Good News

So much for promising to post regularly…. Almost nineteen months of nothing. I apologise. I should be ashamed of myself. But I’m not, because while I’ve been away something truly amazing has happened – I’ve landed a publisher. Yes, my first novel, now entitled ‘Running on the Spot’ has been taken on by Accent Press www.accentpress.co.uk and is scheduled for a December release.

As you can imagine, I am very excited. I can’t quite believe it – I’m walking round with a silly grin on my face all the time. I’m usually quite reticent, not really into self-publicity, but I’m rapidly turning into the sort of person other people cross the street to avoid; the one who waits impatiently for a suitable gap in a conversation so I can drop in my completely irrelevant good news. I even collar complete strangers in the supermarket queue to share it with them. I made that last bit up, but you get the picture. Continue reading

Procrastination is the thief of time

A perfect storm. A new PC with an unfamiliar operating system, no internet connection and an awful lot of snow. What could possibly go wrong? Well, the shop had run out of Windows 8 for Dummies for a start. Couldn’t be better.

I’m not a computer expert and I appreciate that I need a modicum of understanding. Why should it be easy? I’ve read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and I know it behoves me to at least show willing, to get to grips with it, but perhaps not today. The lack of connectivity has given me an ideal opportunity to get some uninterrupted writing done and I shouldn’t ignore this gift. At least I’ve managed to upload all my files from the old computer so I’ve got something to work on. I’ve even managed to open a new document. I’m off and running.

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Goal setting

Further to my positive outcomes post, I thought I’d give a little more substance to my aspirations for the New Year. Any of you who’ve had career or personal development training will probably be familiar with the SMART acronym for goal setting: Specific; Measurable; Achievable; Realistic and Targeted. I’m not usually a lover of this type of strait jacket approach to growth or creativity, but when it comes to goal setting, it’s quite a neat and useful summary of where we should be headed. And knowing where we’re going and what we’re aiming for is quite motivational, to coin a phrase.

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2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. My sincere thanks to everyone who has taken the time to view, like and comment on my efforts. Here’s to the next twelve months.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,700 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 6 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Positive Outcomes

I’ve never been one for New Year resolutions that involve any sort of deprivation. So I don’t resolve to lose weight, drink less alcohol or give up eating chocolate. I much prefer positive resolutions – those that require some action or input on my part – so I might decide to take more exercise or adopt a healthier lifestyle, or, more usually, read and write more.

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The Next Big Thing Blog Tour

Seasons Greetings everyone. Last week I was tagged by Luciana at   Eternal Atlantis in the Next Big Thing Blog Tour. Take a few minutes to visit Luciana’s blog and then read my answers to the interview questions.

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Can’t you read?

Can you imagine not being able to read or write? I get panicky faced with the prospect of the 10-minute wait for a doctor’s appointment with no reading material to while the time away. Leaflets advertising devices and medications I don’t need, but whose advantages am I now fully up to speed on; old shopping lists I’ve found in the depths of my handbag, usually featuring items I’ve forgotten to buy; the fine print on the backs of old prescriptions outlining exactly who is exempt from payment (never me) – I’ve spent quality time with them all when I’ve left my paperback at home.

I am also conversant with current lifesaving techniques, should any of my work colleagues have a stroke, heart attack or emergency caused by poor handling of electrical equipment, because I’ve read and re-read the instructions on the kitchen wall numerous times whilst waiting for the kettle to boil. Continue reading

Plain English

On the news this week I heard a reporter refer to someone ‘traversing’ a road. Traversing? Whatever happened to ‘crossing’? Traversing implies a journey, possibly hazardous, negotiating the Yukon or the Andes, not a suburban road. Maybe he was taking the lunchtime traffic into account.

Still, it got me thinking about our use of language in creative writing and how selecting that inelegant synonym to avoid repetition, doesn’t always work.

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Very funny….

The trouble with writing humour is that it’s so subjective; lines that will have one person giggling up their sleeve will leave another completely unmoved. Consequently, many writers don’t even attempt it. Some say they don’t have sense of humour themselves, or that it’s just too difficult. I don’t write much humour myself, though I do like to inject sarcasm and understatement into my characters’ thoughts and dialogue. But conjuring up funny scenes is just beyond me.

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The language of love

One thing I know about writing sex scenes – I find it tricky to strike the right tone and, as a consequence, I tend to stop at the bedroom door, so to speak.

These scenes are notoriously difficult to write well. The Literary Review even created the annual Bad Sex Award to celebrate ‘the worst, most redundant or embarrassing description of physical joining, in a novel.’  http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/badsexpassages.html

Published writers admit that writing sex scenes turns them on – and the best way to make sure a scene is sexy, is to make sure you find it sexy.

Writing my sex scenes physically excites me, as it should.’ John Updike.

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