tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53189558300125455892024-03-19T11:01:20.739+08:00Gabrielle AquilinaAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-92040543436731831972014-04-30T00:54:00.001+08:002014-04-30T00:54:05.368+08:00Things that made me smile today...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. A man playing the piano in the shopping centre</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOPi25QrJ4IPFDwLgpqni3b9Rw-6KMZqL9_IVGcPMbKHLHBuCuYPhXYIWlcUQ7JdURnP0REdxWw1wgACn1cgeG543aUzz6BiutS7Zr2CbmPmyXwaVV_tHtRigLXwhPP78gkNUqvLEciGw/s1600/piano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOPi25QrJ4IPFDwLgpqni3b9Rw-6KMZqL9_IVGcPMbKHLHBuCuYPhXYIWlcUQ7JdURnP0REdxWw1wgACn1cgeG543aUzz6BiutS7Zr2CbmPmyXwaVV_tHtRigLXwhPP78gkNUqvLEciGw/s1600/piano.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Having coffee and a giggle with a friend I haven't seen for a while</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuXym1LXe2bTjO6hOpdQ-ZXog4CYYzRtKueXqTZPIlA0KWzBceDFTkpwx0gIf45qu_GEsWeVv1rcoxphneLup_ZAQZ5Tu96Gbv9y8wzsXCaq1jD2a4pu8NJ-SoPMm4bQkDa8uqQceZKl8/s1600/coffee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuXym1LXe2bTjO6hOpdQ-ZXog4CYYzRtKueXqTZPIlA0KWzBceDFTkpwx0gIf45qu_GEsWeVv1rcoxphneLup_ZAQZ5Tu96Gbv9y8wzsXCaq1jD2a4pu8NJ-SoPMm4bQkDa8uqQceZKl8/s1600/coffee.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Starting a new book</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1CIfba2vafmNOuC0Yd5sY8N3hKYKHhBHgbjT4lfef_rifurTk02YTtUAiE5GvftbA6Qhz97atClntQnrLoK3aKB5oSiUwJbcbVNb0Z5dfHvtkJGcSoTob4IVhDQjkSJu2aclM2zAQiTI/s1600/theaccidentfinalcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1CIfba2vafmNOuC0Yd5sY8N3hKYKHhBHgbjT4lfef_rifurTk02YTtUAiE5GvftbA6Qhz97atClntQnrLoK3aKB5oSiUwJbcbVNb0Z5dfHvtkJGcSoTob4IVhDQjkSJu2aclM2zAQiTI/s1600/theaccidentfinalcover.jpg" height="320" width="208" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Getting to the end of a particularly hard spinning class</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOEKe7BPcS6zOWVy9XKl1c0bm6n-oCtZRNeE4nio9tunE9y7MGh_I82oCwTrRCfFLAlMeUbllcWUPQJIGyvrBR972HAr-6MimRieBP7sOnIZjuUBEHEQkeQMbBsp9t4a1QumSpDUj91J8/s1600/bike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOEKe7BPcS6zOWVy9XKl1c0bm6n-oCtZRNeE4nio9tunE9y7MGh_I82oCwTrRCfFLAlMeUbllcWUPQJIGyvrBR972HAr-6MimRieBP7sOnIZjuUBEHEQkeQMbBsp9t4a1QumSpDUj91J8/s1600/bike.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Being Twitter followed by a real, live author, Rosie Blake (I have no idea why but I love her book so am well chuffed!) </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0O94IAEBoZtQZf3Wp9YhtSyV2AHY9kz8BFVuvQ3aSLj5ZDKg_2tUyrLd9VL7egGFfMKClVfnGaYITqlM7daUuxcDXfHUgomeKKe2QDwvhA4pzzHTloDYNBXS20HCu4BTXyzDUYz2GDV8/s1600/rosie+blake.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0O94IAEBoZtQZf3Wp9YhtSyV2AHY9kz8BFVuvQ3aSLj5ZDKg_2tUyrLd9VL7egGFfMKClVfnGaYITqlM7daUuxcDXfHUgomeKKe2QDwvhA4pzzHTloDYNBXS20HCu4BTXyzDUYz2GDV8/s1600/rosie+blake.png" height="320" width="223" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. Afternoon Spring sunshine</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp6DmCiTwLZI1K7UWc2hkCtfBMfiPM_WFp-gnMtXg3loUTBsXjUdUWOR_HWIj8LFKLzZ8mJcUUTiMeyj2OJa9TTe4JStTXUtcLY33spylGu-LulTKazbi8hcuqsdEAB7cDukHbRXOjrB8/s1600/sunshine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp6DmCiTwLZI1K7UWc2hkCtfBMfiPM_WFp-gnMtXg3loUTBsXjUdUWOR_HWIj8LFKLzZ8mJcUUTiMeyj2OJa9TTe4JStTXUtcLY33spylGu-LulTKazbi8hcuqsdEAB7cDukHbRXOjrB8/s1600/sunshine.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. Seeing lots of people at the library this morning</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Mfu0gS7y0ZW_BPGsnRv8T9y45xLxonl67O-4j9Xk5wGIEtyKQHyvtgbJhpmONwDteYb-3cxCbIbNjfPPc1c6lsKOJlCUf_ygotkMUxsPDyStWWvziK4RE49Rngl197k5vUtoPctMY5w/s1600/library+sign.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Mfu0gS7y0ZW_BPGsnRv8T9y45xLxonl67O-4j9Xk5wGIEtyKQHyvtgbJhpmONwDteYb-3cxCbIbNjfPPc1c6lsKOJlCUf_ygotkMUxsPDyStWWvziK4RE49Rngl197k5vUtoPctMY5w/s1600/library+sign.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. Dancing with Lady M</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-28473729647699203822014-03-25T00:41:00.001+08:002014-03-25T00:48:07.695+08:00Writing Process Blog Tour!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm so pleased to be part of this blog tour - big thanks to <a href="http://sallypoyton.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Sally Poyton</a> for tagging me in! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sally and I met at the excellent writing group, Abingdon Writers, whose members write in a large variety of genres. You'll note that my tagged authors are also members of Abingdon Writers and write in different genres to both Sally and I. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you're new to my teeny tiny corner of the internet, I write contemporary romance and am currently waiting to hear from an agent who requested my full manuscript a couple of weeks ago - eek! The same manuscript is out with a couple more agents who I am hoping might ask for the whole thing too... Fingers crossed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, onto the subject of the blog tour and the how and whys of my writing!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What am I working on? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, I have a first draft of my second novel locked away at the moment waiting to go through a first edit - as suggested by Stephen King in the excellent 'On Writing', I'm leaving it to sit for a while before I go back to tear it apart and tidy it up. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGUDOj-2W6pL25ny-JedJQ3J3izDIamdYPjKZlNMDXceqyECXzqRWjVRcaRxbN6RBaQr3UYDH3xYJjMltADPvnuEhCYfxuAf89shwncPrsQuViDG2f4r_EgZsM3oLMZGySTKGt4ZbzF_U/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGUDOj-2W6pL25ny-JedJQ3J3izDIamdYPjKZlNMDXceqyECXzqRWjVRcaRxbN6RBaQr3UYDH3xYJjMltADPvnuEhCYfxuAf89shwncPrsQuViDG2f4r_EgZsM3oLMZGySTKGt4ZbzF_U/s1600/download.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the meantime, I'm working on the first draft of a spin-off novel based on a secondary character from my first book. This character was so popular with my lovely test readers that it seemed only right that I give him his own story. He is enormous fun to write and I'm having a great time writing his story. He's a bad boy and a bit of a man-whore but he is incredibly loyal to his friends and would do anything for them. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How does my work differ from others of it's genre?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a toughie. I suppose it's all in 'the voice'. That unique way of telling the story, the characters you choose, the way you progress your story line and develop your characters. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also tend to have my couple get together early on and deepen their relationship until something or someone tears them apart. Then I can explore their responses and the reader really gets to know the characters as individuals. Getting them back together often shows how they have grown and learnt something about themselves along the way. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why do I write what I do?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love a good romantic comedy - they can make you feel the whole gamut of emotion. Sadness, happiness, love, lust, excitement, tension, frustration. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I want my readers to feel all those emotions when they read my work - I want them to cry and smile. I want their hearts to race and their stomachs flip over. I want them to laugh out loud and make faces when the characters do something stupid. My aim is for the reader to live the book until the very last page and beyond! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj47_ng7hdD_mUK9HLgxJi3z1D8jThcvw65C8bqk-nK0-hfxljXxEZMKKWgFOFCwSzCYaC-zPHIU7dAztBuhMdIra2nKAnQKNFJKF9rSYqUVZWdRIW1Eo3AAimilW9SfbMyqLIIk56moPo/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj47_ng7hdD_mUK9HLgxJi3z1D8jThcvw65C8bqk-nK0-hfxljXxEZMKKWgFOFCwSzCYaC-zPHIU7dAztBuhMdIra2nKAnQKNFJKF9rSYqUVZWdRIW1Eo3AAimilW9SfbMyqLIIk56moPo/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How does my writing process work? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hmmm, writing process. I don't really have one! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm definitely a pantser and not a plotter. I usually have an end scene in mind and let the characters guide me to the finish. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5oicW5KkMIqJEVPe7OHF6PBNkhBMIGQjymW-MYS_1xwrdjDng4-__cOAReAEixJwczR-eNNdCUk3uhdcXm-4lhspeWnZ3sYajHQZ9ytegNKHDGHebKtDW5bZMMpdmJJ5ocbwyonN3gCM/s1600/file1461250298916.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5oicW5KkMIqJEVPe7OHF6PBNkhBMIGQjymW-MYS_1xwrdjDng4-__cOAReAEixJwczR-eNNdCUk3uhdcXm-4lhspeWnZ3sYajHQZ9ytegNKHDGHebKtDW5bZMMpdmJJ5ocbwyonN3gCM/s1600/file1461250298916.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I'm going along, I keep a rough time line of events and I write character bios so that I'm consistent with eye colour or height, etc. These will also include personality traits, a bit of family background, education, relationship history, likes and dislikes, that kind of thing, and will get constantly updated as I write. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the first draft is complete, I leave it a month or two before going back for a first edit. Nobody gets to read a first draft! I print it off and make notes as I read it through. Some characters get cut completely, scenes get deleted or written in, back story gets dispersed more evenly, dialogue replaces bits that are telling and not showing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once the first edit is done, I send the whole thing to my guinea pig readers and await feedback. Once all that wonderful constructive criticism comes back, I make amendments, fine tune the spelling and grammar and make sure everything makes sense and characters are behaving consistently. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ta Dah! A complete manuscript ready for submitting when I feel completely ready for the emotional trauma and agony of waiting for responses. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please check out my tagged authors next week on Monday 31st March:</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial;">Robin Triggs</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Rob has been writing seriously since 2005 and is still grumpy. He writes cross-genre fiction, blending crime, science fiction, adventure and psychological thriller. He favours the catch-all term 'speculative fiction', which just goes to show. He's also extraordinarily bad at cricket.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">In 2003 he came in the top 500 of the Dublin International Poetry Competition and is inordinately proud of this achievement. No one knows why. You can find his (not) winning entry on his blog - <a href="http://www.robintriggs.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">www.robintriggs.wordpress.com</a>, along with assorted writerly ramblings. You can also stalk him on Twitter @RobinTriggs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Marissa de Luna</b> is an up-and-coming young author with a passion for writing, travel and adventure. The Bittersweet Vine is her second novel which has been published by Thames River Press after Marissa successfully self published her first novel, Goa Traffic. She lives and works in Oxfordshire. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Find her at <a href="http://www.thecoffeestainedmanuscript.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">www.thecoffeestainedmanuscript.blogspot.com</a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-50221280236564471662014-03-17T23:54:00.002+08:002014-03-17T23:56:30.943+08:00Oh, how I love this song<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/gAI_1FsJ8rE/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/gAI_1FsJ8rE&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/gAI_1FsJ8rE&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I really am loving this song at the moment so I wanted to share it with you. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Haven't we all been here - resisting an ex that we KNOW is bad news but are drawn to nevertheless? Gah. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also Nashville is frickin' awesome. You should all be watching it. Thursdays, Channel 4, 10pm. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I sort of love country music now but don't hold that against Nashville. That's all on me. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-13465314243346010072014-02-26T21:42:00.002+08:002014-02-26T22:44:29.302+08:00I'm back and querying again! <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, the last few months have been a bit rubbish for me BUT I have had a partial request from an agent which is a real confidence boost and makes me believe I can do it. Even if she ultimately rejects my ms, at least she has confirmed that my writing isn't completely horrible. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">W</span><span style="clear: left; display: inline !important; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">anna know how I got this much appreciated request? Through Twitter! Ah, the power of social media. If you aren't on it, you need to be. There's always someone tweeting an interesting</span><span style="clear: left; display: inline !important; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> article or a blog post full of great tips. I caught the attention of an agent with my 140 character pitch for my novel on #pitmad day. I sent her the first ten pages and she asked for the next four chapters - hurrah! I'm waiting for her to ask for the rest of it now... :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today on Twitter, agents are tweeting their ms wish list all day - #mswl. Search #mswl, check out what they're asking for and query away! I think a lot of them will be Stateside so I'm heading over to Twitter as soon as this post is published! I'm not missing out on any opportunity to query agents at their bequest! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, buoyed up by the partial request, I hit the library, grabbed the 'Writers and Artists Yearbook 2014', listed all the agencies who take on women's fiction and then headed home to research, research, research. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Boy, it takes a long time but I have a comprehensive list of agencies, their submission guidelines, the agent most relevant to me and, crucially, a top five wish list of agents I would really like to represent me. I'm not going to reveal them here but they represent authors who I really like and think my writing is most similar to. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, this week's writerly task is to compose a really good query letter which intrigues my five agents enough that they ask for more, more, more! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think the most daunting part of that is convincing them that I am qualified to be a good author when I have no evidence to back that up (apart from my writing). I haven't won any competitions or been published in anything since I was nine years old. I have zero writerly credentials and nothing that qualifies me to write about musicians (apart from a few years of enforced piano lessons. Not sure an agent would count that as a qualification to write about rock stars...)</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJxXu6jI0sA2v-V-03oyOBifOr094M8aYwMg18HEXtFd_OLVQ2qUYVQCFwFTEPJ77dfJTAJAtFHhXD7JftlWTCMbcNMlKR8JCdJUlFKU2WbjKEJQr15ld4f34vRzbO3hcXmY3wfooHOI/s1600/file0001464390400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJxXu6jI0sA2v-V-03oyOBifOr094M8aYwMg18HEXtFd_OLVQ2qUYVQCFwFTEPJ77dfJTAJAtFHhXD7JftlWTCMbcNMlKR8JCdJUlFKU2WbjKEJQr15ld4f34vRzbO3hcXmY3wfooHOI/s1600/file0001464390400.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, how do I bolster my writing CV? I'm not sure I can. I think I just need to make myself sound as interesting as possible - quirky hobbies, having lived abroad, weird achievements. Anything that sounds marketable and is sufficiently interesting enough to set me apart from all the other debut writers out there are the things that are going to go on my 'CV'. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, whilst I ponder what makes me marketable, I shall head on over to Twitter and check out #mswl for agents wanting contemporary romances with super hot heroes and a rockstar vibe. Wish me luck!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-27613686643045554342014-02-16T05:33:00.001+08:002014-02-16T05:33:51.560+08:00Pearl Jam. No more words needed. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-64064426489519239752013-10-28T07:00:00.000+08:002013-10-28T07:00:00.269+08:00Marissa de Luna on How to Get Detail into Your Writing<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As promised last week, I am hosting talented fellow Abingdon Writer Marissa de Luna as she celebrates her recently published second novel, 'The Bittersweet Vine'.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Continuing her blog tour, Marissa reveals her tips for keeping your novel full of interesting detail and description so that your characters become more developed and your scene setting sparkles. Take it away, Marissa!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5318955830012545589" name="_GoBack"></a><b>It’s All About The Detail<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not long ago I read in interesting article by Dona Levin on what she
calls incorporating ‘Killer-Diller’ details in to your novel in order to bring your
characters to life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of her suggestions is to keep a little journal so that you can write down interesting descriptions as you come across
them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have tried this and it is immensely useful. I must have started doing
this in winter because the other day when I was trawling through my notebook,
most of my references were to ice and snow.
But now as we are in the tail end of summer when I want to write a
wintery scene and all I can see outside is glorious sunshine or miserable rain,
I can just dip into my ‘observations’ book and find some wintery inspiration. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before I started writing, I have to admit, I had the observational
skills of a bat. I was useless but now I have started writing I am more
observant. Now I walk around observing different aspects of people, their
habits, and their mannerisms. I take a twitch from one person, a dimple from
the other and make characters that come alive on the page. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But why are writers so hell bent on the detail? It’s simple. It is our job,
as writers, to create a reality in fiction. The only way we can successfully do
this is by describing scenes and characters that ring true. And this is where
the detail comes in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here are my top tips for honing those observational skills
and using those annotations in your writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keep a journal in your bag/on your desk at all times. You never know
when you will observe something of note. Divide the book up into vocabulary,
personal detail, nature, rooms and objects. If you don’t do this, it’s going to
be hard finding that description when you are looking for something in
particular.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Set yourself a goal of how many details you want to put in your journal
everyday. My goal is three a day. In reality, I barely manage three a week. I
have to remind myself to observe like I remind myself to drink 8 glasses of
water a day. Like water, this exercise is good for you. Stick a post-it note on
your desk prompting you to do this.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p>When you get a moment to yourself, instead of checking your social media on
your smart phone, have a flick through your little book of descriptions. It
might provide inspiration for a new scene or provide that all-important detail
for one of your characters.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another great way to hone your description/observation skills is to take a journal and go somewhere like a garden or a park. Then describe what is closest to you. What can you see 1) Near your feet - say 1 meter around you. Describe it all - take five minutes to do this. 2) Then describe everything within 6 metres – keep increasing your vision. 3) Then describe what you can’t see. Behind the line of your vision. Go crazy – be imaginative.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And remember all the other senses as well. It’s not all about sight! In
the best books, description will get all the senses going. Smell a flower and describe how its smells. How do you feel when
you smell that flower? Describe emotions and feelings brought about by that
smell. Your characters may use it someday.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And not just flowers. You'll have to describe malodourous smells too. New
tarmac being rolled out, for example. Petrol stations, butchers – wherever you
go – have a sniff and describe it. Smells evoke feelings and memories and have
a great effect if they are successfully described in novels. </span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Textures… It’s all
about the texture! Touch some fabric and objects around you - what do they feel
like? Jot it down! </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taste - give your taste buds an explosion. Write about foods
with a flavour that will ignite your reader’s senses. Make them want to Google
the foods you talk about just so they can go out and try it. I always think if
your reader searches on-line for something in your book it’s a successful novel as you are really engaging them!</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, how do you use this detail to its full potential? I believe you can really crystalize what you are trying to describe in a few words. Cut the waffle and mix a little show and tell to create the perfect scene. For example, if you are talking about how cold it is you could talk about the crunch under foot from the leaves, the pavements sparkling with frost, the cobwebs on the traffic lights frozen like silly string, the fog thick and oppressive covering the town like a blanket. Those are just a couple of my observations from the weather earlier this year from my little notebook.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Using your ‘observations book’ you will be able to describe things with fewer words and with such clarity that your books will be simple to read. Which leads me on to having a vocabulary section in your notebook as well. Call it your own little thesaurus. For example, there are several ways to say someone sat down on a sofa. They could slump, lower themselves, fall into.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you are like me, when you write you just want to get the story out. But when you are editing there is no harm in reading your description/observation book intermittently, just for a bit of inspiration or to change a few words around here and there.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As writers, we are lucky. We are surrounded by inspiration and experience and it’s free! We
just have to know how to use it. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks for the great tips Marissa! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC5xste_KfvGU-Gd9h3TIT1qJdDZocad68ARBGxJnmrC5paZUwulqqSEommRhiH-Izqtwir3UpIGX4ATZwnTgIkm_ULP0UML0flzQ8jE-zJxaAwJ-InqTeLMJiPi7kphHUpkOgaDv7JyM/s1600/The+Bittersweet+Vine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC5xste_KfvGU-Gd9h3TIT1qJdDZocad68ARBGxJnmrC5paZUwulqqSEommRhiH-Izqtwir3UpIGX4ATZwnTgIkm_ULP0UML0flzQ8jE-zJxaAwJ-InqTeLMJiPi7kphHUpkOgaDv7JyM/s320/The+Bittersweet+Vine.jpg" width="207" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC5xste_KfvGU-Gd9h3TIT1qJdDZocad68ARBGxJnmrC5paZUwulqqSEommRhiH-Izqtwir3UpIGX4ATZwnTgIkm_ULP0UML0flzQ8jE-zJxaAwJ-InqTeLMJiPi7kphHUpkOgaDv7JyM/s1600/The+Bittersweet+Vine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marissa de Luna is an author with a passion for adventure and travel. 'The Bittersweet Vine' is her second novel.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'The Bittersweet Vine' is available now.</span></span></b></div>
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The Bittersweet Vine (<i>ISBN: </i><i>978-0-85728-094-7, Thames River Press, paperback and e-book) </i>at
</span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Bittersweet-Vine-ebook/dp/B00DAJ7W72/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379522353&sr=1-1&keywords=the+Bittersweet+Vine">Amazon</a></span><span lang="EN-GB"> or other on-line stores and in selected
bookshops. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB">For more information about 'The Bittersweet Vine' or the
author see </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.marissadeluna.com/">www.marissadeluna.com</a></span><span lang="EN-GB"> </span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0Portsmouth, UK50.8166667 -1.083333300000049350.6561102 -1.4060568000000493 50.9772232 -0.76060980000004941tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-60272897511820732312013-10-24T18:37:00.001+08:002013-10-24T19:13:08.910+08:00Does self-publishing kill you for traditional publishers?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before we begin, I just have to bring to your attention a lovely crafty site that I have just discovered called <a href="http://www.sewsweetviolet.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Sew Sweet Violet</a> and her beautiful giveaway she is doing - <a href="http://sewsweetviolet.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/a-thank-you-giveaway.html" target="_blank">gorgeous advent Christmas bunting</a>. The giveaway ends on Tuesday 29th October and she will post to ANYWHERE in the world so, quick, go and leave a comment on the appropriate post and come straight back here. I'll wait for you... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, entered the giveaway? Cool. Let's continue. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVVRmi4N7DtDL8V1RNrdwMSVluEnTX-Ye1ATd055DXAt6FyumfGloYfwgzr-kXUDgq3mGniGvs06seWpL_bHlnKJW6Ulj7mPWn2zzcdXkE1VHhAmoPWZpACIxME8k8jy-aGx5Xi6wtPzU/s1600/The+Bittersweet+Vine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVVRmi4N7DtDL8V1RNrdwMSVluEnTX-Ye1ATd055DXAt6FyumfGloYfwgzr-kXUDgq3mGniGvs06seWpL_bHlnKJW6Ulj7mPWn2zzcdXkE1VHhAmoPWZpACIxME8k8jy-aGx5Xi6wtPzU/s200/The+Bittersweet+Vine.jpg" width="129" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, next week I have a guest blogger, <a href="http://thecoffeestainedmanuscript.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Marissa de Luna</a> doing a post here on the importance of detail in your writing. Marissa has recently published her second book 'The Bittersweet Vine' with a traditional publisher, having self-published her first book 'Goa Traffic'. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marissa's story is really interesting, not least because she got herself an agent and a traditionally published second book after self publishing her first novel. It seems to be commonly accepted that if you have self published, traditional publishers won't touch you (unless, of course, you have phenomenal sales like E L James). But Marissa proves this wrong and I'm sure she isn't the only one as traditional publishers slowly become more accepting of Indie authors. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indie published authors haven't always been treated with disdain and scorn though and today's self publishers are in good company. Recognise these names?</span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Deepak Chopra</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Charles Dickens</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mark Twain</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anais Nin</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Virginia Wolff</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Edgar Allen Poe</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rudyard Kipling</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alexandre Dumas</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beatrix Potter</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They all self published at some point in their careers and some of them self-published their most famous books too. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAz5Lw_qhbOBkRu5ag0hhku2fpTHv-jQLDWATj77JXDsiklpNA-I7xO-j8EdIu4nUnOnWWhrXK-b1BzgbREQWZarFZa03SbjRH0JbaB-k5Rt_2elaZhu3csivCsAG1x8G1cLtSTLTSDxM/s1600/Charles_Dickens-A_Christmas_Carol-Title_page-First_edition_1843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAz5Lw_qhbOBkRu5ag0hhku2fpTHv-jQLDWATj77JXDsiklpNA-I7xO-j8EdIu4nUnOnWWhrXK-b1BzgbREQWZarFZa03SbjRH0JbaB-k5Rt_2elaZhu3csivCsAG1x8G1cLtSTLTSDxM/s200/Charles_Dickens-A_Christmas_Carol-Title_page-First_edition_1843.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKwoonyvmIWUPoyuxt_D1L5af4b-ul7-g1bamBiEoENWVvH1ilhQnkdpRaemEWAtxMLNuveuOqpzwLLSCqd8cLJTEEWHvO4TiyFJXxpE2gXMDOEhIcb9ac60pS8HQpPkx-6Hfx7o5VaE/s1600/1901_First_Edition_of_Peter_Rabbit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="display: inline !important; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKwoonyvmIWUPoyuxt_D1L5af4b-ul7-g1bamBiEoENWVvH1ilhQnkdpRaemEWAtxMLNuveuOqpzwLLSCqd8cLJTEEWHvO4TiyFJXxpE2gXMDOEhIcb9ac60pS8HQpPkx-6Hfx7o5VaE/s200/1901_First_Edition_of_Peter_Rabbit.jpg" width="156" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can't deny that some Indie authors are, quite frankly, not up to scratch and it's easy to see why publishers would have rejected them. Novels full of cliches, clunky dialogue, meandering plots, under-developed characters. Yes, lots of Indie books are truly bad. But, then again, there are many bad traditionally published novels out there too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, is it sometimes luck and timing that can get you a publishing contract? Maybe your novel captures the zeitgeist of the moment? Or you just so happen to have a complete manuscript ready to go that can piggyback on the success of a similar 'latest big thing'. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8oLxmxbuaYIqtivUpcIEr-r0hRsUXMhxRFYllm4i9DzwGhGdKz8QdG95HObmDTKTN8ewi_hS3tWbQwD0hQgg6888esNf7CGp5hF4TfD4FRoycqzFR15HhsAcRkQ99nixV58LYIaSAu0/s1600/Twilight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8oLxmxbuaYIqtivUpcIEr-r0hRsUXMhxRFYllm4i9DzwGhGdKz8QdG95HObmDTKTN8ewi_hS3tWbQwD0hQgg6888esNf7CGp5hF4TfD4FRoycqzFR15HhsAcRkQ99nixV58LYIaSAu0/s200/Twilight.jpg" width="173" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAS3tySqqO1KwhIrEeTqyJWPRhOe27ki4SCtHcofCgo93uvhVXPaBW7UUcofm6dKPzdH2yQSxKYxbHox4w3_MmHAZB8018Sk7g3CI8MQxOkoImTlffnRmzf6U-bzK5wHDYpLnBzuJ-1C8/s1600/fallen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAS3tySqqO1KwhIrEeTqyJWPRhOe27ki4SCtHcofCgo93uvhVXPaBW7UUcofm6dKPzdH2yQSxKYxbHox4w3_MmHAZB8018Sk7g3CI8MQxOkoImTlffnRmzf6U-bzK5wHDYpLnBzuJ-1C8/s200/fallen.jpg" width="122" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The originally</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> self published 'Fifty Shades of Grey' has spawned a whole raft of erotica, not that it wasn't there before. It's just more mainstream now. Of course, e-readers have a lot to do with the rise of erotica sales. No longer is it confined to bedroom reading. It can be read anywhere you like - buses, trains, in the supermarket queue. Nobody has to know that the colour in your cheeks has nothing to do with the over heated coffee shop and everything to do with Stavros having his wicked way with prim and proper Phillipa al fresco under the stars. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHhGB0SMhWZDh41lL53XT9Jkt0Rem6jYA3CuW3YbCTDgGy0NcH3NqrUaXOujpwUnmRUFyp8My-HXfSUd20vhD_bKsPmd-UnT5gShboqUD0iEfYPjMRpx0N2mbMUwXY9HI7CVLzgxbG4U/s1600/Fifty-Shades-Bared-to-You.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHhGB0SMhWZDh41lL53XT9Jkt0Rem6jYA3CuW3YbCTDgGy0NcH3NqrUaXOujpwUnmRUFyp8My-HXfSUd20vhD_bKsPmd-UnT5gShboqUD0iEfYPjMRpx0N2mbMUwXY9HI7CVLzgxbG4U/s320/Fifty-Shades-Bared-to-You.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Both self-published first before being picked up by trad publishers</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a writer, it's really hard to decide which route to take but if Kathryn Stockett can weather 60 rejections before finally getting 'The Help' accepted by a publisher, then maybe I should have a little more patience and faith in myself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My personal feeling is that traditional publishing gives you more kudos as an author and the knowledge you acquire through working with editors and agents is really valuable. HOWEVER, the money is not exactly great for a debut author.</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">I suppose the real question is, </span></span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">do I want to go into a bookshop and see my book on a shelf or am I happy with just seeing the cover on Amazon?</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, here's a really </span><a href="http://janefriedman.com/2013/01/30/self-pub-and-traditional-pub-cj-lyons/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">interesting article</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> with New York Times bestselling author C J Lyons and why she both traditionally and self publishes. What are your thoughts on Indie and traditional publishing? Have you made an absolute decision on which way <i>you </i>want to go? </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-12163195550879147622013-10-04T04:43:00.001+08:002013-10-04T04:43:25.618+08:00The greatest book that never was... 5 cures for Writers' block<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ah yes, writers' block. The horrible blankness inside your head, the desperation clawing at your brain, the internal harpy-like shrieking of:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WRITE YOU IDIOT! WRITE ANYTHING AT ALL! JUST A PARAGRAPH. OKAY, A</span> <span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SENTENCE. ALRIGHT THEN DUMBASS, TWO WORDS THAT VAGUELY </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MEAN </span> <span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">S</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OMETHING... </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fear wraps his talons around your now cold heart and whispers in your ear *<span style="font-size: x-small;">give up, you loser. Writing is for imaginative people. You're just a pretender. A useless hack. Give up now. Quit while you're ahead. It's the smart thing to do.</span>*</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd8AA2tn7CK_Asoz0J44XLHmwkXnOoH3h1GWdyEtL5mhfW4F311m710xq9R5S_8ghg-QVbnwxCXY-Sb5hKCGKfcF1NjoBhGeywD0MzTIGgHMsjmztG34mKZjQJJyWTajNk29gJEcy-tBM/s1600/skeleton-hand-holding-anatomical-red-heart-free-tee-design-s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd8AA2tn7CK_Asoz0J44XLHmwkXnOoH3h1GWdyEtL5mhfW4F311m710xq9R5S_8ghg-QVbnwxCXY-Sb5hKCGKfcF1NjoBhGeywD0MzTIGgHMsjmztG34mKZjQJJyWTajNk29gJEcy-tBM/s1600/skeleton-hand-holding-anatomical-red-heart-free-tee-design-s.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Credit: Vector4free.com</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No? Just me then? Well, anyway, however it makes you feel, it seems to catch us all out during our writing life and the Internet is chock-full of ways to cure it. Or at least postpone it until the next delightful muse-kidnapper appears. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are five ideas that could help you banish it. For a while anyway:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Get out in the fresh air. Take a walk (or a run if you're that way inclined...). Or, if you're really, really lazy, just stand in the garden for ten minutes and stare at the sky. Don't think about that pesky storyline that's going nowhere or that piece of dialogue that 's horribly clunky and stilted. Take a few minutes to get a bit zen. Zone out. Enjoy the flowers, kick up those autumn leaves, lift your face to the rain. As the ever awesome En Vogue would say:</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Free Your Mind</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">Do something creative that's not writing. Drawing, crochet, sewing. Bake a cake, which has the added benefit of providing important sustenance ready for your mammoth writing session where you not only smash writers block into the ground like the Incredible Hulk but write your BEST EVER Scene. One that would make Angels weep and Shakespeare cry in his grave. Ahem. What I mean to say is - force the creative buzz to get going by doing something else and maybe that impossible chapter ending will just pop right into your head. </span></li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6xgPWKLVRrTn5_TIdJsBdasvJzymrtCaa_4Daobiusy1RmoPAAOIDNal-owTS6XieIYP40kZszEDApu9Zh11jlbXckkuayPU9O7lEVJf_QKpNyfY_GOXKvKfuBHckK2uOTASGAJAn654/s1600/hulk2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6xgPWKLVRrTn5_TIdJsBdasvJzymrtCaa_4Daobiusy1RmoPAAOIDNal-owTS6XieIYP40kZszEDApu9Zh11jlbXckkuayPU9O7lEVJf_QKpNyfY_GOXKvKfuBHckK2uOTASGAJAn654/s1600/hulk2.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Incredible Hulk. Smash!</td></tr>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">Organise your bookshelves. Or go to your local (hopefully independent) bookshop and take a look at their tables or staff pick titles. Read the blurbs, peek inside. Take inspiration from what you read and use those ideas to kick start your own work. </span></li>
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<ul>
<li><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Try free writing for fifteen minutes. Write whatever comes into your head and don't stop writing until the timer goes. If you start to freeze up, write your thoughts. Put onto paper the actual words 'I don't know what else to write. I can't think of anything', etc until even the tiniest grain of an idea pops into your head. Run with it. Let your mind wander and go off on tangents. Write everything that comes into your head. The idea is to build up your momentum and get you into the flow of writing again. You never know what these raw, in-cohesive ramblings might inspire.</span></span></li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhT_MmNOKdwk-iPgJunajQp960SsIw0G_xVjwDmwzdWEhnChxAAnhUORnpkDuUGcYkzluifY9LU_AuohN9JhHQaEzumNK7xEKoTl9ep5bZ5_sVIXLrXSsCUNYlrgq9EWP3eMSbVF6Gvo/s1600/PrideAndPrejudiceTitlePage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhT_MmNOKdwk-iPgJunajQp960SsIw0G_xVjwDmwzdWEhnChxAAnhUORnpkDuUGcYkzluifY9LU_AuohN9JhHQaEzumNK7xEKoTl9ep5bZ5_sVIXLrXSsCUNYlrgq9EWP3eMSbVF6Gvo/s320/PrideAndPrejudiceTitlePage.jpg" width="198" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm not suggesting this was the product of free writing... </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjZwmyOQa313G6ADFip0-oAZhbDltoLDjqcNJbSzm-oB7Vuybus4bSODsh0YUcGFZUcJHFpq1KcnYRJg6zzzou1PPqHvb6LaEKAFJ2CEAyMs8GpBTmCfp5w4lE0KLMMa8_U8lFMinjwgo/s1600/tumblr_lwlihs9KLS1qfyd7co1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjZwmyOQa313G6ADFip0-oAZhbDltoLDjqcNJbSzm-oB7Vuybus4bSODsh0YUcGFZUcJHFpq1KcnYRJg6zzzou1PPqHvb6LaEKAFJ2CEAyMs8GpBTmCfp5w4lE0KLMMa8_U8lFMinjwgo/s320/tumblr_lwlihs9KLS1qfyd7co1_500.jpg" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But this one might have been</td></tr>
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<li><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or go to <a href="http://www.languageisavirus.com/" target="_blank">this super awesome site</a>. It's the Holy Grail for writers suffering from the dreaded BLOCK. Writing prompt generators, articles on famous authors, creative writing exercises and more. Beware though. It is a serious time suck. Don't get stuck on the character name generator. You have been warned. </span></span></li>
</ul>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-72610643663020838822013-09-21T01:44:00.000+08:002013-09-21T01:44:22.376+08:00Been a bit busy lately...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The title of this post is a bit of an understatement really. Since my last post, we made the monumental decision to leave Australia and return to the UK so there was a lot of organising to do before we left and then again when we got home. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have been busy, busy bees. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUzXod8luHg9I45bgopRzSoul754jrS96jfRDfWcdr2BSilLQbg-D8wW0-qWjRFEUtlQH65vPdXeZXgpBJGhT_68RhJokUJ1PeGou77ChYpH7eWfxEHjYXv_u6PzEmtgSbFtuA4p2ggWo/s1600/bee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUzXod8luHg9I45bgopRzSoul754jrS96jfRDfWcdr2BSilLQbg-D8wW0-qWjRFEUtlQH65vPdXeZXgpBJGhT_68RhJokUJ1PeGou77ChYpH7eWfxEHjYXv_u6PzEmtgSbFtuA4p2ggWo/s320/bee.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did worry that we would regret the decision to leave Perth after only thirteen months there but, I can honestly say, not once have I thought,</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Oh God. What have we done?</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only regret I have is wasting so much money getting visas and moving out there in the first place. Some people love it but it wasn't for us and I am so, so glad to be home. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had a beautiful summer to welcome us home and it has been so good to see friends and to watch Lady M with her grandparents and, most importantly, her baby cousin. What a joy to see them absolutely loving each other (well, most of the time. Ahem) and to hear Lady M demanding to see her cousin every day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've enjoyed sights such as this on my doorstep:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEict3GqX-vsy1DHd6aCfnAw0YTGwEJHKIp9GF0KTFGGznxhOGqtkUR3YU3Plr-8bAFshaTCY6_mowCjLJua0QytvKEzw1aRRs6EVcOmeEqCw_6-BE3nHXtG2PaTe6wdOJJW_WXCnLtJiUM/s1600/wild+flowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEict3GqX-vsy1DHd6aCfnAw0YTGwEJHKIp9GF0KTFGGznxhOGqtkUR3YU3Plr-8bAFshaTCY6_mowCjLJua0QytvKEzw1aRRs6EVcOmeEqCw_6-BE3nHXtG2PaTe6wdOJJW_WXCnLtJiUM/s320/wild+flowers.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As well as going blackberry picking, feeding the ducks, having a drink in the local beer garden, walking the cobbled streets of beautiful Chichester and wandering around Waitrose delighting in the quality and variety of food available to name but a few. It is bliss to be in England again. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0PqV1y3NvePxXB3UuJ7YWcaV5PIqxPN_SFqPzThfL4rjPFBQkJdJ39fOYawOVMgCO3IHyKeG0dSRbWEAMGYZG0xMPkMw7BEVfso9oQ5i2Mtk1aXSe3OaYghQVo07jmwUkcRZYyIBhr-s/s1600/blackberries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0PqV1y3NvePxXB3UuJ7YWcaV5PIqxPN_SFqPzThfL4rjPFBQkJdJ39fOYawOVMgCO3IHyKeG0dSRbWEAMGYZG0xMPkMw7BEVfso9oQ5i2Mtk1aXSe3OaYghQVo07jmwUkcRZYyIBhr-s/s320/blackberries.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've even been baking and cooking again and ENJOYING it (a sign of mild depression perhaps, that I hardly baked or cooked in Perth at all?).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibEiyoDs1yYwDUYgPZnydxznXWDCMjzqvvjPsn-Rx56ab9vm95DFL32NUukT4jO3-luUdzoCwLMvWg-LwZFNLw1G_RpCI7Yz6zSNY5woYcbicGri95huFsSwcYL31ePePpXHtTgZ9xI_Y/s1600/baking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibEiyoDs1yYwDUYgPZnydxznXWDCMjzqvvjPsn-Rx56ab9vm95DFL32NUukT4jO3-luUdzoCwLMvWg-LwZFNLw1G_RpCI7Yz6zSNY5woYcbicGri95huFsSwcYL31ePePpXHtTgZ9xI_Y/s320/baking.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday, I finally got back to writing and it felt soooooooooo good. Now I just have to find a writing group and finish my two half written manuscripts which I got writers' block on in Australia... Does anyone have any tips for plot development on a novel you half wrote many moons ago and can't get a grip on now?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just in case you don't, I'm going to research it and try out the best ones over the next week so I'll let you know what worked for me and, hopefully, they'll work for you too. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-149060574752115782013-05-01T11:09:00.000+08:002013-09-21T01:42:43.084+08:00Submissions once again! <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I've finished my edit bar rewriting a couple of chapters slightly and next week I will be sending out submissions again. Well, I say again but I only sent three last time.. I'm not even sure that really counts as a submissions round - I plan to send more this time, I promise! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OsMIk0dVcR2mdeehirnPpllxQxgIRUH0BnZqy5w6iPPr3SsbHH7vCjRzTyerDg7VjnEFuF1g6eJ5rHbTTPq0CJXaH53deMsPoS8WFPBO1eomOGEjVWTmU_97jdVeBxtBvkFmxqbzgt4/s1600/images+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OsMIk0dVcR2mdeehirnPpllxQxgIRUH0BnZqy5w6iPPr3SsbHH7vCjRzTyerDg7VjnEFuF1g6eJ5rHbTTPq0CJXaH53deMsPoS8WFPBO1eomOGEjVWTmU_97jdVeBxtBvkFmxqbzgt4/s200/images+(1).jpg" width="133" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvFI9NjOWHyMQa9I4AiOV_-P4ahhgF9-qhrd-YK8u-2WDvz8Og2R57hv-YtwDw5k6tdp_DwYyA9irWzsdMf4ClH_FAHZ2WC7KH_M9BToNKcnJwZxKDxhaPEobNRfBnkmY-yP0qXyE66XM/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvFI9NjOWHyMQa9I4AiOV_-P4ahhgF9-qhrd-YK8u-2WDvz8Og2R57hv-YtwDw5k6tdp_DwYyA9irWzsdMf4ClH_FAHZ2WC7KH_M9BToNKcnJwZxKDxhaPEobNRfBnkmY-yP0qXyE66XM/s200/images.jpg" width="124" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm going to rejig my synopsis too, hence the 'next week' deadline. I will be revisiting Nicola Morgan's 'How to Write a Synopsis' as well as her 'Dear Agent' book. I'm pretty happy with my current synopsis and pitch but these things can always be improved. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've already done some research on agents which was surprisingly difficult. It seems that if you write in any genre other than romance, you can collate a list of agents as long as your arm in a relatively small amount of time. Given that romance is one of the most popular genres, it sure is difficult to find an agent who lists contemporary romance as a genre they represent. Weird, no? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, I have found a few but it took a lot of delving around the internet to do so. My top tip is:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #76a5af; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Look at the websites and blogs of authors you think write the same sort of stuff as you and check out who they're represented and published by. There are still publishers who accept unsolicited submissions, especially digital publishers! </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You could also take a peek at the acknowledgements page of books which are similar to your own - authors tend to thank their agents. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've got a list of five agents and three publishers now including Novelicious who have started up their very own publishing company, <a href="http://www.noveliciousbooks.com/" target="_blank">Novelicious Books</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Novelicious are also running a competition to win a subscription to </span><a href="http://www.agenthunter.co.uk/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Agent Hunter</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> but hurry - it closes on Friday! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Agent Hunter is 'the most comprehensive literary agent database anywhere' and promises to be the easiest way to find agents for your work. Fingers crossed for a win on this one - I need it!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, my writerly to - do list now looks like this: </span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rewrite two chapters</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Write a blurb</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Revisit synopsis and tweak as necessary</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Write agent emails and send!</span><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scary exciting times ahead... I think I'm going to need lots of chocolatey sustenance like these:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://joythebaker.com/2008/03/peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies/" target="_blank">Joy the Baker cookies</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and also this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://joythebaker.com/2009/07/vegan-chocolate-avocado-cake/" target="_blank">Because it's totally healthy even though it's chocolate, right?</a></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_6fTma2yl5hsBOiZ8chnbl__b3pYWZQ-8UTHGvEHX0EAswuypukp0PTsTGFDKiIjhEs-4t2SX_JsvY3-PpN_YBLXiBpZAvS9KjGU2SdTsT56ZIme2OzuZTBRc_H5Es_w-7FPRqZbkuSs/s1600/sidebar-the-book.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_6fTma2yl5hsBOiZ8chnbl__b3pYWZQ-8UTHGvEHX0EAswuypukp0PTsTGFDKiIjhEs-4t2SX_JsvY3-PpN_YBLXiBpZAvS9KjGU2SdTsT56ZIme2OzuZTBRc_H5Es_w-7FPRqZbkuSs/s320/sidebar-the-book.png" width="283" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You will get fat but you will be oh so happy if you buy this book! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-37407081863086032013-04-17T09:45:00.001+08:002013-04-17T11:22:41.737+08:00Five tips for editing your novel!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many writers dread the editing process and, I freely admit, I used to be one of them but you know what? After three edits of the same novel, I have finally discovered that it can be quite fun. Yes, fun! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4PT4hfKHXC5WzNQaodIxYUHYF6oO9o_gN93mSftsa9XgTgoPhZISAoHVhGtE5Ts6Q848sEpVdYY4N8E33KsMTuVfmjcWsioUBg091T34cXsgHmZnOA71ptLJZTsyUWTzGbTGWJjOoL1A/s1600/tumblr_m4npr4FDhF1rpmj5mo1_500.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4PT4hfKHXC5WzNQaodIxYUHYF6oO9o_gN93mSftsa9XgTgoPhZISAoHVhGtE5Ts6Q848sEpVdYY4N8E33KsMTuVfmjcWsioUBg091T34cXsgHmZnOA71ptLJZTsyUWTzGbTGWJjOoL1A/s320/tumblr_m4npr4FDhF1rpmj5mo1_500.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Okay, well maybe not THIS much fun.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you've left a novel alone for a long time, revisiting it is like meeting up with friends you haven't seen for a couple of years. Things have changed in your life, you have new experiences to talk about, different stories to tell. Everything is good and glowing and exciting. You rediscover their funny little quirks and find that you really missed their self-deprecating sense of humour. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then you introduce a new friend to the equation and they love your old friend. They love your old friend so much, they keep bugging you for more get togethers. They tell you things about your old friend that they've noticed - things you hadn't thought about. Seeing your old friend through your new friend's eyes really helps you appreciate all the good things about them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, the new friend also likes to gossip about the old friend pointing out (in a totally non-bitchy way, natch) the annoying things about them too. And their flaws. But this is all okay because, once you know all the things that aren't quite 'right' about your old friend, you can set about changing them. At least, you can if the old friend happens to be a book you wrote (or maybe if you're a psychiatrist. Do they even have friends?!?)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, this is where I'm at right now. Having given a friend my manuscript to read (purely as a reader. She doesn't write which, I think, is a really good thing), she's given me a different perspective from previous writing buddies that have read it and a few things that require clarification or beefing up a little. To that end, my top tip is here, at number one in the list:</span><br />
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<ol><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Get somebody who has never read it before to read through it. Fresh eyes are the best! Believe me, they will pick out things that are missing like WHOLE SCENES. Good grief, you say, how can you miss out entire scenes? Well, after a brutal editing round last time and all of the story residing in your head, it's easy to 'think' bits in when you, the writer, are reading through your own story.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Print it out in a different font/size/colour to whatever you typed it in. Apparently, this tricks your brain into thinking it's something fresh you're reading and not the book you've been working on for the past eleven <strike>years </strike>months. </span></li>
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</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jot down the main points of each chapter as you read them. Then you can check that continuity is alive and well in your novel and someone isn't enjoying a beautiful scenic bike ride through the English countryside when, two chapters previously, they were talking about how they never learnt to ride a bike and haven't learnt how to in the in between chapters. </span></li>
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</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read it out loud or, at least, read aloud your dialogue. If it sounds stunted and clumsy when you read it out, then it needs to be changed. You can get programmes that will read text for you - try a free trial and see if that works for you before splashing out on it or check out this <a href="http://www.naturalreaders.com/" target="_blank">free text to voice software</a>.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have lots of chocolate on standby. Let's face it</span>, this is just a top tip for life in general. </span></li>
</ol>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJMxHSEvXo07gPyxf3MN1-NwFZNm_2063zm4zWUAjEjM4iBO4fQqbWZRNHcmx7RW09tPNJfNCh5Tsy5-uCzfKCOoBcGV1VN8qgehYzFVEKzH_6ANDwgEjkQJH9_y4EJ6LmBD3g8SsbxAU/s1600/610523_chocolate_fountains.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJMxHSEvXo07gPyxf3MN1-NwFZNm_2063zm4zWUAjEjM4iBO4fQqbWZRNHcmx7RW09tPNJfNCh5Tsy5-uCzfKCOoBcGV1VN8qgehYzFVEKzH_6ANDwgEjkQJH9_y4EJ6LmBD3g8SsbxAU/s1600/610523_chocolate_fountains.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stick your face in one of these when it all gets a bit much</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, if you have no idea how to even begin editing, then take a look at these links:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a href="http://writerunboxed.com/2012/12/08/a-simple-approach-to-revisions/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://writerunboxed.com/2012/12/08/a-simple-approach-to-revisions/</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a href="http://helpineedapublisher.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/weeding-or-editing.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://helpineedapublisher.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/weeding-or-editing.html</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like </span><a href="http://writerunboxed.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Writer Unboxed</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> so much, I'm adding it to my regular blog visit list - loads of really informative and succinct articles and interesting author interviews, etc. Go and check it out! </span><br />
<ol><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></ol>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-76616261735966564012013-04-03T16:32:00.000+08:002013-04-30T15:19:06.700+08:00Final edit ahoy! <div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have recently been afflicted with a heinous staph infection </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ON MY HANDS. Thanks to some severe scratching of hand eczema combined with soaring stress levels and the heat, my right hand resembled something out of a horror movie. In fact, I looked like I was starting to turn into one of the 'prawns' from District 9. Yuck. Not only was it incredibly gross to look at, it was intensely painful (I spent a weekend with my hand on packs of peas, dosed up with Ibuprofen) and incredibly restrictive. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a data-ved="0CAgQjRwwAA" href="http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=HsKrg89oREE_aM&tbnid=Fx96z3OxTHFTEM:&ved=0CAgQjRwwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscifiportal.eu%2Fwhy-district-9-should-have-been-the-most-important-movie-of-2009%2F&ei=BuhbUc_tMcuOkgX-u4HYAg&psig=AFQjCNGn6Jf5qXzjxcKyF_FYsRRd0j7vMA&ust=1365064071013558" id="irc_mil" style="border: 0px currentColor; clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img height="320" id="irc_mi" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRMJdvcfz-OzYIFoWzNROkd-Rr__NSXlqa7CNWhFWarqmi94_0Lhg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="212" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did discover something about myself though. I am, in no way, ambidextrous. In fact, I believe I am as far from ambidextrous as it is possible to be. You would think I might lose some weight what with not being able to use cutlery but you would be so, so wrong. Turns out, biscuits and chocolate bars are super easy to eat even using your ridiculously ineffective left hand. Ripping packets open with your teeth is pretty effective. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, all this means that I haven't been able to do any typing and I couldn't even really edit my hard copy of Rock-a-Lillie as I couldn't hold a pen! However, things are back to normal now (apart from lots of little marks on my hands and forearms which I really, really hope won't leave any scars) and I am feeling in the right frame of mind to tackle yet another edit! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I already have a few ideas of some little things that I want to change. Nothing massive, at this stage doing a major overhaul seems counter-productive, but just things that I think would appeal to my market a little bit more. A bit more fighting spirit in my heroine, more interaction between her and her best friend, more band scenes, etc. I probably just need to add in a few extra scenes here and there to make it exactly what I want. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihI_qpZBXjYwoNU7EWGp0n49i974hpmUguZ6onuCSCJ0sewgXHhBy4lsG4M43_LnwRScuegmFfILeq_QCBLJMfp8utSeqjUa_-6NV0Rc4hlQcNdlu9xHh5-zR5kvwPtgDGKW89sMS4Log/s1600/491922_typewriter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihI_qpZBXjYwoNU7EWGp0n49i974hpmUguZ6onuCSCJ0sewgXHhBy4lsG4M43_LnwRScuegmFfILeq_QCBLJMfp8utSeqjUa_-6NV0Rc4hlQcNdlu9xHh5-zR5kvwPtgDGKW89sMS4Log/s1600/491922_typewriter.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've also been wondering whether splitting it into a series would work better. Shorter novels seem to be very popular these days and I do think I could easily split this novel into two books with a final book really wrapping it all up and following the two main characters a bit further into their futures.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would honestly relish the thought of carrying on with the characters in Rock-a-Lillie - I love my hero and his best friend - it would be interesting to write more of his life and his motivations for the way he behaves. A couple of early readers really fell in love with him and he certainly wrote himself into more and more of the fabric of the story as it went on. He became quite a major part of things really and instrumental in some pivotal scenes. Maybe he could have a spin-off novel later on? Perhaps I'm getting carried away now! Is anyone e-publishing a contemporary romance series at the moment? Are you finding it successful? Or do you wish you'd stuck with the more traditional stand alone novel? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not sure how I will have time for all this as I have just been asked to go full time at work - there goes a good few hours of free time! Looks like I will have to take a look at some serious time management - apart from getting up early (anyone who knows me will be laughing at the idea of that), I'm not sure where I can fit in writing time. Does anyone have any suggestions - how do you find writing time without getting up at 6am? I'm really not good in the mornings. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-43400859407642324772013-02-02T15:42:00.001+08:002013-02-02T15:42:39.028+08:00The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfW5QYKTkcx0LfQb22awL26gd17Sye6GorkLxrF_C4n3pnlYYzqwfNOjJn6lT5X6VrcTbsrr-EKGsriDgvBklgKCX52DkBB0DDu1XNeg0K03TTD8UOJFLha7AS1z8_BkUZXwpbqlwZr5sg/s1600/The+Immortal+Life+of+Henrietta+Lacks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfW5QYKTkcx0LfQb22awL26gd17Sye6GorkLxrF_C4n3pnlYYzqwfNOjJn6lT5X6VrcTbsrr-EKGsriDgvBklgKCX52DkBB0DDu1XNeg0K03TTD8UOJFLha7AS1z8_BkUZXwpbqlwZr5sg/s320/The+Immortal+Life+of+Henrietta+Lacks.jpg" width="211" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've just finished reading Rebecca Skloot's <i>The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks</i> which I found fascinating, disturbing and utterly compelling. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's the story of how human tissue research and many of the medicines we have today are pretty much all down to one woman and her cells. Specifically, her cancer cells, which were the first cells to be grown in culture successfully, leading to masses of medical research. Cells which are still grown and used for research today. These cells were taken without her consent in the 1950's and Skloot leads us through the murky past of medical research admirably. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks to Henrietta Lacks, scientists were able to invent a Polio vaccination and her cells have been instrumental in many, many other medicines used to treat all kinds of diseases, including cancer. HeLa cells (Henrietta's cells) have contributed more to modern medicine than any other person in the world and yet she is largely unknown. A travesty, surely?</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.sbu.edu/uploadedImages/About_SBU/Campus_News_and_Info/Press_Releases/henrietta-lacks_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.sbu.edu/uploadedImages/About_SBU/Campus_News_and_Info/Press_Releases/henrietta-lacks_web.jpg" width="125" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, for me, one of the most interesting aspects of the book is the bio-ethics debate that still rages on. It's frightening to know that any blood samples I have given can be used, without my express consent, in medical research all over the world. I'm certainly not opposed to scientific research and curing cancer, but I'd sure as hell like to know if part of me (and my DNA) are being used in that way. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The human interest part of the book is a good contrast to all the science and legal issues surrounding human tissue research (deftly explained by Skloot and easy to understand for the most part). The Lacks family presents other difficult issues - poverty and racial inequalities in the modern world. A health care system that fails a huge part of the American population. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't think I have ever read a book that makes me want to tell everyone to read it. Like Henrietta's family, I want everyone to know that Henrietta Lacks is the reason why we have a vaccine for Polio and why cancer research has advanced so much in the last 60 years. I don't know why it should matter so much to me. Perhaps it's a testament to Rebecca Skloot's research, tenacity and writing that it does. </span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-66521293559779390092013-01-20T16:21:00.002+08:002013-02-16T14:08:37.593+08:00Why you should join a Writing Group...<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One of the many things I miss about the UK is <a href="http://www.abingdonwriters.org/" target="_blank">Abingdon Writers</a> and I'll tell you why. Being part of a critique group really forces you to think about what you <i>don't </i>like about a piece of writing. What doesn't make sense, what doesn't flow, what needs clarifying. It's lovely to have friends and family gush over your writing and assure that you're going to be the next J K Rowling or whatever but that's not at all helpful. Ego boosting, yes. Making you a better writer, no. Constructive criticism is what it's all about. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I was lucky enough to be part of a writers group that has just gone from strength to strength. From starting off as a bunch of writers who had never shared their writing with strangers, much less agents, to being a talented group of writers, some of whom have become agented and won nation-wide competitions! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Even if you rarely read your work to your group, listening to the critiquing of other people's work can benefit your own writing enormously. So, someone in your group always gets positive comments on their dialogue - listen carefully to see how you can improve yours. Ask them how they write it, compare it to your own. Maybe someone else often has great concepts but struggles to portray them in words. Take note on what other members are suggesting for ways in which to fix that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Concentrate on what your fellow writers home in on so that you can know what readers (listeners?) pick up on. Give a book to five people and they will all have different takes on it, even if they're all readers of the same genre, but there will be something that they all loved. Something that they all agree worked really well - character development, dialogue, plot twists, use of language. The same will be true of your own writing and a writing group will help you to discover what it is you do really well (yay - ego boost!) and the other things that you need to get right. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Depending on the group, you may also find yourself a writing buddy and these are invaluable. These are the people you can email your manuscript to and ask them to read the whole thing. Cover to cover. And they will be honest with you. But in a constructive way. And you will do the same thing for them. They might write in the same genre as you (helpful) or be really good at grammar (great for submission time) or just be really solid at critiquing, picking up holes in your plot or mistakes in your character development. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your fellow writers will also clue you in to competitions and other groups that you can join such as SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) in the UK or RWA (Romance Writers of Australia) in Australia. AND they will encourage you to enter said competitions, help you to get your piece ready and celebrate with you when you're long-listed, short-listed and win (or commiserate if you don't and then motivate you to keep entering competitions so that one day you will be celebrating).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Plus, seeing your fellow writers morph from 'amateur' status to being a 'real' writer with an agent or writing credentials like being long listed for competitions really gives you the shove up the bottom that you need. There's nothing like your comrades-in-ink getting on with it and REALLY pursuing their publishing dreams to persuade you to sign up too. Who wants to be left behind, not even on the slush pile but murmuring about the fourth book you've written, when everyone else is surging ahead, climbing the ranks, earning their writing stripes (I think I've exhausted that metaphor now)? Not me. I'm off to polish up that synopsis and make my query letter sparkling. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And after that, I'm going to find a critique group to join. Maybe one that doesn't have quite so many shining stars in it...</span><br />
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<span style="color: magenta;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Huge congratulations to the following AW writers </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: magenta;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">with recent and thoroughly <span style="font-size: large;">deserved successes</span>:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://sallypoyton.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Sally Poyton</a>- long listed for the Times/Chicken House 2013 Children's Fiction Competition (and for SCBWI Undiscovered Voices 2011)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nicki Thornton - long listed for the Times/Chicken House 2013 </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Children's Fiction Competition</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.thecoffeestainedmanuscript.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Marissa De Luna</a> - Newly agented writer!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-69428690589048999302013-01-10T17:17:00.002+08:002013-01-10T17:24:57.121+08:00It's decided. I need a plot outline...<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">God, I know I should be ecstatic that the sun is shining but, dammit, it is just too frigging hot here at the moment. Sticky, clammy, disgusting, sweat-rolling-down-your-back heat. In other words, it is humid, which is a word not supposed to apply to Perth weather. I feel betrayed by all those websites and weather reports which clearly stated that Perth does not suffer badly from humidity. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Honestly, all I want to do is lie down in front of the air con and watch John Hughes movies with iced coffees and Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream. Well, two out of four isn't bad, right? However, I have managed to open the laptop and write 3,000 words of my WIP so I feel like I have really achieved something despite this vile, muggy weather. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I still have no idea where this new book is heading and I'm wondering if it really is necessary to have a rough approximation of plot at this stage (15,000 words in). <a href="http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2008/06/do-you-have-plot.html" target="_blank">Nathan Bransford</a> thinks that you do, <a href="http://www.caroclarke.com/plotornoplot.html" target="_blank">Caro Clark</a> looks at both sides of the coin (although really, she says to plot) and <a href="http://m.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2007/may/21/whyicantplotmynovelsina" target="_blank">Neil Griiffiths</a> says, ' No. Absolutely don't do it!'</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From <strike>wasting time on the Internet</strike> doing some research, I think I would really benefit from roughing out a plot outline as I do feel rather stuck at the moment. I spent twenty minutes deciding on a closing sentence for the last chapter I wrote, which has nothing to do with the will to write a really good closing sentence and everything to do with not having the faintest idea of what was going to happen next. A new sort of displacement activity for me.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQFHKWwlNRMjKmtu653DI5-EaD3G0QQW-STPEpSENenp1T8P7b4h28Wu9lnWrEpko0Xo204jA10ec6Ri0o83TcmiJu8B-P-zymh2IjdaFB8CAAUPREAcYUjLFB7awxcES7tsSLOIDycbM/s1600/Writing+a+Romance+Novel+for+Dummies+by+Leslie+Wainger.jpg&sa=X&ei=_IHuUPuPKouUiQeVzYGgCQ&ved=0CAkQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNHPs9qNAZc_Wj73ztimJzW78C_m6A" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" id="il_fi" src="http://www.google.com.au/url?source=imglanding&ct=img&q=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQFHKWwlNRMjKmtu653DI5-EaD3G0QQW-STPEpSENenp1T8P7b4h28Wu9lnWrEpko0Xo204jA10ec6Ri0o83TcmiJu8B-P-zymh2IjdaFB8CAAUPREAcYUjLFB7awxcES7tsSLOIDycbM/s320/Writing+a+Romance+Novel+for+Dummies+by+Leslie+Wainger.jpg&sa=X&ei=_IHuUPuPKouUiQeVzYGgCQ&ved=0CAkQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNHPs9qNAZc_Wj73ztimJzW78C_m6A" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="255" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I also purchased <i>Writing a Romance Novel For Dummies </i>by Leslie Wainger who has 25 years experience in the Romance business. So far, it is a little repetitive and common-sensical but I think once I get into the nitty-gritty chapters, it will be an excellent resource. I'm almost certain she will say plot, plot, plot. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Edit to add: Wainger mentions category romance a lot and I'm thinking of researching this a little more and trying my hand at it. As she says, if you are time short (Yes!), then category romance could be a great way to go. It's shorter than Mainstream Romance (as short as 50,000 words) and publishers provide tip sheets for what they want from their lines. I've heard of quite a few best selling authors who started off writing category romance and now sell bazillions of mainstream romance novels. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lesson learnt - plot (which means shopping for a big new pinboard or whiteboard - yay!). Even if it's a really super rough outline. Your novel and, if you're anything like me, your waistline will thank you for it. Are you a plotter? Or more of a chilled out what will be, will be-er?</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.google.com.au/url?source=imglanding&ct=img&q=http://cdn.obrag.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/benandjerrysjpg.gif&sa=X&ei=jYTuULblMOWfmQWxioDQDA&ved=0CAkQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNHw9A9Ukp5RpDZd34m-kRnIHXeTtg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="122" id="il_fi" src="http://www.google.com.au/url?source=imglanding&ct=img&q=http://cdn.obrag.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/benandjerrysjpg.gif&sa=X&ei=jYTuULblMOWfmQWxioDQDA&ved=0CAkQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNHw9A9Ukp5RpDZd34m-kRnIHXeTtg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.google.com.au/url?source=imglanding&ct=img&q=http://blogs.babycenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/ice-cream-flavor.gif&sa=X&ei=dITuUMzgLsPOmgW3s4BI&ved=0CAkQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNGR1m_1cd9UrpmNf-JNHr8NkMRI_A" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" id="il_fi" src="http://www.google.com.au/url?source=imglanding&ct=img&q=http://blogs.babycenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/ice-cream-flavor.gif&sa=X&ei=dITuUMzgLsPOmgW3s4BI&ved=0CAkQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNGR1m_1cd9UrpmNf-JNHr8NkMRI_A" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="192" /></a><a href="http://www.google.com.au/url?source=imglanding&ct=img&q=http://helpinghandrewards.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/lowfat-chocfudgebrownie-opentub-729082.jpg?w=600&sa=X&ei=UITuUPvbHurOmAXf1YCYDA&ved=0CAkQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNHvz6ze1lVX8WMQP4BATn-R45GjtQ" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" id="il_fi" src="http://www.google.com.au/url?source=imglanding&ct=img&q=http://helpinghandrewards.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/lowfat-chocfudgebrownie-opentub-729082.jpg?w=600&sa=X&ei=UITuUPvbHurOmAXf1YCYDA&ved=0CAkQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNHvz6ze1lVX8WMQP4BATn-R45GjtQ" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="175" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-25648980442817283202013-01-04T15:48:00.003+08:002013-01-04T15:48:36.085+08:002013! <h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Happy New Year!!</span> </span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This time last year, I'm pretty sure I did a Resolutions list but I can't be bothered to look, much as I can't be bothered to make one again this year. If you don't commit it to words, you can't harangue yourself about it a year later, can you? And, anyway, nobody ever manages to keep those stupid things beyond the second week of January. Do they?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know I kept one resolution/challenge and that was my ever-increasing GoodReads challenge, which started off as 40 books to read in 2012. That crept up to 50 when I realised I was rapidly approaching my 40 books about half way through the year. I increased it again to 80 when I started reading A LOT on my long commute when I started working again. It rose again to 100 and then, in the dying days of December, to 105, which I just managed to achieve by finishing Virginia Woolf's <i>Mrs Dalloway</i> on the afternoon of New Year's Eve. Phew. 105 books. I'm not even going to attempt that again but I do like the idea of cataloguing the books I read each year so I'm going to set up a 2013 bookshelf on my GoodReads account - first book on the shelf? <i>The Probable Future </i>by one of my favourite authors, Alice Hoffman. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you haven't read Hoffman and you enjoy writing like this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">It was lake water, Elinor believed, that made the difference in her garden... so cold the roses shuddered on the hottest days of August and gave off clouds of scent.</span></span></b></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> or this:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Night was rising from the grass the way steam lifted from a mirror.</span></b></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">then you should get hold of one of her books immediately. My favourite Hoffman novel so far is <i>The Ice Queen</i> but, be warned, my book group didn't much care for it and I was a bit busy having a baby on that particular book group meeting, so I couldn't defend this wonderful, haunting and enchanting author. She has never disappointed me, her characters are so perfectly drawn you won't forget them for a long time and the way she describes even the most mundane of things is sublime. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYuSei6J72I-74dl0mCRGw08QbhS3BKgD-59yPUFo6S7scSszFqTZenMA1GKhc7TEBs5BW2syFp1dO8iq4bHaBjtAWItCCqYgKv7OE2WjWjsOiErYFzN_Wmg__IUjWBxfq3rkdKrfW6mQ/s1600/278153_stack_of_books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" eea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYuSei6J72I-74dl0mCRGw08QbhS3BKgD-59yPUFo6S7scSszFqTZenMA1GKhc7TEBs5BW2syFp1dO8iq4bHaBjtAWItCCqYgKv7OE2WjWjsOiErYFzN_Wmg__IUjWBxfq3rkdKrfW6mQ/s1600/278153_stack_of_books.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, back to the original subject, maybe I will manage to read the <strike>87</strike> 86 books that stand sadly on my wall of books, waiting desperately to be taken down and read, praying that I don't go to the library (fat chance, I'm there right now!) or to a bookshop or stray onto Amazon or the Book Depository. It would be nice to think that I had read all the books adorning the wall - apart from the Chardmeister's section (rapidly spreading though, might have to add some more shelves soon...) </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm pretty sure there are some more books sailing the high seas at this very moment, eager to join the ranks of books in our house - certainly there are at least a couple of cookbooks (Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Lorraine Pascal - yay!) - and, according to my Dad, at least another 38 assorted titles for each of the Aquilina family. Looks like I might be looking at over a hundred books after all and I haven't even told you how many unread e-books are on my kindle (27 if you want to know. Eek!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As well as (possibly) reading all those books, I am planning to write daily in the lovely 365 day book I got for Christmas from </span><a href="http://www.kikki-k.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kikki.k</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - I started off so well, printed out a lovely black and white photo of Lady M, taken down at the river on New Year's Day, wrote a little paragraph on the first page at about 10.30pm on the 1st January, got into bed on Wednesday (2nd of January) and jolted myself awake just as I drifted off into the world of sleep with this thought, </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">'Dammit, forgot to write in that bloody 365 day book today and it's only the second day of the New Year. I am utterly shit<span style="font-size: large;">.<span style="font-size: large;"> B</span>ut, t<span style="font-size: large;">ruthfully, not at all surprised.</span></span>'</span></b></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Have you already broken your 2013 challenges and promises to yourself? Please tell me some of you have so that I won't feel like the complete failure I surely am!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-64277857227532830812012-12-24T15:08:00.004+08:002012-12-24T15:20:04.224+08:00Christmas E-book Giveaway!<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There's some really cool stuff going on in the blogging world - Christmas themed of course! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One of the best of these festive ideas is Sally Poyton's <a href="http://sallypoyton.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/dear-santa-grimm-stocking-please-200.html" target="_blank">'A book in every stocking'</a> campaign. Having always been a bookworm (resulting in glasses at age 11 for overgrown eye muscles [or something like that, optical people, help me out!]), it is no surprise to anyone who knows me in the slightest that this is something I will enthusiastically get behind. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3qHrFULB6GvwLBsd93qlTa5AWyk46tevdq1NDiOAbGv2UZTDul3ExEPPxsk7NKEYb1goCvwcO-D5xBaCHLLrl9sG5hSxwbLalZzVAYChizEmRlVJTanWwCBCqvMmxcCya8q2-kqMyoE6I/s400/stockings+grimm.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Credit: Sally Poyton </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lady M has almost as many books as me and she's only just hit the tender (tender? More like awe-inspiring in her capacity for creating disorder) age of 2. Still, the book gathering is slowing down due to the outrageous price of books here in Australia. *sigh* Can anybody explain why books are so extortionately priced here? Thank God for The Book Depository, I say....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I don't think, despite the above proclamations, that I have any books for Christmas but then, that's not really up to me, is it? That's up to my present givers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">However, I am partaking in the Christmas bookish spirit by giving away, thanks to the lovely <a href="http://talliroland.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Talli Roland</a>, a Kindle copy of the wonderful Christmas Novella, <i>Mistletoe in Manhattan</i>. to one lucky commenter.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Mistletoe in Manhattan" height="320" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345818528l/15846261.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="210" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Credit:Talli Roland </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All you need to do is leave a festive comment here in the next couple of days and I will literally pick a name out of one of Lady M's sun hats on Boxing Day so that the winner can curl up in a corner and read this charming and funny story whilst recovering from the excesses of Christmas Day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So, having exhausted myself trying to buy a 2kg ham (impossible apparently) and settled on roast beef for Christmas Day, I am off to wrap presents, make a Buche de Noel and drink rum-infused eggnog in preparation for a very (non) traditional Christmas Eve feast of cheesy, beany nachos with all the trimmings, cos that's just how we roll in this house. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">WISH<span style="font-size: large;">ING Y<span style="font-size: large;">OU ALL THE HAPPIEST OF</span></span></span> CHRI<span style="font-size: large;">STMASES <span style="font-size: large;">- EAT<span style="font-size: large;">, DRINK AND BE VERY, VERY MERR<span style="font-size: large;">Y!! </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="Christmas Tree 4" src="http://www.sxc.hu/pic/m/m/me/meiteng/1409262_christmas_tree_4.jpg" /> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-76003024756451408032012-12-13T10:31:00.001+08:002012-12-13T10:31:20.276+08:00Eavesdropping your way to good dialogue...<a href="http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photos-brain-doodle-image14449768" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Brain & doodle" border="0" height="136" src="http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumbimg_507/1274794959319KEA.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's important to be <strike>nosey </strike>curious when you're a writer. Otherwise, how would you know anything about how others think, talk, treat people and generally live their lives? Being interested in the human condition is surely a pre-requisite for a writer, right? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-image-ladies-eavesdropping-on-phone-image25121426" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ladies Eavesdropping on Phone" border="0" src="http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumbimg_692/1338822064eg2u89.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm not advocating snooping through people's emails or phones or rifling through their underwear drawers (that would be creepy and wrong on so many levels and could end in quickly severed friendships or even divorce courts) but eavesdropping on a conversation between two teenagers on the bus home will probably give you a lot of valuable insight into how teenagers think and talk these days - not so different from when I was a teenager not that long ago (ahem) but if you want to make your dialogue real, then an eavesdropper you must become. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">There are several ways you can do this with stealth. </span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Put earphones in but don't play any music. Even really quietly. You will get distracted and start singing along in your head (or aloud which will really blow your cover. Stealth, remember). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Pretend to read a book but remember to turn the pages sometimes. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Even better, read a kindle. Nobody will know you're getting nowhere with 'Fifty Shades of Grey'. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Pretend to be reading emails on your phone. As with the music, don't actually read them. Just stare intently at your phone and occasionally swipe your finger across the screen. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Most importantly, get your poker face on. Smirking when one of your conversationalists says something amusing will be a dead giveaway. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Another good way to get into the heads of people is to read blogs (seriously. This isn't just a plug for blogs at all. I promise). I've recently been picking my way through some of the blogs that bloggers I regularly read, regularly read. This is all in the name of research of course. It is definitely NOT a displacement activity. No way, ho-say. </span><br />
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<a href="http://www.sxc.hu/pic/m/c/cv/cvukom/1197801_writing_on_laptop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Writing on laptop" border="0" src="http://www.sxc.hu/pic/m/c/cv/cvukom/1197801_writing_on_laptop.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">These are the ones I really liked; some are writing blogs, some are food blogs and one of them is the website of a very talented sculptor. </span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.bossybetty.com/">http://www.bossybetty.com/</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://creepyquerygirl.blogspot.com.au/">http://creepyquerygirl.blogspot.com.au/</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://gggiraffe.blogspot.com.au/">http://gggiraffe.blogspot.com.au/</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <a href="http://a-musedwriter.blogspot.com.au/">http://a-musedwriter.blogspot.com.au/</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.julie-cohen.com/blog/">http://www.julie-cohen.com/blog/</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://michaeltoa.blogspot.com.au/">http://michaeltoa.blogspot.com.au/</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://beautiful-if-oblique.com/">http://beautiful-if-oblique.com/</a></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading blogs also helps you get an idea of style and voice. The most successful blogs are the ones which consistently engage you by making you want to cook that recipe RIGHT NOW or laugh out loud or nod your head in agreement. Sometimes they're blogs that are written by people who just make you crazy jealous of their creativity but whatever they make you feel, they are written in a such a way that makes you come back for more and that, my friends, is good 'voice'. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-33722145016323821342012-11-22T10:02:00.000+08:002013-01-10T17:27:03.646+08:00Errr, oops - 3 months absence...<div style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
Okay, so. Three months since I last blogged. That's not good. And, truthfully, the only reason I am putting something up today is because I promised the lovely <a href="http://www.liahthorley.com/" target="_blank">Liah Thorley</a> I would take part in the 'Next Big Thing' blog tour. </div>
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I know I should blog at least twice a week but, honestly, between work, Lady M and wallowing in the despair of being a newly-emigrated Pom to Perth, I just don't seem to have the time or the inclination. </div>
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BUT, perhaps this will spur me on to more regular blogging... this plus a new house in beautiful South Perth (soon, moving date is 1st December - yay!) and a reduction in hours at work should all conspire to make a happier, more time-rich blogger!</div>
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So, on to the 'Next Big Thing' blog stop and many thanks to Liah for tagging me in! To read Liah's answers click <a href="http://www.liahthorley.com/#/the-next-big-thing/4570947411" target="_blank">right here</a> and please check out fellow <a href="http://www.abingdonwriters.org/" target="_blank">Abingdon Writer</a> and my tagged author, Marissa De Luna's blog post <a href="http://thecoffeestainedmanuscript.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">coming soon!</a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">What is the working title of
your book?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The book I’m
going to talk about here is ‘Rock-a-Lillie’ – the first book I wrote and the
only completed one so far! I can’t talk about the second book as I’m only
really half way through the first draft. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Where did the idea come from for the
book?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Well, when I
started it, it was going to be about the dynamics of a group of best friends
but it somehow morphed into a romance novel. I guess the romantic interest of
the main character, Lillie, just didn’t want to be in the background of the
book and kept writing himself into it more and more! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
<b>What genre does your book fall under?</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Definitely
Contemporary Romance, perhaps Romantic Comedy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Which actors would you choose to play
your characters in a movie rendition?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Oh wow, that’s a really difficult question actually. I can’t
believe I’ve never ‘cast’ my characters! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I really want to say that Lillie should be played by a blend of
Liv Tyler and Kristen Stewart. She’s beautiful with a kind of vulnerability and
awkwardness to her and Liv Tyler has that sort of fragile beauty whereas
Kristen Stewart has the striking eyes and colt-like clumsiness to her. Plus,
whoever Lillie is, she needs to be able to sing and I know both those actresses
can sing! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Jed is more difficult. Maybe someone like Jesse Spencer (Dr
Chase from House) but he’d have to dye his hair black and wear green contacts
so, no, that probably wouldn’t work. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Okay, think Johnny Depp 10 years ago (I know that would still
put him about ten years older than Jed but, really, the man never ages. I
wonder if he drinks the blood of virgins…).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Or Jared Leto – yeah, Jared Leto with green eyes and darker
hair. Jed is a beautiful man and Jared Leto is very pretty. (We’d have to
stretch him out though, Jed is over 6ft tall!) Plus, Jared knows exactly what
the tortures of touring are like. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">What is the one-sentence synopsis of
your book?</span></b></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Lillie Hartman joins an up-and-coming rock band after falling for gorgeous
and enigmatic singer, Jed but Jed is hiding something which could destroy
their relationship and, ultimately, his band.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Will your book be self-published or
represented by an agency?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I will try to
get an agent but if that doesn’t transpire then I will definitely think about
self-publishing. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">How long did it take you to write the
first draft of your manuscript?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Maybe a year.
Something like that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">What other books would you compare this
story to within your genre?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I aspire to
write like Gemma Burgess who writes her characters like they are real, modern
women. That doesn’t seem to happen an awful lot and I love reading about
fictional characters and thinking, ’yeah, that’s exactly what my friend, the
ball-breaker, would say’ or ‘God, that’s the kind of thing so-and-so would do’
when a character does something slightly immoral or thinks something that’s not
conventionally acceptable. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I’d like to
think that my characters are like real people, they do stupid things and say
hurtful stuff. The girls love each other as best friends but that doesn’t mean
they don’t get irritated with each other. And the guys can be a bit lecherous
and gross but that’s just real life, right? (And before any boys start ranting
in mock-horror at that stereotype, the male characters are also caring and
funny and wise, just like guys in real life…)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Who or What inspired you to write this
book?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">A particular
group of friends first inspired me to put pen to paper (metaphorically, of
course. My hand cramps up if I write more than two paragraphs). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I suppose it
was the hotness of Lillie’s love interest that made him appear more and more. I
also wanted a main character who could sing because I cannot sing a note and
that aspect of her seemed too important to just be a passing comment. It wanted
to be an integral part of the story so I let it! </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">What else about your book might pique
the reader’s interest?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s not your
ordinary ‘girl-meets-boy, girl-hates-boy,
girl-falls-in-love-with-boy-in-the-end’ romance. It’s an interesting path the
two main characters take and you get to know each one’s thoughts and feelings
as the book is written from both Lillie’s and Jed’s perspectives. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Thanks again to <a href="http://www.liahthorley.com/" target="_blank">Liah </a>for tagging me in and don't forget to check <a href="http://thecoffeestainedmanuscript.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Marissa De Luna's blog</a> too. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-14761011039058200102012-08-19T17:18:00.000+08:002012-08-19T17:18:11.564+08:00Writing Resources which make sense<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi75NJ-avW8XjYuZYa_4MFn_HKwW2qUC-jZGdrjd_yPc2DuGweYeYOt7bZ5jsv8lGS0ShDky6w3JJ6-tjL0na9K_EPCiflfHDMa53TlKFOkJguGPzeANSQAAzE6TSmeJuOsyq02rXQY8rs/s1600/P1020526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi75NJ-avW8XjYuZYa_4MFn_HKwW2qUC-jZGdrjd_yPc2DuGweYeYOt7bZ5jsv8lGS0ShDky6w3JJ6-tjL0na9K_EPCiflfHDMa53TlKFOkJguGPzeANSQAAzE6TSmeJuOsyq02rXQY8rs/s320/P1020526.JPG" width="179" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So, I have quite a few books on writing, one or two of which I've even read all the way through. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggQfAWCxhoaOipB0xEQ4YPJH301BzFoy07IH72AYPo5Out3RIpe0IlpPGHmMERVrnslZx3tLwd26MEwQDj4TgkujV96z4EsX4rBm3eRUhDbfq9Kc2XA6PzNN4ItIxLkOO-XKYn4g5zuQU/s1600/books.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggQfAWCxhoaOipB0xEQ4YPJH301BzFoy07IH72AYPo5Out3RIpe0IlpPGHmMERVrnslZx3tLwd26MEwQDj4TgkujV96z4EsX4rBm3eRUhDbfq9Kc2XA6PzNN4ItIxLkOO-XKYn4g5zuQU/s1600/books.jpeg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yesterday, I finally finished 'Bird By Bird' by Anne Lamott and found it very funny, helpful and not at all patronising which, I've heard, some writing books are. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I love the way she writes - she's amusing, brutally honest and explains her writing 'tips' with personal anecdotes. I think this method of teaching helps you understand the 'why' of a piece of advice and how it works towards making you a better writer. I'm looking forward to reading more of her work given the humour and style of this book. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
But the first book I ever read about writing was Stephen King's 'On Writing' which, again, was more like a vague autobiography interspersed with advice. The two main points I took away from this book were:</div>
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</div>
<ul><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicXU3FwhSnIyqCOMHhKuZUnzUX4tKv3MwOKVqOmNy5F4O0EUAfrY6ZmrkXEjT351bQ-rB2_DxtRPovPN8xPC95Ac_vxuOKHa6eEsZMioYc99htWkyy4cRmGpdlyzRpx2mH4rfc99eFuxE/s1600/books1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicXU3FwhSnIyqCOMHhKuZUnzUX4tKv3MwOKVqOmNy5F4O0EUAfrY6ZmrkXEjT351bQ-rB2_DxtRPovPN8xPC95Ac_vxuOKHa6eEsZMioYc99htWkyy4cRmGpdlyzRpx2mH4rfc99eFuxE/s1600/books1.jpeg" /></a>
<li style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Don't give up. Mr King received many, many, many rejections but persevered. I'm not saying that you'll become as famous and prolific as he is but don't quit at the first hurdle. Three rejections does not mean you can't write for crap. It just means those agents didn't like it or it's not quite polished again. Keep going - write something else, rewrite whatever you sent out, get it professionally critiqued if you have the money. I know I've said this before but, if you are in the UK and write romance of any kind, the <a href="http://www.romanticnovelistsassociation.org/index.php/join/new_writers_scheme" target="_blank">RNA New Writers' Scheme</a> is fantastic - very thorough and encouraging and not expensive. </li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Write every day. All writers say this so it must be important! Even just fifteen minutes a day to get your writing 'muscle' working is okay. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That's not all he has to say though so if you're looking for inspiration and motivation, this is the book to get hold of. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Next on the list is going to be 'Gotham Writers' Workshop: Writing Fiction' which, as the name cunningly suggests, is more like a creative writing class to be taken in your own time. I did start it once upon a time but life took over (baby and emigrating!) so it's back to the beginning I go. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg78thObTNWJb6FFd8SCKZkP2yn5QrGISyQQjspEI8QGKPViBMr7_jFNZ8X9S9Tt6okXfYJPGL0FTOfGjZVdGAmG3gitHmtTE-5_jwW4yp_XdGc_Vi99TgFBr2xzLpJdU_3HU3oZRiX910/s1600/41kuaf83CyL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg78thObTNWJb6FFd8SCKZkP2yn5QrGISyQQjspEI8QGKPViBMr7_jFNZ8X9S9Tt6okXfYJPGL0FTOfGjZVdGAmG3gitHmtTE-5_jwW4yp_XdGc_Vi99TgFBr2xzLpJdU_3HU3oZRiX910/s1600/41kuaf83CyL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Of course, there's a mountain of websites and blogs online too. The ones I visit the most are:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://helpineedapublisher.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Help! I Need a Publisher</a> (I can highly recommend her books 'How to Write a Great Synopsis' and 'Dear Agent' if you are ready for submissions)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <a href="http://strictlywriting.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Strictly Writing</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <a href="http://plotwhisperer.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Plot Whisperer</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://blog.nathanbransford.com/" target="_blank">Nathan Bransford</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.londonbakes.com/" target="_blank">London Bakes</a> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://relentlesslaundry.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Relentless Laundry</a> </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Oh wait, those last two aren't anything to do with the craft of writing but they are delicious and hilarious respectively. Give them a read, if only to find a new recipe for weekend baking and <strike>be warned off having kids</strike> have a bloody good laugh (and maybe get another new recipe for the weekend too - bonus). </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi399WJde1kv2L3NBC01437QLtitp3ERL68o9f9eM5VVqKfdobEdub7ZKPGe3kU8KDqZOK__Pieb082XgWMkYeRauXMhgXAQR7bH1xEJXPM2AxOKUOA1XamPxNojZmNrKiwwgp2YRK4Yfg/s1600/1387747_pots_and_pans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi399WJde1kv2L3NBC01437QLtitp3ERL68o9f9eM5VVqKfdobEdub7ZKPGe3kU8KDqZOK__Pieb082XgWMkYeRauXMhgXAQR7bH1xEJXPM2AxOKUOA1XamPxNojZmNrKiwwgp2YRK4Yfg/s1600/1387747_pots_and_pans.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I also follow quite a few authors because I like their books and they write in the same genre as me. Authors are often spectacularly generous with advice and tips. They will also direct you to other blogs and websites which might be useful in your quest to finish your novel, get an agent or, if you decide to go this route, self publish. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzwsvNn4U9HVKvnBuTBSZ_qpvQJi08kCoZDt34pdoogFwR-vyV_ZiJL4Ry-kYydp1o1CDlzT96kzRmU4-ntjLnjHHZQjtjcPs8K22jraWwi9dKH8Ayz6rL7neuZiBdv8tfhqeOtUImWZs/s1600/twitter-bird-white-on-blue.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzwsvNn4U9HVKvnBuTBSZ_qpvQJi08kCoZDt34pdoogFwR-vyV_ZiJL4Ry-kYydp1o1CDlzT96kzRmU4-ntjLnjHHZQjtjcPs8K22jraWwi9dKH8Ayz6rL7neuZiBdv8tfhqeOtUImWZs/s1600/twitter-bird-white-on-blue.png" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And there are lots of Twitter accounts that tweet about the writing industry - Advice to Writers and Publishing Talk to name a couple - publishers like Harper Collins and Choc Lit and, of course, a huge amount of authors. This is where you can get some really great links to interesting articles, blog posts and give aways (favourite!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What websites and Twitter accounts do you read or follow that you think are helpful to writers of all levels? Are there any writing books that you recommend to fellow aspiring writers? Or ones that you found completely useless? </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Of course, it could be said that all this <strike>faffing about on the Internet </strike></span><strike><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and Twitter </span></strike><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><strike> </strike>valuable time spent researching could be detrimental to the first rule of writing - Write! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8s6jw1XMDCFTSbAFlN0DR55fz1yGrBXs4ciwJBfPDF-93T4zWekcizU7L5vnSrtiCiVMcGTCJ31tUp1SwnaTaAVhmH_HsaC-uK9sJ7wI_jbT-Cfq66o7_Dn43k8FF0u3XBQQsfIh7X5E/s1600/91437_writing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="65" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8s6jw1XMDCFTSbAFlN0DR55fz1yGrBXs4ciwJBfPDF-93T4zWekcizU7L5vnSrtiCiVMcGTCJ31tUp1SwnaTaAVhmH_HsaC-uK9sJ7wI_jbT-Cfq66o7_Dn43k8FF0u3XBQQsfIh7X5E/s400/91437_writing.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-53614131777267408422012-08-12T16:58:00.002+08:002012-08-12T16:58:49.581+08:00Slow Publishing and the 2012 BBC top 100 books<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin292uFrOu5PAzyrdchyphenhyphenG1qBoj-7WK75QvNeUKWeYumMHUUSpg3f2nuJAxvAwPQaQ9G7TVE7DXVokXq0TZtU8e_QBbJisfRdA8LOdoqX9nOt9HU-d_19uMfQc4peDJ4ov3mT_VjMlQMnw/s1600/Soles+kindle+cover+%282%29+for+website.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin292uFrOu5PAzyrdchyphenhyphenG1qBoj-7WK75QvNeUKWeYumMHUUSpg3f2nuJAxvAwPQaQ9G7TVE7DXVokXq0TZtU8e_QBbJisfRdA8LOdoqX9nOt9HU-d_19uMfQc4peDJ4ov3mT_VjMlQMnw/s1600/Soles+kindle+cover+%282%29+for+website.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
So, a writing buddy of mine has decided to slow publish his book - slow publish? What's that? I'm so glad you asked because it's a very innovative way of creating interest in your novel - you give it away for free but in a modern day Charles Dickens way - installments by email. Clever, eh? </div>
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Interested? You can <a href="http://www.hitchhikingbritain.com/2012/06/soles-of-my-shoes.html" target="_blank">sign up here</a> to receive emails which contain small installments of the book, <i>The Soles of My Shoes.</i> Or, you can buy the book in it's glorious entirety <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/david-charles/the-soles-of-my-shoes-hitch-hiking-london-to-ben-nevis/paperback/product-20225153.html" target="_blank">here for a real live paperback version</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Soles-Shoes-Hitch-hiking-ebook/dp/B00880XCEU" target="_blank">also here for your Kindle</a> - go on, buy it! Support a new author!! </div>
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<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
I have purchased my copy and it is eagerly waiting, impatiently nudging aside the classics and non-fiction titles on my Kindle, waiting to be read alongside a nice cup of tea and a stack of biscuits (or cake. Probably cake. Lemon drizzle as I just received a big bag of lemons fresh off a lemon tree. Delicious). </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMtuSIbiKJPoVU_uzykG5wSm9lskPAkAOzJoy5edeOXF2Z4tnnDS1SfpC-rBDdG0DvzotweQjGrrmZmbbv8Xt9-ZumveyRkCmYJ89Hf9NS59Y6E93-jkwcfw8lSldt83dNEMda5hw8S0E/s1600/1341367_lemon_tree_with_blue_sky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMtuSIbiKJPoVU_uzykG5wSm9lskPAkAOzJoy5edeOXF2Z4tnnDS1SfpC-rBDdG0DvzotweQjGrrmZmbbv8Xt9-ZumveyRkCmYJ89Hf9NS59Y6E93-jkwcfw8lSldt83dNEMda5hw8S0E/s1600/1341367_lemon_tree_with_blue_sky.jpg" /></a>On the subject of reading, I recently increased the number of books on my Goodreads Challenge from 50 to 60 but seeing as I am now at 49, I think I might increase it to 80. That's a proper challenge. With 20 weeks to go, I think it can be done and I am going to try and fit a few classics in there too so it's not just short or easy to read books (that would be cheating and there's no point in cheating if it's just cheating yourself, is there?) - I'm currently wading through <i>A Tale of Two Cities</i> but I fancy it will be hard going. Looks like <i>The Soles of My Shoes </i>will be read much sooner than anticipated! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkzBXW25yt67qi_NtgdLIX4aRgaDPH-57CvF3o50IbSIHwSnYoNBFpnH7phVxZnFChdCtYCMVtattZefZpplsgSqEnlVyrtdeNiO0FOSq0g3IEu3wj4Us3Hk_E7UM6aD5qPc6qnwHIzY4/s1600/a+tale+of+two+cities.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkzBXW25yt67qi_NtgdLIX4aRgaDPH-57CvF3o50IbSIHwSnYoNBFpnH7phVxZnFChdCtYCMVtattZefZpplsgSqEnlVyrtdeNiO0FOSq0g3IEu3wj4Us3Hk_E7UM6aD5qPc6qnwHIzY4/s1600/a+tale+of+two+cities.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
In fact, my plan is to cross another 17 books off the 2012 BBC top 100 books to read before you die (or 'book'et list - you know, like bucket list... clever, right? RIGHT?) list so that I have read a very respectable 60 out of 100. </div>
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<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
That's not going to be easy as the 57 books I haven't read from that list are mostly classics or modern literary novels that I thought about reading for about, oh, a nanosecond. Anyway, if I manage to get to 60, then I'll have read ten times the amount of titles off that list that your everyday Joe has read (according to the Beeb but I'm not so sure about that. Surely not? Please, surely not). </div>
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If you want to see how many you've read and either be horrified or enormously smug, here's the current list:</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> 1 <em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Pride
and Prejudice - Jane Austen</span></em><br />
2 <strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Lord of the Rings - J R R Tolkien</span></strong><br />
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte<br />
4 <strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Harry Potter series - J K Rowling</span></strong><br />
5 <strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">To</span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Kill a
Mockingbird - Harper Lee</span></strong><br />
6 <em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The Bible</span></em><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />
7 </i><em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte</span></em><br />
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell<br />
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman<br />
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens<br />
11<strong><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Little
Women - Louisa M Alcott</span></strong><br />
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy<br />
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller<br />
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare<br />
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier<br />
16 <em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien</span></em><br />
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk<br />
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger<br />
19<strong><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Time
Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger</span></strong><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
</b>20 Middlemarch - George Eliot<br />
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell<br />
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald<br />
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens<br />
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy<br />
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adam<em><span style="font-family: Arial;">s</span></em><br />
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh<br />
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky <br />
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck<br />
29 <strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll</span></strong><br />
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame<br />
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy<br />
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens<br />
33 <em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Chronicles of Narnia - C S Lewis</span></em><br />
<i>34<em><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></em></i><em><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></em><span style="font-family: Arial;">Emma - Jane Austen</span><br />
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen<br />
36 <strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C S Lewis</span></strong><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
</b>37<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Kite
Runner - Khaled Hosseini</span></strong><br />
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres<br />
39 <strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden</span></strong><br />
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne<br />
41 <strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Animal Farm - George Orwell</span></strong><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> <br />
</b>42<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Da
Vinci Code - Dan Brown</span></strong><br />
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez<br />
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving<br />
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins <br />
46 <em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Anne of Green Gables - L M Montgomery</span></em><br />
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy. <br />
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood<br />
49 <strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Lord of the Flies - William Golding</span></strong><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
</b>50<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Atonement
- Ian McEwan</span></strong><br />
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel<br />
52 Dune - Frank Herbert <br />
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons<br />
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen <br />
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth<br />
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon<br />
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens<br />
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley<br />
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon<br />
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez<br />
61 <em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck</span></em><br />
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov<br />
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt<br />
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold <br />
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas<br />
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac<br />
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy<br />
68 <strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding</span></strong><br />
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie<br />
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville <br />
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens<br />
72 <strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Dracula - Bram Stoker</span></strong><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
</b>73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett<br />
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson<br />
75 Ulysses - James Joyce<br />
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath<br />
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome <br />
78 Germinal - Emile Zola<br />
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray<br />
80 Possession - A S Byatt<br />
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens<br />
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell<br />
83 The Colour Purple - Alice Walker<br />
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro<br />
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert<br />
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry<br />
87 Charlotte’s Web - E B White<br />
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom<br />
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle <br />
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton<br />
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad<br />
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery <br />
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks<br />
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams<br />
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole<br />
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute<br />
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas<br />
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare <br />
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl<br />
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkzhIuqEfxbe9weU8jtfhIHnd7odnVrxERYWTF3Hi7Gx1Tfnihr9X-erlPgOMQVXvBWSKXyUUIO2rF65EN_z646MbTOExQnc6DBBUgG3fTInDBMM8llCLAHGMelZyIIP4ShDhkllutnLc/s1600/dune+herbert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkzhIuqEfxbe9weU8jtfhIHnd7odnVrxERYWTF3Hi7Gx1Tfnihr9X-erlPgOMQVXvBWSKXyUUIO2rF65EN_z646MbTOExQnc6DBBUgG3fTInDBMM8llCLAHGMelZyIIP4ShDhkllutnLc/s200/dune+herbert.jpg" width="121" /></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">How many of these have you read? Let me know in the comments (not to sound pathetic but it would be nice to have some interaction here - please, please? Ok, that was pathetic but I'm not taking it back). Join in the challenge of getting to 60 or 75 or even 100 but I can tell you now that I will never get to 100. I cannot bring myself to read the entire bible or <i>Ulysses. </i>Just never gonna happen. And I probably won't ever get through <i>Dune </i>- have you seen the size of that book - it's probably longer than the bible (but also, I suspect, way better. However, I'm going to have to cheat on this one and just watch the film - it has Sting and Kyle MacLachlan in it and the really pretty girl from Twin Peaks - how could it possibly be bad?). </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"> I figure there's at least 5 books I will never actually pick up even to flick through although, having said that, I did manage to plod my way rather painfully through <i>Madame Bovary</i> which I think is quite possibly the most boring book I have ever read. Say what you will about Stephenie Meyer but at least she keeps it entertaining (flame me in the comments if you will but each to their own and all that)...</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-45996872512520282032012-08-03T14:59:00.002+08:002012-08-05T11:07:38.305+08:00Bakeware, books and blankets...<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
All our 'stuff' has arrived - our worldly belongings are once again ours! Seven breakages in total - three of which were wedding presents. Boo. On the plus side, blankets and our goose down duvet arrived - bliss on these cold Perth nights! AND our bed is here and it is beautiful, oh so comfortable and very adult-like. I can't help smiling like a crazy person whenever I see it. I heart it so much.</div>
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It's very French looking which obviously equals sophistication and, well, grown-upness. Currently, it is let down by the non-matching packing box bedside tables that flank it. Very student digs and decidedly <i>un</i>-grown up. It may take some time to find suitably chic furniture to accessorise it with. For now, the packing boxes stay. </div>
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If you have read this blog recently, you will know that I was very much looking forward to getting my kitchenware back - I had visions of myself whipping up batches of brownies and chocolate chip cookies, maybe a dense chocolate loaf cake or two... I quite like chocolate, you see.<br />
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BUT, the sweet treat I actually made first was a rosemary loaf cake. I know! Rosemary! Not a whiff of chocolate. I even made the Chardmeister go and buy a rosemary plant which cost us $16! For a tiny plant! Later that day, we discovered that a neighbour has an entire frigging border of rosemary. This is our life. <br />
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So, yes, a rosemary cake. Anyone who knows me but at all will be shocked by that. I am shocked by it. But also very glad because I would have been rigid with anger if my brownies had burnt on top or cooked too much or my cookies received too much heat in the oven because, previously unbeknownst to me, this oven runs hot. And the fan does not appear to work properly. Cake tops burn but remain silkily batter-like inside. Cookies would have been incinerated, brownies would have been cooked properly throughout - God forbid. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMU6odk7isPuDmcK2ai3jiCiaucKGLIy6C5k8oHNS-98O6LeTTtHLKtLAVNI6V9fuXXBA3OPk5tsywwD6wxFnK-xjSkJpUmGKrOllNHZdPksnJVj0KkYiKhAu7gIHlH_O5RGQSrKPUM9E/s1600/0727_bhg_fasted_pudding_lrg_18148e4-18148e5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMU6odk7isPuDmcK2ai3jiCiaucKGLIy6C5k8oHNS-98O6LeTTtHLKtLAVNI6V9fuXXBA3OPk5tsywwD6wxFnK-xjSkJpUmGKrOllNHZdPksnJVj0KkYiKhAu7gIHlH_O5RGQSrKPUM9E/s200/0727_bhg_fasted_pudding_lrg_18148e4-18148e5.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Source:http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/better-homes-gardens</span></td></tr>
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Until I get used to the oven and figure out it's Australian oddities, chocolate related baking will have to be held off. Which would totally suck if it weren't for the deliciously warming, sweet comfort of the Brown Sugar Pudding (courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens - thank you. So much) below. Arm yourself with some thick cream though, you will need it to cut through the sugary goodness!<br />
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<b>Brown Sugar Self-saucing Pudding</b> serves 4 (generously)<br />
<br />
1 cup dark brown sugar<br />
200g self raising flour<br />
2 tspns ground allspice (or a generous tspn of vanilla extract instead. Delicious)<br />
1 egg<br />
1/2 cup milk<br />
125g unsalted butter, melted and cooled<br />
4 tbspns treacle (I used molasses - not sure if there is really any difference!)<br />
2 tbspns cornflour<br />
<ul>
<li>Butter 4 individual ramekins or one deep pie dish</li>
<li>Combine 1/3 cup of the sugar with the flour, allspice or vanilla, egg, milk, butter and two tablespoons of the treacle/molasses until it becomes a smooth batter</li>
<li>Pour into prepared dish(es)</li>
<li>Thoroughly mix together the remaining sugar and cornflour and sprinkle evenly over the top of the batter</li>
<li>Stir the rest of the treacle/molasses into one and a half cups of boiling water until dissolved and pour over the pudding(s)</li>
<li>Bake immediately at 180C for about 30 minutes - I can thoroughly recommend putting a tray underneath to catch any sauce that bubbles over the side although if you didn't, cleaning the oven the next day might help shift some of the many calories consumed... </li>
<li>Serve with whipped or very thick cream (creme fraiche would be pretty good too, I think)</li>
<li>Do some extra exercise the following day when you can move again (or at the very least make your bed extra vigorously and push the hoover round rather more enthusiastically that you normally do)</li>
</ul>
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And, as well as making this beautiful, stodgy, sugary, saucy pudding, I also made curtains. Curtains! They are nowhere near professional quality but I made them and they look okay. They are wide enough and long enough and they hang (pretty much) straight. They are super colourful and block out light. What more does one want from curtains?<br />
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<br />
See that funny little book shelf thing in this photo to the left? That was bought very cheaply from an op shop and, although you can't see in the photo, is painted a particularly nasty shade of pale greeny-blue yuck and trimmed in harsh black. I plan on sanding that mo-fo down this weekend and painting it but what colour? If it stays in Lady M's room, it will need to be a bright primary colour really - blue? Maybe green to match the trim of the curtains? Either that or white. White like our fantastic bookshelves from, duh duh duuuh, Ikea, where else?<br />
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Bookshelves that stretch across the whole wall and are filled with all our books. And then covered in all manner of animal ornamentry and way too much pretty crockery and glasware to look good. The search is on for a dresser that will fit in with the rest of the decor (shouldn't be hard, it's all very mismatched really. Vogue worthy it is not).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzWwDb7eYHXb8wYszStbvYTpPMaCaMXD4ipRUr-I6QWlNq_Se1Ti_YbHbhvOkXfvIHEPrEwNW9jq5o7FfSJW1dUe7Sbbnn1gN2cheLW03szDTq5pG_uT5aU14hi30NnxO1CJLbYLkkptc/s1600/books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzWwDb7eYHXb8wYszStbvYTpPMaCaMXD4ipRUr-I6QWlNq_Se1Ti_YbHbhvOkXfvIHEPrEwNW9jq5o7FfSJW1dUe7Sbbnn1gN2cheLW03szDTq5pG_uT5aU14hi30NnxO1CJLbYLkkptc/s320/books.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See? Crowded with photos and cups. Could look better, right? </td></tr>
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And, just so you know, the shelf in the middle could be filled up but is strategically left almost bare because Lady M is a curious sort of child (as they are all wont to be, right?) and likes to pull things off the shelves to <strike>destroy </strike>play with. Hence the clutter of crockery and rammed in books you see in the top half of the shelving. <br />
<br />
Anyway, I have long dreamed of having a library
wall in a house I lived in and now that dream is realised. Oh Australia,
how I love thee! If only your books weren't so damned expensive, I
could create another wall of bookshelves... <br />
<br />
And speaking of buying new books - here's some I won't be purchasing any time soon. Particularly after this <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/340987215" target="_blank">hilarious and very clever GoodReads review</a><br />
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Has anyone read any of this trilogy? Would you admit to it if you had? I'm not a literary snob at all. If you look at those shelves above closely, you can very much see that for yourself but these books just look badly written in every single way - no character development, weak plot, lots of repetition, apparently unlikeable protagonists and, worst of all, not very good sex scenes considering it's supposed to be erotica.<br />
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I bet if I read it, I could take away lots of pointers and tips for things NOT to do in my own writing. Kind of like a writing how-not-to. A How to Lose An Agent In Ten Pages kind of thing... For £3, might it be worth a read just from that point of view? </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-14306059377936977592012-07-06T14:40:00.000+08:002012-07-06T14:40:26.736+08:00All set for a battle for a Perth rental? We didn't even have a small skirmish...<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
Ummm, where to start? Well, we have a long term let all sorted, our container is actually in Fremantle (and not en route to Egypt like I thought it was. Stupid tracking system), we survived a trip to Ikea, I've become a MasterChef addict and we got ourselves a free TV and set top box courtesy of Gumtree. We've been pretty busy.</div>
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First things first, the house. It isn't what I thought we would live in. It's modern. Only a year old. It has a theatre room for God's sake. It is huge. At least, compared to our two bedroom Oxfordshire cottage anyway. We could fit our old house in it probably five times. No joke. Okay, maybe only four times but still. </div>
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We had a really easy time of getting a rental - the rental market in Perth is fierce, so we were very lucky. Instead of having to bite our nails waiting to see if the owner chose us from twenty other families via an estate agent, we have rented privately. Not purposely though. </div>
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We were at our first viewing (highly disappointing. Minging, to be brutally honest) and I told the estate agent it was too small for us. It wasn't. It was just horrible but I didn't want to be rude thinking we might need her in the future. When we stumbled out into the light from the dark and gloomy house, there was a guy hovering around who approached us saying he was leaving a 4 bed, 2 bathroom house soon and it was his brothers, would we be interested? Yes, we certainly would. He gave us his details, we called him the next morning, went to see the house, prayed that Lady M would be as cute as hell, attempted to schmooze him without being weird or crossing any boundaries and then went home to anxiously await a phone call. </div>
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That very evening, the mysterious brother phoned to say we could have the house if we wanted. YES PLEASE!!!! Then I spent a week worrying about whether we were being scammed. I'm pretty sure we aren't. But, onto the house itself. </div>
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There is a double garage, a utility room with tonnes of shelving, a wok burner on the stove, a 900mm oven and a double shower in the master bedroom en suite. Oh and the living area is massive. We need more stuff. Stuff and furniture and so we took a trip to Ikea, which was surprisingly stress free and fun. Yes, actually fun. Helped in large part, I think, by the promise of $1 hot dogs at the end. </div>
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Not much furniture was purchased but we did come away with 75 cent tea towels (I know! Amazing!), some gorgeous plant pots, a pack of butterscotch chocolates, some lovely sheets for Lady M and a box of French style stackable tumblers for the Chardmeister as well as a bright red TV cabinet. We are going BOLD in this house. No more pastel colours or whimsical florals here. I really want vivid reds and oranges, bright pinks, in your face greens, maybe even almost-fluorescent yellow. No, let's not get carried away. That's probably a step or four too far. </div>
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I foresee another couple of trips back to pick up a good sized three seater sofa, also bright red (don't worry, this won't be in the same room as the cabinet), a freestanding kitchen island - I need somewhere for my Kitchen Aid mixer, blender and other baking accoutrements - plus some lovely little glass bowls and mugs I am coveting. </div>
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Then it will be off to Masters (kind of like B&Q) for a dishwasher (hurrah, no longer will I be forced to wash up four times a day. Also, there is the bonus of shopping for crockery so that it isn't all in the dishwasher forcing impromptu washing up for that sneaky hot chocolate before bedtime. That would be bad) and a gorgeous floor lamp which will curve over so that the huge solid circular shade hovers above the vintage Habitat tubular chair kindly given to us by my parents. On the way through, we'll pick up some troughs and herbs to get the herb garden going. Admittedly, the dishwasher and lamp may have to wait a few weeks but the herbs can be planted and in situ the very day we move in. I'm excited. Can you tell?</div>
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Finally, MasterChef Australia and <b>spoiler alert</b> if you didn't see last night's. Oh, how I love thee. I never watched this in the UK really. I don't know if the format is hugely different here but I feel like it is. They show an episode 6 nights of the week! I think my favourite are the invention episodes - the dude food
one was awesome - Kylie's bacon doughnut sandwich things? Inspired.
Properly creative. I would never have dreamt that up in a million
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I was really sad to see Tregan go, I thought she was really good, but I wasn't fussed about the recent eviction of Amina and Jules. I feel like we didn't really get to know Jules that much so I wasn't sad or outraged at all. I suppose I should have been disappointed to see Amina go but, given the last few episodes, it seemed like the MasterChef editors were getting us ready for her departure so it wasn't the big surprise it probably should have been.</div>
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I'm going to make a prediction for the top three now that we're down to ten: Kylie, Wade and Julia. The G's seem to be quite enamoured with Wade lately (although that doesn't seem to count for much, they were in love with Amina a couple of weeks ago), Kylie is just super creative and Julia is, well, maybe I have stuck my neck out a little here. She makes great desserts but maybe that won't be enough...<br />
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And speaking of food and creativity, here's a few goodies to salivate over:</div>
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<li><a href="http://www.heartbreakpie.com/2012/06/happiness-and-cookies.html" target="_blank">Delicious looking cookies from heartbreak pie</a></li>
<li><a href="http://foodblogandthedog.wordpress.com/2012/06/14/warm-roasted-red-onion-salad-with-spicy-walnut-pickle-dressing/" target="_blank">A Perth-appropriate winter salad</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://stephenandnat.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/graham-cracker-smores-bars.html" target="_blank">And these ridiculously sensational looking s'mores cookie bar things</a> </li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Oh my God, I want my kitchen stuff right now. Failing that, I need to go out and get the stuff to make this amazing creation </span><a href="http://lisastorms.typepad.com/lisa-storms/2012/06/hot-air-balloon-party-decor.html" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" target="_blank">right here - hot air balloon style storage? I think so.</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I've been busy geeking out about all the wonderful stuff posted up on </span><a href="http://www.craftgawker.com/" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" target="_blank">Craft Gawker</a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> the last couple of days. Such creative people out there! I can't wait for all our things to be delivered so that we can get all set up for some fun artsy stuff for Lady M to do. Does anyone have any recommendations for inspirational websites for crafts and arty kids stuff? </span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-56118407380069718552012-06-25T20:53:00.000+08:002012-06-25T20:55:19.505+08:00Winter Solstice in Perth<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
It was Winter Solstice here in Perth the other day and the weather was rather obligingly non-English. Hooray for lots of reasons, one being laundry and another being outside play for Lady M.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Chardmeister decided to take the day off from his current stay-at-home dad status and </span><strike style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">escape</strike><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> trained it up to Joondalup for an appointment with the bank man which has somehow turned into a jaunt to Perth itself. Good news really as this means I will be owed a 'day off' myself sometime soon. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZ8SDw5UlGSz4upswrksocHa51sEwhyoFOL5RGCIKmkfRSbPIRFZS5phdYf9MsjUjD1tH3gmnrZBpX_aDIulRrCLwFrbcBMe3XjJ_o6daiLp3PyCgutbNlyXgVtTEQttDAhwebsrw2dk/s1600/634076_gifts_of_nature.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZ8SDw5UlGSz4upswrksocHa51sEwhyoFOL5RGCIKmkfRSbPIRFZS5phdYf9MsjUjD1tH3gmnrZBpX_aDIulRrCLwFrbcBMe3XjJ_o6daiLp3PyCgutbNlyXgVtTEQttDAhwebsrw2dk/s1600/634076_gifts_of_nature.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I had hoped for a present upon his return and my hoping was not in vain. He did indeed bring a present. A present of half a rotisserie chicken. My brother-in-law will quite literally wet his pants laughing when he hears about that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Anyway, all this meant that I was able to fulfill my duties as an unambitious and unimaginative stay-at-home mum (as the always wise Cherie Blair has been very rudely calling us) and do some laundry, housework and cooking (and blog-reading of course). I also rammed in a trip to the library where I picked up 'Room' by Emma Donoghue and 'The Marriage Plot' by Jeffrey Eugenides.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Now, I realise I am, as usual, late to the party with both these books but given the smallness of the fiction section and their seeming inclination towards the crime genre, these were the only two that really jumped off the shelf at me. I'm thinking 'Room' first (although I still have 39% of 'Northanger Abbey' to power through. Still not an Austen fan. I've tried, I really have). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Whilst at the library, we were told that StoryTime was on soon so Lady M and I duly trotted off to the children's room and perused some books whilst we waited for it to begin. Books chosen and sitting nicely with the other kids and mums (and a dad. Good on you, lone Dad) whilst the library lady began her spiel, one child hurled himself to the floor and began screaming and crying whilst his mother calmly looked on and the rest of us strained to hear the library lady's explanation of which books were going to be read over incredible rage of the angriest kid in WA. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Now, whilst I am all for letting your child tantrum it out and get over it, I would have removed Lady M from the library and had her calm down outside, returning if (big if) and when she was quiet. But not so this ballsy mum. No sirree. She let him wail and shout the entire time the poor library lady was reading and singing. He screamed through Twinkle Twinkle, sobbed all over 'The Hungry Caterpillar' and rampaged during Baa Baa Black Sheep. All the while, Lady M stared at him aghast, wondering (possibly) what he was finding so heinous about StoryTime. Or, most probably, thinking how the hell was he getting away with such behaviour and should she try it out next time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Note to Lady M: Do not try this as your mummy is not so tough that she can teach you that tantrumming will not get you your own way even when you are in public. Not even when you are in a library - a sanctuary of quietness and respect. Not even when you are RUINING StoryTime for ten other children and their poor suffering parents. She will get you the eff out of there quicker than you can stuff five Tim Tams into your mouth when she's not looking. </span></span><br />
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And do you know what this joyous child's name was? Damien. I'm not even joking. </div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5318955830012545589.post-66573104416335278612012-06-19T14:50:00.001+08:002012-06-19T14:50:38.687+08:00Ducks, rainbows and the Tim Tam Slam<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
So, we are at the beginning of our third week in Perth and it is raining. Again. I know, I know, it IS winter here. Yesterday was a beautiful day and we hoped that it would remain that way for the next few days not least because there is a gigantic bag of washing to be done and not a tumble dryer in sight. Rock n roll. </div>
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Anyway, all the rain followed by bits of glorious sun has meant that we have seen many beautiful rainbows, like zees:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgaqDT94OfHNukHgm-zAnu_ARrBn-OLJiBebiorjQgphGAueYHWo4pvjxGHV6j1ntnJBp8sVq8ivEOfwnfpkiCAhv2OX2DhdOR-ESqEoZF4602AhLEeq0HxOmN_5NxyS4IPLnK9bNWKGA/s1600/June+2012+011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgaqDT94OfHNukHgm-zAnu_ARrBn-OLJiBebiorjQgphGAueYHWo4pvjxGHV6j1ntnJBp8sVq8ivEOfwnfpkiCAhv2OX2DhdOR-ESqEoZF4602AhLEeq0HxOmN_5NxyS4IPLnK9bNWKGA/s320/June+2012+011.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Very pretty. </div>
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We went up to the Hills a few days ago to see if we might like to live there. Lovely area, very pretty and tree-y and laid back. So, not for us then (although there are a couple of book shops there (always a big plus), one of which I was allowed to enter for a quick perusal. I ended up buying a copy of <a href="http://www.edwardtulane.com/Overview/tabid/52/Default.aspx" target="_blank">this wonderful looking book</a> for ten dollars. TEN DOLLARS for a second hand book. Better get used to it I suppose). The Chardmeister decided he wanted to much nearer to the sea and I am just not ready to be somewhere that quiet again. </div>
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However, I will be back to visit the big market held on the first Saturday of every month and report back on that. From what I understand, it's a crafty type market so I'll probably have to leave Lady M in the hands of the Chardmeister and wander round on my own, taking lots of photos of stuff I want to recreate when I have my craft/spare room (which makes me sound like I should totally live up in the Hills with all the artsy folk but I'm not really artsy, I'm just a pretender). </div>
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As we took Zig-zag road back down to the 'flatlands', we came across this lovely view of Perth CBD:</div>
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And also decided that we couldn't possibly live up in the Hills for fear that some silly teenage boy would take Lady M racing down it when she's fourteen. Not gonna happen. Especially if we don't live there. Final nail in the coffin for the Hills. I'm sure the folk up there are rightfully devastated... </div>
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And now we are down South or SoR (south of the river), near Rockingham. It feels a lot more open here, much less built up but perhaps that's just our immediate location. We were supposed to go to Penguin Island today but the rain has killed that notion off so there remained nothing to do except get on the Internet to catch up on blogs and blogging.</div>
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I do have a couple of new blog crushes <a href="http://www.toast-nz.com/" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://www.facegoop.com/" target="_blank">here</a> and have also been salivating over the <a href="http://smittenkitchen.com/" target="_blank">Smitten Kitchen</a> (well, her website at least) and, as usual, laughing myself silly at <a href="http://relentlesslaundry.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">this lady who would, I'm sure, sympathise with my laundry situation</a>. </div>
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I've also been lurking around several writing sites and Perth sites, sometimes combining the two, as well as purchasing a car and eating too many Tim Tams. I like the dark chocolate ones best so far but there are at least a thousand more flavours to try yet. White chocolate, mint, double coat, rum and raisin (these I might give a miss) amongst them. (Aside: I have just found out that biting the corners of Tim Tams and drinking tea through them like a big, flat chocolaty delicious straw is called a Tim Tam Slam. Aaah, the wonders of the Internet).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnCBURSINemehsrh8p6Abt9WC_VAxcotH6bqBZrz0DIyWYZ7Krz0Dzo5CfvtIznW3qEny0a4bpSUTIXj7futVPKnyZAzVblxNkqZZWA2kIqPRtPa8ACBBwtWZSHrS-JA8PLvuRH9i3gSI/s1600/3edc_81bd_tim-tams__minisitedetaila__minisitedetail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnCBURSINemehsrh8p6Abt9WC_VAxcotH6bqBZrz0DIyWYZ7Krz0Dzo5CfvtIznW3qEny0a4bpSUTIXj7futVPKnyZAzVblxNkqZZWA2kIqPRtPa8ACBBwtWZSHrS-JA8PLvuRH9i3gSI/s1600/3edc_81bd_tim-tams__minisitedetaila__minisitedetail.jpg" /></a></div>
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Whilst we were up near Joondalup, Lady M started to say 'duck' quite a lot. Now, all birds are ducks, including the chickens which loitered around our front door constantly, pooing EVERYwhere. I do not miss them. </div>
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I think this is the only animal which she calls by it's proper name rather than by the sound it makes. No matter how hard I try, I cannot get her to say 'dog' or 'cat' or 'lion'. It's 'woof woof', 'owwwwwwww' and 'raaaahr' or nothing. Do all learning-to-speak children call animals by the sounds they make? </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP6XQnqVHCuSpoTcrEoOvRmZ_O8nwwT0vc3GxunQeyQfaiUUloKXqYo8V6VExKSkxWOb1dTWi78nP0LCetNyE8SgfLjzTxw5eg944qaMeCfthNBQa69YNBuCGxRWvl_o_yKhBQCkZ0KNk/s1600/france+2012+073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP6XQnqVHCuSpoTcrEoOvRmZ_O8nwwT0vc3GxunQeyQfaiUUloKXqYo8V6VExKSkxWOb1dTWi78nP0LCetNyE8SgfLjzTxw5eg944qaMeCfthNBQa69YNBuCGxRWvl_o_yKhBQCkZ0KNk/s320/france+2012+073.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Finally, are there any Australian twitchers out there who can identify this pretty little blue tailed bird (I am too lazy to google it...)? </div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07166159980590623698noreply@blogger.com1