Writing, Querying and Green Fingers

First of all, happy July 4th to all you Americans out there. Hope you have a great day.

I sure hope your weather is good for today. Here in Ireland the summer hasn't started yet. Raining everyday for weeks! I did manage to get the grass cut in the back garden before the rain started again in the evening on Sunday. Bloody nettles were threatening to take over.

Thankfully, my attempts at growing my own are going well. The carrots and onions are growing nicely, the potatoes are looking good (above ground plants are anyway) and my tomatoes, well they don't look great but there is good news....

The first of the tomatoes has sprouted forth. I also discovered Instagram on this day too. I went round photographing everything in close up. This little green tomato is only slightly bigger than a cherry tomato at the moment.

I've taken a little break from writing the sequel to Bleeker Avenue. Rachael is just not ready to talk yet. Instead Katherine (aka Kate) has stepped out of my psyche and onto the page. She just got an interview for a job that is going to change her whole life!

Still querying agents and publishers for Bleeker Avenue. A few rejections so far but it's all par for the course.  I'm reading a lot of articles about the slush pile and agent blogs out there. One in particular I found very interesting It Came from the Slush Pile. Just stick to the submission guidelines. If your novel is good it won't need glitter and bells to find an agent/publisher.

Gardening

I hate wasting food. I don’t like leaving food on a plate, whether it’s in my own house or in a restaurant waste really bugs me. Having to throw out fruit, vegetables and potatoes annoys me worst of all.

The problem is that a lot of fruit, veg and potatoes are cheaper to buy in bulk. Having only two of us in this house means that quite a bit goes to waste, unfortunately.

So, that is why this year I have decided to grow my own in an effort to cut back on cost and waste. Tomatoes, onions, carrots and potatoes. It’s a pity I can’t grow bananas and oranges but we never waste them.

These are my tomatoes...

Down the back of my garden are carrots and onions...

I'm afraid the snow and freezing cold weather last week may have killed my potatoes but I'll keep my fingers crossed for them! I used to grow all kinds of things when I was younger and was quite successful so hopefully my efforts pay off this time. If not, there's always next year :-)

Beth loves the garden too...