Welcome, Penny Hampson!

From Penny’s #WIP:

Somewhere in the distance, a church bell rang the hour, one o’clock. Freddie, roused from his slumber, turned on his side and pulled the duvet over his head. Trying to relax back into sleep that wouldn’t come, his ears picked up the chimes of the grandfather clock along the corridor outside his room.

Swish, swish, swish.

Freddie’s eyes shot open. What was that?

Sitting bolt upright, his hand reached for the bedside light. Wincing at the sudden change in illumination, it was a moment before his eyes adjusted sufficiently to make out the room. Everything appeared to be the same as it had when he’d gone to sleep two hours earlier. Shivering, he pulled the duvet up to his chin. The swishing sounds had stopped. Had he just imagined it? Shaking his head at his overactive imagination, and telling himself that he might as well use the bathroom now that he was awake, Freddie swung his legs out of bed.

The wooden floorboards were cold beneath his feet as he padded towards the door; it was certainly very chilly all of a sudden. He tried to remember what time the heating went off. Was it colder because he was on the top floor, under the eaves? This was his first night sleeping up here – a temporary measure until his old room was ready – and it took him a couple of seconds to get his bearings before he remembered which way to get to the bathroom. That was one of the problems of living in a large and rambling stately home. Still, things could be worse, he told himself as he opened the bathroom door.

Mission accomplished, he trod softly back along the corridor to his room, stepping through the patches of moonlight coming in through the skylight windows.

Freddie halted. That was strange. He was sure he’d left the light on and closed the bedroom door behind him but now it stood wide open and his bedroom was in darkness.

‘Hello. Anybody there?’ He felt foolish for asking, but perhaps he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep.

There was a crash as something heavy landed on the floor.

Freddie rushed forward, his hand searching for the lightswitch.

‘Xander, is that… ?’

Freddie’s breath left his lungs as something cold shot through him. It was impossible to breathe, never mind speak. A second later, his lungs started to function again. Taking a gulp of air, Freddie’s fumbling fingers found the lightswitch at last and flicked it on, then gaped at the sight before his eyes.

The bed he’d been in just a short time ago looked as if someone had been engaged in a pillow fight. The duvet was across the room under the window, feathers fluttering and swirling in the air where the pillows had been scattered over the floor. Freddie frowned. The gentleman’s dressing case, a prized new possession, had somehow moved from its place on the chest of drawers and now lay on the rug in front of the fireplace, its contents scattered about.

‘Bloody hell!’

Writer’s WIP Questionnaire – 2

1. In the past two weeks, I have felt mostly happy about the progress of my WIP.

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Comment: 9

Yes, I’m happy that my plot is coming to a satisfactory conclusion. I’ve got lots of threads to pull together but I’m confident that I can pull it off. I just need to do a little more research into one aspect of the story (exorcism, anyone?) and then hopefully it will be plain sailing towards the words ‘The End’!

• In the past two weeks, I have mostly managed to balance my writing life with the rest of my life.

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Comment: Definitely 1!

I’ve recently been on holiday for a week, so writing was impossible. After not seeing my family for so long there was no way I was going to ignore them and spend my time writing! Now I’ve got back home, I’ve got lots of catching up to do with domestic things, so finding time to write has been difficult. I’d love to be able to lock myself in a room and work uninterrupted.

• In the past two weeks, I have made drastic changes to my WIP.

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Comment: 9

No changes here. I’ve always known where I was going with the plot. There might have been changes in the middle, which always happens to me because I’m not a plotter but a pantster. I know at the beginning of my story where my characters are going to end up, it’s just a case of working out what will happen on their journey.

• In the past two weeks, I have mostly suffered from ‘writer’s block’.

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Comment: 5

Yes, it’s a bit difficult to get back into the story after taking a break. I usually solve this by re-reading the last couple of chapters that I’ve written – though that often ends up in editing these chapters. My aim is to write around 2000 words per day, but I’m happy if I manage 1000.

• In the past two weeks, I have focussed on one project.

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Comment: 3

 I’ve had to juggle several different projects as well as my WIP. I’m committed to writing several blog posts for other authors’ blogs, all of which have deadlines. Trying desperately not to drop the balls.

Thanks for dropping by, Penny, and good luck with keeping all those balls in the air – I’m scared for Freddie right now!

Penny Hampson writes mysteries, and because she has a passion for history, you’ll find her stories also reflect that. A Gentleman’s Promise, a traditional Regency romance, was Penny’s debut novel, which was shortly followed by more in the same genre. Penny also enjoys writing contemporary mysteries with a hint of the paranormal, because where do ghosts come from but the past? The Unquiet Spirit, a spooky mystery/romanceset in Cornwall, was published by Darkstroke in 2020.

Penny lives with her family in Oxfordshire, and when she is not writing, she enjoys reading, walking, swimming, and the odd gin and tonic (not all at the same time).

For more on Penny’s writing, visit her blog: https://pennyhampson.co.uk/blog/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/penny_hampson

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pennyhampsonauthor

Penny’s Books:

THE GENTLEMEN SERIES (Regency Historical Mystery/Romances)

A Gentleman’s Promise (new edition): purchase link ~ mybook.to/Gentlemans-Promise

An Officer’s Vow: purchase link ~ mybook.to/AnOfficersVow

A Bachelor’s Pledge: purchase link ~ mybook.to/ABachelorsPledge

The Unquiet Spirit (A spooky contemporary mystery/romance) purchase link ~ getbook.at/theunquietspirit

Dark Scotland (An anthology of dark stories set in Scotland) includes ‘The Rowan Tree’, one of Penny’s short stories. All royalties got to two Scottish charities. Purchase link ~ mybook.to/darkscotland