Dead Frog Lane: Easy rider

With yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there.

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MONDAY

In Starbucks to write. Have just spent about fifteen minutes looking at laptop stickers because I noticed the matt finish of mine is looking a bit scuffed. There are 25,000 Harry Styles designs on RedBubble. Had to tear myself away. Imagine me sitting in Starbucks writing on this

Couldn’t think what to write so I decided to go for it and have Sam find Aunty Bea’s suitcase in the loft. And then she texts her cousin to ask if she wants it. At which point I realised that I’ve said (at least, I think I’ve said) that Aunty Bea didn’t have children. In which case, who tf is the cousin? Something to worry about next draft.

Aunty Bea’s suitcase is based on my mum’s suitcase, found in the loft of the house I grew up in after my dad died in 2010. It contained Mum’s 1962 diary, postcards, programmes, letters, photos, even things like dry cleaning receipts from when she lived in America in the early sixties. It’s probably my most treasured possession.¹

Postcard from my mum’s suitcase.

Words today: 600

Total wordcount: 14,417

Added to the playlist: Copacabana by Barry Manilow. Obviously.

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TUESDAY

I’m getting to the point where I really want to collate everything I’ve written so far and read it through. But I want to get to the end of this week first. So it’s back to the original list for inspiration:

• MC’s ex-boyfriend (from her teens) is successful and rich and his business is regenerating a street (almost behind the MC’s house) in the town. It’s good to see him again. He rides a motorbike now.

I can totally get 700 words out of that. (I’ve piled seven Giant Chocolate Buttons for rewards. One for every 100 words.²)

Words today: 715

Total wordcount: 15,132

Added to the playlist: Bald by The Darkness, which I find wildly sexy for some reason. It is literally about male-pattern baldness.³

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WEDNESDAY

Blimey, the teen boyfriend is unexpectedly pretty full-on. They were only going to have a quick catch-up chat, but turns out they’re off for a drink with Sam on the back of his motorbike. (I’m already concerned about what this means for Adam.) (And I kind of want to go on a motorbike now. I never have.)

Words today: 800

Total wordcount: 15,932 (oh that’s very close isn’t it, let’s add a smidge)

Words today: 868

Total wordcount: 16,000

Added to the playlist: Hello Love by Jessie Ware (I added this last night so it’s unrelated to what I wrote today, it should really be one of her hornier songs, like Pearls or Freak Me Now).