Working hard with £'s in mind

I have now officially sold out (temporarily) to the commercial side and written a couple of completely commercial short stories. Romances. And I have to admit to a sneaking pleasure in writing love stories, we're all looking for love, pretty well all the time, love from our partners, children, parents, pets... Anyway, it's about a woman who only meets a man through her work - delivering flowers. The first time is to the man's dying wife and as the deliveries go through the first year, a relationship blooms (sorry). I think it really works, as a quiet little read over a cup of tea and a cake. As an antidote, I have written the rubber gloves story about a cleaner - more gory, a bit of suspense, and a bit more fun. I'm also working on Viking funeral, a short story for Writing magazine's June edition. Busy me.

My poetry hasn't had much of a look in, so I'll have to get back to that this week. Although I write at least 1000 words a day, it takes ages to finish a short story. I write a very quick first draft, but sometimes have to go back, and write another first draft or two - before I start the second draft which is really a complete rewrite. Then it has to go through quality control for the language, a haphazard affaire since I hate doing ti - so, it takes many hours of work for each short piece! I hope to get some course work done tomorrow - I promised myself I would do fiction 1 for the first TMA by the end of June. Not looking very likey, to be honest!