Procrastinating

I've spent most of the morning finding other things to do than come to my desk. 

Since putting my bum on my desk chair I've been trying to edit a story which wasn't working.  It's still not working so I've put it away for now, because that's the reason I was avoiding the desk in the first place.  Instead, I'm going to find something that I can get enthusisastic about, then at least the day won't be a total write off.

Hope you are all OK in the snow.  I'm doing my very best to stay inside and ignore.  Still full of a cold so the plan is to hibernate until I'm feeling better.  It's one of the plus sides to not having a job anymore and it stops me from spending money I no longer have!

Take care in the snow.

Linda

Actually .....

I've just re-read the entry requirements and it says the first 1000 words of your novel, so you do need to get your hero and heroine into bed rather quickly at the start of the book then!

 

Scratches head and awaits a lightbulb moment!

Should I or Shouldn't i?

I'm in a bit of quandry about whether to enter the ITV Competition  Racy Reads.

 

It's only a 1000 words, and although the deadline is 28 January, it's certainly do-able in terms of time.  Although, reading the terms and conditions, if you are selected amongst the finalists you have to go down to London in early February, not only to be filmed, but also to pitch the entire plot to the panelists.  So not as easy as they make it sound heh?

 

Not that I'm assuming that I would be one of the finalists, not by a long shot, but there's no point in entering with a defeatist attitude is there?  So if I was going to enter I would have to make sure that I was prepared, just in case.

 

The thing I'm not sure about is how racy do they want it to be?  Mills & Boon are involved, but so is Jackie Collins, and 50 Shades of Grey was mentioned quite a few times, along with the word "steamy".  Mills & Boon have certainly come along in terms of steaminess in recent years, and I'm comfortable enough with that, but 50 Shades?  No, I don't think that's really me, I haven't even read the books. 

 

Can I write love scenes?  Not really sure, but on the other hand, if you write romance its not a bad skill to acquire so the practice would be good.

 

The other thing that I'm not sure about, is do the 1000 words need to be from the beginning of the book or could it be an excerpt from anywhere?  If its the beginning then, it would indeed be racy because there's not much time to introduce two characters to each other, and to the reader, and then get them into bed, or elsewhere, in the space of a mere 1000 words.

 

If anyone is thinking of entering how do you interpret this?

 

Hmm, think I may need to go back to the i-player.

 

I'll let you know how I get on.

 

Linda

Falling At The First Fence

One of my New Year's resoloutions was to blog more regularly.  Seeing as its now the 17th and this is my first blog of 2013, I'm not doing very well am I?

It's been a bit of a unusual start to the year though. It's a poor excuse, but the only one I have. Before Christmas I scratched my eye. That healed up but then it became infected, so I've been on antibiotics and now all is well again.  For a while though, I couldn't even open my eyes, let alone read or face a computer screen. Thank goodness for my Ipod, I think its the only thing that kept me sane.

At the start of the year, when everyone else is getting back to normal, we start with another celebration which is my youngest son's birthday on 5 Jan.  Poor thing having a birthday so soon after Christmas, but he was due on Christmas Eve, so it could have been worse!

This year was the first year he didn't have to go back to school after the holidays on his birthday and, as it was a Saturday, and like the rest of the males in my family, he loves Leeds United, we paid another trip to Eland Road, stayed at a hotel and had a meal out in the evening.

Although I'm not a footie fan, I must admit it is beginning to grow on me.  It's a great atmosphere walking towards the ground with the fellow fans, and the family stand is full of different generations, grandads, dads, mums and offspring, all united in a common cause.

As it was his birthday, I was a bit worried that the score might not go the right way, especially by the way Leeds were playing (1-0 down at half time) and the fact that it was a knock out round of the FA Cup.  In the end, after a valiant effort by both teams, it was a 1-1 draw, resulting a replay. Thank goodness that didn't spoil the celebrations!

The reply was on Tuesday, and again, after being 1-0 down at half time, Leeds pulled it off winning by 2 goals to 1.  The next round, against Tottenham, is at home on 26th Jan and there are mumblings in the house about getting tickets. I'm not sure my nerves can stand it!

The boys only went back to school the following Tuesday and then on Thursday we took them out for two days (naughty, naughty) to pay a visit to the Emerald Isle.  My other half has a lot of Irish reletives so we vist regularly, and this was a 50th birthday celebration.

I'm not entirely sure that it's a good thing to go to Ireland in early January, it just adds to the excesses of Christmas, but a good time was had by all.

This week I thought it would be back to normal, but on Monday was struck down with a heavy cold. It's not man flu, so I can keep going, but as you can imagine, not much writing has been done recently.

I have, though, been catching up on some work and general paperwork, and am determined to get into a good routine soon, both with working from home and with the writing.  Wish me luck.

I hope you all have had a good start to the New Year, and now I would like to wish you, rather shamefaced, a belated happy New Year.

I'll be back again soon, I promise!

Linda

Reflections on 2012

I could write the same blog post at the beginning of each New Year, in fact here are my words from early January 2012.

I'm going to be more focussed on my writing, I'm going to declutter my house, get my life organised, lose weight and get fit.

So this year, whilst my intentions are the same, I'm simply going to say that I want to think of a way to make more use of my time. I'm either going to have to stop watching telly, stop sleeping or find some other way to find ways of being more productive. I know I run the risk of the same blog post in 2013 but I really hope not.

Be careful your words might come back and bit you on the bum.

So, have I been more focussed on my writing?

Well, I’ve tried but I’m not sure I have achieved much, certainly not in the way of publication, so this year I need to try and be even more focussed.

Have I decluttered the house?

Well, actually, I have made some progress, but not nearly as much as I wanted to.  There is still plenty of room for improvement, so this is still on the list.

Have I got my life organised?

I wish!

Lost weight or kept fit?

Ditto.

In many ways, my life has not changed fundamentally since the beginning of the year, except in one way. 

I was made redundant.

This is a good thing.  I keep telling myself anyway.  This is my chance.  My opportunity.  To work for myself and also to make the writing work.

So, what are my resolutions for 2013?  Simply to make some money independently.  To be my own boss.  To be my own success story.  2013 really needs to be the year I focus, focus, focus.

Oh, and by the way, I need to declutter my house, get my life organised, lose weight and get fit.

Ho hum.

Wolf Hall - The Verdict

Well, I persevered with Wolf Hall, and I did eventually finish it, but I can’t say that reading it was a pleasure.  In fact it was definitely more of a chore, 650 pages later though, and at least I can say that I got to the end.

Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy parts of it, and I did get an insight into Cromwell and his rise to power in the reign of Henry VIII, but I didn't find it an absorbing read.  It certainly wasn't unputdownable as some of the reviews suggested. Like I said before, perhaps I’m just not literary enough.  I don’t think I’ll bother with the sequel, although I have downloaded a sample, so I might give that a go and see if I get on with that any better.  Although not for a while.

I got so bogged down with the book that I had to take a break from it for a while, and so in between I read Carole Matthews’ book, With Love At Christmas.

 

I read her previous book, Summer Daydreams and thoroughly enjoyed it. The first chapter of With Love At Christmas was in the back of the book and I loved it too. Just goes to show what a good marketing technique this is as I couldn’t wait to get this book. I thought it would help me get into the Christmas spirit in the run up, and it certainly did that. In my eyes, Carole Matthews never fails to disappoint.

It is the story of Juliet, a working mum with a grown up family.  Like a lot of women these days, Juliet belongs to the sandwich generation.  Not only do her grown up children seem incapable of looking after themselves, her daughter is also relying on her for child care. To say that they are spoilt is a understatement and actually, this was the only thing about the book I didn’t like. I wanted to shake her and tell her to make the kids stand on their own two feet, but Juliet was too nice for that. 

She also had to contend with her own parents, a father who was grieving and a mother seemingly slipping into dementia.  But all through this Juliet’s love for them all, as well as her love of Christmas makes her a, truly charming character. 

But as understanding as he is, can her husband put up with being continually last on her list?  You’ll have to read the book to find out. It’s a truly cracking Christmas read. 

I can’t wait to download her new book, A Cottage by the Sea, which is due out on 3 January.

And while we’re on reviews, one of my Christmas books was Jenny Colgan’s, Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop of Dreams – yes it was one of the ones I chose myself.  I’m only part way in but I’m loving it too.

If you have any Christmas books to read, I hope you’re enjoying them too.

Happy reading.

'Tis The Season

Forgive me blog followers for not wishing you a Merry Christmas in advance of the season, I meant to, honest I did, but, as ever, events ran away from me. 

I was trying to be extra organised this year, and was doing quite well, until I managed to scratch my eye taking out a contact lens and had to spend a day in bed because I couldn’t open it.  For several days it was very sore and swollen and even attempting to look at a screen or the printed word was a complete no no.

It all seems to be better now, thankfully, although I haven’t attempted to put my lenses back in since and have been wearing my glasses which I hate.  Still, it’s a small in convenience compared to earlier in the week, and it’s made me realise just quite how much we take things for granted.

I always go a bit mad at Christmas and try and prepare everything myself, so Christmas Eve, saw me making pate, mince pies, cheese sauce and the list goes on.  By the time evening came round I was so tired that I wanted to cry. Sometimes I wonder why I put myself through it, when I’m sure everyone else would be just as happy with something picked up from a supermarket.  I suppose it’s my equivalent of a medieval hair shirt. 

I do enjoy cooking though, I just wish I could pace myself a bit better.  Now we have a glut of food in the fridge that no one seems to want to eat.  Still I suppose that’s all the fun of the season.  The diet will have to start when the mince pies are gone!

Although it was just the four of us for Christmas day, it was still hectic early on.  Now the boys are a bit older I thought that the present opening might not be as much fun but, if anything, it was the opposite. They were so excited by their presents that it was a joy to watch and justified, almost, all that trudging round the shops and searching websites.

I didn’t do too badly myself, although I actually picked some things for myself because it’s the only way to get want I want.  I did get a furry new hat for my winter walks though, so that was great, and I received a brilliant book on Charles Dickens from a friend of mine and an Amazon voucher from my mum, which I am really going to enjoy spending.

The day followed the usual church, then a drink with friends before going home to finish off the dinner.  After dinner is my favourite part of the day, sitting down with a glass of wine and the Christmas TV.  Christmas day telly was brilliant, although I was horrified by the ending of Downton. (I won’t reveal in case you haven’t watched it, although I imagine that by now all fans will be in the know). How sad, but then part of the programme’s success is down to the brilliant writing and the many twists and turns in the storylines.

On Boxing Day my family came to visit which was lovely, but more cooking, so I am now relieved to be having a few days down time just to chill.  My eight year old did a star turn by developing a sudden and unexpected passion for washing up.  It only lasted for one day but it was nice while it lasted.

I love the days between Christmas and New Year the best, but the weather isn’t exactly making me want to go outside, so the boys are going a bit stir crazy.  Playing board games and doing jigsaws just isn’t the same for dispelling their energy levels as a good run around.

For now though, I’m happy to catch up on my reading and start planning my next writing projects, when I’m not refereeing that is.

I hope that whatever you are doing you are managing to get some ‘me’ time in.  Everyone deserves that at this time of year.

Take care!