Trying...

Totals...Twitter 0 Tweets (REALLY bad!)... Facebook...1 status updates ...blog entry...one in progress...actual productive writing of my novel...nothing so far I worked a 13 hour shift, there's still time!
Cups of coffee...1 Cupcakes ...0 (sadly lacking in the cupcake department, will remedy this tomorrow!)
Music mostly on my itunes this evening...Florence and the Machine, James Morrison, Alanis Morissette (forgot how good she was!)

Hello June! Wow it's halfway through already, I have no idea where the time is going, but it's going somewhere pretty quick these days. So my good intentions of increasing blog posts has kind of failed but still here I am!
The title of today's blog means many things and kind of sums up life at the moment, trying to study, trying to blog, trying to write...trying to get fit (not sure my bottom has recovered from the three spinning classes I attended last week!!) and generally things that come up day to day. I sit here this evening enjoying a nice glass of wine (red of course!) thinking about the last couple of days in the day job, which have been somewhat trying for a number of reasons. What is great to see is the support from colleagues and how a team really pulls together when things get difficult, my job is rewarding on so many levels but can be very difficult. I'm not sure if any of them will be reading this out there but I would just like to say cheers!

In terms of life outside of the day job, it has been interesting to say the least. I am waiting for the next part of my first novel to be returned from the editor which is both exciting and terrifying - receiving feedback on my 'baby' and acknowledging that he is helping me on my journey. Picking up a new project which I'd not bargained for! Having already decided I would re-visit a project that is halfway through now that I have completed the second draft of my second novel. Instead of which I am now three chapters into a follow on to second novel, this thing seems to be taking on a life all of it's own so I figured it was only right to go with it and see where it leads...only time will tell.

At the same time 'trying' to feed the inner creative being I took myself to the movies, thankfully this time I was not plagued by compulsive talkers.

Cosmopolis, I've read the book - I found it an interesting read and will admit I had to read a few bits more than once but I stuck with it and loved it. I think there has been mixed reviews for the films and to be honest I usually make my own mind up if a film looks interesting and I enjoyed it. There were no special effects, huge explosions or the like as much of the films takes place in the back of a limousine but I thought it was great! I suppose the fact that Robert Pattinson has been cast in the lead will cause interest for some female fans, but rest assured for those who are not fans this is nothing like it! Hopefully it will prove to some out there that he can actually act? Who knows, but I enjoyed it.
Aside from the cinema this week I will be going to the theatre to see Carmen, something that I have wanted to do for a very long time. I love the music and it's the first time I've been to see and opera so I hope that I am going to like it. Perhaps I can let you know next time.

In terms for the next few weeks, I am hoping to really be able to concentrate on the storyline to the latest novel and develop it into something worthy of a sequel. Often sequels are a huge let down so I am determined a continuation of a story has got to have enough of a spark to captivate a reader to want to spend time with my characters once again, at least that's what I am trying to do.

Why?

Totals...Twitter 2 Tweets (which is kind of pathetic!)... Facebook...1 status updates ...blog entry...one in progress...actual productive writing of my novel...nothing I took a day off! Cups of coffee...1 Cupcakes ...1
Music mostly on my itunes this evening...Goyte, Florence & the Machine, Christina Perri.

Hi! So I vowed to get better with the blog and I have failed fairly spectacularly, so here in a nutshell is what has been happening in my life just in case you were wondering...the day job, studying related to the day job, having an impressive meltdown about studying, finished second draft of third novel, sent second part of first novel to editor (after emailing him under the influence of red wine and cocktails, not advisable!) and have now gone back to second novel - which is currently half way through, after stopping it to write third. Confused? Try being in my head!

And breathe...am wondering if I have a finger in too many pies, but I have to admit I've never been good at sitting still for long.
Currently I am enjoying two days off from the day job, I had a nice day planned. Spending the day with my Aunt who was catching the train to come and meet me...so here is where the title of today's blog comes into play... Why is it when you have something planned do things never go as you think they should? I get a message saying she will be late because the train has been cancelled, they put buses on instead which means it will take and hour instead of 20 minutes to get to me...a few minutes I get another message telling me the bus has hit a car! Thinking I have plenty of time I think I will leave the car and take a bus to the train station, after standing at the bus stop for forty minutes I give up, walk home and pick up the car. Finally we meet! Then after a bit of shopping we do lunch!

Well, this wasn't our entire lunch but definitely my favourite bit! If the bus had turned up it would have been even better because I would have been able to have more than half a glass, but I am sure my Uncle was very appreciative of a slightly tipsy wife to accompany him to the cinema after I waved goodbye. In any case it was a nice way to spend a couple of hours.
Having had my evening plans cancelled I decided a trip to the cinema would be a nice way to end the day. I didn't want anything I would have to think about too much so having already seen What to expect when you're expecting last week I decided to give Snow White and the Huntsman a try...

Now I doubt the film will win many (or any) Oscars but I have to admit I enjoyed it, or would have. Sorry am going to moan a bit here...WHY do people insist on going to watch a movie and talk through the ENTIRE film? What is the point in going, or do they think that everyone else in the theatre has paid their money to listen to their conversation? I can probably guess the answer to this and it would be NO!!!! Everyone makes the odd comment and that's fine but there really is no point in going to see a movie if you are going to talk all the way through it. OK I feel better now I have that off my chest. I guess I've probably been spoilt as in a former job I got to go to press screenings and had the entire screen to myself most of the time - perhaps I need to find myself another job like that? In the meantime I will try and avoid the cinema at busy times or maybe I could just take a supply of projectile weapons to launch at anyone talking to excess and ruining the film...too much?

Zen like calm...

Totals...Twitter 6 Tweets ... Facebook...2 status updates ...blog entry...one in progress...actual productive writing of my novel...nothing I'm (still) editing! Cups of coffee...1 Cupcakes ...1
Music mostly on my itunes this evening;  very sore subject...but Rebecca Ferguson, Marcus Foster.

Am feeling a little guilty not having posted anything since April. it's not that I've not had anything to say - I've probably had too much but life has just got in the way a little.

So I will start by saying that life has been a little stressful recently, it was not helped any by itunes yesterday. When I sat at my computer ready to edit - and as usual I need music to work with - my house is too noisy most of the time not to have something in the background to drown it out. But as I logged in my play list was nowhere to be found!
Now obviously I am aware in the grand scheme of things that this is a very trivial matter - but to me this was a disaster, the list was not that bad (honest) and I had been cultivating it for months. It sported a very eclectic mix of everything I liked at the moment and found motivational while I wrote. Needless to say I was not happy. I still have no idea where it went, I also spent a considerable amount of time looking for it when I could have been editing - so to say I was unhappy was a bit of an understatement! I have now started the process of compiling another play list - but it's just not the same and is going to take time to love it...I'm just wondering if by the time I come to love it the same thing will happen? Perhaps or maybe that is just paranoia?!

Due to the fact it has been a while since I last blogged I should at least prove that I have used my time wisely in order to harness my creativity...

Painting! I had a huge space on the wall which has been home to my story board for almost six months and it finally got taken down and was replaced with this! I had great fun with paints and mosaic mirror stars. It was a bit of a stress reliever too!

I also made some crab cakes for a friend who is a little bit obsessed with crabs! They were great fun to make but a little time consuming, but I think they were well worth it.

In terms of writing progress I had some great feedback from my editor, which I was very pleased about and having now had the first half of my first novel back I have to say that I love what he's done with it. It's still me ( I was worried - having never had anything edited before) but it's tidier and flows better. It's true to say that I probably walked around with a cheesy grin fixed to my face for close to a week. He is currently working on the next part and I can't wait for it to be finished.

In the meantime I have now finished the second draft of my second novel which is so completely different to my first, and the first time I have attempted to write "funny" I'm hoping it pays off as it was fun to write. I am hoping for this to be edited when first is done, and now I can pick up the next which I am about a third of the way through. If that wasn't enough alongside a full time job I am also studying and my assignments are really starting to pile up. I am trying not to let my writing take a back seat but I have a feeling something is going to have to give...if for nothing other than my sanity!

I am open to suggestions of how to juggle my time effectively, until that happens I guess I will just have to keep smiling and carry on! While on this I have to say that my gym membership has been wasted too, this is something I will be rectifying on Monday! I am going to drag my reluctant butt to start my running schedule (this is going to be hilarious!) along with a very lovely yoga class...

What the ****?

Totals...Twitter 5 Tweets ... Facebook...1 status updates ...blog entry...one in progress...actual productive writing of my novel...nothing I'm (still) editing! Cups of coffee...1 Cupcakes ...0 (Replaced with a muffin today!)
Music mostly on my itunes this evening; Emeli Sande, Maroon 5

As I talked about on previous posts I'm currently having a little break from writing. I'm not sure how other people do this but, having finished the first draft of my second novel I feel it is only right to devote some time to reading and editing as much as I am able to before handing it over to the editor I have been working with.
My writing process is perhaps a little more drawn out than it needs to be, owing to the fact I hand write initially before transferring onto the computer so I have already "tweaked" things here and there. This doesn't stop me from hanging my head in shame when I read through some of the things I have written, my initial reaction is what the **** have I written, my next thought is - I am hoping that a passing alien has in fact hijacked my brain for a few hours, taken it for a spin and decided to have a bit of fun with my project, either that or I  really am in trouble!

Or is this normal?
Are the feelings I am having of blind irrational panic that it's not good enough part of the creative process? I may need some help on this.
I am alternating between loathing and loving my novel in quick succession it's very odd - it's also a very different feeling from the feeling I had after I'd finished my first.
When I finished my first novel I was so proud that after all these years of saying I wanted to write a book, I actually sat down and wrote one. Yes there were flaws (major ones) but it didn't diminish how proud and probably smug I felt. The novel I have just completed is in a totally different genre the character just popped into my head and I sort of went with it to try and have a bit of fun, so why am I finding it so hard to like it?
I'm hopeful that after another few days, I will change my mind again...until then I may have to lock up the shredder!

Back to reality...

Totals...Twitter 7 Tweets ... Facebook...2 status updates ...blog entry...one in progress...actual productive writing of my novel...nothing I'm editing! Cups of coffee...1 Cupcakes ...0 (Replaced with carrot cake today!)
Music mostly on my itunes this evening; Marcus Foster, Chopin (Yes really!)

I have to admit I've been fairly lax with the blog updates over the past few days. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly it has been my birthday. They don't seem to bother me now, I had a really issue on my 29th birthday right up until a month before my 30th and now I don't care! (I was 35 this birthday in case you were wondering!) I had a great time, got thoroughly spoilt, spent a considerable amount of time in my local Waterstone's in Norwich spending my birthday voucher (making my inner bookworm very happy!) and then went out for a celebratory waffle with friends in the evening. So my day in pictures went a bit like this...

My birthday (cake) provided by my Auntie who I met for breakfast at 0800hrs not realising that I could have actually had a lie in but never mind we sat and yawned together and it was nice to see her!

These were actually cookies in the shape of cupcakes (major sugar overload) and were a gift from one of my housemates who said he'd cheated and bought them as his cooking is rubbish! Never the less they were lovely and provided much needed substance later in the day when returning from dinner after much wine was consumed.

Completely spoilt!! Lots of prezzies and lots of books to keep me busy for a little while while I edit, and have a breather before I start writing again.

Birthday waffle, mushroom and cheese sauce, very nice!!

Birthday dessert waffle, chocolate mousse with cream and banana and chocolate sprinkles. Well it would have been rude not too!

Finally after all the trauma with the printer, here it is. The first draft of my second novel I would give you the title but I'm not sure I'm feeling the love for it yet so may change it still. However that being said I am now starting to work my way through tweaking things a little before it gets sent on its merry way to be edited professionally! It was a weird feeling and actually kind of emotional seeing it all printed in front of me, not sure I will ever get used to that, not that I think I'd ever want to feel less excited at the achievement!

Sadly now my holiday is almost over, I go back to the day job on Sunday and it will be nice to see everyone but I know I will be itching to get home again each day to get through with this first draft as soon as it's now going to have to take a bit of a back seat now that I am returning to the job that pays the bills and keeps a roof over my head!

It will also be a bit of a relief to have the cakes and chocolate and everything else gone and get stuck into the healthy eating again and get myself back to the gym which I have to say I have neglected for a little while and I am starting to feel guilty so it must be time to go back! The idea for the plot and the main character for the book pictured above came to me while I was actually at the gym swimming (very slowly, I can swim for ages but I'm not very fast and I'm a boring swimmer I use the same stroke). It was probably because of the repetitive motion I was able to just switch off and after about forty-five minutes had to get out and grab my notebook. I scribbled furiously until I'd written as much of the plot and character information I could remember before it drowned in the abyss of my brain never to be thought of again. If it's successfully published I suppose I will have the gym to thank but until then I will probably continue to return begrudgingly.  

Hype...

Totals...Twitter 12 Tweets ... Facebook...1 status updates ...blog entry...one in progress...actual productive writing of my novel...nothing I'm editing! Cups of coffee...1 Cupcakes ...1
Music mostly on my itunes this evening; Snow Patrol, James Morrison.

I suppose it had to happen eventually and all this talk about Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L James had to get the better of my curiosity. There has been so much hype over this book, trending on twitter, Facebook followers and countless articles on the Internet and in print it's been difficult to avoid.  The fact that it originated as fan fiction in homage to The Twilight Saga brought to life by Stephanie Meyer is probably what drew me to it, it would be interesting to know her thoughts on this - though I can say having read all four books in The Twilight Saga and all three books in the E.L James trilogy I fail to see the link. Obviously changes have been made since the early days of it being more geared to being fan fiction but I would be concerned if the target audience of The Twilight Saga seek out Fifty Shades of Grey.
In my honest opinion (for what it counts for!) Fifty Shades of Grey is not the usual type of book I would read but I succumbed to the hype and decided to make my own mind up! It's not the worst book I've read but it certainly isn't the best book either, there are lines in there that are (and again in my own opinion I do not wish to offend) that are so overused they are uncomfortable to read, and to say that the main character has issues is a vast understatement!
However the success story for this self published story is something to be very impressed with and just goes to show the power that social networking sites for example have on our reading habits these days it's certainly impressive, all that and the talk of turning this now into a film is nothing to be sneezed at! So while I am dubious about whether or not the story content is my thing I have to admire and applaud the success it's received and only hope that if this is the route I end up choosing for my writing that I can write something equally as captivating to such a wide audience.

Any way enough of that! Moving on from that some welcome relief in the form of a picture taken by my brother who currently lives in France, something so cute I felt the need to share...

This is Colin (don't ask!) he is a french dormouse and is a protected species and was very nearly eaten by my brother's two cats, he has informed me (my brother not Colin) that he has spoken to the cats and explained that they are not to eat Colin. I'm not entirely sure they are going to listen to him but I sincerely hope for Colin's sake that they do!

bump back down to earth...

Totals...Twitter 9 Tweets ... Facebook...1 status updates ...blog entry...one in progress...actual productive writing of my novel...2500 words and finished 1st draft, Cups of coffee...1 Cupcakes ...1
Music mostly on my itunes this evening; Westlife, Ed Sheeran, Christina Perri.

Today has been a bit of a roller coaster, it's the first day of my holiday from the day job and I've planned nothing except a birthday dinner but that's not until next week so I thought it would give me ample time to sit and focus on meeting my self imposed deadline to finish the first draft of the novel I am currently writing.
Then today this happened...

Well, it happened in as much as I went to the counter and purchased them. I am sure you will agree it is a fine looking breakfast? I then sat and wrote like a woman possessed and something happened. Amazingly I finished my first draft a week early and ended up with cramp in my hand for my efforts but it was well worth it. I then walked around in the sunshine with a cheesy grin on my face feeling very pleased with myself. Not only does it mean I get to crack on with my edits now but I get my wall back...

Admittedly its not a great picture but what you are looking at is my storyboard of sorts. I got tangled in time lines for this novel so the easiest way around it for me was to map it out with the different characters and plot lines to make it more simple to manage and it worked too. Now I have a big empty wall and need to find something to put in it's place.

If this wasn't exciting enough I am getting to grips with Twitter (I think!) and last night joined in with a chat to Deborah Harkness who wrote my favourite book of the moment, A Discovery of Witches http://deborahharkness.com/ I will willingly admit I have read it more than once and also gave it to my mum for mother's day and she read it in three days and had the same reaction as me that she was gutted she had finished it and we're not able to read the next instalment until it's release on 10th July this year. I was very excited that I got responses to my questions, hopefully one day someone will have the same reaction to something I have written? I can live in hope!

Then this evening while celebrating my achievements...





Red wine. Of course!
Mid first glass I look at my phone and have received a text from my mum. She tells me her auntie had sadly passed away this morning. Right off I have to admit I have not spent much time with the relative on my mums side of the family as many of them live near the top of Scotland and I have only ever been as far as Gretna Green for a friends wedding. But of course I was saddened to hear the news and just makes you realise that no matter what is happening to you in your life good or bad there are always others worse off. From the nice things that my mum has said about her auntie she sounded like a lovely lady who had endured a difficult life at times but treated those she knew and met with immense kindness. So tonight and through this difficult time my thoughts are with those left behind. A somber note to leave it on this evening but I feel it's only right to stop here.