Hi everyone,

I'm slowly beginning to recover from the shock of losing all the posts I wrote over a few years, and I've decided to start writing it again, but to also copy posts onto a wordpress blog, so there are two copies. There are serious problems with the Fractal Publishing website, which seems to come and go, and, as most of the information about what I do, (along with my references), are on there, it is more than a little disheartening. This is the link to my amazon author page, with books still in print. (Most things are out of print now, and many have only been published in magazines.)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philippa-Roberts/e/B0034NLYW8

The word 'Stargleam' is a good one to put in in a Google search for me. 'Pippa (or Philippa) Roberts Stargleam' brings up quite a few relevant links, and distinguishes me from the jeweller, Philippa Roberts, and all the other people who share my name. (How dare they?! :D) I used to have to keep a low profile online, and so have always had to use pseudonyms. Eleanor Theyer was the name I used for my journalism.

So... that's the dull bit of the post done. I need to tell you all that I am doing now. :) The play and novel for the Hull University project are done, and I'm in an interim period before writing the next play for them. I'm using the time to work on things that I did years ago. I'm still finding that I'm on a steep learning curve, which is frustrating it some ways, as I look at things I wrote, even a few months ago and realise I can improve them. I have always been a terrible perfectionist, and all through my teens I compulsively rewrote a novel. It was quite sad as an adult to look back and see that the first draft was far and away the best. The only sort of rewrite that works for me now is a) to move information around and incorporate more detail. b) to rewrite the entire book or play, changing the structure (and I've had to do that a few times!)

I'm slowly revising Things You Can Do With Chips, and I've decided to write Miz Margenon's Jungle for adult actors. I'm sad about it in a way, because I think it would be really valuable for a YA audience, with the help of a teacher, or other adult to discuss it. I've talked to director, Paul Milton at the Cheltenham Everyman, and to other writers, and the general consensus seems to be that I should write it for adults. It's a very powerful, and also a visually striking story, so I hope this is the right solution at last.

On the novel front I'm writing two things. The first is a ghost story for a YA audience. I wrote the first draft a few years ago, and now I'm revising it. The second is an adult mystery. I'm still plotting out the background at present. You can see my hero and heroine on my boards on Pinterest. Or, at least, people who look very like them. :) (Adrien Brody and Michelle Pfeiffer. :)) I love Adrien Brody's face -sensual, intelligent and beautiful. I fear my heroine will go crazy about him. :D I've tried to upload an image from pinterest, but this software won't let me do it. Grrrr.

So, that's where I am now. I do work too many hours, and I do go to a lot of workshops around the country, but I'm doing the work I absolutely love.

See you all again soon,

Pippa x