It's week two and I am just about settling in. We have had lots of visitors over the last week from family and friends which has been lovely and helps me start to feel at home. We went up to have a look at the house yesterday and to be honest, there doesn't appear to be much that is now recognisable. Walls down, chimney removed, wires hanging down every wall, dust three inches thick. Can't wait to see the final result. At home I use a PC for writing but there isn't oodles of room here. The old laptop I brought with me was quite a bit short on processing power and it took almost as long to open a website as it takes me to write a blog so...I've taken the plunge and invested in a brand new one. It is all singing and all dancing so it is taking me some time to come to grips with it. But, the thing about treating yourself to something new is that it inspires you to do new things, or at least to pick up where you left off. What I am trying to say is that I have now got the study books out again and have made some headway on my penultimate creative writing course. My aim is to write at least 50% of the novel in the next 6 months and to complete it by Autumn next year at the latest. There is a lot of research involved and I so love researching in between writing. The story is set in Elizabethan times and any suggestions of good fictional novels I might read that relate to that era would be gratefully received. I have read a couple of C. J. Sansom and Ken Follet novels to get me in the mood and am now tackling Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall before reading Bring up the Bones. Looking forward to hearing all your suggestions.