A Writing Retreat

Breaking out plot points for book 3

At the end of one of the wettest Junes, which has led straight into an equally wet July, I took myself off to the southwest coast for a week. I got the opportunity for a cheap break down to Newquay in Cornwall, more renowned these days for the stag do club nights rather than Olde Worlde England, but nether-the-less if you are not there for the parties then avoiding the Friday and Saturday nights are your best options. 

My main aim was to get away and complete the draft of the second book in the Karl trilogy “Karl – The Lost Adventurer” and breakout the plot for the third and final book which currently has the working title “Karl – Demolich Rising”.

Meerkats at Newquay Zoo

As I said it was very wet, yes it managed to rain every day. Even though we (I wasn’t alone, that’s not the royal we) did get out of the apartment a few times. We visited Looe, The Monkey Sanctuary near(ish) to Looe, which takes in orphaned and rescued monkeys that can not be returned to the wild, and NewquayZoo a charity which does conservation work in many parts of the world.

I did achieve most of the work I set out to do. I would like to have achieved more, there is always more that could be done but I did complete the draft of book two and the story break down for book three.

Inside The Newquay Meadery

Finding somewhere to eat in the evening (we self catered most of the time) is not easy if you want to avoid the general standard fast food options. We did find two nice restaurants, both places we had visited in the past on a previous visit to Newquay.

One was the Newquay Meadery on Marcus Hill, which is a mediaeval themed pub and restaurant, with replica swords on the walls and very much Ye Olde England style. This is a good place for steaks and other old style meats when in season. They are very proud of their mead, but I’m not a fan of mead to be honest.

The other place I’d recommend is Ye Olde Dolphin on Fore Street. This is reported to be Newquay’s oldest restaurant, I believe that it has been through troubled times between our visits but it has now reopened and serves some wonderful seafood dishes and the service is excellent as well.

A damp day in Looe

I didn’t get many photos taken this visit, I mainly got pictures of rocks and sea, as the theme I want for the cover to the next book will be a misty rugged coastline, following on from the mysterious forest used for book one. These were mainly for personal inspiration rather than the actual cover.

Now I’m back I’ll need to get on with varnishing the coffee stick buildings and 'Zandina’s House', and then get to work on the ‘Axilion Trade’ shop and ‘The Ship and Hankor’ pub.

Balcony view, inspiration for writing.

Newquay Zoo

www.newquayzoo.org.uk

The Monkey Sanctuary

http://www.monkeysanctuary.org/

Ye Olde Dolphin

39-41 Fore Street, Town Centre, 

Newquay, Cornwall, TR7 1HD

Newquay Meadery

Marcus Hill, Newquay, Cornwall TR7 1BD