Today I was in need of some inspiration and creative stimulus, so took myself off to the British Museum. I haven’t darkened its doors in years and wanted to see the Parthenon Marbles – I’m ashamed to say I haven’t visited since schooldays. First off they are very...
Absorbed in Re-Writing
I'm afraid I've been a less than conscientious blogger lately - and I plead the double excuse of the holidays (I've still had 2 parties this week!) combined with re-writing of elements of A Greater World at the request of my agent before she sends it out again into...
Seeking Inspiration from Death
I try to take myself off once a week on a date with myself - one of the useful tips I learned from reading The Artist's Way. This week I went to The Wellcome Collection to see a wonderful exhibition on Death. It's not a medical exhibition but a mad collection of more...
Vicarious Visit to the Harrogate Odeon
Having completed my revisions to A Greater World and sent it back to my agent (a reworking of the way the protagonists meet) after a somewhat hesitant start, I've now begun a radical rewrite of Kurinji Flowers. Today my characters went to the movies at the Odeon in...
My Top Tip for Editing
This giant stuck together spreadsheet is hanging on the back of my office door! I was feeling overwhelmed by the size of the task facing me in doing some fairly major rewriting of my novel, A Greater World. I'd make some changes only to discover I'd already written...
Tales from the War Zone
I haven't posted for a while - I've been deep in editing - now on draft 3. I have several new scenes to write and need to get these sorted over the next couple of days. Not easy though as I am also working full time on Make it and Mend it as we have a summer intern...