Lucy Ann Wade

York

2012-01-30T19:38:00.004Z

I've been in York for the past 3 days, at a conference for work. If you haven't been, it's very pretty, even when it is peeing it down with rain, but I swear there are more drunks wandering the street than pretty much anywhere else I've been.

The hotel was nice, and I basically got to stay in a room the size of my old one-bedroom flat, so that was nice. The conference signed us up to go on a ghost walk, which was fun and fine until our guide told us our hotel was haunted by a ghost AND a poltergeist, which meant I couldn't sleep for fear of being prodded by some supernatural being.

I find ghosts interesting. I'd love to say I don't believe in them, and say what a load of tosh it all is, but the irrational side of my brain is absolutely petrified that the world is really like it is in Sixth Sense, where there are dead people literally everywhere, and that I might one day be made aware of this fact. *shudder*.

(above: can you spot a ghost in this picture? If so, please don't tell me!)

"Nooooooo!"

2011-12-13T17:10:00.006Z

I know the film has been out now since 2009, but last week they were showing X Men Origins: Wolverine on Film 4. I quite enjoyed the other X Men films, so thought I'd give it a go, but was very disappointed. None of it made a whole lot of sense, and it was so cliché it was ridiculous. How many times did Wolverine hug a dead person to his manly chest, turn to the sky and scream "Nooooooooo!": 2. How many minutes of the film were dedicated to long shots of someone driving through Canada in a truck?: several. And the plot was all over the place. Why was the man baby Wolverine thought was his father played by Hugh Jackman, if he wasn't in fact his father? Who was he then? Why did Wolverine and Victor have to fight in all the wars of the twentieth century? Why would an adamantium bullet kill Wolverine, when he survived his skeleton being fused with the stuff? Similarly, why would a bullet make him lose his memory? I have to admit, they did a pretty good job on Gambit, given that I never saw the appeal in the past after watching the cartoons (his mutant power is that he can shuffle playing cards? Lame). Just a pity we'll probably never see him again. I found myself more moved by poor Ryan Reynold's character than Wolverine/Victor's sibling rivalry. The poor man got his mouth sewed together, injected with mutant powers, and then manually controlled like a toy car by that Striker bloke. Poor sod. And his only crime was that he talked too much.

I'm on a bit of a Superhero bent at the moment, having dressed as Batgirl at Butlins a few weeks ago (How come most of the famous female superheroes are DC?). I'm currently reading Demo, a brilliant comic by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan about disenfranchised youths with certain superhuman abilities. I'd like to say it's all research for Matti, but really it's just for fun. I'm still having problems with Matti; I'm still not sure how to write it. I mean, I have a plot, I have characters, but how to stylistically do it justice, I can't figure it out. At least I know not to make my heroine scream "Noooo!" anytime she finds someone dead. That's just plain annoying.

Monsters, Monsters Everywhere

2011-11-22T17:28:00.001Z

My god-daughter is really into Monster High at the moment. I bought back a doll for her from New York in April, thinking how cool it was to have little goth dolls, as opposed to the normal pink-wearing Barbies or those Bratz dolls with their freakishly-large heads.

I really fell for the idea of them, these anti-Barbies who face the oppressive "Norms" to get an education and get on in life (afterlife?). So I was a tad disappointed when I saw that there was a Monster High website, which seemed to imply that all these monster teens actually cared about was cheerleading and stealing someone else's boyfriend. I know that's the bread and butter of teen dramas, but really. Perhaps they ran out of imagination after the initial product designs were completed.

Anyhow, she's asked for another one for Christmas, which I will happily supply, because she's currently too young to read the novels and I like the fact that not all of her dolls are blonde (OK, so Zombie-Blonde is allowed).

Why I Will Not Be Participating In NaNoWriMo This Year...

2011-10-20T18:38:00.003+01:00

I have been taking part in NaNoWriMo since 2006 and have won every year since 2007. In the past I have explained why I think it is useful for writers looking to complete a first draft. From taking part in the programme not only have I learned discipline and seen a novel through to finish, it has also given me the self-confidence that writing is something I am capable of, and that there is always time to write no matter what the circumstance.
All this considered, it may seem a little strange that I am not taking part in NaNoWriMo this year, and in fact it has only been over the last couple of months that I have really finalised that decision. It is not because I won't be writing, and it is not because I've become one of those snobs who looks down on the programme and can't see the benefits. Rather, I am going to use my time productively to create a first draft organically. By that I mean, I am going to give myself the time to let my prose develop, my characters breath, my plot develop at a natural rate, so that (hopefully) I don't have too many major problems when it comes to the second draft.
I believe that if I did not work full time (and wasn't also studying German) I may be able to write an excellent first draft for a novel through NaNoWriMo in 30 days. However, because work is crazy busy, because I can never seem to go long without adding a new extra-curricular activity into my schedule, what I get through NaNoWriMo is passionate if sketchy dream worlds that need a lot of elbow grease afterwards.
So that is why I am not doing NaNoWriMo this year. I will miss uploading my daily word count into the website and chatting with people in the forums, but it's for my own good.
Best of luck to all those who will be taking part! I hope you get what you want out of it.
For me, for now, I am moving on.

Re-Writing: My "New" System

2011-09-13T19:13:00.005+01:00

I'm still trying to re-write my fantasy story, and have developed my own system (I can't claim it as unique, as I'm sure it isn't).
First, write a story.
Second, print out said story and read it again, preferably after letting it sit for a few days. Mark on the manuscript where there are errors or where things need expanding or changing for the sake of the story/plot.
Third, create a new second draft, starting from a blank word document, using your notes and incorporating all the necessary changes from your notes.
Fourth, go back through this second draft, and think about phrasing and correct any errors.
Fifth, finished. Share with friends and have a night off.
I'm currently at step 3, and it is DIFFICULT. I'm out of my comfort zone now, writing with my editor's hat on (rather than my creative hat, which has daisies and paper windmills and bubbles coming out the top...). I'm determined to get it finished, I really need to get into the routine of finishing what I start.

And on that note, let me tell you that last week I workshopped a story from the "Corrie Flint" canon at Speculators and spent a little time outlining a plot. This might be my next big project, but I'm aware that I still have so many things unfinished, so near to completion.

I'll let you know how the re-writing system works out. For now, back to the grindstone.

Re-Writing

2011-09-08T18:00:00.002+01:00

At the end of August, I spent 4 evenings writing a 9,000 word short story. I let it sit for a while, and am now in the process of re-writing. I was sad to find that it needed a lot of work, but at least I know I am developed enough as a writer to be able to spot my own personal writing flaws, and the flaws in the story, so I can fix it. "Writing is Re-Writing", or however that old adage goes.

I'm glad it is autumn now. Autumn to me is so strongly associated with the start of school, and so I usually use it to kick off new writing projects and make new year's resolutions. One of my main aims for the next month is to think about which story I want to present as my first novel, so I can focus my energies on that, instead of spreading myself thinly across several ideas.

A couple of websites/blogs that I found interesting this past week:

This blog gives some advice about manuscript lengths.

Juliet E McKenna talks about the problem with women characters in Fantasy fiction

The Importance of Grammar

2011-08-18T17:55:00.005+01:00

Some people don't think that grammar is important. They are wrong. Grammar is important on a fundamental level. It wasn't established as a way to police how you write or to limit your creativity. It is there to help a reader gain clarity and understand the meaning of your words. This is obviously very important if you are trying to be a writer, but it is also good standard practice to have a good grounding in grammar for any job application or official correspondence you might have to write. I don't always get it right myself, so thought it would be good to do a post exploring common grammatical mistakes.

A few things to remember:

It's/Its:
"It's" is used as a contraction of the phrase "it is". The apostrophe represents the missing letter "i". "Its" (no apostrophe) means something belonging to something else. If in doubt, try replacing the word in your sentence with the phrase "it is" instead. Does it still make sense? No? Then don't use an apostrophe.

The semi-colon:
I can't explain it better than how it is here, and this has the added bonus of being humorous to boot.

There/Their/They're:
Basically, "There" is used to denote direction ("over there") or an abstract sense of place ("there once was a boy") (there is more to it than that, but I'll try to keep it simply - for further details see here.) Use "Their" if you mean "belonging to them"."They're" (it's that apostrophe again!) is a contraction of the phrase "they are".

That/Which:
A little bit of old school grammar here, but generally speaking, "that" is used if what you are referring to is important to the meaning of the sentence ("restrictive clause"), "which" is used if you could leave that clause off completely and it would still make sense ("non-restrictive clause"). There should never be a comma before "that", but always with "which".
I did a google search, and here are a couple of stolen examples from http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/which-versus-that.aspx:

Example 1: Gems that sparkle often elicit forgiveness
If you remove "that sparkle", it changes the meaning to say that all gems elicit forgiveness (and note there are no commas).

Example 2: Diamonds, which are expensive, often elicit forgiveness.
Diamonds are always assumed expensive, so if you remove the "which", the meaning remains.

For more on grammar, do have a look at http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/, which I found whilst researching this post. I'd also recommend reading The Elements of Style; a very handy guide.

Edinburgh and Back Again

2011-08-16T18:20:00.002+01:00

Went to Edinburgh for a few days last week. Was great to be back at the Fringe, saw some really great productions. Obvious plugs for my friends' shows - Paper Tom and The 90s in Half an Hour (both excellent) but I think my favourite had to be The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik, on at the Underbelly. It was truly moving, simple, beautiful. Had me in tears by the end. If you're in or around Edinburgh during the Festival, I very wholeheartedly recommend you go and see it.

Works in progress at the moment are mainly Matti (still the working title, I really hope a better one pops into my head soon) and a revamp of my old Three Sisters idea. This newer version started off as a dialogue between two young teens in a cafe. It is now around 7000 words long, and I'm just seeing where it goes. I'm also about to start work on a new short story. I got the idea on the train back from Edinburgh, as I was sitting in my damp clothing looking out of the window. It is about a ghost and a boy. The challenge will be to keep it under 10,000 words long.

Just A Thought

2011-08-02T18:17:00.004+01:00

Why do some people hate JK Rowling so much? I suppose the question can be directed at many famous successful people, but I'm choosing JK Rowling because I've just stumbled across some really vile comments on the internet. I know that there are people in this world whose only happiness seems to be writing mean things on the internet, but I just don't understand where that passion, that hatred, comes from. Her only crime is writing some books that lots of people have enjoyed. She hasn't wronged anyone (as far as I'm aware), doesn't seem to be a mean person, doesn't harm animals or take drugs, etc. Why do people feel the need to be so completely hateful? I know there are differing opinions about the quality of her work, but should that really stir up such a strong reaction? Seriously, take a nice deep breath and go lie down somewhere quiet for a while.

Hatred is such a strong thing. I think the only times I've ever really felt hatred (or something akin to it) has been caused by jealousy. Well, jealousy and hormones. It's strange how people can become obsessed with people they don't even know, and think that just because they're online all rules regarding etiquette and appropriateness don't exist.

Getting in The Zone

2011-07-28T17:47:00.003+01:00

I have found that it is much easier to write when you have a routine.
Mine is currently this: After work, go to the library.
Just like starting any new routine, it's hard to get into. At first, I'd stop for a cuppa, take a few notes or check emails before actually getting down to the business of writing. Now I have a drink in the office before I finish work, so that as soon as I leave I can head straight to the "Silent Study" zone.
It gets easier. And now, if I don't go, I don't have to punish myself because it's starting to feel wrong. I'm becoming more productive, having finished 2 1/2 chapters of Matti and 2,500 words for something else that is Three Sisters related, just in the last fortnight.

On a separate note, I'm off to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for a couple of days at the beginning of August. Any recommendations? I've just finished compiling my usual matrix of shows I'm interested in. Top of the list is Paper Tom and The 90s in Half an Hour. Can't wait to get back to Edinburgh, if only for a flying visit.

Baby Steps

2011-07-21T17:33:00.003+01:00

I have put the faerie story to one side for the moment to concentrate on the rewriting of my Matti novel. Will it be finished by August (in reference to the deadline I set myself earlier this year)? No. But this rewrite is stronger than ever and I am feeling happy that it is now sounding more like I intended.

I had a really nice rejection email the other day - sounds like an oxymoron doesn't it? - possibly a sign that I'm actually getting better at this craft. I'm feeling pretty positive right now. I feel like I am starting to establish my voice through my writing, and I have a good idea of what my brand will be when I do get published.

So, enough with the update already. I'm off to do some writing. Catch you later!

Away with the Faeries

2011-07-11T16:41:00.006+01:00

Recently, I have been doing some research about faeries for a new story I am writing. I thought I was quite informed about "the good folk" after all the research I had done whilst writing Banshee, but then discovered today that a "doxy" does not actually exist and was something made up for Harry Potter. Oops.

Nevermind.

I have been doing some research, as for years now I've wanted to write a short story about Tir na nOg and proper faeries* and it was only today whilst driving home from a school event that I worked out how to do it. So this is what I'm going to be working on for the rest of the evening.

I attended Alt.Fiction a few weeks ago and had a pretty enjoyable day. I've left it a bit late to review it, so will direct you to Selina's blog review of the event (diving into my own fragments of memory about the event, all I can really recall is talking about seal sex in front of Jon Courtenay Grimwood!). Will Ellwood also comments here.

*Canny regular readers will know I have already attempted to write about proper faeries once in The Tower (link takes you to the far superior audio version rather than text).

Technology Hates Me

2011-06-17T18:59:00.002+01:00

Everything seems to be going wrong at the minute, and I'm starting to wig out. Twitter on my phone keeps telling me my username and password are invalid, even though I can sign in fine through a web browser, plus it keeps losing signal, even though I apparently have a "boost" through WiFi. Stupid BlackBerry. I can't even get Facebook on it anymore as it kept crashing, and so I missed loads of events and social occasions as a result. I swear I'm getting an android phone as soon as my contract is up!

Work is uber busy, but despite this I have managed to work out the story for my Matti novel. I just can't quite decide at what point in the story do I begin - I hate flashbacks, but the beginning isn't really the most interesting part. Decisions, decisions.

I am hopefully off to Alt.Fiction next weekend, and going to try to do some of the workshops this year as I didn't go to any last time. I hope it's good.

Uh! Stupid phone. Now it won't even let me send a text message. I think I'd better go and calm down before I throw it at something. Is there such a thing as "phone rage"?

A Little Writing Update

2011-06-07T18:46:00.002+01:00

I have been having a bit of a think about my Matti novel. I knew that what I had written for NaNoWriMo hadn't turned out as I had intended. It just didn't say what I wanted it to, and I have been flummoxed as to how to go about fixing it. After speaking to a couple of people at Speculators (the writing group that seems to have adopted me), I've decided to try again, starting with the short story that I wrote initially about Matti and Eva at the funeral of their mother, using this as the starting point of the story, rather than as a flashforward to the end. I know now what I want the story to be about (“sisters, and mothers and daughters, and loss”) but now I'm trying to put some plot to it, trying to find something that is fitting to the piece and won't threaten to take over the main themes, like my Whedon-esque plot did the first time around.

It has been a while since I've actually written something. I have done lots of planning, lots of rewriting, but not a lot of the 'creating' recently. So that's something I am trying to get my head back into. I think Matti and Dorcas are my main priorities right now, though I do need to write a new short story too. I have a lot of work to do, but I'm trying not to let that feeling of being under pressure and needing to rush consume me again. Trying to take it one piece at a time.

What I Watched Over The Bank Holiday Weekend

2011-05-31T12:41:00.001+01:00

I've just finished watching Series 3 of True Blood (warning: rest of paragraph contains spoilers). As much as I've been enjoying it, there's part of me that is starting to think it's becoming a little silly. Vampires, then shapeshifters, then Maiads, and in this series werewolves, were-panthers, fairies and witches. I half expected new sheriff Andy to turn around and announce he was a leprechaun. I do think that they handle these new creatures very well, but I think my dislike comes from the frequency in which new creatures are introduced. And I really don't want Layfayette to discover he's a witch or whatever. I loved that, along with Tara and Jason, he was one of the "normal" ones. I am interested to see what they are going to do in the new series, and as always, it is Sookie's relationships that provide the central hook. Personally, I think I'm shipping Sookie with that hunky werewolf guy whose name I never did catch. But anyway...

Loved Doctor Who this week, mainly for the ending. Can't wait til next week, but don't understand why the show is going on hiatus until the autumn. Is this a money-saving exercise by the BBC? A bid to get higher ratings? It's very annoying anyway, especially as it's basically the only TV I watch these days that isn't on DVD or Virgin on-demand.

Taking the Slow Road

2011-05-26T16:55:00.004+01:00

Well, first things first. The "thumb flap" has healed, leaving me a slightly pinkish mark as a memento. I know how worried you've all been, so just wanted to reassure you that it hadn't turned gangrenous and fallen off. ;-)

Secondly, I went to see Much Ado About Nothing at the Wyndham's Theatre last Saturday. It was an excellent production, and made me remember how great the script is, especially the dialogue between Benedick and Beatrice. It actually crackles. Love it.

Thirdly, the rewriting of Matti is going ... slowly. But I've realised that that isn't a bad thing. Taking my time to analyse the manuscript and make considered changes is actually going to make it a lot stronger, in terms of story, character and language. I recently read the advice about revising on Fantasy Faction's website: http://fantasy-faction.com/2011/revisions-part2, which has helped to clarify the techniques I have been trying to use. Holly Lisle's method (see link in the margin to the right) involves doing all the stages at once, but I've realised there isn't enough space in my head to process like that, regardless of how many coloured pens I use.

And finally, I am working on something new. Well, it's really taking old things but making them work together. A sort of Frankenstein's Monster of a story, if you will. I am fleshing out the idea of it at the moment, but hope to start writing it properly as soon as I have all the kinks figured out.

Thank goodness it's another Bank Holiday on Monday!

Thumb Flap

2011-05-10T17:38:00.003+01:00

I haven't been so productive today, in part due to my new thumb flap freaking me out every time I look down at my right hand.
Thumb flap. Oh yes. You read that right.
You see, on Saturday I trapped my thumb in the fridge door. It was highly embarrassing and extremely painful. Three days later, and the bleeding has stopped, but I have a hole in said thumb, which is covered by (you guessed it) a flap of skin.
Sorry. Perhaps I should have warned you that this post would be a bit icky.
Currently, my thumb is deathly white, though this may be because I've just removed the plaster rather than a sign that my thumb is about to drop off. One hopes anyway.
It's also making holding a pen difficult, so cue a writing session that is computer based for today. Today is a "Dorcas Day" so I will be spending this evening mainly working on my Dorcas Grubb novel. For further info, please follow the labels below. It's all about a girl dealing with bereavement and mending the hole in her family, much more than it is about her genetic ability to travel in time. Off now to do some work. I would still like to successfully reach my deadline of having a novel completed by September.

Rejections

2011-05-09T18:58:00.003+01:00

This week I have received three rejection emails, and I have to say that it does sting. Mainly because it makes me question whether I'm actually any good (which makes the evil little voice of self-doubt inside my head rejoice at this new validation of its existence). I've started analysing my "weaknesses" to see how I can improve in future. I've also eaten two entire Easter eggs over the course of a weekend.
Rejection is as much a part of the writing process as the writing itself. I know this. I normally try to stay positive; I actually have a "rejection letter" folder where I store all the letters and emails and view it as a sign of achievement. Stephen King used to do a similar thing, only he had a nail in the wall where he'd pin his.
I suppose even the most positive people can have their off-days though, so maybe it's because I got three in a row that it has hit me a little harder than usual.
Rejections aside, I have started the rewrite of Matti (working title), which in this draft will be aimed squarely at the teen market. I think I'm also going to have a go at writing Dorcas Grubb at the same time, and just see how it goes.
Anyway, now I hope you don't mind but I'm going to go back to wallowing in self-pity for a while.

Canterbury

2011-04-27T20:15:00.002+01:00

I am currently taking advantage of the (hopefully) free wi-fi in my hotel room to update my blog. I'm in Canterbury for work, staying at a nice hotel on Wincheap trying to take advantage of the alone-time to do some writing. Unfortunately, my writing session has turned into an amazing feat of procrastination. For example, I took a detour home via Chilham to see where Jane Austen's brother once lived and where they shot some scenes for the newest BBC adaptation of Emma. When I did get back to the hotel finally, after only writing two lines of notes I then took another detour to writerdom by seeing how much honeycomb I could eat in twenty minutes whilst drinking an entire pot of tea. I then dallied further by reading Carrie Vaughn's story in Fantasy magazine (tis good, go see for yourself).
My attention span is ridiculous. If only I could concentrate for more than 10 minutes at a time I might actually have more things accomplished.
So on that note, I'm going to go back and do some writing.
Wish me luck.

New York

2011-04-19T12:39:00.003+01:00

I had an excellent holiday in New York. Did you miss me?! I did most of the touristy things, like going to the top of the Empire State Building, climbing the 350-odd steps to the Crown of the Statue of Liberty, went to The Village and Times Square, all that stuff. We saw the Ghostbusters' fire station and Carrie's stoop.
I saw three shows whilst away; two Broadway musicals, The Book of Mormon and The Addams Family and an Off-off-Broadway play, Bring Me The Head Of Your Daughter. (warning: Spoilers below).
The Book of Mormon was excellent. So glad I went to see it. Whatever your views on the subject matter, the rest of Broadway could learn a lesson from the tight composition, relevant catchy hilarious songs, seamless directing, musical direction and choreography and talented cast. It never dragged, the pacing was spot on and it actually managed to be sentimental and quite sweet as well as full of the crude humour you'd sort of expect given the authors (here, here and here).
The second show was The Addams Family - The Musical. See, I can hear you groan already, and I should have trusted my instincts. But then I looked it up and found out that Andrew Lippa had written the score. So it couldn't be that bad, could it? Wrong. I don't think anyone involved (aside from the costume and set designers) had actually ever read or watched anything related to the Addams Family before. The songs were forgettable almost instantly (with the exception of "Pulled" which was quite good). The story was pretty feeble - Wednesday is now a teenager and in love with a "normal" person. Except that Wednesday and Lucas had no chemistry, and sang songs at each other so you never actually believed they were in love. It was almost like watching a school play where the children aren't allowed to so much as hold hands. The actor playing Lucas tried to sing to Wednesday but meant that he was in profile for most of the show so I have no idea what he looked like, if he can act, etc. It wasn't just the kids though who seemed to have a "no touching" policy. Gomez and Morticia had no chemistry whatsoever. Roger Rees, although game, was basically doing a "Nathan Lane" impression and so for me didn't feel connected to the role and all of the jokes fell flat. Morticia was cold. I just kept thinking back to the loved-up Angelica Houston and Raul Julia in the movie and thought - how could the musical get it so wrong? They even have Morticia and Gomez get into a fight because she is feeling insecure about her looks. Completely out of character.
The rest of the story was about the two families - the Addams family and the "normal" family - meeting. They play a game of "full disclosure", which is made out to be something hideous, and it turns out to be a game of "Truth". The "normal" mum drinks a potion that's supposed to turn her "from Mary Poppins to Medea" but instead makes her act drunk, say what's on her mind and do a very mildly sexy dance. If that's what passes for Medea in this day and age, heaven help us! Anyway, it was awful and it put me off seeing any other Broadway shows in case they were terrible too.
"Bring Me The Head Of Your Daughter", was about a lesbian couple, one of whom is an alcoholic and abusive, the other raped by her brother when a child, and the lesbian couple's daughter, who is accused of being a cannibal. As you can sort of tell from my summary, too much happens in this play to make it really successful - it was only about an hour and a half long! When the brother turns up, the play segways into another story about his health and his relationship with his sister, and none of the stories are concluded satisfactorily (which was ok, but the ending they went for wasn't particularly strong). Good performances, direction and set, though a minor peeve was that the daughter, who had adopted an English accent, should have let the accent slip a few times when she was angry - it would have really have emphasised the theme of her story about illusion and truth.
So there are my reviews. Had a fantastic time, and glad that it's the Easter holidays soon because I can finish unpacking and tidy the house.
Had a couple of ideas for stories whilst away that I think I may look at. Have to do some planning first though before I start, and also finish off the couple of stories I've already started.

New York

2011-03-29T17:19:00.004+01:00

I am off to New York on holiday next week and can't wait! I have an itinerary planned, because that's just the type of person I am, and think I have most of the major sites covered. I have tickets for The Book of Mormon and The Addams Family, as well as Bring Me The Head Of Your Daughter. Want to see more theatre whilst I'm out there, but not sure if time and money is on my side!

I'm not sure if I will get to blog whilst I'm away, but I'll let you know all about it when I'm back.

Last week at Speculators I critiqued my short story based on the Selkie myth. It was really useful getting some objective feedback, and they were able to give me some great advice about weak areas that needed solving. It was strange because some people in the group loved the non-linear narrative, whilst others were thrown by it and didn't get what was happening. It is nice having your work criticiqued by such an eclectic group though as it means they spot things that others wouldn't. Thanks folks!

My Phone

2011-03-23T20:43:00.000Z

My phone has been behaving very strangely lately. It keeps "receiving" emails that were originally sent 10 years ago, emails that I've already received and forgotten about.
Like this one from a girl I used to be friends with and haven't spoken to in years.
At first, I was thinking that maybe this is some sign that we should reconnect. Then - oh my God, what if something bad has happened to her, and this is destiny's way of letting me know?
Now I'm convinced it's just some sort of Yahoo/Hotmail/BlackBerry bug.
Nice idea though.

About My Earlier Announcement

2011-03-17T19:24:00.003Z

Some time earlier, I announced that I was going to have my "Matti" novel finished by August. But now I'm in two minds as to whether to continue with it or not. I just can't figure out what I want it to be. I intended for it to be a character-driven novel about two powerful sisters who become each other's nemesis. Instead, it's an action-fueled political commentary with no real character at all. But maybe that's just because it was written during NaNoWriMo?
You see - two minds!
I'm working on some short fiction at the moment, and think I will approach the "Matti" question again when work is less hectic. So whether it will be finished by August... I can't rightly say.

Back! Well, Sort Of...

2011-03-15T17:46:00.003Z

I'm completely snowed under at work. I have organised an event for 500 people for tomorrow, and for over 1,000 on Saturday, and am in the process of organising another for next week, and so my brain is feeling a little mushy right now.

I'll be so glad when it is April. April is this lovely land where I only have to work for 3 days for the entire month and I get to visit New York. April is this place that is free of stress and full of sunshine. I can't wait until it comes!

It's All Over

2011-03-01T15:53:00.002Z

Well, Return to the Forbidden Planet, the musical I was in, has finished its run, and I am suffering from post-show blues that no amount of Haribos is able to shift. I miss everyone so much. I miss the adrenaline when you first run out on stage, the applause. I even miss the ache in my limbs and the random bruises afterwards. The world seems a little flatter, a little devoid of colour, now that it's over.

Long Sigh.

But anyway, I am back from being all theatrical, and really do need to make a start again at the writing. I still have a novel to edit and rewrite, plus another one that needs completing, and an older one that I've been thinking of rewriting too. Think I'll give myself tonight to finish mopping about, and then get back to work.

Musicals

2011-02-08T18:10:00.005Z

Rehearsals are heating up for Return To The Forbidden Planet. Last week, I was filmed for a montage that takes place about half way through Act 1, and since then, we've been running the show every rehearsal. I am so exhausted by the end! I can't believe the show is on in only 2 weeks; I'm going to be so sad when it finishes.

I love Glee, and have just finished watching the "Rocky Horror" episode. I'm not sure I like that they changed the lyrics in "Touch-a Touch Me" but I guess it's understandable given that the show has quite a young audience. We did The Rocky Horror Show at uni for a charity night, and I got to play Magenta. The whole experience of that night has to be one of the best of my entire time at university - to stand on that stage and to have everyone in the audience stand up and sing along and dance to your performance was just magical. Have dug out an old photo so you can laugh (actually, it's not so embarrassing to me, as I'm probably wearing the most clothes out of anyone!). Ah, happy days.

I'm off to New York City in April, so if anyone has been before or is reading this from the other side of the pond, and has any recommendations of things to do, please let me know.

Ciao for now - I have to look over my lines again tonight, because apparently what I thought was crazy obscure Shakespeare turns out to be a typo in the script. Ooops!

Planet

2011-01-25T19:12:00.003Z

It's three weeks until my show opens. Eek! How did that happen? It doesn't seem so long ago since it was the first rehearsal.

Things are pretty much coming together now; I know most of my lines, most of my song lyrics, and have a pretty good idea where I'm supposed to stand at any given moment. Can't wait until we start running it all the way through though - I know I need to build up my stamina as the show rolls from one big number into the next, and I really don't want to be panting and wheezing my way through "Great Balls of Fire".

Just to plug the show again to y'all, I'm in Return To The Forbidden Planet at the Concordia Theatre, in Hinckley Leicestershire, from Mon 21st - Sat 26th February. Tickets are £8-£10 depending on which night you come, and details about how they can be obtained can be found here: www.concordiatheatre.co.uk. I play the Science Officer, "a woman with a mysterious past".

Because of the increased time I'm having to put into rehearsals, coupled with the busy period starting at work, I'm going to have to put the editing of Matti to one side for the time being - simply until the play is done - otherwise I might have some sort of break down. Big plans are afoot for the week beginning 28th February, don't you worry.

Announcement

2011-01-20T18:26:00.000Z

I am going to have my novel (working title "Matti") finished by August.

That is all. :)

Revision

2011-01-11T11:53:00.003Z

Computer still isn't fixed. I can't find the paperwork for it, so don't know what sort of graphics card I need without taking it apart. I miss my Sims like they were family. So grateful for my external hard drive. It also means I have backup copies of all the novels, plays, short stories, etc that I've been working on since 1996, which is a huge relief. Thank you Past-me for having sense to want one, and to Alex for buying it for me as a present.

Speaking of presents, I have bought myself a little post-Christmas gift, James Scott Bell's guide Revision and Self-Editing in preparation for revising my Matti novel. I'll post a review once I've finished reading it, but I found his guide on "Plot and Structure" very good (one of the first writing guide books I've read that is actually useful). In the past, when I was editing Inter Vivos, I followed Holly Lisle's online advice for revision (see link in the margin), but thought it might be useful to get more guidance as this is the area of writing where I have the least experience.

I need to start managing my time better as well, especially as rehearsals become more frequent. May start spending Saturdays in the library again, like I did last year.
2011 is going to be my year!

Finished reading The 19th Wife, very enjoyable. Now reading Trudi Canavan's The Magician's Apprentice.

Happy Belated New Year

2011-01-04T16:49:00.000Z

Right, let me explain the lack of posts since December. At first it was a case of "nothing much has happened today," which branched into "I'll do it tomorrow". Weeks past, and then suddenly in my mind, due to the delay between posts, my next blog post "had" to be about something interesting, witty and important; well written and relevant. But I couldn't think of anything.
Then Christmas and New Year flew by, and I missed the perfect opportunity to ease myself back into blogging with a quick non-judgemental Christmas greeting. But I didn't, because I was having an off-line Christmas, like we did in 1996 before the internet was commonplace and you actually had to turn on the telly and wait for a designated timeslot to find out the news.
And now it has come to this. A month with no new updates.
What can I say? I psyched myself out.
So here it is, not particularly witty, well written or interesting, but a blog post nonetheless, in the hope to get this thing moving again.

What I'm reading now: The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff and A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.
What I'm procrastinating from doing now: Learning my lines for Return to the Forbidden Planet (I'm on at end of February folks!); re-reading my NaNoWriMo novel.
Weird proof that wishing on stars works, but not always in the way you'd like: I wished I would finish my novel. So my computer has broken, making it impossible for me to play The Sims 2. Annoying, expensive to fix yet will probably mean my second draft will be completed within six months.

If you're not already, follow me on Twitter @LucyAnnWade

It's nice to be back.

NaNo Been and Gone

2010-12-07T17:43:00.003Z

Sorry for not blogging for a while. I have been ill with that seasonal flu/cold thing that everyone's got - you know, the one that fells grown men and makes them whimper for their mothers. That one.

Anyhow, where were we? Oh yeah. I was doing NaNoWriMo - and I won! I wrote 1 first draft and started on the sequel of my new series about Matti and her cosmically-powered arch-rival younger sister Eva.

The plan now is to continue with the sequel whilst looking at the first structurally and adding the scenes that are missing. After that, I shall polish the characters and the language, whilst looking at the structure of the sequel. Once the first one is finished and the sequel almost done, then if I'm still excited by the project I shall start batting it around agents. I also want to turn the first one into a film/ TV script.

So on the whole, NaNoWriMo has been beneficial for me. I have a whole new series to focus on, and the process has dragged me out of the rut that I wasn't really aware I was in until I escaped it. Even though I'm still a bit germ-ridden, I am a little lighter in step as a result.

To get you into the Christmas spirit, here is a song from my mate's band, The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing, from their new EP 'A Very Steampunk Christmas'. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIn65oes8SM&list=ULufK8bxbyX7E&playnext=1

68% Complete!

2010-11-22T14:27:00.001Z

My word count currently stands at 35,310 and all is going well. So far over the course of my novel, normal teenager Matti Brennoch has discovered she has superpowers, been shot, uncovered a seedy government plot, fallen in love, stolen someone's boyfriend, and cured her best friend of fatal poisoning. There are various different strands to my plot that I will have to look at during my second draft, but I'm quite pleased with my novel so far. I haven't killed anyone yet (aside from a few baddies, but they don't count really), but there's a big death coming up that I'm really looking forward to writing.

I read an article about Julia Crouch and how she sold her NaNoWriMo novel, and it was really interesting to read, especially the advice about rewriting afterwards. That is still my weakness, but practice makes perfect, as they say. http://blog.lettersandlight.org/post/1620920450/i-sold-my-nanowrimo-novel-a-q-a-with-julia-crouch

The Story So Far

2010-11-16T09:34:00.000Z

I don't have a lot of time to write for NaNoWriMo. It was idiotic of me to decide to do it, what with having a lead role in a musical and working a full time job.
But I'm getting it done. Slowly but surely, my word count creeps up. So far, I like my story, and my lead character isn't annoying me (always a good sign). Plus, I have the sequel in mind already.
Right now, almost mid-way through, and I think I'm going to experiment with the plot a little bit for 10 thousand words. I'll let you know how it goes.

NaNoWriMo Day 5

2010-11-05T17:01:00.001Z

Day 5 of NaNoWriMo and I'm really enjoying myself. My story is going well so far, with what I am considering a very "Joss Whedon"-esque opening sequence (though others might disagree that it is). I think I may have hit on an idea for a possible series, expanded from this story. Matti and Eva are currently 17 and 14 respectively, but I have ideas for what they would both be like as adults and the story is expanding so that there is scope to follow these girls out of adolescence and into adulthood and see how their powers develop.
I've spoken to a few people who don't believe that NaNoWriMo is a good thing, that it only produces dross, that it's not productive, etc. Mostly I think they believe this because they've never been able to do it (ouch), but I'll summarise very quickly (I have a novel to write, you know):

Why NaNoWriMo Is Good
By Lucy Wade, aged 30 in exactly 20 days.

1. NaNoWriMo gives you a legitimate excuse to fob off friends and relatives and actually do some writing.
2. Even if you don't hit your daily word target, the fact that you are writing daily means you are probably going to be more productive than if you weren't doing NaNoWriMo in the first place.
3. It is an ideal way to write a first draft of an idea you want to develop - like one 50,000 word treatment. You can play around with tone, plot, structure, narrative devises, until your heart is content.
4. You can tell very quickly if the idea you've been toying with has enough steam to become a novel. If you're finding it difficult to write even 10,000 words, then it might not be developed enough at this stage...
5. But that's also a good thing, because not only have you saved yourself potentially 10 years figuring out that your idea is lousy, you now have a month to fix it! Or evolve it into something completely random and new. Never will your imagination be so free!
6. Developing the discipline to write 1,667 words a day (or possibly more) is a major achievement in itself. Turn off that TV. Don’t stop for yet another tea break. Just do it!
7. You get an immense feeling of satisfaction when you finish. You know afterwards that you are capable of writing something novel/novella sized - yes, it may be riddled with typos, and characters that change name, or eye-colour, or gender half-way through, as well as plot holes the size of the Grand Canyon, but isn't that normal for first drafts?
8. There's an excellent sense of community, one that doesn't normally exist for writer's at other times of the year. Over the course of November, you have 172,000 other writers sharing your journey and cheering you on, helping you out of tricky spots with suggestions on the forum, or providing you with procrastination when you think you can't type any more.
9. You have to write 50,000 words by midnight 30th November, but there is no adjudicator as to "what" those words are. You could simply write "NaNoWriMo is great" over and over again until you hit your target, but you don't, because it would only be cheating yourself. Giving yourself permission to try and seeing what your imagination has in store for you is one of the best, one of the most liberating experiences.
10. It is free, and you get a certificate at the end.

OK. Kinda trickled off at the end there. Anyway. Time to write another 1,000 words of my novel. Happy Diwali and Bonfire Night!

And We're Off!

2010-11-01T15:41:00.002Z

NaNoWriMo starts today, and, because I have rehearsal tonight, I don't think that I'm going to hit my daily target of 1,667 words. But I'm not too far off! I am quite pleased with the opening scene I have written - yes, the dialogue and description needs work, but overall, not too dire.

If you'd like to befriend me on the NaNoWriMo site (and please do!) I can be found at:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/124755

Good luck to fellow NaNo-nites!

Righty-O

2010-10-22T10:33:00.002+01:00

My writing is now back on track. I've begun to catalogue what currently happens in Dorcas Grubb, chapter by chapter (one more to go), and can already see the major faults and where I'll need to rewrite and create new story. I've also begun to story board it as a graphic novel - I thought back when I was writing it that it would make a great comic, mainly due to the scene at the end with the giant time vortex ripping between Memorial Arch in Leicester, so thought I'd give it a go.

It's also almost NaNoWriMo time. It's really crept up on me this year. I've re-registered with the site, but haven't given any more thought to the story I'll be writing for it. My head is too full of Dorcas, and I'm not rewriting that as part of NaNoWriMo because I need time to contemplate and improve and polish and NaNoWriMo really isn't that place. NaNoWriMo is the place for spitting out ideas, tapping into that dream state and silencing that inner critic to give the imagination free reign for one whole month. I am registered on the website as "Grizabella", so if you're NaNoWriMo-ing yourself, feel free to add me as a buddy.

Rehearsals for Return To The Forbidden Planet are continuing to go well. It is on February 21st - 26th 2011 and ticket information is available here: http://www.concordiatheatre.co.uk/showguide/showdetail.asp?Key=76

2010-10-18T18:15:00.000+01:00

Number of words written since last blog post (not counting this blog post): 0

Must try harder. Much harder. Fail.

Cleaning Up Dorcas Grubb

2010-10-14T09:19:00.001+01:00

I am currently working on fixing the first draft of Dorcas Grubb. The chronology is all over the place – not good anyway, but especially here where the story is about time travel! It's a mess, and is taking me ages to get through even the preliminary stuff. On top of that, I am drawing up my plan for this year's NaNoWriMo novel, which is the “Matti and Eva” story. So far, I have a plan for 10 chapters (or “sections”) that will be 5,000 words each and represent a different stage in the sisters' relationships. The plan will no doubt change a lot between now and November 1st, but at least I have something I can work with.
To be honest, my writing is frustrating me at the moment. It is because I have less time to dedicate to it, due to work commitments and my rehearsals, and because I'm mainly doing planning and editing, I don't have any real sense of accomplishment, and feel like I don't have anything to show for the time that I have spent. Of course, technically I do have something to show for it, be it a freshly scribbled on page of corrections or a 10-chapter plan for a NaNo novel, but still. It's not like it's a finished chapter of a book, or a short story that I can submit somewhere.
I think I am going to have to start dedicating one of my weekend days to writing again, just like I did when I was finishing off Inter Vivos. After all, if you want to be a writer, then you have to write! Hopefully then I shall start to feel better.

Rehearsals and a New Story

2010-09-28T12:21:00.001+01:00

At the moment, rehearsals are consuming most of my time. I had forgotten how good doing a show makes you feel. It's all those endorphins, probably. It is so good to be singing again. In this show, I get to go back to my "alto" roots, after singing mezzo- and top-soprano for the past 5 years. Apparently, my alto voice is "sultry and powerful". :-) I was even given chocolates after yesterday's rehearsal, so can't be doing too badly.

I've also been working on a new short story, about a girl who gets possessed by a symbiont on her 16th birthday. I'm up to the point where she's got the thing inside her, but don't know what to do next. Am going to send it around to a few people to read, and hopefully their feedback will help me see where the story is going. I kinda like what I've got so far, so am a bit loathe to throw away the story just on the basis that I can't figure out what's going on! This is where having understanding but honest people who you can bounce ideas off is great.

Rehearsals and Dorcas

2010-09-21T11:17:00.001+01:00

Rehearsals for Return To The Forbidden Planet are going well. Last night we set "It's A Man's World" and it was the first time I got to sing and act in front of the rest of the cast. It was a really fun night, though I'm feeling very tired right now. The show doesn't stop - it goes straight from one number to the next, and is really testing my stamina. At least I'll be a lot fitter after it's all over.

On the writing side of things, I've submitted a story to an anthology, so fingers crossed on that one. I've also decided to write a second draft of Dorcas Grubb, whilst I'm waiting for NaNoWriMo to start. So far I'm up to the second chapter. I reread it recently, and was surprised at how sad the story is, which I think is just about right; if your main character has just lost their father, then I think they would and should be sad. I suppose the story is as much about a family dealing with their grief as it is about time travelling adventures.

I do enjoy being busy. Does that make me weird? :-)

NaNoWriMo

2010-09-13T11:03:00.000+01:00

I'm not sure what to do for NaNoWriMo this year. I still want to take part - I find it very useful as a motivational tool and also it's great for getting first drafts out of your head. It will be difficult what with rehearsals and work and all, but I'd like to give it a go. Perhaps I should write my "Matti and Eva" story - it's not coming along too well at the moment, as I'm still hammering out the logistics, so giving it the NaNoWriMo treatment might be good. I don't have anything else up my sleeve in any case.

If you haven't attempted NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) before, I would definitely recommend doing it. It teaches you about discipline - making yourself write those 1,667 words a day no matter what. It also teaches you to silence your inner critic, a trick that increases productivity and can be used afterwards when writing first drafts (you'll need that inner critic back again though for draft 2!). But most importantly, NaNoWriMo shows you that you can complete something, that it is possible to write a novel, and when you write those two magic words "the end" on 30th November, it's quite rightly accompanied by a humongous sense of achievement. For further info visit http://www.nanowrimo.org/

2010-09-07T10:05:00.002+01:00

So, my audition on Sunday was successful and I got the part of the Science Officer in Return to the Forbidden Planet! It is very strange, and it still hasn't sunk in properly; I guess because I didn't think I'd get either of the female parts. I just went into the audition room, knees shaking a little (literally) and had a good old sing, and I got the part. So I'm going to have to work hard on learning my lines and learning my songs. It's a really silly show (in a good way) - at the end of the 1st act I get attacked by a giant tentacle - and it should be fun to do. The rest of the cast are brilliant. Hopefully I'll be good in it. I'll try my best, at any rate. The video above isn't me or from the production I'm in, but it gives you an idea about the type of show this is (the clip is Miranda singing "Teenager in Love").

This does mean though that I'm now over in Hinckley every Monday and Thursday night until the middle of February. So I need to structure my time a bit better to make sure I can fit in work and my writing. Wednesdays I still go to Speculators, which has been a real help in motivating me to complete the things I'm working on. On Tuesdays and Fridays I will have to go to the library after work to get stuff done. Not sure how I'm going to fit NaNoWriMo into all this, though I've completed it before whilst doing a show, so I'll just have to make it happen.

Going to be a tad busy for the next four months.

To Do List

2010-09-02T11:53:00.002+01:00

Things I need to do:

1) Practice for my audition on Sunday for Return to the Forbidden Planet.
2) Finish off the short story that I'm writing about a selkie, trying to avoid as far as possible having to describe what I will delicately describe as "seal cuddles".
3) Finish chapter 1 take 2 of my Matti and Eva story.

I will not be distracted by:

1) Curse of the Wolf Girl (this book is sucking away my life, so engrossing it is).
2) The Sims 2
3) Judge Judy

That is all.

Inverness

2010-08-23T11:59:00.003+01:00

Last week was the busiest time of year for my job (I work at a University and the A-level results were released), but thankfully everything is quietening down now and I can find time to blog again.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Inverness for a short break. It was absolutely beautiful. I think if I was to run away, I might run away to there. We went on a wildlife watching boat trip at Cromarty with Ecoventures, and got to see dolphins, visited Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle and the Loch Ness Experience, and also Cawdor Castle. If anyone's looking for a short break, then I'd really recommend it.

I've just finished reading The Age of Five trilogy by Trudi Canavan. I am in awe of her world-building skills. The novels are told in third person, from multiple viewpoints so you gradually piece together this exquisite world of different races, religions, landscapes and environments. I felt Auraya's compassion for the Siyee so much that I almost cried when they were sent off to war to fulfil the terms of their alliance. It definitely left me wanting more, so I'm wondering whether the author is planning on writing more fiction set in this universe, as she is with the world she established in The Black Magician Trilogy.

Am now reading Curse of the Wolf Girl by Martin Millar, the sequel to one of my favourite novel's Lonely Werewolf Girl (published 2007). Don't want to give any sort of review yet, as I'm only on chapter 10, but I'm enjoying it so far. I'm not sure you'd be able to read it without reading the original though, and I think everyone should read Lonely Werewolf Girl, so go check it out!

Anyone reading this blog going to the Fringe: you've still time to catch Stitched Up! written by my friend and fellow Momentum alumni Robin Johnson (Website) (Review).

The Story So Far...

2010-08-11T09:52:00.002+01:00

I started my blog on 11th August 2006 (4 years ago today!) as an online writing journal to track my progression from "aspiring" to "published" author. At the beginning, I was involved in the Momentum playwriting workshop, and my writing was more tailored towards scripts rather than prose. From 2006 - 2007 I wrote 2 plays - Red and the Wolf and Hoodies, the latter receiving a professional rehearsed reading at the Momentum New Writing Festival in 2007. After Momentum, I tried to continue working on Hoodies, but after successfully completing NaNoWriMo and getting my first meeting with an agent at the Writing Industries Conference in 2008, I turned away from scriptwriting back to prose. Since 2008, I have completed four novels of at least 50,000 words each. Three of which are still first drafts; the first (Inter Vivos) is around 120,000 words in its sixth or seventh draft but has been abandoned because it doesn't work (soggy foundations). Meanwhile, since the beginning of this blog, I have had 6 short stories published (albeit without pay) and one story recorded by an almost-professional actor. I have also racked up 18 rejection emails and letters.

I still don't consider myself a "published" author - I know I am technically, but because I haven't been paid (in the last 10 years at least) I don't think it counts. What I want to do is to increase my output, complete more short stories as well as finish the first draft for my novel as outlined below and develop a couple of the first drafts I have already written. This won't happen if I spend all weekend playing The Sims 2. In the next 4 years, at the very least I'd like to say that I have a pretty good novel written that I'm scouting around the agencies, and that it is a serious contender for publication. I'd like to have a couple of stories professionally published too. I would like to return to script writing again, although in what form, I'm not yet sure. I think all this is possible, if I put in the work.

On one of my reports at primary school, my year 5 teacher said that I could "do anything I put my mind to". For years I only saw the positive in that statement, my teacher thought "I could do anything!" But the important point as I saw later was that I had to "put my mind" to it. So I will increase my creative output and set my mind to completing the goals above. Happy birthday, blog, and here's to the next four years.

The New Novel

2010-08-09T18:14:00.004+01:00

OK folks, here it is. A basic summary of my new novel.

Firstly, I should record that I came up with the idea some time ago in June this year whilst at a Speculators meeting, sitting under a tree in the Quakers' garden. Originally, I had the idea of a girl who could control nature, and anything connected to that. Trees, plants, animals, the weather, earthquakes, the Earth's rotation. All that stuff. Then I decided to give her a sister, an opposite almost, and so she has power over humanity - she can heal or destroy the human body. She can read and manipulate minds. She can create life, just as she can extinguish it. My protagonist and antagonist were born.

And yet, I decided that I liked my "antagonist" more, and so decided to write the story mainly from her point of view. Matti is the "evil" one to Eva's "good" one, but what makes Matti so interesting is that she doesn't consider herself to be evil at all.

Currently, the story is being told via a series of chapters which relates to a particular year of the sisters' lives. As they are potentially immortal, in this story it spans almost 70 years. It starts with the sisters as children. Eva was born with her powers to control nature, and has always been special as a result. Matti, the older sibling, discovers her powers after an accident that should have killed her. Suddenly the dynamics of the family are changed. This is the seed for the resentment and bitterness that lead to the sisters' war against each other. But despite the decades of fighting, they are still sisters, still drawn together because of family ties (and burdens), and an ongoing moral argument.

It's not going to be one of those stories that ends happily. And it's as much about coping with death and the consequences of your actions, as it is about immortality and (for want of a better word) superpowers.

More updates will follow. For now, I'm still working on chapter one - which, because it includes a lot of flashback, will probably get cut somewhere later along the line. Hey ho!

(Picture: "Storm Goddess" by Firnadi Iqbal http://www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/show_image.php?imageID=15928)

Risks and Writing

2010-07-27T13:11:00.003+01:00

I have a lot of respect for writers that take risks with regards to pursuing their dreams. Being a writer means that you have to have a certain amount of free time in which to write, to day dream, to plot and plan. Quitting the day job is a big step, especially if that means living on the bread line, working from commission to commission, and only making your next mortgage payment based on your popularity with, say, white, female, middle-class 20-somethings going on package holidays to Alicante. It's risky business indeed. Not many authors ever get to live comfortably from their writing alone. I like to day dream about quitting my job and supporting myself with my writing, but there are too many variables that rely on chance for me to consider this as a viable option at present. I don't think I'd be brave enough to leap off the cliff into full-time writerdom without a parachute of some kind (a five-book deal? A big fat royalty cheque? A Nobel prize?). So I have a lot of respect for people who do leave the rat race, even part time, to pursue their dreams. Does playing it safe though mean that I'm a worse writer? Or that I'm any less serious than someone who has made more of a sacrifice, who has taken those risks? I don't think so, and I hope not. I think of it as being "sensible" rather than anything else, though there is a little bit of insecurity and fear mixed in there too.

I really enjoyed The Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan, and after taking a short break to read The Boy With The Cuckoo Clock Heart by Mathias Malzieu (good), I have now started reading the first book of Canavan's second trilogy The Age of the Five. I'm only on page 5 at the moment, but will tell you how it goes. Enjoyable so far, though her prose style is a little abstained - still, it is early days and I'm sure I will get into the story in a couple of pages time.

Still in the planning stages of what I *think* is going to be my next novel (don't want to jinx it!). Will give you more details next time. It's all very exciting at the moment, as I can see the potential in the story stretch out for me for miles. But whether I'm able to do it justice, well, we'll just have to wait and see!

Frustrated

2010-07-19T17:56:00.003+01:00

I am currently working on a short story about two sisters who hate each other and have magical powers. I don't know if it is any good, or if I will continue the story into a novel. At the moment, I quite like my two characters, so I'll see where it goes.
This is what I've been trying to do for the past few months - just play around with characters and settings, trying to find a voice, a story, a protagonist that interests me. So far I've come up with several short pieces, none of which are completed, and I am longing to write a novel again. It's like when you break up with a long term boyfriend - soon after the break-up, you don't want to go on dates again and get to know someone from scratch. You want that shared intimacy, the secrets, the safe comfort that comes with prolonged knowledge. At the minute I want to jump ahead to the novel part, in spite of not having a story, a plot, an idea even about what to write. Which is why I'm trying to write short pieces. Even though it's frustrating the crap out of me. Can't run before you can walk, as the adage goes.

Jive Bunny

2010-07-14T17:30:00.005+01:00

I've taken the plunge and have got myself cast in Return to the Forbidden Planet, which for those of you who don't know, is a jukebox musical based loosely on The Tempest and The Forbidden Planet. It'll be on in February at the Concordia Theatre, Hinckley, Leics. I am in the chorus, and I am trying very hard to silence that inner voice inside my head that is ambitious and attention-seeking and wants me to audition for a lead role. I don't have time to be a lead (assuming I'd be cast of course). Monday was the first dance workshop, where we learned to jive. It's been years since I've been to rock n'roll nights, and so I was a bit rusty, but it was really good fun. Good exercise too!

Our TV digibox has been broken since Sunday, and it's sad to say I'm feeling a bit lonely without it. The technician is coming Friday, so all will be well, but if any one has any suggestions about what I can do to fill up my TV-less evenings, they would be most appreciated. I don't really watch telly, but it's nice to have it there in the background.

I have been reading more, possibly as a consequence but maybe not - the books I'm reading are very mind-absorbing. I'm reading Trudi Canavan's The Black Magician Trilogy, and have read the second book and half of the last book in 2 days. It's a really good book, in my opinion. For those who scoff, I think it's important to read popular fiction, even if your goal is to write high-brow literary fiction, just to see what techniques are employed to hook a reader. Even if you are looking to write literary fiction, surely the aim of the game is to sell a few copies as well as winning hundreds of awards? So, this series is action packed, but also has central characters that you care about.

I'm rubbish at plotting. Anyone have any advice about how I can improve? I'm still working my way through Christopher Booker's The Seven Basic Plots, which is very interesting and insightful, but not particularly practical. I guess the answer is the same as the answer to how anyone gets good at anything - with practise!

Elsewhere: Damien takes on the Paranormal Romance fandom not quite single-handedly here:http://damiengwalter.com/2010/06/30/who-reads-urban-fantasy/

A plug for my friends' new Edinburgh show, Stitched Up!: http://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/theatre/stitched-up

My current favourite twitterer (is that the right phrase?), my old school pal Marc Burrows (now a stand-up comedian and musician): http://twitter.com/20thcenturymarc

And the web-strip that I follow on a semi-regular basis, Hark, A Vagrant - check it out! http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php

Alt.Fiction

2010-06-14T10:44:00.003+01:00

On Saturday I venutred to Alt.Fiction in Derby, my first SF convention. It's a small event in its infancy - I'm not sure, but I think it's either in its third or fourth year. I did have a good time, aside from a terrible head cold which capped the amount of socialising I could do, but I do think it could have been better.

Obviously, as a convention virgin, there were some things I found strange that apparently is just how it is; for instance, in the programme there was a gap from 5pm - 7pm where nothing happened. I think this is so that people have time to eat, but it just felt weird that there was nothing going on - it made it feel like two events, especially as a lot of people left at around 5.

I didn't go to any of the workshops, which I'm regretting a bit now, as the panels I went to weren't that great. Again, I think a lot of it is down to my expectations. I knew a lot already from the "How to get published" panel from attending the Writing Industries Conference (which was much more useful). The panel entitled "Hack & Slash Vs Sparkly Vampires" was a disappointment, as it seemed to just be a bitter rant about the popularity of paranormal romance in comparison with the panellists' own genres. I thought they missed a treat by not turning it into a proper debate about the changing role of sex and violence in YA literature as well as adult literature, eg taking the desexualisation of vampires in fiction as a starting point, charting the rise historically as well as sociologically. I mean, I think that any author or wannabe writer should take note of what is popular at the moment (rather than just dismissing it as "crap"), and dissect it to see what and why that is - yes, there is a certain amount of alchemy involved, but sometimes changing social trends and, in general changing sociological positions can have an impact on the cultural psyche and that in turn changes what people read and how people respond to literature. However, in its defense, I do think maybe the panel was a last minute addition, so maybe they were just winging it and hadn't had any time to prepare properly.

I think I'm more critical because I organise events for a living. I've organised conferences and events similar to conventions in the past (and at present - there's one on Saturday!), which does mean I am perhaps a bit quicker at deconstructing events than most!

I think one of the problems with Alt.Fiction is that it's not sure what it wants to be. I mean, I think pretty much everyone there was a writer, which is a good job, as there wasn't much there for fans of the genre who didn't write (the readings were in the evening and the one I went to only had about 5 - 6 people in it). A little evaluation form/post-event survey could find out who it is who is attending this event, and then focus it a little more - which would in turn attract more people (both guests and participants). As a writer, it would have been nice to have a panel specifically on the market at this time, predictions for the next 2 years, how to conduct market research, and how agents conduct their market research. I know, these are tricks of the trade, and agents are loathe to say "this is what will be big next year" because it will mean they get sent nothing but "that" for the next few months or more (and their predictions might prove incorrect). But I'm sure there are some things that could be said so aspiring authors don't feel like they are wandering around in the dark so much.

There, rant over! Anyway, I had a good day hanging out with my Speculator chums, and have to thank them for humoring me all day with my tissues and anti-viral hand wipes. Hopefully none of them have been contaminated!

What I'm Reading...

2010-06-08T17:53:00.004+01:00

I've been reading quite a lot lately. Recently, I finished Octavia Butler's Wild Seed - do you know it? It's quite an old book, having been published in 1980 (the year of my birth, coincidentally). The great thing about this book is that there is no waffle, no expedition. Everything is told in a very manner of fact way, everything relevant to the incidents of the scene you are reading. Butler knows exactly where her story starts, and doesn't preamble to set tone, universe, etc. That doesn't mean that the writing isn't lyrical or the world is lacking in some way - it is a very absorbing story. It feels like a very honest way to tell a story, and something that I'm going to try with my own writing.
I've also just finished reading Orson Scott Card's Hart's Hope. The narrative unfolds as a series of stories told by a mysterious narrator to one of the title characters, going over events that have shaped his life in order to persuade him not to kill his son. At first I found the conceit a little trying as the stories were not perhaps as engaging as they could have been. But by the middle section, I was hooked, and I'm not sure why - perhaps it was when, finally, we were given a hero to root for. Aside from Point Fantasy and the usual children's classics, I think this is actually the first alternative world medieval-esque fantasy book I have ever read,which is quite depressing when I think about it.
I'm now reading Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman. I am enjoying it so far, although I think I can tell it's for a younger audience, as a lot of the world-building stuff about the politics of the universe is presented to the reader on a plate. But aside from that, as I said, I'm enjoying the story, though I'm only about a quarter of the way in.
I've been reading Christopher Booker's The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories which I've had for a while but haven't tackled before. I've only just finished chapter two so far, but already it has proved insightful when analysing my own work and the plotting problems I've encountered. The chapter I've just finished explains the plot Booker has named "Overcoming the Monster" which covers everything from Star Wars, Little Red Riding Hood, The Magnificent Seven, the James Bond films, and, obviously, Beowulf. The hero/heroine gets "the call" - he/she must defeat some sort of monster that is threatening their home/mankind/the planet, and, equipped with "magical weapons", he/she goes off to face them. There is a stage where the hero first mets the monster/bad guys or their associates, and they win. Then they get captured/face the monster again, and it all looks like it's over for our hero until by some superhuman means, they overcome the monster at the last minute and save the world/get the "princess"/get the treasure. It's interesting, to me at least, because my own failed Inter Vivos sort of followed this story pattern, and comparing it to this very basic formula it's easy to see some of the places it went wrong (of course, to say this is it's only fault is being extremely simplistic!). My heroine Nox set out to defeat a monster that wasn't particularly threatening. Big fail.
So I've been enjoying reading lately, trying to write around it, think about the things that I want to do. I have been working more on my Corrie Flint-inspired novel, which is set in London and focuses on many different supernatural creatures that live there (the Banshee story sort of fits into this universe). It's been fun reinventing the troll and the leprechaun into 21st century London, and I just wish I had a little more time coming up to really be able to work on it more, rather than having to steal an hour here or there.
So things are looking up at the moment. I'm at Alt.Fiction on Saturday, so if any of you happen to be there, please come and say hi! The Speculators newspaper is free in the goodie bags apparently, so you can read my short story in there too!

Chatsworth

2010-05-31T10:26:00.006+01:00

This past week I've been off work, using up some of my holiday. And it's been bliss. I've planted tomatoes, strawberries, runner beans and both red and green peppers in the garden (as well as a patio rose bush), did a little writing, and, on Friday, hired a car and went to Chatsworth House. It was absolutely beautiful. The house is striking in its grandeur against the lush countryside around it. To be honest though, I was a little disappointed when touring the house - the state rooms were lovely, but the rest of the house we were allowed to tour was more like a museum than a residence, and it's the people that interest me. The gardens, on the other hand, were magnificiant. If you can't find inspiration for a Fantasy world setting there, then I don't know where. The rock garden in particular was beautiful - going to bore you with a few photos, but you get the idea!

Officially I am now part of the Speculators group, which is a SF writing group that meets every week on Queens Road. They're producing a magazine to promote the group, and this was the motivation to finish my short story "Tick", which is the steampunk reworking of Inter Vivos. The word limit for the mag was only 1,500, so I think I'm going to go back to the story and develop it further.

Development for my Corrie Flint/Selena Waterford/Mattthew Gray story is coming along, although I still don't have anything to link all the stories together - aside from the fact that they all take place in London. I'm sure my brain will puzzle it out eventually though.

Hope you all enjoy your bank holiday Mondays!

Diet

2010-05-18T14:10:00.003+01:00

I'm on a bit of a diet/health kick at the moment, as it is more economical for me to fit into my old clothes than to have to go out and buy exactly the same but in a larger size. I've been doing really well, except that after lunch and dinner, I always want something sweet. I'm sitting here now, typing this, trying not to eat all of the Aero Bubbles that I bought just a minute ago, after my fairly healthy red chard and parmasan salad. Just so tasty though... I feel I'm fighting a losing battle.

I can't start the Three Sisters story. It just won't come. I've been trying to write it for about 3 weeks now, and it's just painful - both in the writing and the reading sense. So, I've decided to shelve that story, and instead I am going to work on my second draft of Dorcas Grubb, and also a couple of short stories I started that I want to finish. A bit of a recap for you: Dorcas Grubb was my NaNoWriMo winning novel of 2008. It features a teenage girl called Dorcas, who's father has just died, and so the family (her mum, older brother, and baby sister) move in with their maternal Grandfather in Leicester (UK). That is where she discovers that the family have a genetic abnormality which means they can travel back in time.The story is about a girl who is dealing with a lot of grief, about a family falling apart and then falling apart some more before finally coming back together, and about a girl who isn't the brightest, or prettiest, or thinnest, but who has a good heart, and wants to find her place in the world. I think it would make a good series, maybe 3 or 4 books, aimed at early teens. Then I'd fast forward in time to start a new series centred around Tabitha, Dorcas's baby sister, all grown up - she's the one with the uber-powers, you see (Dorcas in the first book is constantly over-shadowed by her baby sister!). As usual, I'll keep you updated on my progress.

There, all my Aero Bubbles are gone now. Good job I'm doing aerobics tonight. Sigh.

My First Convention!

2010-05-10T12:03:00.003+01:00

I'm going to my first SF convention in June. I recently bought a ticket to Alt.Fiction, which takes place in Derby. Apparently it's a good one to start off with, so I'm pretty excited to go. I only really got in to Science Fiction and Fantasy in 2008, after I was told that that's what genre Inter Vivos was. I grew up reading Roald Dahl, Point Romance and Point Horror (back in 1993 when they were popular, so don't scoff!), and children's versions of classic novels - Great Expectations, Tale of Two Cities, Stories of Edgar Allen Poe. It wasn't that I was snobbish against Science Fiction, but those SF stories were always marketed as "Boys' books", and I was never exposed to them. I was aware of Sci-Fi only through Star Wars (a film I didn't watch until I was 17). I first heard of The Hobbit at age 15 and I'm sad to say I probably didn't know anything about Lord of the Rings until the first film came out. So I've been playing "catch-up" since 2008. It's important to know about the genre that you're writing in - not just what's current and what sells, but the history and roots of the genre. I think I'm doing a pretty good job at catching up. I don't like the hard Sci-Fi stuff, as I tend to find most that I've read is not character-focused enough for me. I'm reading Octavia Butler (Wild Seed) at the moment, and she is brilliant in the way she crafts a story - she doesn't mess about, just gets on with it, somehow seamlessly filtering in the back story so she doesn't have to worry about exposition. I wish I could do that.
If anyone has any suggestions of good SF/Fantasy books to read, then please let me know. I'm on to either Ursula le Guin or Orson Scott Card next.

Quick Post...

2010-05-03T22:37:00.002+01:00

...Just to prove I'm still alive. Last week I drove almost 400 miles for work (which is a big achievement seeing as it's only my second trip out in the car). Went to Esher, in Surrey, and Canterbury (Kent). Was very nice, weather was lovely, and it was nice to be away, even though it was for work and not a holiday, even though I did get to see the sea. Have been enjoying a lazy bank holiday, but back to work (in more ways than one) tomorrow!

Take That, Writer's Block

2010-04-15T17:42:00.004+01:00

OK, so it's no secret that for the past couple of weeks I've been finding it difficult to write. But I've struggled through anyway, and low and behold, almost 2,000 words of new novel (potentially). Some of the words are actually spelled correctly and are in the right order too. So I'm feeling slightly better about life right now, which is a good thing.
I don't really believe in "writer's block". By that, I mean, I don't think that there is this sudden mysterious cloud of nothingness that descends upon your creative mind without warning, without provocation to scupper your writing plans. I mean, that can happen, that creative blank, but the causes of it are usually easy to trace - stress, illness, anxiety, all that stuff. And it soon goes away if you tackle the symptoms, or if you can learn to work around or even with them. So that's what I'm doing at the moment, even though I'm still anxious about the possibility of failed ambitions, blah blah blah. I know I'll get over that, and as soon as I do, I'll hopefully have a few more thousand words under my belt to prove myself good.
Election time soon. Although I don't consider myself to be a political person, I do actually care who runs the country and have always voted. I am reading up on manifestos, and will be watching the debate tonight in a bid to make the most educated decision I can, rather than pick the person who looks best on the telly.

The Plan (Take 2)

2010-04-08T17:29:00.003+01:00

Hope you all had nice holidays everyone! I meant to write a blog post two weeks ago, but was so busy at work that I never got around to posting.

So, over the last few weeks I've been taking some time to think about what to do next. It feels like ages since I actually came up with a new writing project, which is both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. As I mentioned, I've been busy with work, which meant only snatched moments to ponder things, but not really any time to be productive and dedicate to new projects. And then over Easter, when I thought I'd have time, I had food poisoning instead. So yes, anyway, this post is about the Plan. Or the New Plan, as it should be known.

I want to continue on with Dorcas Grubb and The Banshee, my two completed first drafts that are currently sitting on my memory stick collecting electronic dust. I need to work out what the main event is in Dorcas, and I need to come up with an actual plot that means something for the Banshee, rather than it being just a string of events that don't lead anywhere.

I came up with an idea for a new novel, I think, though it's all a bit sketchy at the moment, and to be honest, every time I start it, it doesn't come out how I want, and I don't know whether it's fear or inability that's hindering me. The idea anyway - there is a town in contemporary England (at the beginning it was going to be Medieval, but I've scrapped that now) run by two very powerful, feuding families - the Knights and the Bakers. The story goes that once upon a time, Death had a fling with this mortal woman, who had three daughters by him. Death gave each daughter a special gift - the eldest could turn invisible, the second could move as swiftly as Death himself, and the third could see into the future. Anyway, the mum dies and the sisters start squabbling. The eldest married a Knight, hence the surname, the second the local baker, and the third became a nun (Cloister). Anyway, the story is about their descendants today, using their powers to gain the upper hand in the feud which is verging on all out gang war (a bit like modern day Capulets and Montagues). I have a few sketchy characters, a setting, a back story, but no plot as of now. So that's what I'm trying very hard to come up with at the moment.

I also started a short story last night, and I really enjoyed writing it, but I'm not sure where it's going, if anywhere. I was told a few weeks ago that Jay Lake set himself the goal of writing one short story a week, which is a great idea if you have time, so I've decided to write one short story a month starting April 2010. Even if they are just "practice" stories, it'll still be good to write on a regular basis. Plus you never know, some of them might have potential.

And there it is, the Plan. Write a short story a month. Come up with a plot for Three Sisters and write that. Work on the plot of Dorcas Grubb. Come up with a plot for The Banshee story. I think I'm sensing a pattern...

Ho-Hum

2010-03-18T17:35:00.002Z

Another rejection email today. When it rains, it pours, right? I'm about at the limit of how much my optimistic attitude can take, so I'm off for dinner tonight with the boyf to cheer myself up.

Sigh.

I have started working on something new, which has the potential to become a new novel. I think I'll wait though until I'm in a better mood to tell you about it.

Catch-Up

2010-03-09T17:43:00.006Z

This post may be a long one. Don't say I didn't warn you. You wait months for something interesting to report, and then it all happens at once. I'm going to report things in reverse chronological order, just for fun.

The Monastery OK. So here are a few photos of the lovely abbey.

It was so peaceful, even with a boarding school in the grounds. The monks wore black robes, and were perfectly lovely and polite, if scarce. Apparently there were only 30 there. I had supper with the headmaster (a monk) on Sunday evening, and had cajun chicken and tequila-laced salmon, drank wine and elderflower cordial before retiring to my room at 9:30. It was a good event, the Higher Education bit that I was there for, and a pretty unique experience I suppose. Yorkshire is lovely - I think I may have to have a special day trip to explore properly another time.

The Writing Industries Conference I had a very good day, with the quality what I've grown to expect from a Literature Network/Writing East Midlands event. The programme was just about perfect, and they made up for the fact that attendees couldn't attend everything I wanted to by recording each session as a podcast. There wasn't too much waiting around for sessions to start, but similarly it didn't feel rushed. The theme was about New Media, and the need for writers to diversify to become successful. My agent one to one went very well, but probably not for the reasons you might think. He tore my work to shreds, pointed out the gaping holes that I have been in denial about, and made the most liberating suggestion of my life (in regards to Inter Vivos anyway!). I hate it when people give feedback and they're afraid to hurt your feelings, so they use stock phrases and platitudes, and this guy did no such thing. I know some people couldn't have sat there taking it without crying or arguing or something, but I thought it was great. Because it means that I should not waste anymore time on a project that is fundamentally flawed (no matter how hard I try to resolve those flaws) and that I should work on something else.

The day after my meeting, it did hit me that I wasn't as far ahead as I had thought, but - well - nevermind! Back to the drawing board. I'm going to salvage what I can from Inter Vivos, perhaps take a few characters that I like and play with them a little, and treat Inter Vivos like you do your first ever boyfriend - you look back fondly but think, what was I thinking?

So what does that mean now?

Well, I'm going to stick to Fantasy, which is where I'm more comfortable, and I know a little bit more about. I'm going to have a think about what it is I want to write, what I like to read, and go from there. I may revisit the Banshee story, because I think that has some potential, although the plot still isn't clear to me. I'm going to write more short stories and practice the "craft". And I'm going to be more honest with myself. I knew IV wasn't working - I couldn't get my head around the core science in the book, and no amount of characterisation would fix that. There was a reason I hadn't been able to finish it for NaNoWriMo, why I'd been working on it for 4 years with little success, but I'd blinkered myself to it. Everything negative that the agent said, I knew already but had been denying it to myself.

So all in all, the Writing Conference was extremely valuable. Now I just have to work out what to do next.

A Post About Work...Mainly

2010-02-22T16:03:00.003Z

Sigh. Feeling very tired today after my one-day weekend. Spent most of Sunday lying on the sofa in sort of a swoon-like position, trying to see the telly past my gigantic Valentine's bouquet. Not that I was really watching the telly as tuning out from the rest of the world for a while. I did watch Adventureland though, that was good.
Work is still busy, as I'm organising events for between 500-1000 people twice a week until March, plus in a couple of weeks time I get to go and stay at a monastery, which I'm both petrified and excited about. What if the room I'm staying in is haunted by dead monks? Dead chanting monks? Dead chanting monks with no feet or faces? *shudder*
Because work has been difficult, my writing has had to take a bit of a back-burner, but tonight I start editing again. It is taking forever. But I'm stubborn, so I'll keep chugging away. Come on chapter five!
I found out at the weekend that I've got an agent one-to-one at the Writing Industries Conference, which is cool. I'm doing my research and planning, and have come up with questions I'd like to ask, so that's good. What would you ask, if you had 15 mins with a literary agent?

Beep Beep!

2010-02-16T09:42:00.001Z

So, on Friday I drove 80 miles for work (to Rugby and back) and lived to tell the tale! It was my first solo drive since passing my test in September, and beforehand, to say I was scared seems like an understatement. So the day came and I got my hire car, a cute Vauxhall Corsa with a gear stick I discovered later didn't like to go into first. Like when I was at a busy roundabout. Or at a traffic light-controlled obstruction with a huge lorry waiting behind me, beeping its horn every time I stalled (twice; the lights changed to red again before I could move). Oh well. I went on the motorway and managed to get into the middle lane without causing an accident. And when I got lost because of road works coming off the M1, I managed to find my way from the middle of nowhere to the school I was visiting in less than 20 minutes, using no directions or maps, other than the road signs along the route. Just thinking about the whole experience again gives me a bit of a high. Driving = fun.
I'm definitely going to buy a sat-nav though. I mean, it was good that I could find my way when lost, but soon I'm going to have to drive down to Surrey, and then make my way from there to Canterbury, and I think some assistance will definitely be beneficial.

Will Try Harder Next Time...

2010-02-08T16:59:00.001Z

I'm finding it very hard to blog at the moment. I'm trying to save money, so am not doing a lot of extracurricular activities; I'm really busy at work, and am still editing Inter Vivos, which is very slow work and hardly worth blogging about.
If you're finding it hard to live without your tri-weekly Lucy fix, you can follow me on Facebook or Twitter. In the meantime, I promise to become more interesting soon!
I did go and see Vampire Weekend yesterday - they were very good, and played my favourite song right at the end!

Hmm

2010-01-25T16:23:00.002Z

I ended last week with yet another rejection. This one admitted that they hadn't even read my story, which I'm quickly learning is actual common practice amongst 'zines. Surely though, if you don't have time to read submissions, you should close your slush pile for a while? And this was from a magazine where I noticed that in their last issue, there were two stories written by the same person (who wasn't the editor or on staff or a "famous" author). Fair?
Anyway, so I did what anyone else would do - I sucked it up and sent my story out again to a different magazine. I'm going to get this story published if it's the last thing I do!!
Urgh. Having a crappy day. Going to go home later, drink hot chocolate and watch America's Next Top Model.

Yale Recruitment Video

2010-01-25T10:08:00.000Z

OK now, so knowing that I'm into musical theatre, and also that I work in Student Recruitment, why am I finding this video so cringe worthy I might have to take the rest of the day off to recover? http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/mortarboard/2010/jan/20/yale-recruitment-video-blog

Editing

2010-01-13T10:40:00.001Z

I'm feeling a bit down today. One, because I got an email yesterday saying that one of my stories was rejected from a magazine, and two, because on my way to work today I went arse over tit and fell over in the snow. Was very embarrassing (and painful).
Editing Inter Vivos is time consuming and not very exciting. It is good when you get to a part of the story where you suddenly find yourself swept away by it, but those moments are few and far between, and most of the time I'm rewording clumsy sentencing, or else cutting scenes altogether. Chapter one has had to go entirely, which has meant rewriting half of chapter two to make it make sense.
Sigh.
Anyway, on a positive note, I've an idea for a story but I don't know really where to start with it, and whether it might be a short-story or a novel. It is set on a dying Earth-like planet, where the rotation of the planet has stopped completely, and most people now live in the shadowy part along the world's equator, sandwiched between freezing cold and boiling hot. I haven't written anything yet, but I think it might be something I work on in the future.

New Year, New Post

2010-01-05T19:02:00.003Z

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had good holidays. Watch Doctor Who? I'm a big fan of the show, but even I thought the last ten minutes were too sentimental and self-indulgent. Also, internally inconsistent: In the past the Doctor has never been able to control his regeneration so he can go visit all of his loved ones and stare at them before disappearing again in the Tardis, and I don't see why the Tenth Doctor should be any different. Plus, since when has the Doctor shot lightning bolts out of his body during regeneration powerful enough to destroy the interior of the Tardis? But then again, maybe it's not as tough as it used to be; the Titanic space ship was able to crash through it after all two Christmases ago.

So, anyway, I came to the library to work on Inter Vivos. Then I realised I had forgotten to put a file on my USB. Oh well, never mind, I can look at the proofs instead. Then the battery in my netbook goes. Nevermind, I'll move upstairs where there's a plug socket. Then I realise the notebook I need is in fact still sitting on my bedside table at home. So that is why I am now blogging instead of doing any actual work.

I'm currently working on the first chapter, which needs to be completely rewritten as I've cut that scene and decided that that information should be discovered by my narrator (and the reader) later on in chapter three.

I've been thinking a bit about growing up recently. The future is a really scary place. Well, OK, thinking about the future is really scary. It's full of Grown-Up things like buying houses, starting a family, that sort of thing. Not that I'm going to be buying houses, etc any time soon, but now that I'm approaching my thirties, I've been forced to think about what I might like to see happen before the beginning of my next decade. I mean, I don't want to be forty and think, shit, I'm homeless. And likewise, I think I'll regret it if I don't work hard now and try to be a paid, bone fide writer. Of course, it helps when you remember your notebook... But the point is, I don't want to have any regrets, noone should have regrets about things they wish they had done when they had the chance.

So that's my New Year's Resolution. To do things that mean I won't have regrets when I'm forty (in 2020 aargh!).

What about you guys out there? Any Resolutions you want to share?

seasons greetings

2009-12-19T12:12:00.000Z

I'm writing this via my phone on the train to a wedding, just so you get a sense of where I am so you will hopefully excuse any typos!
I have been giving all of the Absolute Sandmans now, and I have all of new Who, so am very happy in a very geeky way. Love early Christmas presents.
Am working on a new first chapter of Inter Vivos at the mo (like, literally, a minute ago on the train). I'm trying to make it more engaging right from the beginning, rather than from chapter 11 onwards.
Plans for Christmas involve going home to Shilton, visiting Alex, and starting to edit IV. I also want to read Sandman volume 2, but it's not the most portable of books.
If I'm not online before then, merry Christmas everyone!

Mid-Write Crisis and Book Launches

2009-12-10T14:47:00.003Z

Hello all,

I'm actually re-reading Dorcas Grubb at the minute, which was the story I wrote for last year's NaNoWriMo. This is the first time I have been back to it since finishing it back in Nov 08. And *whispers* it's actually quite good so far. I mean, I'm only on page 4, but still. Perhaps I'll work on this one after Inter Vivos is finish.

Urgh, Inter Vivos. It sucks. Well, actually, chapter 11 was better, but the first 10 chapters (as I said before) are terrible! Maybe it's partly because the rewrite that I did sucked some of the initial excitment and passion out of it.

Reading through Inter Vivos has made me wonder whether I'm cut out to be a writer. However, I grit my teeth and continue on, and try to be optimistic that I can turn this turd into something that people might want to read.

If writing and getting published were easy, then everyone would be doing it.

I'm hopefully off to the Inkermen book launch at Loughborough University on Friday afternoon, as I've managed to wrangle out of work before our office Christmas party. I'm a bit scared actually. Not hundred percent sure why, as I don't normally get nervous. Hopefully it'll be fun.

Speaking of Cartoons....

2009-12-07T17:11:00.007Z

...which animated hunk, in your opinion, is the best?

My opinion: It'd have to be Aladdin. I mean, you just would, wouldn't you?

The Cartoon Me!

2009-12-07T16:58:00.005Z

Goodness, I've been bored today! Does anyone else have days like that, where there's plenty to do, but you still feel bored anyway?

To try to combat my boredom, I "Mad Men"-ed myself (see pic left, looks like me, no?), have looked on Ralan for new anthologies I could try to write stories for, and have tidied my desk at work.

Reading through my first draft of Inter Vivos again is so depressing. It is not good. I still have an ounce of optimism that is telling me that I can make it good, but I also know that it is going to take me ages. Which makes me want to stamp my feet and through a hissy fit about it not being perfect now. Writing novels is a mug's game, that's what I'm starting to think anyway.

So, to give myself a treat whilst I'm angonising over IV, I'm going to try to write some drama again. My last play (Hoodies, if anyone remembers) was written in April 2007 - it's been almost three years since I've written any drama. That's actually quite scary. I hadn't realised it had been so long... Anyway, I guess there's no time like the present to jump right back in again. My problem is though, I don't really have any ideas about what to write about - what do I want to say? I'm feeling very blank at the moment.

So yeah, right, well, stuff is sort of happening, but it's all going at a snail's pace, and it's driving me crazy. Maybe that's why I'm bored?

Winner!

2009-12-01T17:52:00.001Z

Sorry about not posting sooner. I think I've been so occupied with the writing, that I've not had time to write about writing, which is a good thing overall, no?
I won NaNoWriMo 2009 with The Banshee. I finished on Sunday, though had to wait til Monday before I got internet connection so I could upload my file into the official word counter thingie. Sunday was hard. I had basically written the story to the end, but had about 3,000 words to go until my target, so I gave my banshee and her best friend a nice Christmas dinner together.

I'm not sure what I'll do with my Banshee novella, whether to write it as a novel or adapt it as a short story or play even, or whether to just leave it in the drawer for the foreseeable future. I think it has potential, and the characters seemed very real to me, but as I mentioned before, I think I'd have to introduce some sort of exciting sub-plot to liven things up a bit - currently, Tom meets a banshee, falls in love with her, whilst his best friend falls in love with him, they run around a bit, whilst also trying to save the man the banshee is assigned to escort to the underworld, and then people die. It was at the "running around" part that things got really boring.

Anyhow, for now, it's back to Inter Vivos. I'm reading through all the way to the end without making notes. I'm on chapter three right now, and so far can say very definitely that the first three chapters suck. I think because I still wasn't sure at that stage how to begin my story, so I left out vital pieces of information and wrote really formally for some reason. All stuff that'll need to be rewritten in draft 3. Sigh.

No rest for the wicked!

Rut Be Gone!

2009-11-26T11:25:00.002Z

I had a lovely birthday (thanks for the phone message, Mekon!) and am now feeling pretty chipper. I guess I was just depressed two days ago when I wrote that post, but a day off yesterday + sushi means that I'm feeling better today. Saw Men Who Stare At Goats last night, which was actually good (I thought I mightn't like it, after hearing it was a "military satire"). The cast were really strong, and the story simple and strangely optimistic, and it was amusing (not 'wet your pants' funny, but good).
I have just under 6,000 words to write before I reach 50,000 for NaNoWriMo, and my novel is almost finished. The banshees have bansheed, and my cast is one character lighter, but it feel good. I still don't think the middle is that exciting - I think if I were to write a second draft, I'd have to add an interesting and adrenaline-fuelled sub-plot to raise the stakes slightly.

So once again the cup is half full.

As soon as this is over, I'm going straight back to Inter Vivos. I have started reading it through, and am half-way through chapter two at the moment. It's really difficult to read it without wanting to take notes and mark it up, but I promised myself I'd read until the end without getting my pen out once before going back and dissecting it to pieces.
I have to admit, the beginning so far isn't very good. There are some good bits, but like the flowers in my really messy garden, they are being smothered by crap.
I got a rejection from Weird Tales about one of the stories I had sent off, so have sent it back out to another magazine, and hoping I'll be second time lucky for a sale.
I'm really hoping that this new year will be when it all takes off for me, so for now I have to keep slogging away.

Stuck in a Rut

2009-11-24T16:54:00.000Z

I'm going to be 29 tomorrow. I'm just hoping I'm going to have a better day than I've had today. I'm just bored, and have been for a couple of weeks now. I do my NaNoWriMo writing, which is still going well, I have about 8,000 words to go to finishing it. I go to work every day. And that's it. I can't find a book that will hold my interest, and TV is mostly rubbish. I'm pretty broke, so can't really afford to go anywhere. I think I'm in a bit of a rut, which is why I haven't been very good at updating this blog regularly. Who wants to read about rut-girl and her twinkle-less existence?
Anybody have any good ideas for ways to add excitement into my life? Or at least a good book to read that I can escape into?

NaNoWriMo Day Nineteen

2009-11-19T15:07:00.002Z

I'm just over 32,000 words, and I'm not finding it too hard right now. I have actually managed to catch up to my word target after a weekend away on a Hen Do. Not too bad, I think.

My story is a little boring, lacking in explosions and the like, but at least I have stuff planned now which should see me through to 50k.

After writing Inter Vivos though, 50,000 words seems like nothing. I don't mean in terms of effort, because it is still a big achievement to write that much, especially in such a limited time. What I mean is in terms of story developement. I've less than 20,000 words to go, and I'm starting to realise that the big things in my novel are going to have to happen soon. I had planned to kill off a minor character at 32K exactly, but I'm nowhere near that yet (about a day away in story terms). And then a major character has to die, and I've realised I'm going to be writing that in about two days time at this rate. So the whole writing process has gone so fast that it doesn't feel like it's even sunk in what has happened yet. It's like I've sleep-typed my entire story. I can type approx 2000 words an hour now so that helps and it doesn't - the story is just thoughts on a page, rather than laboured over prose. Oh well.

NaNoWriMo Day 11

2009-11-11T12:34:00.004Z

Things are still going well for me, NaNoWriMo-wise. I'm one whole day ahead of my target word count, which I'm hoping to add to tomorrow and Friday as I have a hen weekend to go to this Saturday, and chances are I won't get any writing done.

In terms of word count I'm doing well. In terms of story though...it all feels a bit rushed. I haven't read back over anything I've written yet, so I don't have anything to really reflect on, but I feel like at the minute I'm merely capturing scenes, rather than feeling and living them. I've moved away from 3rd person singular to 3rd person multiple viewpoint, so that now I can jump into anyone's head that I feel like it, depending on whose is the most appropriate mind to view a particular scene from. It's working so far. Plus, it's nice to get out of Tom's head. He's a bit dull. I might have to inflict him with a lisp or something to make him a tad more interesting. If he was a Sim, I probably would have drowned him by now.

I've had quite a productive year this year. I've written Inter Vivos draft 2 from scratch starting in January, which amounts to just over 120,000 words in its unedited state. I've completed three short stories, two of which are making the rounds at the moment looking for publication. And now I'm almost 19,000 words into my new Banshee novel.

I'm not sure what I'll do when I can finally say "Inter Vivos is finished" and start sending it off to publishers and agents. I will start working on another novel, naturally, but the decision will be between Dorcas Grubb and Banshee, and possibly something else, depending on how long it takes me to finish IV. I also want to work on a collection of interlinked short stories, ordered a bit like Pulp Fiction out of chronological order with occasional recurring characters.

It's good to have options.

So that's it really. Still reading Juliet Barker's Brontes biography, which weighs a tonne. I've drawn the conclusion that Charlotte wasn't particularly likeable, rather selfish actually and quite condescending. My favourite is Anne, the more practical, realistic one. Going to read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall next.

Day 3 NaNoWriMo

2009-11-03T09:30:00.004Z

It's Day Three of NaNoWriMo and after a productive session on Sunday (Day One) I am now just over a day ahead of my quota. This will come in very handy when I have to go to Hen Weekends and Birthday thingies later in the month.

So my word count is healthy. However, it is definitely a case of "Quantity" over "Quality". This is some of the worst prose ever, not just from what I've written, but from what anyone has ever written. Ever.

How bad is it? you might ask.

This bad:

"Tom finally got to his new halls of residence. It was situated in zone three, a thirty minute tube ride to class. As he walked up to the building, he nodded to himself satisfactorily. The building was modern and white, four stories high with dark blue window frames and blue panel and glass front door that was propped open on this day as dozens of people, parents and new students like Tom moved back and forth from cars and moving vans, carrying suitcases, bedding, small bedside cabinets. "

And I don't know if it's just because I'm writing a male protagonist, but I'm finding it really difficult to get inside Tom's head. I don't believe that you should only write protagonists that are the same sex as yourself - look how well Adrian Mole turned out. Anyway, so I'm writing terrible prose and missing Inter Vivos terribly.

Still you can't make a diamond without a chunk of coal, so I'll try not to let my inability to write coherent sentences put me off right now. At least not until 30th November anyway.

Done!

2009-10-30T15:12:00.002Z

Just a short post this time to say that I have just finished my second draft (or first proper full draft, depending how you look at it) of Inter Vivos! Woop!
Sure, the last couple of paragraphs are a bit shit, but that'll all be fixed in round 3: Editing. Roll on December 1st for that one!
So this leaves me free to write my new story for NaNoWriMo. Very excited.
Still no story for Hallowe'en though, unless I can come up with something later tonight.
Anyway, I'm too happy to stay now, so I'm off to Morrisons. Woop again!

A World Of My Own

2009-10-26T12:51:00.005Z

I'm taking a break right now from writing what will hopefully be the last chapter (or at least the last part) of Inter Vivos. All I can say is "urgh!".
I've been working on Inter Vivos since November 2006. Not exclusively, mind you. This year I have pulled my finger out and tried to make a go of things, tried to get the story into shape and all that. And now I'm on the last chapter, and you'd think it'd be easy sailings, but no. Now I have to invent a whole political system for my new society. And I know diddly-squat about politics. It's sort of fun to make up your own system of government, but the problem is that I'm fundamentally lazy. And there's a voice in my head going "but it's the end! You shouldn't have to work anymore!" But I do, and so that's what I'm here doing. Urgh indeed.
It takes so much discipline to write something of novel length. And I know that once this last chapter is finished, the manuscript as a whole still won't be completely. I have to go back over it and check it for consistency and tone. I already know there are passages that will need to be reworded or corrected, either because I was having a bad day that day, or because a character changed slightly during the course of the novel.
But, the positive side is at least most of the "hard work" will be done before NaNoWriMo. November will be a month of experimentation, spitting out a whole new novel to worry about in years to come. Then December will be time to re-read IV and note down what needs changing, and then January 2010 - well, that's when the "hard work" starts again.
And I still haven't even thought of what I can write for my hallowe'en story. Well, I have a vague idea, set on a different planet (or our planet millions of years in the future) but I'm not sure how that will fit with the hallowe'en topic. I could always add zombie-vampires to it, I suppose.
Right, break over. Back to work. (I'm such a slave driver...)

Good Female Roles in Stories

2009-10-19T16:50:00.005+01:00

My life is completely boring right now. At the weekend I did nothing but watch series 4 of How I Met Your Mother and play The Sims 2. Hardly worth telling the internet about, but I feel like I must update regularly or else what's the point?

Tonight I'm off to the library to try to finish Inter Vivos. I just want to write something where the plot of the story isn't "girl trying to get boy to like her". I do enjoy romantic comedy, but I've been getting a little bit annoyed that most films with a female protagonist tend to be about relationships. Now, Alien is an obvious example of a film with a strong heroine who doesn't spend the entire film wondering whether her crush will ask her out, but that part was famously written for a man before Sigourney Weaver was cast. Is that telling? Can anyone suggest some good non-horror movies that aren't about women bitching about men (or their lesbian crushes)?

Anyway, my heroine Nox is more concerned with the fact that she's murdered folk, rather than trying to win the heart of some handsome prince, so that's alright then.

Monster Story

2009-10-12T12:07:00.002+01:00

Hello all. How've you been? I've been feeling pretty tired of late, so haven't been up to much. Been watching Men In Trees on Virgin on Demand, which I'm really enjoying. A less sexy Sex and the City, with some nice characterisation even if I can predict not only the plot but also some of the dialogue (which I'm finding kinda comforting - weird?).

I finished a new short story last week, and I'm just putting the finishing touches to it. Well, I say "new" - I actually started it last November during Damien's writing class, and have only just gotten around to completing it. It's currently called "The Eye That Came To Work", though the more I type that, the less I like it. Still, I think I'll be sending it off shortly to see if I can find a home for it in one of the e-zines. Fingers crossed.

As per usual, Scary Duck's condensed movie made me chuckle. This one's The Hobbit/LOTR: http://scaryduck.blogspot.com/search/label/Condensed%20films

Inter Vivos is still ongoing. Going to head off to the library tonight to do some more. Must work on The Maiden not being a very bad pantomime villain. Think it'll help though when I have a completed first draft, so I can look at her role the whole way through, and decide what to do with her. Gotta stop her monologuing - that's for certain.

Hallowe'en is coming up, and I'm having a Mary Shelley party, where we all have to write a horror story to read to the group. I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to write. Hannah said she'd do a comic, which sounds excellent. If only my drawings didn't look like those of a five year olds...

She-Wolf

2009-10-06T16:08:00.002+01:00

Quickie just to share this:

This bit in The Guardian made me chortle: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/oct/05/shakira-she-wolf

I guess it helps if you've seen the video it's talking about, which is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aEW_Z5Va5s

Banshees for NaNoWriMo

2009-10-05T17:03:00.001+01:00

Thankfully, the busy period is over with at work now, and so I can finally get back to concentrating on my writing.

I am still working away at Inter Vivos - going to go and do some more once I've finished this blog post - and I'm still waiting to hear from a couple of magazines where I've submitted work, so it's quite busy at the moment, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed all goes well.

It's almost NaNoWriMo time, and so I thought I'd blog a little bit about this year's project, although I don't have everything planned out yet. I have mentioned it before in bits and pieces, but thought I'd try to expand a little bit on what I've already told you, so you have more of an idea what I'm on about.

Right, so this year, my story is about a banshee named Caoimhe (pronounced Kee-va), and a fresher called Tom. Tom starts university and instantly goes about forming himself a band. He's talented and convinced he's going to be a rock star. He's quite big-headed, with that arrogance that comes from being 18, fairly attractive, and the best thing from his little local sixth form. So anyway, he's playing his first gig at some pub and is drawn to bar maid Caoimhe, who looks like a model - 6 foot tall, skinny, with long white-blonde hair (see picture above for how I see her), who happens to also be enrolled at the university reading mathematics. Turns out that not only is Caoimhe the only one he's ever met who isn't instantly into his music (and him), but she's also a banshee - born several centuries earlier, she and her "sisters" are charged with the task of escorting the ancestors of the ancient noble families of Ireland to the underworld when they die. Drawn almost magnetically to a place whenever someone with noble blood is marked with a "halo", the banshee doesn't know until it is too late whom that person is. Some of the sisters, such as Caoimhe, play detective to try to find the person to protect them from death (if they are able to) as a way to save those whom they are eternally bound from suffering and misery. So Tom becomes attrached to Caoimhe, and follows her about until he witnesses her at "work", and is eventually drawn into her world as she tries to track down her latest halo, who also happens to be enrolled at Tom's new university.

So that's the jumble that's in my head at the moment. Will hopefully have it in some sort of semblance of a plot before November 1st.

Cleaning

2009-09-23T12:52:00.001+01:00

So, I'm having a massive clean-out now. Our house is a complete sty, so I am attempting to fix it. Half of the kitchen is clean, half looks like the plague has hit it. The living room is coming along, but the front room is the worst. It is my fault, mostly, as there are still two big boxes in the middle of the floor from when we moved in a year ago. But when it's all tidied or chucked away, I think the room will be nice. Going to buy a nice arm chair for in there, so we can use it as a study. Perhaps then I can invite people round without The Shame of living in a pig hole.

Good news, Anakin Skywalker and Scarlett O'Hara were voted worst movie boyfriend and girlfriend respectively. Now that would make an interesting pairing:

Him: Sulk, sulk, no one appreciates how good I am. Sulk.
Her: Me, me, me, me, me, me, me!

Classic.

Work is crazy busy right now, but back to the writing tonight. Finish Inter Vivos by end of October? I hope so, because then I can spend November "having a break" doing NaNoWriMo, and then get on with the editing in December.

Quick Post

2009-09-14T17:03:00.003+01:00

I'm pretty busy with work at the moment, so this is just a quick post to share a couple of things.

Firstly, I found a really interesting piece on the net about the typical advance paid for a novel. Apparently it's about $5000 (so slightly over £3,000) in the US for SF/Fantasy fiction. The author has also compiled stats about how much your advance is likely to be if you have an agent or not. It's interesting stuff. You can read more about it here: http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/2005/10/05/author-advance-survey-version-20/

Secondly, I found a great little comic today too here: http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php There was a very cool Holmes-Watson one, and a funny "Dude watching with the Brontes".

Inter Vivos is ongoing as ever, and I'd better get off to the library and get some more done, if I ever wish to get my hands on any sort of advance. You know, I've found it's a lot harder to become a writer if you don't actually have anything to sell...

September Greetings!

2009-09-07T14:17:00.001+01:00

Hola everyone. I have just got back from a week off from work, from leaving the house, and from the internet. It's been really blissful, in a 1995 sort of a way. I've been mostly sitting in front of the TV, watching Buffy (OK, 1998 then), reading some not very good books, and generally just zoning out. It's been really nice. And now that I know I can survive without the internet for a week at least, I'm actually getting more done at work because I'm not constantly distracted. Which is nice.
I haven't worked on any of my stories whilst I've been off. Yeah, I know. Naughty me. I had hoped to have IV properly finished by now, but I'm still working my way through my revised ending notes. I watched the last episode of the BBC version of Jane Eyre whilst I was off, and it struck me how much the end part of IV that I'm writing now is like the bit in Jane Eyre after she runs off from Rochester and is found by St John. I have previously referred to Inter Vivos as "Jane Eyre with Cyborgs", but had picked Jane Eyre simply because it is one of the best known examples of a Bildungsroman. Having read the story in my first year at university, I could only really remember the middle bit, Jane's time at Thornfield up until she runs off after the wedding. So I'm rereading those couple of chapters from the point she leaves right up until she gets found, in the hope that it inspires me when I'm writing Nox's journey from Calista to Aquarius after she leaves the Governor's mansion. It was purely coincidental, but it is kinda cool to think of Jane as Nox's very distant ancestor.
Anyhow, hopefully in the next month or so I should be able to post some proper updates about writing and stuff. I've sort of "fell off the horse", or "off the wagon" or whatever other phrase you want to choose, so it's time to pick myself up now that I'm rested, and hop back on.

Audio version of "The Tower"

2009-08-20T11:39:00.005+01:00

Sorry folks, I kept meaning to post about this, and then totally forgot. Anyhow, I've only just had chance to listen to it myself.

My story "The Tower", which was published by New Fairytales magazine, has been turned into an audio, available now to download as an mp3: http://www.newfairytales.co.uk/pages/audio.html (it's the third one down)

I'm really, really impressed with it. The very talented actor and the sound engineer have made my story sound amazing. I really couldn't be happier with it.

If you like it, please consider donating to the charity Derian House Children's Hospice. The magazine was set up to raise funds for it, and I think it's such a wonderful idea. You can donate if you click on the link above and follow the instructions in the text above the downloads.

Anyway, no pressure! Go listen to my story, and check out the others (which is what I'm going to be spending my lunch hour doing).

The End is in Sight!

2009-08-18T15:33:00.005+01:00

OK, so I've reviewed Inter Vivos, after what I wrote in my blog post here, and I find, actually, that it's not that bad. Shocker.

So, in actual fact, I don't need to rewrite 25,000 words. I went through it, and I think I need to make 16 minor changes, and then write a slightly different last scene and I'll get rid of my passive heroine and tie up all my loose ends without it seeming too devised.

I found, on rereading the six penultimate chapters, that I liked my novel. And not just that, but I like my characters too. In my head, Nox is played by Nemi; Cyrus by the old man (now deceased) who was the blind man ("Duncan") in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves; Thaddeus by a young Jared Leto; and The Captain by Chris Pine or Eric Lively (who I've never seen act in anything, but he looks about right in this imdb picture). A motley crew indeed.

So that's what I'm working on at the moment.

I'm also trying to decide what is going to be my next NaNoWriMo project - the banshee story, or the Nevada story (of which Corrie Flint is a part). I'll end up writing both eventually. Well, I still have another 2 months to decide.

Back in Leicester

2009-08-13T12:43:00.006+01:00

Well, so much for blogging everyday about the Fringe! I just didn't have time in the end. It was so busy and - I don't know - frenetic, and I completely over-stimulated myself. Learned how truly unfit I was when almost passing out after climbing up some stone stairs leading off the Royal Mile. But had a brilliant time.

The shows that I saw:

Broken Holmes (twice)
Icarus 2.0
Over the Threshold (see review in previous post)
The Big Comedy Breakfast (pretty funny, and still quoting "past life related" from Sarah Pearce's routine with my friends!)
A Stroke of Genius (really inventive staging and use of props and multimedia, genuinely made me laugh and the lead actress was amazingly good - reminded me of Shirley Henderson).
Orphans - great dialogue and acting, slightly disappointing plot (flaws of logic in the main premise and the first act a little dull).
Perfect Pitch presents...(free showcase of some of the new musicals on at the Fringe)
The World's Wife (Excellent one-woman show performing Carol Ann Duffy's work of the same name)
The Great British Soap Opera The Musical (really well structured show, catchy songs, great acting, although one of the actresses seemed to have a problem with her belt - that's her singing, not her accessorises!)
Baby (Cambridge Uni version of the musical - a couple of the male actors playing it up for the crowd, but generally really good).
The Rap Guide to Evolution (this was funny, but not a parody. Really explained the theory, but also put it into everyday context and related it to rap music. Great lyrics and beats).
A-Team the musical (really funny silliness, though the songs - and singing - were poor).
Ophelia (Drowning) (bizarre yet beautiful play staged in a swimming pool. Got splashed quite a bit, acting good from the "Ophelia" and the "Gertrude" but I would have cast Gertrude as older, without the Claire's accessories tiara, and the bloke in it was just a bit weird).
Plus a seminar on "How to Sell a Show at the Fringe" and a quick visit to the Museum on the Mound.

I also watched a bit of a terrible free comedian at one of the Laughing Horse venues quite late at night, but we left when we realised that this guy clearly had no friends to tell him "hey, you're not funny".

My favourite shows of the bunch (Broken Holmes aside of course), were The World's Wife, A Stroke of Genius, The Great British Soap Opera (not because I found out that I guy I know wrote it, but for the fact that I still have one of the songs in my head now - 4 days later) and the Rap Guide to Evolution (which, for the month of August you can download for free here. Funny and educational - do it!).

It was really great seeing loads of uni friends, old school friends and meeting new people too. It did make me want to write a play again, but at the same time, the question kept coming to me - do I have the energy anymore to do all that promotional work, all that press liaison, all that flyering, etc for three straight weeks? Morph is looking to take a play next year, to continue on the "Semper Theatre" name. Guess I'll have to find some energy from somewhere before then!

So for me now, post Edinburgh, it's back to the writing. More Inter Vivos, and I think I'm going to start my next novel a little earlier than planned. I was saving it for NaNoWriMo, but after what happened with Dorcas Grubb (where I basically had run my inspiration dry by waiting too long to actually write it) I'm a bit scared to leave it much longer.

So short term goals are currently: lose the extra inch I've gained in Edinburgh whilst surviving on a diet of nachos and fried breakfasts; finish off Inter Vivos in the next two weeks; start something new.

Icarus and Over the Threshold

2009-08-07T19:41:00.002+01:00

Saw two shows today. The first, Icarus 2.0 was good, but a little weird. Actors were superb, proper pro actors (or so it seemed) rather than people pretending. I loved their closeness, the absolute trust they seemed to have with each other. The play was good in parts, but I think needed to be tightened up a little bit. The "twist" seemed almost too sudden, qhich spoilt the foreshadowing that had gone on nicely before.
The second show was a new musical, called Over the Threshold, that made the hairs on the back of my arm stand on end. Really stunning, emotive storytelling, with a really talented cast. I did think the guy playing Charlie was a bit miscast. I wasn't sure whether he was a yuppie or a player. Also, one of the numbers wasn't as clever as it thought it was. Still, it was really good, and I'm really glad I went. On my own now, killing time until we all meet up again. Edinburgh is buzzing, it's quite exhausting. Anyway, more shows tomorrow.

Edinburgh and Broken Holmes

2009-08-07T10:18:00.000+01:00

Am now in Edinburgh, tired already, but it is great to be back. We're staying in Edinburgh uni accommodation, and our room is really nice - double bed, TV, views of holyrood park. Much swankier than the student digs I've known.
I went to see Broken Holmes last night, and I really enjoyed it. I love Robin's writing; his quirky combination of elegant Wilde-like (Wildean?) wit and the cruder parlance of today is seamless, and in BH, every line is a zinger. As a rule, I don't like farce, but this play is farce without the extreme silliness, as found in Orton and Fo (though there is silliness there; a green snake sock puppet comes to mind).
Not only is it elegant farce, but it is also farce with a heart. The characters of Holmes and Watson aren't merely stock 2 dimensional caricatures, but fully functional disfunctional individuals. Robin has built on our conceptions of these characters and given them a believable reinterpretation, raising Holmes to true antihero status and giving the whole story a refreshing 21st century shake up. Watson is a giant of a man, quite capable, one feels, of knocking the abusive Holmes to kingdom come with a single punch, had Holmes not already demasculinised him. The show is on for 3 weeks at venue 45, so if you are in Edinburgh or are going to be coming up, I recommend that you try and see it. It was a really nice way to end a busy day.

Inter Vivos and Edinburgh - Here I Come!

2009-08-03T15:56:00.001+01:00

I've been reading Stephen King's On Writing again (I don't tend to like "How to" books, but his is brilliant, part memoir - part installation of work ethic), and for some reason whilst reading about his difficulties when writing The Stand, it struck me what the problem is with Inter Vivos. The ending always felt to me a little tacked on, possibly because of how it came about - not organically, but made up on the spot because I needed to write a full synopsis in order to secure a meeting with an agent. So, presently Nox sort of hands herself over to the Big Evil, and then has an operation, and it all ends happily ever after. But this never quite sat right with me. My spunky heroine hands herself in (that I could deal with - she's going through shit at the time) and then she offers herself up to the slab, goes willingly, puts all her faith in the evil guys and a bloke with a shady past, which just never felt true to me. Not to the character. She's already been betrayed by someone she thought she could count on, and then a couple of pages later she's a trusting moron again. So the whole thing's got to go. Yay for sorting this all out (finally, after a whole year!) but boo to the fact that this means I'm going to have to scrap the seven chapters that I've already written, all 26,600 words! That's just over a quarter of the book. Still, at least it means I'll hopefully be on the right track now. I have a vague idea where that track might lead, but I'm going to try to make it more organic, work out what Nox would do in those situations, rather than trying to make stuff happen. And make it scarier. The world in Inter Vivos still feels a little 2D in places and that's got to change.
So on I go, working on the novel that I seem never to be able to finish, no matter how close I get.

In a blog related note, I'm off to Edinburgh for the first part of the Fringe on Thursday, and am going to try to post some reviews of the plays I see on here whilst I'm away, if my BlackBerry holds out. I've already booked tickets to see Orphans and The World's Wife, but I have a list of approximately 5 shows a day that I want to see, so I may be very busy!

250th Post!

2009-07-30T15:23:00.003+01:00

My Corrie Flint story, henceforth referred to as "A Natural Talent" (unless it undergoes yet another title change) has been released into the world, landing safely in a magazine slush pile, and I don't expect to hear anything back from it or them for at least a month. But at least it's now officially "out there", so I'll keep you posted should anything come of it.
Whilst adding my latest submission to my log, I discovered I have not submitted any of my work anywhere for eight months! How crazy is that? And I pertain to call myself a writer? I guess I've had a fairly good excuse (busy writing the novel), but still.
I've now decided to try to get a short story or two finished, as well as continuing on with Inter Vivos. I've got 5 chapters to write for the novel, then it's re-write time, and I haven't done much on it in the past 6 weeks.
Now is the time to kick myself in the arse and get a write-on again. I have found that not enjoying the day job is a great motivator to write, so now seems like the perfect time to kick-start my would-be career.
Reread Deathly Hallows again on Sunday (yeah, yeah, I know). I don't understand how one can get so absorbed in a book. Like literally, whilst reading I was impervious to hunger and sleep and the need for the toilet. Dark magic indeed.

Buffy Revisited

2009-07-21T12:58:00.001+01:00

Yesterday I watched the first three episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer series 1, and I think they've held up really well. Sure, Buffy's hair and heels are slightly dated, as is the mid-90s Grunge, but the writing feels as fresh as ever. The opening sequence, in which a boy and his date break into school, breaks conventions right from the beginning - it's not the sex-crazed jock who is the threat, but his jumpy, hesitant blonde date (who turns out to be a vampire). And I was shocked that Angel, in those first two episodes, has a personality! Maybe I'm just too saturated by the bland Twilight vamps, but it actually took me by surprise that Angel was sarcastic and charismatic, rather than brooding and mournful. Just shows that both the male and female characters can be strong at the same time - one doesn't supersede the other. The Angel I'm most familiar with is the pouting one from (I think) Series 3, so Angel series 1 is actually really refreshing.

I'm still not finished with my Corrie Flint story - I'm just tidying it up a little bit now. Plus, I can't think of a title. I wanted to come up with something witty and clever, maybe some sort of pun based around fire and talent, but I can't think of anything good. I think the latest draft is called "Burning Talent", but I think I might go with "An Unusual Talent". I can't really decide - neither are right. Suggestions on a postcard please...

Hmm...

2009-07-14T15:14:00.005+01:00

I think I'm suffering from "blog block" at the moment. I just can't think of what to write on here. I know lots of gossip, but it's about other people and so can't relate it on here (that's cruel). I don't feel like my life is dull right now, more like I'm just gently bobbing along on the ocean that is life, and there's nothing to report, not even the odd seagull.

I read a really dreadful book the other week, called Marked by PC Cast and Kristen Cast. I read it to the end though, which is more than I can say than some books, but it was truly awful. It was written in first person teen-speak, which in itself is annoying, but in this instance made the narrator and lead character extremely annoying and unrelatable. I mean, kudos for PC Cast getting her daughter to help her with the lingo, but her daughter isn't a teen neither - it's like it's been written by someone who watched Clueless and has attempted to copy it verbatium. Like, totally.

On the other hand, I watched Torchwood: Children of Earth on Virgin on Demand over the weekend (the first whilst still drunk at about 2:30am). This was excellent. I've only seen a couple of episodes from the first series of Torchwood, and it never really grasped my attention - it was too much like a Doctor Who episode, but with added gratuitous sex/violence, just because it was post-watershed. This story though, which was self contained over 5 (I think) episodes, was really tight, and everything there felt planned out - not a single line or sfx wasted. I hope they do more Torchwood episodes like this. Very good (and perfect for my hangover the next day).

Hagging It Up!

2009-07-08T09:52:00.004+01:00

I wrote the following last night when I was out and about, and was going to post this to my blog then, but I couldn't get signal for my BlackBerry! Anyway, here it is:

I am presently sitting in Starbucks - since when did they become so ethnic? African drummers on loop on the CD player, and prints of Kenyan elephants and Antigua on the wall. Last time I was in here, I distinctly remember them playing Christina Aguilera. Oh well. Times they are a-changing.

Speaking of which, all seems to be going well with my Semper buddies. Broken Holmes is into its rehearsal period, Phil's book is now available from Amazon (plug, plug), and Hannah is taking over the internet, one tweet at a time. I sincerely hope that I have some news soon, but unfortunately right now all I can report is that I'm writing. It takes so long!

In other news, I have a small project in the works at the minute, more news to follow, but hopefully it will take off and be grand!

So that's it! One more thing I wanted to add to that was, I think I may have found the perfect job! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8138665.stm

Dr Horrible

2009-06-29T17:19:00.006+01:00

I have a major crush on Neil Patrick Harris right now. I mean, come on! How friggin' talented is this man? He sings, he's hilarious, he looks good in a suit, and he says "awesome" better than anyone I know. I'm counting down the days until How I Met Your Mother season 4 is released on DVD. I watched Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog in one sitting on Saturday night - highly recommended. Here's Act One, Scene One as a taster for you, courtesy of Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=apEZpYnN_1g -it lasts 7 and a half minutes.

(I tried to embed the video here, but for some reason couldn't copy and paste the whole of the text code - anyone know why?)

I'm still enjoying Dollhouse - wish the Sci Fi Channel had its own On Demand service. Get onto it, Virgin!

Have finished my Corrie Flint story. Wrote it in one sitting the day after the idea came into my head. Sometimes it's just like that - idea comes, pretty much fully formed, and explodes out of you. It was good to be able to write it like that, rather than having to wait until I found a second, like what usually happens. Have to snatch those opportunities when they appear!

New Story

2009-06-24T22:22:00.001+01:00

Greetings again, this time from Essex. Hotel is quaint, quiet and tidy, though the two lamps by my bed don't work. There's only 5 TV channels, and Five is fuzzy at best.
I have decided to reread the Harry potter books, and have just finished the first, and I'm also reading The Host by Stephenie Myer. It's not bad. Good idea, pretty well executed so far, though the love scenes are embarrassing. Plus, I don't get why having sex at 17 (post apocolypic world or not) is a bad thing. Guess that's mormons for you.
I have a new story in development - Corrie Flint, fire demon, auditions for America's got talent. As I started to write today (idea occured whilst in hotel room yesterday in Sheffield) I thought that I might like to write a series of short stories with intersecting characters, sort of Pulp Fiction style but without all the shooting. Not sure when ill have time for this grand project, but thought I'd document it here in case I forget.
Inter vivos tomorrow. Am locking myself in my hotel room in the hope I finish at least two chapters. There is a chance though that I instead go mad, a la the shining. Five TV channels, I mean!

What To Eat?

2009-06-22T17:43:00.000+01:00

Greetings from Sheffield! I am currently sitting in a bar drinking lemonade, trying to decide where to go for dinner, whether I'm actually hungry now, and whether I can sick on ice cubes long enough so that the bar staff don't throw me out before my appetite arrives or they force me to buy another drink.
It is weird eating in restuarants alone, especially commercial ones that are geared towards families or couples. Even in this bar right now there are kids running around. I don't mind doing it, but I wish people would lay off with the pity stares.

Top Bum

2009-06-15T15:25:00.003+01:00

Over the weekend, I watched Top Gun. Isn't it the most homoerotic film of all time? And Tom Cruise stabbing that woman with his tongue ("kissing"??!!) whilst backlight by blue light - how icky does that look? Don't think I had watched it all the way through since the early nineties, so had never noticed those things before.

Busy time at work coming up, not really looking forward to, but perhaps I can use it to become more focused with my time again. I know I keep saying it, but I really really want to get IV finished.

Finally - urgh, too hot and raining. My hair is now a ball of frizz.

Rutland

2009-06-13T08:39:00.000+01:00

They're early starters in Rutland. I arrived here at ten past eight and already the supermarket was full and people were browsing shop windows til they open. Though perhaps the world is normally like this, but I usually sleep right through it. Uppingham is very quaint, and its surrounded by countryside, rolling hills of green spotted with cows and sheep. Am an hour early for my event, so have found a café to hole myself up in. Quite pleasant, early morning aside.
The problem with Inter Vivos is that I can't get the scenes right where Nox is possessed by the heart. I'm trying not to worry about it at the minute, but know ill need to fix it when I come to edit it.
I think when I get home this afternoon I might have a nap.