Pages

Thursday 27 October 2011

Twitter, teething and TBR lists

Oh and tottering. Lady M has started walking. She waddles all over the place now, which means I can't very well sit with my laptop, trying to edit, because she will cause all kinds of chaos in the tiniest amount of time if left to her own devices.

Speaking of tottering, my TBR list is ridiculous. Every time I go to the library, I add a few more books to the stack. I have been staring at the beautiful cover of 'The Night Circus' for nearly a week now but I daren't open it quite yet. I know I will need a full day to devour it, cover to cover, without distractions. Alas, it will have to wait until the end of next week when I am child free (and have read my book group book, which is hiding behind some TBR books, afraid to be picked up (it probably assumes I won't like it very much as I have been disenchanted with the last few book group books). 


I suspect that my bookish Ben Nevis (well, I'm not quite at Mount Everest proportions yet) has something to do with making a promise to myself that I would have submitted Rock-a-Lillie to agents by the end of October. Ha. That is probably not going to happen. Unless I have a covering letter epiphany type thing. Unlikely. Anyway, back to Ben Nevis - this is Displacement Activity number one. Other DAs include:
  • Baking. Aah yes. My Nigella books suddenly call to me whenever it is time to edit RaL or draft a synopsis or write a cover letter to an agent. 
  • Cleaning. Not that I want to come across as slovenly or anything but I feel the urge to clean most when I am either cross or about to sit down and do some writing type work.
  • Organising. This is a classic DA. I must organise my spice drawer/the pantry (that makes it sound like a I live in Downton Abbey or Nigella's house - this is far from the truth)/my wardrobe/Lady M's wardrobe (she has one. It's bigger than mine. Way bigger)/clean my car. Okay, that last one has never happened. I don't clean cars. That's for husbands or dads to do. Sexist, moi?
  • Making space on the Humax. Because I need to keep it below 25% full. It's pathological, okay? I can't help it. I have OCD. 
  • Catching up on all my bookmarked blogs. I might come across something really important that helps with editing/synopsis writing/etc. 
  • Twitter. I don't think I need to say anything else. I can't be missing out. I think I need to wean myself of it. Or maybe just limit myself to checking it, oh, perhaps only ten times a day.
Oh yes, Lady M is also teething like a good 'un. Her first two teeth came through without us even knowing about them (until she bit the Chardmeister on the toe - then we knew about it). Fantastic, we naively thought. This is going to be a doddle. Yeah, not so much. She doesn't sleep much in the day now and wakes up between the hours of pitch black and dawn chorus. It is exhausting. And doesn't leave much time for writing type homework. Especially when I have to fit all my DAs in (and some exercise due to the aforementioned baking). 

Friday 14 October 2011

Stella Gibbons meet... The Vampire Diaries

I finished 'Cold Comfort Farm' by Stella Gibbons today and am ashamed that I had never read this before (or heard of it prior to becoming acquainted with the very wonderful Mostly Books in Abingdon, Oxfordshire). I picked up my copy in a charity shop (sorry Nicki and Mark at Mostly Books but at least it wasn't from Waterstones!) and started it straight away.

It took maybe four sittings to read and made me laugh more than Eddie Izzard (but less than Tim Minchin, who is a comedy genius and very hard to beat in the comedy stakes).

If you need a good example of purple prose, or just want to know what the hell I'm talking about, get a hold of this book and search out the asterisked paragraphs.
 
At the other end of the entertainment spectrum, I watched the first episode of season three of The Vampire Diaries. So pleased to have Damon back on my TV, although I had hoped he might have toned down the mad, starey eyes he does, but no. I fancy it's a bit more steamy this season though - vamp/wolf love scene anyone? And a bit more graphically violent - maybe it's trying to take a leaf out of True Blood's script. Whatever, it works and I, for one, will keep watching.
 
Anyway, I wondered if Stella was alive today, would she parody paranormal fiction? Or would she go for crime fiction? Or even contemporary romance?