Glad Tidings!

Well, now I need to say goodbye to Mrs Pessimistic because I got a phonecall today to say I got the job!

 

I'm so chuffed.  It's only two days a week, but that's enough to enable me to continue with my freelance work and trying to write.

 

I can't wait to get out into the real world again.

 

Big grin!

Rejection

One thing I've learnt about being a wannabe writer, is that rejection is not a reflection on the person you are.  Perhaps your writing style doesn't suit the editor, or the subject matter of the story isn't quite right for the magazine at the moment.  And remember, one man's meat etc, so while one editor might not want it, it might be just what another is looking for. 

So, whenever a story lands on my mat with a thud, I take a look at it, see how it might be improved and send it right back out again to a different magazine.

The route to publication is based on perseverance. Or so I keep telling myself.

Today I went for an interview for a part time admin job.  It's only ten hours a week, but would fit in nicely with the freelance work I'm doing and still might leave some time for writing.  It was a nice set up, I liked the people I would be working with if I got the job, and as it is a new position there is plenty of scope for making the job your own.

Yet, despite the fact that it is only 10 hours a week, my interviewers told me that they had had a massive response to the advert.  

I felt that I answered the questions well, but as I have learnt from my writing, I have no idea what they are looking for. 

Now I'll have to sit tight until they have made a decision, and if I don't get it, then I will just have to get back on the horse so to speak and start looking for something else.

A little bit of me can't help hoping that this might be the one though, just like when I send out my stories, I hope that this time might just be the one.

What is life without hope?

Remember, Remember

Well, this is the quietest November 5 I can remember, but perhaps that's because most people seemed to be celebrating it last weekend.  I must admit, Bonfire Night is much more furn when you can wrap up warm against the crisp autumnal air.  It's quite different sinking into squelchy mud while rain slowly seeps through your clothes - I had quite enough of that watching the boys playing football at the weekend, thank you ver much.

 

But thinking about bonfire night reminded me of something which happened years ago.

 

When my eldest was developing his reading skills, he took a fancy to history.  One day, whilst reading about the life of Guy Fawkes, he said to me, "Mummy, did you know that Guy Fawkes' step-father was a Catholic but his mother was a prostitute."

 

I only just about managed to keep a straight face before asking if he meant Protestant?

 

Out of the mouths of babes!

 

Is Writing Really a Form of Madness?

Sometimes, amidst the clutter of my family life, TV, the internet, emails and texts, I struggle to find the head space in which to write. 

On holiday I like to disconnect from technology and the outside world and exist in a bubble of my family, reading and writing.

I refuse to have a laptop and don’t even watch TV or buy a newspaper, and whilst my husband is snoozing in the son, and the boys play in the pool, I scribble away in my notepad.  I’m sure my fellow holiday-makers think I’m a complete loon. 

Fortunately my family are used to me and don’t bat an eyelid when I whip out my notebook while they are watching a game of football in a bar.  In my mind it frees us all up to do what we want to but who else goes on holiday with the aim of being more productive then they are at home. 

Perhaps I need to invest in an apartment in sun kissed climes where I could take my family every holiday (I wish).  Imagine my output over a six week summer holiday – I can but dream.

For now I’ll just settle for the crazy lady who scribbles in her notebook while lounging on a sunbed or ignoring the football.

My only problem really is on my return, trying to decipher the handwriting smeared by suntan lotion or the after effects of too many glasses of vino!

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

 

 

I’ve heard so much hype and good things about this book that when I saw it on Kindle just before I went on holiday that I couldn’t resist. 

I must admit, I struggled to get into it at first but I’m not sure whether that was because I was reading it on my Kindle, as sometimes I do struggle to connect initially when I’m reading things electronically.  I have to admit though, the more I got into it, the more I struggled to put it down.

This is a book that does need to be read quickly. There are so many twists and turns that I think I would have struggled to have remembered what had happened previously if the passage of time had intervened.

It is the story of a woman who goes missing on her fifth wedding anniversary.  Her husband comes home to find her gone with evidence of a struggle in the living room.  The story is told from the viewpoint of the husband, and from past diary entries of the woman which gradually lead up to the day of the abduction.

Right from the beginning, the reader is aware that there is something wrong with this marriage, but it takes a while to find exactly what that is.  Both narrators are in some way unreliable but to say any more would reveal too much of the pIot. 

This book is a master-plan in plotting. The twists were exceptional but in retrospect, clearly signposted and Gillian Flynn made me care about  people who, on pape,r should have been unlikeable.  Definitely one to re-read, to really analyse how she did this.

Good News!

I had a productive month in September, submitting five short  stories to magazines.  Sadly these weren’t new stories but some of them have had extensive re-writes so I’m pleased that at least I’ve got a few more stories out there.

Sadly, I didn’t manage to sub anything in October, but I did draft my final assignment for my Writer’s Bureau course and drafted one short story and half of another one. 

Mostly, though, I’ve been thinking seriously about how I want my career / work life to pan out and how I can set the wheels in motion.

And finally, I’ve had some good news from The People’s Friend.  My story “What’s Cooking?” which was accepted a while back is going to be published in the 9 November edition of the magazine.  I can’t wait to see my story in print!

November Madness

Today is the first day of NaNoWriMo, so good luck to all you scribes out there who are aiming to get 50,000 words under your belt this month.

Sadly, this year, I feel that I have too many unfinished pieces of work to start on a fresh one, so I’ve decided not to take part.    But November would feel slightly empty without some sort of a challenge. Right?

So I was delighted to read the article “Ten inspiring ideas to try instead of NaNoWriMo” on pages 12 & 13 of the November issue of Writing Magazine, and it set my little brain buzzing.

And, in light of my very poor number of blog posts in October, I’ve decided to issue myself the challenge of posting each day in November.   It seemed like a good ideal at the time, but I’m beginning to wonder if I'm not just a little bit insane.  Now it does feel like it’s the first day of November.

I’m sure some posts will be very short and some will probably be complete rubbish, so please bear with me.

One down, only 29 to go!

Happy November everyone.