Sunday 29 January 2012

A Winter Afternnoon

I've been hit with a bit of a sore throat and cough. My baby has also decided to resume 2am feedings which has left me shattered. Henceforth; as soon as the children go to sleep so do I, but this has left no room for my daily fix of writing.

Withdrawal symptoms were taking a hold...

Frustration and restlessness was setting in and it was time to uncurl and venture forth from the cocoon. Get out of the house and take in some fresh air.

The problem with winter, is that you tend to hibernate indoors and it can make you feel sluggish. Yesterday, we all wrapped up warm and headed out into the winter sun. It was freezing. But then again I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to the cold.

It was lovely to get out of the four walls and from the confines of my writers' head into the wide open space of the park. Pushing the pram and watching my hubby help our son with his new trike.

And there it was. An ice cream truck. Of course it had to be done.
Ice cream for three on a January afternoon...

Extra chocolate sauce please mate!
Yummy!

Being out and about certainly helped blow away the cobwebs as I also got some inspiration for my "Bloggin' February" page coming soon.

So if you are suffering from a bout of writers block, get out there, have an ice cream and see what comes to you!

Friday 27 January 2012

A Much Needed Boost..


Wow.

I have never been this happy about a rejection email from an agent before. If you have been following this blog, you would have read my little moan in my post "Putting it in Perspective"
It talks about the frustrations that of all the submissions sent out, you are lucky to get a reply.

The one I received this week has left me feeling back on track, refocused and hopeful...

The agent gave me a much needed boost to my confidence. My writing was described as "well crafted and beautifully written". The agent also gave me some further advice to polish my work, and goes on to encourage me to submit the story to other agencies. They finish by confirming that I may submit any future pieces for their consideration.

There's nothing like a gorgeous lump of positive feedback to keep you going!


For the Love of Writing...


Thursday 26 January 2012

James Herbert and Halloween 2012

I am a huge fan of horror writer James Herbert. Pan Macmillan is releasing his novel 'Ash' in October of this year, and I came across some more interesting news about the great British horror novelist.
 According to James Herbert .Com (http://www.jamesherbert.com/news-about-james-herbert.html): "The BBC has announced that it is adapting James Herbert’s novel The Secret Of Crickley Hall. The drama will be shown in three hour-long parts for Halloween 2012."
I read the book a long time ago, but from memory, it was a creepy, breath-holding haunted house story. I will be re-reading it soon to review it properly, but for those interested, here's a review I found on-line which may be of interest: http://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/secret-crickley-hall-book

As a fan I'm very excited about the news, however, I am a bit of a sceptic when it comes to books being made for screen. I always end up feeling that the book is always better and that directors should have left well alone. (Hard to please and loyal to the book I guess...)

Here's looking forward to a spook-tacular October...

...

...

I can't believe I just wrote that...

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Turn It Around And Have A Splashing Good Time!





Splish, Splash, Sploosh!
I smiled and took a deep breath of fresh air. I am high up on Barra's Nose in Tintagel. To me it is the most beautiful and spiritual place in Cornwall.
And I feel that my heart soars.
It's a piece of stone ledge jutting out into the wild Cornish sea. I stand alone, my face lifted to the wind as it whips through my hair and I feel free... Somewhere in the distance, over the crash of the waves and calls of seagulls riding on the wind, a baby cries...

And I groan as I stir from slumber and roll over to try and find my phone on my bedside table, desperately trying to focus on the time display on the screen. It's cold and dark. And my baby is awake for his early morning feed. It can't be that time already?! And just when I was in the middle of such a beautiful dream too...

Ah; the call of motherhood.

It felt like it was going to be one of those days. My husband was rushing for work, the kids both wanted everything at once and I was struggling. I looked out of the window. The sky was thick with grey clouds and the rain was coming down steadily.

I took a deep breath. Ugh. A miserable, cold, wet January day.
Not on my watch.
I was going to turn this around...

It turns out that I had a fantastic day with my children. We did lots of fun things; bubbles, a journey in the car, watching a man fix mummy's back wiper (my son was fascinated by this) and coming home for cheese toasties... But the best bit was splashing in all the puddles we could find at the park! Watching my son negotiate his wellies to stamp and splash in the puddles, looking so happy and giggling uncontrollably will stay with me forever.

Plus I've had some ideas pop in my head for further stories...

In short; turn your day around and splash in a puddle!


"Why not learn to enjoy the little things - there are so many of them."  ~Author Unknown



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Saturday 21 January 2012

Updated!

Feeling blah after Christmas and New Year? Take a look at my Bloggin' January page for 10 suggestions for things to do this month... Please add you own to the list!

Friday 20 January 2012

Tweet, Tweet, Tweet


With a tweet tweet here and a tweet tweet there...


Oh my God. It's finally happened...

I'm on Twitter...

Why oh why?

And I'm enjoying it... (Is that really something one wishes to admit?!)



Monday 16 January 2012

Putting it in Perspective

I expect that many writers feel like this at points...
I've been approaching publishers and agents for a couple of years. Unsuccessfully. When you receive the hundredth "no thank you," it’s incredibly disappointing. Your confidence and determination to succeed gets a little dented. There is also the added frustration that you never find out why your work was rejected. For me personally, this feels rather difficult. I feel like I would benefit from these constructive criticisms.
Something else that is even more frustrating is when you receive no answer at all...
I sent out through email and letter; many submissions to agents and publishers before Christmas. I think I had one email in return that politely declined my work.
It's left me feeling a little sorry for myself. And questioning myself. Am I good enough? Should I carry on with what at the moment seems a pointless dream etc?
As I was sending these thoughts out, I happened upon a blog by an agent. Just stumbled upon it by chance. This was her opening line to the post that I read "Got into work and there were 80 submissions in my inbox...”
It was like someone gave me a slap and put me back on track. It put it all into perspective. 80 submissions?! It shows what we are up against as writers. Imagine being the person trying to select the best out of such a volume of submissions?! And no wonder there is no time to reply or give any constructive feedback...
Maybe sometimes it’s more about the journey?!
I just wonder how other writers cope with keeping themselves positive.
What are your hints and tips for a fellow writer? Please do share your coping tactics. Have you got a saying or quote that keeps you going? Or a writing ritual that keeps you on track?



Sunday 15 January 2012

The Weekend of Friday 13th...

O.K. Before you read any further let me just warn you that I'm feeling kinda blah...
I've never believed in the whole Friday 13th bad luck scenario... but after this weekend I'm starting to wonder...

It's not that anything reeeeeeally bad has happened but it's been a struggle. Any plans made were scuppered by time and not conforming to schedule. Therefore the weekend has flashed before my eyes and Monday is nearly upon us already!
The kids have been uppity, I've got no writing done or had a proper chance to sit and blog... the freezer drawer fell on the floor and completely cracked the front, the housework is still on hold and today there was a horrible situation in the local supermarket...

I was waiting in the queue and two guys (a little rough around the edges putting it politely!) pushed in front of me in the queue. Me being me, I bit my tongue and seethed inside quietly whilst an exhausted looking lady behind me had other ideas...
"There is a queue here you know!"
What she got back was a load of insults. I believe there was an explanation from the men amongst the foul language but I couldn't be sure! I was grateful that I had left my children with my husband in the car.
Why do people get so furious? More to the point, where has common decency gone? All the guys had to do was point out they had left their shopping on the conveyor belt to mark their space and had just gone to fetch some forgotten item... (There was two of them, why one couldn't have stayed with the shopping is beyond me... duh?!) but no, they pushed their way past without so much as an excuse me. Rude.
Anyway, without launching into the rant my poor husband had to listen to on my return to the car about the "world today", I just wanted to see how everyone else faired on Friday 13th?!



Thursday 12 January 2012

A Children's Story

Are you a parent/work with children/write for children etc? I wonder if you would take some time to read my idea for a picture book on my 'Write It!' page, and let me know what you think?
The story is entitled: The Monsters in the Night.

For children their imagination can be very vivid, with monsters around very corner. I'm sure most of us can recall a time when very young; where we have been scared of what could be lurking in the dark.
I wrote the story to help parents and children talk about night-time fears and ways to over come them.
It would be amazing to receive some true feedback.

Monday 9 January 2012

Saturday 7 January 2012

P.S...

I have put a link to my published articles on Suite101. My articles provide information mainly on child care and activities.
Suite101 is a great place to find information on a variey of subjects.
Check it out!

Superstition!

Anybody know the magpie superstition? One for sorrow, two for joy etc? Well check out my "Blog It" page to see what happened to me today! Share your weird and wonderful superstitions here too!

Monday 2 January 2012

Slowly does it!

There really isn't enough hours in the day...

I'm busy, busy, busy!

My blog page is coming together slowly. I am just putting the finishing touches on a piece of creative writing for my "What I'm Writing!' page... I wonder what people will make of it...

I've also added a useful links page. Please feel free to post your useful writing links/related blogs here too.

Sunday 1 January 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Come and share your New Year's resolution with me on my Blog It! page.