tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7766229686846531132023-11-16T03:36:37.417-08:00ScribblerWrestling the muse into submission.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-52234800064711756972014-04-09T14:06:00.002-07:002014-04-09T14:06:25.310-07:00Why I get annoyed by Game of Thrones.<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I don’t have a problem with the sex in Game of Thrones, I just find it……oh, you know, really? I guess my real problem with it is not that it’s in the show, it is what it is I suppose, but that it’s just so predictable. Bloodthirsty gang of killers hold up in an ale house and, along with not paying for said ale, plan to ravish the tavern keepers daughters, who fortunately for them are all nubile teenagers who clearly had the choice between working as a tavern slattern, or a career as Miss Teen America. Gosh, isn’t it lucky that none of them are dog ugly, or they’d have had to ravish them, wouldn’t they, and that wouldn’t be nearly so photogenic?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Then of course there’s the almost obligatory brothel scene where again, a line up of slender eighteen year olds get to go naked, but it’s ok because there’s another woman being as unpleasant as the men, only she’s not in a position of power either, she’d another, superannuated mistress who is performing for the will of her royal lover - oh well, better luck next time.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">But there are strong women, the cry goes up - yes, some of them have to get married when they don’t want to, or have their hearts broken by Jon Snow,or moon after the one who had his hand cut off and act as the butt of jokes about how big she is, because, goodness, every other woman there isn’t - oh, and what about the one with the dragons, she’s pretty cool, right? Yes, the one who was sold into marriage by her brother and just happens to have some dragons, without which she’d have no power, and who half the time is mooning after all the various men who are vying for her attention - and isn’t it lucky she’s impossibly beautiful, because otherwise she’d not have been able to command nearly as much male attention as she has, now would she?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Alright, you spoil sport, this is just how it would be, how it was throughout the history of the human race - it’s always been like that and GOT is just being true to life.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">But that’s why it annoys me.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Because, and I hate to break this to you, but GOT is a fantasy. That means it’s not actually confined by anything other than the limits of the imagination of the writer. In a fantasy book, you can do what you like, you can gift people with powers they wouldn’t have in the real world, you can re-adjust relationships and traditions - and this just has not happened. Goodness me, even the accent Greeks could conceive of a race of warrior women, even if they were basically terrified of them - but, you know this world of GOT could be a bit different because, well, it could be. What if only women could inherit the throne, as their blood line is the only one that could be guaranteed? What if the society practiced polyandry, like they do in Tibet? What if woman had rights and respect and a different set of outlooks than wife or slave or whore, or had a jobs, or were skilled crafts people, or scholars, you know, like they have been throughout history?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">And yes, I’ll keep watching it I expect, not that I can remember who everyone is and who they’re related to, because after a while one nubile girl being made to get her tits out kind of looks like another, but it will still niggle at me that this is, in my less than humble opinion, a bit of a waste and actually, could have been a lot more interesting. Thank God for Diana Rig.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-72095599087144249402014-03-18T12:56:00.002-07:002014-03-18T12:56:40.137-07:00Z.A.S - do you suffer?<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Marrying my husband has brought me several benefits, one of which is that I have now seen pretty much all the zombie movies ever made. I’ve spent time with the Evil dead, the annoyed dead, the plain down right pissed off dead, even the dead who really can’t be bothered and are just there because, well, being dead doesn’t give you a lot of scope for hobbies. Now, I’m walking with them, which is a sight more invigorating than Clare Balding on radio four.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I have also developed what we call ‘Zombie Apocalypse Syndrome’ Z.A.S, which means that pretty much wherever I am, in idle moments I find myself wondering just what would happen if the zombie apocalypse were to happen there and then. In a cafe I imagine leaping across the counter for the bread knife and taking out two or three with the sandwich toaster, or find I’m eyeing up the fellow passengers on the train, wondering which will be trampled under foot and allow me and a plucky few to make it out alive.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The appeal of the zombie scenario seems to be remarkably enduring, and sometimes I wonder why, along with where the nearest weapon might be. You have a group of misfits, which allows for some wonderful tension and inner strife, and an implacable foe, which knits the most unlikely of teams together. The foe look like people, but aren’t, and so one can stab, shoot and decapitate them with a clear conscious, which is nice - no troublesome side issues around morality and ‘are we in fact as bad as they are’ sub-plots. There’s nothing like a ravaging horde of the undead to concentrate the mind, to trim away all the nagging issues around childcare, tax returns, redecorating, what did she/he mean when they said that about my shoes - drastic, sure, but it works. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">And, when life is throwing you up against the kind of harsh reality there’s no fighting against, none what so ever, not with a bread knife or a sandwich toaster, the sort of reality which comes to us all and from which there really is no coming back - well, it’s a nice bit of escapism. That, and I have a bit of a thing for Daryl Dixon….</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-90452732701802138832014-02-21T07:05:00.001-08:002014-02-21T07:05:27.620-08:00My Stupeflix Video<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/2ypDaaS0Ta4" width="480"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-81903649952566255042014-02-12T05:32:00.000-08:002014-02-12T05:32:08.977-08:00The airship of the mind.<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">How do you see your writing process? No, I don’t mean in terms of ‘it’s my life’ or ‘when I write I do my research first’ sort of thing. I mean if you were to visualise your self and the thinking and editing you do, what would that look like?</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>This is what I see. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">When I write, I build this huge machine. It looks something like a steam driven chariot with a lot of type-writer/air ship/fighter plane in the mix. There’s certainly a seat, possibly a cockpit, definitely an engine which either purrs like a sports car or wheezes like a lawn mower. There’s a great number of levers and pulleys and pedals ones has to push to get it to do anything, and often the same sequence of moves – pull red lever, stamp on third brake, flick first five switches on the left – results in a different action each time. It’s constantly springing oil leaks, bleaches steam or shedding vital parts, I’m forever having to stamp on one of the fifty seven brakes and leap from the cockpit, dangling at impossible angles with complicated tool to make fine adjustments in the teeth of a gale. Other times we hit smooth road, and for a brief, wonderful time we cruise along and the miles flick past, only to discover I’ve taken a wrong turn and have to reverse. Then the big end goes.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>But slowly, bit by bit, it wheezes less, the rumbling, burbling engine is stripped and oiled and starts to tick over; the paintwork is primed and ready and the wings take shape. One day I shall be able to don my goggles, lock down the windshield and build up enough speed to take off into the wide, blue yonder. But not yet, there’s a suspicious ticking noise in the left compression chamber.</span></div>
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My first published novel <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/CROOKED-LITTLE-SISTER-dark-thriller-ebook/dp/B00H1Y05QM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392057556&sr=8-1&keywords=my+crooked+little+sister" target="_blank">'My crooked little sister'</a> a dark and twisty thriller set in the swamps around New Orleans, is out now published by Not So Noble Books - if you'd like to see how well that particular creation flies.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-36990503486059224482014-01-12T14:29:00.002-08:002014-01-12T14:29:21.891-08:00The self assessment grid.<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I had my professional assessment in my course the other day. I’m studying to be an antenatal teacher with the NCT, and in the January before you graduate, you have to fill out an assessment grid all about yourself. If you get all seven or above, and you want to start your teaching career, then they book your first ever course in July. I mention this because of the assessment grid we have to use - twelve points we reflect then mark ourselves on out of ten. My tutor marked all my grades up from 7’s and 8’s to 9’s and 10’s and I’m set to teach my first course in July.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">However, looking at the self assessment grid I got to wondering if it might throw some light on the whole writing lark. Seeing as I’m in reflective mood, let’s take a look at them-</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Self-motivation </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Or when writing, what is motivating your characters. You have to know, the reader doesn’t. Or rather, they need to find out, and it might not be what you or they think it is when you start. It’s so much more fun when what we think is the motivation turns out not to be, or rather that the character start off thinking they want A, then discovering they actually want B, and perhaps even that it is A after all. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">You could also tick the box here for actually doing some bloody writing. There are a billion unfinished books out there, but who cares about them? A writer who doesn’t write is a bit like a dancer who doesn’t dance, you kind of have to do it to be it.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Self-awareness </span></div>
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<span class="s1">How well do your characters know themselves? How well does the reader know them, and how? You can have a character who likes to think that they’re respectable, dependable and reliable - but who goes on to prove that they’re anything but - especially if they’re maintaining their innocence all the while - the classic unreliable narrator. Or, have your character know the truth of their nature and try all the way through to hide it because the world demands it of them - until one slip is their down fall. They key is that you as the writer must know your character absolutely, every beat of their heart and every inch of their dreams - then decide how much of it you choose to share with them, or the reader.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Respect for colleagues </span></div>
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<span class="s1">This means other writers. They’ve all done it before you, you are standing on the shoulders of giants so do them the courtesy of treating the craft with respect. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Reception of feedback</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Ah-ha! You will get feed back. Some of it will be good, some of it will be bad, but all of it should be considered. Everyone wants someone to pick up their first book and say ‘why, this is wonderful, please collect your booker from the bran tub outside the door.’ They’re not going to. What might appear to be bad feedback, or hard feedback, is hard to hear, but once you’ve got over the pain, use it. Pain is there for a reason, pain is there to tell us we need to do something. You may decide that all you need to do is ignore it, you may decide that you need to jump six feet sideways - but think of it as something to use. Better you spend another twelve months working on it, than get another twelve rejections.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Ability to work as a team member </span></div>
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<span class="s1">This I’m going to use to say that you have to get all your team players working toward the same goal, your book. You need to be up on the plot, you need the characters to work, you need to paint the scene, you need to keep up the pace - think of all these things as your team and don’t let one take over from the others.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Reliability </span></div>
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<span class="s1">If you have a deadline, meet it. A deadline is a gift, not a burden. Just be glad you’ve got one, if you ever do.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Responsibility </span></div>
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<span class="s1">You’re creating a world, whether or not it’s a fantasy epic or Guilford in January, so do right by it. If the rain in your world is purple, it’s purple - so make sure it’s purple all the way through.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Accountability </span></div>
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<span class="s1">You are getting into the minds and hearts of your readers, I hope. Just be careful what you leave there.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Time keeping and punctuality </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Ok - stretching the point a little but timing is everything in writing as much as comedy. Always be aware of it, when building tension, when wrong footing the reader, especially when telling a joke. If I might load a second point onto this one, I’d also underline the importance here of reading things out loud. Everything, every word of what you think is your final draft must be read out loud to ensure that it is readable at all. You’ll hear at once if the timing is off or out, especially when it comes to dialogue - and yes, you have to do the accents and the voices and walk around the room in the guise of your characters.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Professional appearance </span></div>
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<span class="s1">How you present your work is crucial. There is a professional form you should follow when submitting. It’s not a question of people being awkward, it’s not a question of them nit-picking - it’s the way things are done. If you don’t do it, they will simply have an easy reason to throw your manuscript into the slush pile. There are lots of good books on the subject of submissions which are worth the read.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Confidentiality </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Don’t give things away lightly. This is going to be my exposition rant. You need to know everything about everyone in your book and everything in the world of your book, then write as if your reader does also. Don’t explain anything, don’t take a moment to set the scene - just be in the world of your book. As your characters walk through it, they will cause ripples in it which will turn into waves which will rock boats - and that’s your story. You know what I’m saying here, don’t you? Show, don’t tell.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Social media</span></div>
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<span class="s1">There’s lots out there, some of it good, some of it bad. When you’re writing, turn it off. When you’re promoting, turn it on.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Now, how does your writing stack up, from one to ten? Go on, give it a go, and hopefully someone will come and mark you up as well.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-11310954891559489792013-12-06T02:35:00.003-08:002013-12-06T02:35:29.967-08:00No spam please!The opener is seductive - 'Ever thought you book could be a film?'<br />
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Well, who hasn't? Especially when your first book comes out and your friends read it and love it, before it's properly exposed to the wrath of strangers - then you sit back and start casting it in your mind and even wonder about googling a few actors agents - well, we can dream!<br />
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So, <a href="http://marsocial.com/groups/marsocials-author-of-the-year-competition/" target="_blank">I thought I'd enter this</a> - and let me say at once that I'm not saying this competition is anything but above board and good fun for all concerned - you load up an extract from your book, and if it wins, the movie deal is yours. Fantastic - so I duly loaded up my extract though not quite clear about the rules and what I was meant to do - and today I'm withdrawing.<br />
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The way it works is that everyone who enters had to tweet about every one else who enters, the more tweets the better, and every time someone re-tweets your entry, you get a vote, and the one with the most votes will be made into a movie if the funding can be raised, and we all get a lot of exposure as a result - great!<br />
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Well.......not for me. You see, I'd be quite happy to tweet about the extracts I enjoyed reading, and to spread the word about the competition and to promote a kick-starter program to fund the film when the winner is chosen - <i>but not to decide the winner.</i><br />
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Because all that does is show you who's spammed the most people on their twitter feed - not who's written the best book. And let me stress here, I'm not saying that I've written the best book, but I am saying that if I am to be judged, I'd like it to be on my writing and not my ability to send hundreds to tweets. I may not have a lot of twitter followers, but those I do have I don't want to keep on tweeting stuff at them merely to rank up points on a screen, because that's like awarding a prize to whom ever can click a clicker fastest in an hour - and frankly, I don't follow people for that, but for what they have to say.<br />
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Now, give me a shortlist to read and I'll pick my favourite and tweet about because I have something to say on the subject - but just to collect tweets like cake sprinkles? No thanks - I think I'd just annoy people more than anything.<br />
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Good luck to them though, and I hope the movie makes it into reality.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/CROOKED-LITTLE-SISTER-dark-thriller-ebook/dp/B00H1Y05QM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386322140&sr=8-1&keywords=my+crooked+little+sister" target="_blank">If you'd like to see if my book would make a good film - you can buy it through Amazon in e-book form - published by 'Not so Noble books.'</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/CROOKED-LITTLE-SISTER-dark-thriller-ebook/dp/B00H1Y05QM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386322140&sr=8-1&keywords=my+crooked+little+sister" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2OGR8efBjkSZEvrkl4W8AM09eqkXINjHIhRC_VPVjvOLVx0zsJzGMkrpmzvFWNcRHorsRmIiTo0IHpFFsaKvUkd-_aXvP0Y0diDpM5pHNpjlHW0bE1tQw5EXP9zWRXZdHF-ToeFvsj0Q/s320/crooked+sister+book+cover+3.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-21239813019087363992013-12-04T02:26:00.001-08:002013-12-04T02:26:56.911-08:00My first book it out!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ7unt_TBA30tohueKEt-nc9ezgzYEO3BCj9iMe5TAvmsSZ1-saqYgmF9lTjQrR9TqGraMIZ7kWjfCDa8RJt9A2GDKbwCuu3a5v3SqtUMu7nC4DY2oW1yIGR12RqTl7YjRnX4pFwFwS1w/s640/crooked+sister+book+cover+3.jpg" width="426" /></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/CROOKED-LITTLE-SISTER-dark-thriller-ebook/dp/B00H1Y05QM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386071953&sr=8-1&keywords=my+crooked+little+sister" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.co.uk/CROOKED-LITTLE-SISTER-dark-thriller-ebook/dp/B00H1Y05QM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386071953&sr=8-1&keywords=my+crooked+little+sister</a></div>
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I have signed with e-book publishers 'Not so noble books' to publish this and hopefully more of my thrillers. This is the first, written during NaNoRiMo 2011 - and here's the blurb:<br />
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A woman staggers into a decrepit fishing shack in the Louisiana back woods, with no memory, a gun and a bullet wound. Enter Red, a stranger in a strange place, in time to catch her as she falls.</div>
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Trapped in the sweating heat of the swamp, no car, no phone, no one around for miles, the ex-solider offers her refuge and the name ‘Margarita’. </div>
<span style="background-color: #fafaff; color: #333366; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.90625px;">Night falls and cabin fever sets in, ripe with intense visions and confession. In the small hours Margarita discovers a cache of hidden weapons and a plan for revenge on Red, once married to her missing sister - but who’s plan is it and who’s its real target? Deeper they go, embroiled in a dark game before all the players, both real and imaginary, have fully revealed themselves.</span><span style="background-color: #fafaff; color: #333366; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.90625px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fafaff; color: #333366; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.90625px;">A huge thank-you to all and everyone who has helped me with this - you are amazing SXX</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-61325780504585665902013-10-16T13:48:00.001-07:002013-10-16T13:48:53.420-07:00Everyone loves a bad guy....Hands up, I confess, I love a bad guy. Not in real life, in real life I love a great guy, but in the wonderful world of fiction I certainly do.<br />
Personally, I like a bad guy with something of if not a soft side, certainly a little rational. There needs to be a moment when we like him, or we sympathise with him or hell, we even want to be him, just a little. Bad guys get to do all the things we can't, and most of the things we don't want to. We've all had moment when we've fantasised about offing an ex, a boss, a rival, and bad guys gets to do that. In fiction at least, we do like to be given a reason why the bad guy is bad, we like a back story - it's very hard to justify a bad guy who's just bad because, well, he's bad. And that's part of the appeal, unpicking a bad guy to see how he was made, to see if we could do better, or worse, than him.<br />
<br />
Hero's have a hard time of it really, they have be heroic and they have to be moral, and as a result so many of them come off as a bit preachy, a bit dull and well, a bit humourless.<br />
<br />
The best of both worlds of course is the anti-hero - the bad guy who underneath has a heart of gold, or the moral centre, the one who at the very last, saves the day, often at the cost of their own happiness - it is a far far better thing I do today, than I have ever done before - and so forth.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1dz9vqQbGAh5P5R00Yo5tJrmJejPboYb9ik9OnTNcm9sICWujfXoTu6kfFNuaEMvywc2_5GCRfpqF5QT0stftlw-TAo_-aTsatmb14oo_Z5a-joH8nu2wb5v4HZVmEfupd-cRStbBb9o/s1600/badguy_snidelywhiplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1dz9vqQbGAh5P5R00Yo5tJrmJejPboYb9ik9OnTNcm9sICWujfXoTu6kfFNuaEMvywc2_5GCRfpqF5QT0stftlw-TAo_-aTsatmb14oo_Z5a-joH8nu2wb5v4HZVmEfupd-cRStbBb9o/s320/badguy_snidelywhiplash.jpg" width="234" /></a>The reason I am thinking about this is that tonight I am working up to the first scene where my own particular bad guy makes his entrance stage right. <br />
<br />
He is going to do, is doing, terrible things off stage but when he appears, my characters have no prior knowledge of him and so he must appear if not innocent, certainly ambiguous at first. But oh, we the reader will suss his him out from the start, we'll catch the scent of sulphur and the darkness which hangs around him - but should we? Is that the correct way to do it - should he be totally bland and inoffensive from the start? <br />
<br />
He could.....but he's not going to be. Because although he's the bad guy, he's not the only bad guy. There are two others, one a dashing but troubled artist who really is going to do a number on my main character, and the other?<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Why, he's so evil we'll hardly notice him at all. Until it's too late. And he's an example of the real and most pervasive form of evil - that of the banal.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPEBRAG8ACrVaItcUa991k1mw0nESRzZALJ9QZG65CK-yJ8JHWZKtOV9W0FusH4ATM7YX3p0W99EueMYAO9e6QdbBBJ2gYkDK3qg9u6C08aWlFdKDuokyPEe6VwaQ4ju5c44iT78YfuZs/s1600/i_am_the_bad_guy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPEBRAG8ACrVaItcUa991k1mw0nESRzZALJ9QZG65CK-yJ8JHWZKtOV9W0FusH4ATM7YX3p0W99EueMYAO9e6QdbBBJ2gYkDK3qg9u6C08aWlFdKDuokyPEe6VwaQ4ju5c44iT78YfuZs/s320/i_am_the_bad_guy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
That's what makes him a really bad guy. </div>
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I'd love to hear about your favourite bad guys, your own or ones you love from fiction.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-58650396012608033252013-09-30T16:04:00.000-07:002013-09-30T16:04:09.044-07:00Foundation lessonsI am writing. I am currently working on the WIP, which is set in Weimar Germany and which has been rather sticky from time to time. Of course, life throws tar patches in your way when you can't help but drop the word count, but mostly I do solemnly subscribe to the belief that the only way to write a book is to, well, write the book - that finessing and all the rest comes after, and may take longer, but always <i>after</i> there is a draft to finesse. It may be the first of fifty, but there still must be a first.<br />
<br />
Only, but rules are made to be broken.<br />
<br />
I was heading down the word count freeway towards the half way point - around fifty five thousand words - when I suddenly hit a tar pit not of the real world but in the world of the book.<br />
<br />
A far more serious road block to creativity.<br />
<br />
The basic issue is that when I reached a crucial scene that needs my main character's mother to allow her to take a rather unconventional job, it suddenly didn't seem possible that her mother would ever give her permission. I was either going to have a huge, protected scene where my MC leaves home after an uncharacteristic show of temper which I didn't really want, or......<br />
<br />
Or I was going to have to look again at the first part of the book.<br />
<br />
I needed to push the motivations and circumstances backwards, so that her mother's crisis point comes at the moment the daughter is offered the job, not before as I had it at first. That way, the mother is too distracted and brow beaten to notice the lie she's being spun, and then the deceit becomes one they all 'need' to believe, and the rest of the story unfolds.<br />
<br />
I needed to strengthen my foundations before proceeding.<br />
<br />
This does mean going back to the plan, it means re-working and moving scenes, it means working over existing ground before heading onto pastures new - and breaking the rule. Just a little.<br />
<br />
Because something fundamental like that must be dealt with before you go back to writing, every day, even if it's only 500 words, or 250, or a line, or notes in your plot line - but something, every day.<br />
<br />
Today, 1600 words, since you ask.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-61642274515980057262013-08-20T04:25:00.001-07:002013-08-20T05:02:24.479-07:00making at home - how's it going thus far?Ok well, I have had some blood good results....and some less good results.<br />
<br />
The things that really REALLY work for me and which I would not only say are as good as chemical alternatives but are actually better (seriously better) are as follows:<br />
<br />
Oil cleansing - can't recommend this enough. It removes make-up, dirt and grime without drying and it's simplicity it's self. Simply run the hottest tap water into a basin (do I need to say put the plug in??) and soak your facecloth in it. Meanwhile, dip your fingers into some olive oil (organic please, the price difference is negligible as lasts for ages) or coconut or almond oil - and then massage your skin, even over your eye lids, anywhere you have make-up and general dirt build up. Leave for sixty seconds, then ring out your hot wash cloth, hold it close to your face for another 30 seconds then use it to gently massage away the oil, taking all the dirt with you. It also leave your skin feeling soft, and at a pinch you won't need anything else.<br />
<br />
Honey cleansing - I love also, and tend to use when away as I can take my bottle of squeezy honey <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2-DCaHQy5OV6OtUK0SQcu6s0IrJMbIcun1Zounivx339vaU0dl7LQL7bQfVqtfHoUv7RnWUN0xrrL99jYU4thYh2SQ37fuDQT-mZAwq_mVEKy3tROMgtRAY8Yd98e_elKpZSc6nzHxU/s1600/IMG_0056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2-DCaHQy5OV6OtUK0SQcu6s0IrJMbIcun1Zounivx339vaU0dl7LQL7bQfVqtfHoUv7RnWUN0xrrL99jYU4thYh2SQ37fuDQT-mZAwq_mVEKy3tROMgtRAY8Yd98e_elKpZSc6nzHxU/s320/IMG_0056.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
(you need runny honey) in my bag with less fear of leaking. Basically exactly the same as oil cleansing, massage the honey into your face and then wipe clean with a warm, wet wash cloth. If you are prone to oily skin and break-outs you'll probably feel more comfortable with this method, or I can recommend using oil in the morning and honey at night. Either way, they work wonders - <br />
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Here's me after cleansing, no make-up and all scrubbed bare.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHhtUQnR1n22DiD2ZnqWVr-kuc15igluSFkQcpkySac5M1xxcKvtbCPRrbPDPULlCvrBnD-ccIMAwpzT3yhtSW34vFfoPeoqxaDC16UL_AqLSgysZfWNkFc0hIZs-aEwtVRITDnBlMn0k/s1600/IMG_0399.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHhtUQnR1n22DiD2ZnqWVr-kuc15igluSFkQcpkySac5M1xxcKvtbCPRrbPDPULlCvrBnD-ccIMAwpzT3yhtSW34vFfoPeoqxaDC16UL_AqLSgysZfWNkFc0hIZs-aEwtVRITDnBlMn0k/s320/IMG_0399.jpg" width="240" /></a>My next favourite thing is my salt spray toner. It's just like that crisp sea breeze that wakes you up like an enjoyable slap in the face - if you can have such a thing!<br />
Just take<br />
1 cup of distilled water or pre-boiled strong green team which I prefer.<br />
1 tablespoon sea salt<br />
pinch of epsom salt<br />
Essential oils for scent – I use lime, but mint would be good also.<br />
Add salt and epsom salt to warm tea and stir until salt is completely dissolved.<br />
Add essential oils if using and store in a glass jar or spray bottle, you can swab it on or spray, but I like the spray for added zing!<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5HqXkcv78Nnf7kU58bgsa1uGQvRmwTqZIFEpdQwqMeyznrXiUGxV675K9DS2GlMDNeqYu9bP1vU46hmq8JOxdjYUnmZPqSyJNVeaWSTHS17qt9VwFiYyvcGQG1C40XkMiJ4hxbhlLBhg/s1600/IMG_0374.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5HqXkcv78Nnf7kU58bgsa1uGQvRmwTqZIFEpdQwqMeyznrXiUGxV675K9DS2GlMDNeqYu9bP1vU46hmq8JOxdjYUnmZPqSyJNVeaWSTHS17qt9VwFiYyvcGQG1C40XkMiJ4hxbhlLBhg/s320/IMG_0374.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
Then I apply my home made moisturizer to face, neck, shins and indeed anywhere want to moisturize. This is my latest batch - DIY Face and Body Cream Recipe<br />
Ingredients:225 grams in total of Orange flower water + aloe vera gel<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDdy0CxBB8c40DxBVVE_vIyWFDvS-EVvLQNU07mzlAzUrnR38anjV-i50twT-Fxr9qVHtKxmYwhfao5CjiALT5USNqM7m3p9HekXCVb_KBDsW_JhGy025NkfAMMjsBy4J3mEkrFh56K8/s1600/IMG_0375.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDdy0CxBB8c40DxBVVE_vIyWFDvS-EVvLQNU07mzlAzUrnR38anjV-i50twT-Fxr9qVHtKxmYwhfao5CjiALT5USNqM7m3p9HekXCVb_KBDsW_JhGy025NkfAMMjsBy4J3mEkrFh56K8/s320/IMG_0375.jpg" width="240" /></a> 225 grams in total of oil, I use a mixture of coconut oil, almond oil , 35 grams of white bees wax, 75 grams coco butter and rose-hip oil(15 ml) and squeeze in some vitamin e capsules, about 6 in total.<br />
Essential Oils – 5 drops your choice - lime again!<br />
<br />
In a double boiler (or a bowl over a pan of simmering water) melt all the oils (solid & liquid) together.<br />
Pour the oils into a blender or, into another container if using a stick-blender. Let the oils cool to room temperature.<br />
Start the blender – then slowly pour the waters in – at some point the blender noise will change and you’ll notice that you have cream! Keep blending to incorporate all of the water. You can also blend the cream by hand, but be ready for a workout!<br />
Add the drops of essential oil, and stir to disperse throughout the cream.<br />
Scoop the cream into sterilized jars. Label the jars and don’t forget to include the date, but this lasts me about six weeks so I've always used it before it goes off.<br />
<br />
Then there's this : Beach hair spray -it's a volumising spray to replace hair spray.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuXVah0gdlJNRQ_iZQdAlN-PweUX4F7o4thulyfAQyXuUAhNpOdWFFJTEQkjZJMrSXEN6KnEc0MeGghh8gsSIJiC8LW24EqFkTEsVZnH4bY5Td6djddz_UzQ_9q8Jr4buVwlxMndRnG1g/s1600/IMG_0377.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuXVah0gdlJNRQ_iZQdAlN-PweUX4F7o4thulyfAQyXuUAhNpOdWFFJTEQkjZJMrSXEN6KnEc0MeGghh8gsSIJiC8LW24EqFkTEsVZnH4bY5Td6djddz_UzQ_9q8Jr4buVwlxMndRnG1g/s320/IMG_0377.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
1 cup of hot (not boiling) strong Chamomile Tea as the base if you want to lighten hair or black tea as the base if you want to darken hair, but you will need to keep in the fridge.<br />
2 tablespoons epsom salts (or more for extra texture)<br />
1/2 tsp Sea Salt (optional but adds stiffness)<br />
1 teaspoon aloe vera gel<br />
a few drops of almond oil or jajoba oil<br />
optional: a few drops of essential oils or a spritz of your favorite perfume for scent- Lavender and citrus are great options<br />
optional: 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 1 teaspoon vodka or alcohol- if you want to lighten hair (the lemon juice lightens and the alcohol preserves)<br />
How to Make:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBJaBir3jB-ugUsw9BKgJZtRLvkVazFRhwiDoHsPhYPXsn7yhY-bRCw8yRtlLAyWNTRPHeYFjlVgWoOCKcpAfXQ2T9O12dFbhgoZrrnil3V_YRD5dbakbif8uU3VnSDGbLw1iKFQqgRA/s1600/IMG_0394.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBJaBir3jB-ugUsw9BKgJZtRLvkVazFRhwiDoHsPhYPXsn7yhY-bRCw8yRtlLAyWNTRPHeYFjlVgWoOCKcpAfXQ2T9O12dFbhgoZrrnil3V_YRD5dbakbif8uU3VnSDGbLw1iKFQqgRA/s320/IMG_0394.jpg" width="240" /></a> Put the tea in a bowl and add the epsom salts, sea salt, aloe vera, oil, scent and lemon juice/vodka (if using). Blend until epsom salts and sea salt are dissolved. Store in the fridge and decant into spray bottles to use. Will last 3-4 months or longer.<br />
<br />
Spray on damp hair and scrunch with a towel to dry for loose beach waves.<br />
Spray on dry hair and on roots for volume and texture without the waves.<br />
If your hair is straight and thin and you want all-day waves: Wash hair the night before and spray hair with Beach Spray while still damp. Then, either french braid into pigtails or wrap in a tight scrunched bun on top of your head. and leave overnight. By morning, your hair should be dry. Spritz with a little more spray and take out the braid/bun. Voila- all day beach waves. Spray with additional spray and scrunch if you want more stiffness.<br />
<br />
The picture is of me going to a wedding having set my dead straight hair with the spray as above.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ5Us_JJ1TfHfMounqP-JI26QbdnLpSCZf5LVR3npMfOkoopEJe-k44qeFk0uF2UTRSmUPCMkSshS6kFNxC8-AtQGHk2yngaP7PcOoOMnxLacNOY1Uo6Bqvg_VRw_nj0o9wZrmflOKm4Y/s1600/IMG_0231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ5Us_JJ1TfHfMounqP-JI26QbdnLpSCZf5LVR3npMfOkoopEJe-k44qeFk0uF2UTRSmUPCMkSshS6kFNxC8-AtQGHk2yngaP7PcOoOMnxLacNOY1Uo6Bqvg_VRw_nj0o9wZrmflOKm4Y/s320/IMG_0231.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
Lip balms work great too - just equal amounts of bees wax, coconut and cocoa butter and your favourite essential oil - erm, I use lime again because, as you might guess, lime is my favourite! Another winner though is to add cocoa powder to the lip balm and the orange essential oil, for a chocolate orange flavour! <br />
It's also a great way to use up those dear little tins you get left with after you've eaten the mints or whatever is inside them.<br />
<br />
My hard core foot balm works really well too; that's just equal amounts of bees wax, olive oil and coconut oil with rosemary essential oil - my feet have remained soft and crack free all summer, just massage it in before you go to bed each night. Do be careful though, it takes a while to sink in hence doing it over night, don't try and walk on polished floors having just applied it!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Now the DIDN'T work ones:<br />
<br />
Shampoo.<br />
<br />
I've tried three methods now and they all leave my hair feeling like rubbish. Combine this with trying to use oil as a conditioner by leaving it on over night and the results have not been good. The shampoo refused to wash out the oil, and when I gave up got out of the shower, I still couldn't get a comb through it. Mind you, spray it with the beach spray and it finally did comb through, but it looked greasy when dry.<br />
I have tried organic shampoo and that's ok, so for now I may have to admit defeat and buy organic hair products. I would say that rinsing your hair in ice cold water does give it a great shine, the only problem is getting modern showers to run cold enough, and the slight fear factor of putting your head in ice cold water - but I've taken to having a basin with iced water in it waiting and doing a final dunk.<br />
<br />
Make-up - let's get this clear. No, cocoa powder does not work as a bronzer, eye shadow or eye liner. Neither does beetroot powder work as a blusher, and neither will tint your lip balm in any meaningful way, it certainly won't turn it into a lipstick.<br />
Corn flour though makes a great face powder, and as I'm about corn flour colour, I use this over my face cream as a base and don't need foundation at all, but if you're of any deeper colour than I am, this may not work for you.<br />
<br />
Body wash - so far, not too good either. I don't use it much, but I have found very few home made alternatives. The nearest I've got is this:<br />
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<br />
1/4 cup oil (coconut, almond, olive etc)<br />
2-3 tsp shea butter<br />
1/4 honey<br />
2 tsp baking soda<br />
1/4 liquid castille soap<br />
vitamin e caps<br />
essential oils.<br />
<br />
You melt the oils with the shea butter in a double boiler, then whisk in the other ingredients off the heat for several minuets. Let it cool, whisking again if it separates, and store in a pump dispenser.<br />
<br />
This was originally a shaving soap, and it does work well as that, only it's a bit oily as a body wash. I think the best option will be a soap, so that's my next adventure...... <br />
<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-75576017032597357152013-08-14T13:21:00.001-07:002013-08-14T13:21:35.865-07:00Retreat but never surrender!<br /><br />A little while ago I won a blog writing competition organized by the wonderful <a href="http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/2013/05/50th-postiversary-competition.html" target="_blank">Emma Darwin</a>. No, that’s not true: I came third in a blog writing competition organized by the wonderful <a href="http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/2013/05/50th-postiversary-competition.html" target="_blank">Emma Darwin</a>, but the prize I was given was so good it feels as if I did win after all.<br /> Said prize was a two night stay at ‘<a href="http://www.retreatsforyou.co.uk/" target="_blank">Retreats for You</a>’ in Devon, and not only is it in Devon, but it’s in Sheepwash, Devon, which even if you haven’t heard of it is a name to conjure with, and also happens to be where I spent a holiday around 1985 when I was a teenager. It rained.<br /> It rained again this time also, but that’s exactly the weather one wants for a writing retreat; more of that later.<br /> The only issue my prize raised was that, as my beloved and I live in a state of penury due to our reckless lifestyle choice of having a child (which, as we know, is simply self indulgent of us) and my inability to get a job, we were not going to have any holiday this year, and here I am, winning one just for me. I felt a bit mean, seeing as I spend my days lying around eating chocolates and painting my nails while my poor husband toils in a salt mine, so I emailed Deb of ‘<a href="http://www.retreatsforyou.co.uk/" target="_blank">Retreats for you</a>’ to ask if I could bring him along. I felt he needed a break, salt mines being what they are, and there wasn’t the merest thought in my head this would also mean I’d have a lift and help with my bags, I promise.<br /> It turns out that Deb’s husband, Bob, is a carpenter, and he runs workshops along side her writing workshops, and so Andy decided he’d have a go making something, and that the ideal thing would be a bookcase for daughter’s bedroom. We decided on a rocket shaped one, as we were about to decorate her room with an outer space theme, in order to stress the awe-inspiring aspects of science, for various long and complicated reasons - not least that we’re making a conscious effort to avoid pink princess syndrome.Now, back to the rain. <br />
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<br /> I wanted it to rain, you see, because sunny, beautiful weather always gives one the sneaking sensation one ought to be ‘doing something’ rather than sitting inside writing. Indeed, most of life seems gives one the feeling that spending time writing should play second fiddle to almost everything. ‘Writing’ time becomes answering emails, looking at things on ebay, trawling facebook or cleaning and then, lo and behold, writing time is over.<br /> And this is, in essence, the wonder of ‘Retreats for You’ and why if one is trying to write in a serious way, I’d urge, nay, implore you to consider a weekend or more at such a place for the good of your soul. No, bugger your soul - for the good of your craft, because it’s an amazing privilege to actually put your writing first for once, but one it and you deserve.<br />
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<br /> Because, when you get blown through the door by a bright Devonshire wind into the welcoming, warming cottage, it suddenly feels like the place you've been looking for forever. Once you’re greeted by Deb, who’s like the cool Auntie you really wish you’d had, you realize this is just what you need. What she gives you, what the place gives you, is a sense that what you’re doing matters. It gives you time, and the rain lashing on the windows means a warm fire, a glass of wine or cup of tea, and space just to let the words flow.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkTDoQRDyZ_JQGqtKnHXDyEUKvC3Ta5zT1d3ydIjGJFW1fApzdR320rQBc2Urq_mZlvCpIq-iE_VS6D0aA6VdO7pfgp2LO2KmiHylEVzQatG7FAOrLiLjjFu8md6mdHZxlLqJjm5D9ev0/s1600/IMG_0346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkTDoQRDyZ_JQGqtKnHXDyEUKvC3Ta5zT1d3ydIjGJFW1fApzdR320rQBc2Urq_mZlvCpIq-iE_VS6D0aA6VdO7pfgp2LO2KmiHylEVzQatG7FAOrLiLjjFu8md6mdHZxlLqJjm5D9ev0/s320/IMG_0346.jpg" width="240" /></a><br /> It was wonderful. It was feeling the weight of the mundane world being lifted as, fueled by flapjacks, all you had to do was write. So I did. I sat in their comfortable, clean, simple house and wrote and wrote as the rain fell and the fire crackled and the world was good. Food was made, food was eaten and enjoyed, and there were other writers to talk to and stories to tell. Both Bob and Deb are gifted with the ability to make you feel as if you’d been meaning to pop by for ages, and wonder why on earth it’s been so long, within five minuets of meeting them. Andy even mistook Bob for one of his hardened drinking buddies after a few good glasses of red, and the two of them went to the local after dinner, even breaking out the whiskey at midnight. I’ve no idea if making a bookcase is a good hangover cure, but the hangover certainly didn’t delay launch time in any significant way.<br /> I’d booked a review session on the first chapter of the WIP for Sunday afternoon, and Deb and I sat in her ‘room of one’s own’ and talked over what I’d sent her, and it was easy, and helpful and insightfull and the most indulgent treat I could imagine - having someone let make me take myself and my work seriously for an afternoon.<br /> That evening new guests arrived and we got down to another serious session of fire-side story swapping after another great dinner. I went over some of my past life adventures as a dressmaker and jewellery designer, including one of my favourite tales about the little goth girl who’d saved and waited a year after she’d first seen one of my necklaces, to return to the same exhibition hoping I’d be there so she might buy it.<br /> ‘Did it make you feel rescuing a kitten good?’ Andy asked, and later that night we got the chance to compare. <br /> I should point out that lost kittens aren’t a standard part of Deb and Bob’s retreat, and they were not on our minds as we went to bed in our lovely little bedroom. However, at four a.m one made it’s self known when we both woke to the sound of its pitiful yet piercing mewing. Andy tracked it down to a jeep down the road - yes, it’s quiet enough there for you to hear a mewing kitten two hundred feet away and yes, it’s the kind of place where people still keep their doors unlocked. We roused the owner only for the kitten to fall silent, but luckily he believed us enough to open the car’s bonnet and lo and behold, up popped the tiniest, blackest, big eyed kitten in the world.<br />
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Eventually named Cedric, the kitten took an instant shine to Andy’s beard and we kept it amused for the next three hours until Deb got up and helped us find a box and, after consultation with the neighbors, a new home. Yes, we wanted to take him home but we do have another cat as well as a snake and two guinea pigs, and that’s enough for any two bedroom flat with no garden. He did rather put a hole in my writing plans, but never mind - the sense of space and priority the weekend gave my work has come home with me. That and a huge rocket shaped bookcase and the sincere hope, no, promise I’ll be back. As they say in the movies.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-70975479528481775122013-07-30T10:59:00.001-07:002013-07-30T10:59:10.569-07:00Salve-ation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKsGFilj3JtFLB1DZ3NgvlB_3GuFzkz4I-FqtwaUzEr147OpRBHCYhEylDv8YkXn9mF13WthT3MxIQl82FPlbjnwA1doKzym-M-M7gVgozc5aKpekXPQwjgtZKwvtXFLzgxZoQt5WnVm8/s1600/IMG_0206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKsGFilj3JtFLB1DZ3NgvlB_3GuFzkz4I-FqtwaUzEr147OpRBHCYhEylDv8YkXn9mF13WthT3MxIQl82FPlbjnwA1doKzym-M-M7gVgozc5aKpekXPQwjgtZKwvtXFLzgxZoQt5WnVm8/s320/IMG_0206.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
I have hard skin on my feet. Well, thanks for sharing - but I do, and so do many others and it's summer, therefore sandal time. I find summer never sits easily with me, too hot, too many itchy things and not enough money to enjoy the extra day light - and so summer shoes are a bit of an issue with me. Though hard underneath, my feet seem to have the tensile strength of wet tissue paper, and so will break out in blisters and rawness almost the moment the temperature gets above 25 degrees.<br />
However, there's nothing much I can do about that, but I can make an organic salve to help soften my poor old plates when they've had a rough day.<br />
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What I like about this is that a) it's one of those satisfying 3 easy part recipes, you just need the same quantity of three things to get the basic mix, which you're at liberty to add to when you get a bit more bold and b) it's kind of one of those 'all purpose' numbers - so it will work as a great hand cream if you're a gardener and you need a bit of t.l.c after a hard day's weeding, and it's great for your cuticles if you suffer from dry hands.<br />
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You either use your swanky double boiler, or you stand a glass jar in a small pan of simmering water - and into this you put one part coconut oil, one part cocoa butter (or mango butter or shea butter) and one part bees wax. You can even go crazy use all three butters, 1/3 of a part each, but hey, that's up to you.<br />
What you can also do, while the three parts are slowly melting together on your stove, is consider essential oils. <br />
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If you have a selection of essential oils, or money, I'd suggest rosemary and lavender, which both have healing proprieties good for gardeners hands. If like me you've been making a coffee cake for your husband's birthday and you have a bottle labeled 'coffee essence' in front of you, you'll do what I did and pour in a healthy slug when your oils have melted, been mixed and taken off the heat.<br />
This actually turned out rather well - as the main parts of this are coconut and cocoa butter the scent of coffee is nothing but delicious when mixed in with these. It's even more delicious when you throw caution to the wind and chuck in a teaspoon of cocoa powder, when it just smells like pudding. <br />But the proof of this pudding is in the rubbing on the feet, and this is doing the trick on my summer heels. I'd suggest applying at bedtime and then popping on some socks so that they have a chance to soften over night.<br />
The other option is to spread the salve over your shins too, as the coffee gives your skin a lightly tanned effect into the bargain. Delicious! Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-78728967312484473082013-07-29T02:47:00.001-07:002013-07-29T02:47:13.302-07:00This has me thinking this morning - It's a post I saw on Facebook, from the lovely people at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BubbleCow?hc_location=stream" target="_blank">Bubble Cow</a> -<br />
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Which has really got me thinking, though I can't pretend in any way it's my idea. I have however gone through the part of the WIP I'm working on and am pleased to say that there's almost nothing which wouldn't pass this scrutiny - not that there weren't a few which need pondering. I love what they're saying with this - what do you think? (only we're not meant to be using 'think'!)<br />
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- read this, then there's an example of how I changed my work accordingly below -<br />
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<i>From this point forward—at least for the next half year—you may not use “thought” verbs. These include: Thinks, Knows, Understands, Realizes, Believes, Wants, Remembers, Imagines, Desires, and a hundred others you love to use.<br /><br />The list should also include: Loves and Hates.<br /><br />And it should include: Is and Has, but we’ll get to those later.<br /><br />Until some time around Christmas, you can’t write: Kenny wondered if Monica didn’t like him going out at night…”<br /><br />Instead, you’ll have to Un-pack that to something like: “The mornings after Kenny had stayed out, beyond the last bus, until he’d had to bum a ride or pay for a cab and got home to find Monica faking sleep, faking because she never slept that quiet, those mornings, she’d only put her own cup of coffee in the microwave. Never his.”<br /><br />Instead of characters knowing anything, you must now present the details that allow the reader to know them. Instead of a character wanting something, you must now describe the thing so that the reader wants it.<br /><br />Instead of saying: “Adam knew Gwen liked him.” You’ll have to say: “Between classes, Gwen had always leaned on his locker when he’d go to open it. She’d roll her eyes and shove off with one foot, leaving a black-heel mark on the painted metal, but she also left the smell of her perfume. The combination lock would still be warm from her butt. And the next break, Gwen would be leaned there, again.”<br /><br />In short, no more short-cuts. Only specific sensory detail: action, smell, taste, sound, and feeling.<br /><br />Typically, writers use these “thought” verbs at the beginning of a paragraph (In this form, you can call them “Thesis Statements” and I’ll rail against those, later). In a way, they state the intention of the paragraph. And what follows, illustrates them.<br /><br />For example:<br /><br />“Brenda knew she’d never make the deadline. Traffic was backed up from the bridge, past the first eight or nine exits. Her cell phone battery was dead. At home, the dogs would need to go out, or there would be a mess to clean up. Plus, she’d promised to water the plants for her neighbor…”<br /><br />Do you see how the opening “thesis statement” steals the thunder of what follows? Don’t do it.<br />If nothing else, cut the opening sentence and place it after all the others. Better yet, transplant it and change it to: Brenda would never make the deadline.<br /><br />Thinking is abstract. Knowing and believing are intangible. Your story will always be stronger if you just show the physical actions and details of your characters and allow your reader to do the thinking and knowing. And loving and hating.<br /><br />Don’t tell your reader: “Lisa hated Tom.”<br /><br />Instead, make your case like a lawyer in court, detail by detail.<br /><br />Present each piece of evidence. For example:<br /><br />“During roll call, in the breath after the teacher said Tom’s name, in that moment before he could answer, right then, Lisa would whisper-shout ‘Butt Wipe,’ just as Tom was saying, ‘Here’.”<br /><br />One of the most-common mistakes that beginning writers make is leaving their characters alone. Writing, you may be alone. Reading, your audience may be alone. But your character should spend very, very little time alone. Because a solitary character starts thinking or worrying or wondering.<br /><br />For example: Waiting for the bus, Mark started to worry about how long the trip would take…”<br /><br />A better break-down might be: “The schedule said the bus would come by at noon, but Mark’s watch said it was already 11:57. You could see all the way down the road, as far as the Mall, and not see a bus. No doubt, the driver was parked at the turn-around, the far end of the line, taking a nap. The driver was kicked back, asleep, and Mark was going to be late. Or worse, the driver was drinking, and he’d pull up drunk and charge Mark seventy-five cents for death in a fiery traffic accident…”<br /><br />A character alone must lapse into fantasy or memory, but even then you can’t use “thought” verbs or any of their abstract relatives.<br /><br />Oh, and you can just forget about using the verbs Forget and Remember.<br /><br />No more transitions such as: “Wanda remembered how Nelson used to brush her hair.”<br /><br />Instead: “Back in their sophomore year, Nelson used to brush her hair with smooth, long strokes of his hand.”<br /><br />Again, Un-pack. Don’t take short-cuts.<br /><br />Better yet, get your character with another character, fast. Get them together and get the action started. Let their actions and words show their thoughts. You—stay out of their heads.<br /><br />And while you’re avoiding “thought” verbs, be very wary about using the bland verbs “is” and “have.”<br /><br />For example:<br /><br />“Ann’s eyes are blue.”<br /><br />“Ann has blue eyes.”<br /><br />Versus:<br /><br />“Ann coughed and waved one hand past her face, clearing the cigarette smoke from her eyes, blue eyes, before she smiled…”<br /><br />Instead of bland “is” and “has” statements, try burying your details of what a character has or is, in actions or gestures. At its most basic, this is showing your story instead of telling it.<br />And forever after, once you’ve learned to Un-pack your characters, you’ll hate the lazy writer who settles for: “Jim sat beside the telephone, wondering why Amanda didn’t call.”<br /><br />Please. For now, hate me all you want, but don’t use thought verbs. After Christmas, go crazy, but I’d bet money you won’t.</i><br />
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So -<br />
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"Frau Schmidt touches her reading glasses but decides against wearing them. She glances at the obituary column; she always, every day since Gregory died as if scanning a passenger list for fellow travelers. She only realizes that she's stopped reading when she finds she's thinking about her mother's chaffing dish and the Dresden serving platters on the side board."<br />
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Has become:<br />
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Frau Schmidt touches her reading glasses but does not put them on. She glances at the obituary column; she always looks, every day since Gregory died as if scanning a passenger list for fellow travelers. After the first few names she’s gazing at the side board, at her mother’s chaffing dish and the Dresden serving platters. <i></i><br />
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<i>It's a subtle change but for me it works - it shows you that she's not really reading without telling you shes not really reading, and leads into a reminiscence without the need to tell the reader that's what she's doing. </i><br />
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<i><br /></i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-72469322200796349512013-07-25T03:28:00.001-07:002013-07-25T03:29:06.771-07:00Lip stuck<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been trying to make my own lipstick - but the result is not good. Rather, it is good if you like a very lightly tinted lip balm, in which case it's lovely - but despite what people say, adding beetroot powder and coco powder to the mix does not make a strong colour - add more and you just get a greasy mix with a powder in it which falls off your lips. Hmm.<br />
However, if you want an organic lip balm which keeps your lips wonderfully smooth, then this does work!<br />
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you just need 5 gram each of grated beeswax, coconut oil and either cocoa butter or shea butter - cocoa butter smells and tastes better though. And you can add a few drops of essential oil to flavour, something like peppermint if you like it, or lemon etc - I wouldn't go for lavender as you will taste it. You can also add a drop of olive oil which does make it more shiny.<br />
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Put everything but the essential oil in a small ceramic or glass pot in a sauce pan of simmering water and it will melt pretty fast. Make sure you have ready a small tin or pot to keep the balm in, I use my husband's moustache wax tins once he's done with them, well washed out. I also use the little tins you get mints or pastels in, which look pretty.<br />
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This is beetroot powder. This is what I added to get the colour - this did not work, so I'm going to just proceed as if we're making a clear balm and leave it at that. BTW no, cocoa powder is not a substitute for bronzer, eyeshadow or eye liner - trust me on that one!<br />
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Once they've melted, take them off the heat and add a few drops of your chosen essential oil - good old vanilla essence works a treat!<br />
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pour into the tin - mine had the beetroot powder added which makes it look pink, but it doesn't really transfer - yours will be a pale creamy colour. Leave it to set at room temperature for a half hour or so and you're done.<br />
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Very moisturized and they do have a nice sheen, but definitely not a substitute for lipstick. I would say that that feeling lasts all day, and it's so easy to make you could easily do different flavours as gifts and people would be very happy to get them.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-41943065816184021672013-07-22T13:09:00.000-07:002013-07-22T13:09:46.908-07:00Shampoo or real poo ?Right now, it's hot. I mean really hot. I mean everything's sliding off my face and the butter is liquid and even the cat looks hot-hot. Is it a sin to wish for Autumn? I've never been a summer person since I was a child, oh dear - how I long for misty, moisty mornings and the crunch of leaves under foot and skies that go all the way to the moon and back - ahh well!<br />
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In the spirit of the heat, I'm trying two things today - home made deodorant and home made honey shampoo. Both may provoke an 'ugh' reaction, but both commercial versions have a lot of gunk in them, not to mention aluminum particles in the case of deodorant which have been linked to breast cancer.<br />
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Not so yuck perhaps?<br />
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Well, I thought I'd give it a go. First of all, this is not an antiperspirant. If you sweat a lot, then there are other things to try such as diet and clothing which might help first - I find that I'm not a heavy sweater so that's why I'm prepared to give this a go. On the hottest day of the year. Oh well!<br />
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To make it is easy-peasy I have to say. It uses baking soda in order to get rid of B.O, and then organic oils as the carrier.<br />
It's a blend of 3 table spoons of coconut oil and 2 table spoons of cocoa butter or shea butter, with either 3 table spoons of baking soda and 2 of arrowroot powder, or just 5 of baking soda, which is what I used. Of course you can add scent by using essential oils, which yet I don't have so I went for vanilla essence which goes really well with the coconut and chocolate scents of the rest of it.<br />
You simply add the oil and butters to a jar, stand it in a saucepan of water and simmer until they've melted, then stir in the baking soda and the scent. Job done.<br />
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Once it's cooled, you then have to decide how to apply, and that's easy - get your wicked commercial deodorant, prize out the ball, wash everything, fill with your own mix and push the ball back in. Ta da!<br />
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Does it work?<br />
<br />
Well, it was the hottest day of the year and yes, I did sweat. But it
didn't smell bad at all and I wasn't aware of the wetness. And I can say
that now I'm sitting here post shower without having applied any
deodorant, I can smell myself more now than earlier - which is probably
too much information!<br />
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And now onto the 'shampoo.'<br />
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Having read up on this and people talking about the 'no-poo' method using baking soda, I've decided that's not for me, so I'm going back to honey again.<br />
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I steeped rosemary and lavender in boiling water for a few hours, then strained the water into a jar to keep in the fridge. A lot of people say you need to give your hair up to two months to adjust to not using commercial detergents on your hair, during which time you may need to wash every day - so I figured I'd need it.<br />
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The make the shampoo, I add three parts of the water ( 3 tablespoons) to a tablespoon of honey. I also rub some neat coconut oil into the ends of my hair a half hour before washing. Once the shampoo is mixed up well, you wet your hair well and then use it by rubbing it into your scalp and through your hair, it is more liquid than conventional shampoo and no lather. Then you rinse well with warm water them cold.<br />
I've then set my hair to dry in pin curls, as I figured if it's going to be grease for a few weeks then it will look better curled - and......well, got to wait until morning for it to dry, but is combed through fine and smells lovey.<br />
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I'm not looking forwards to the adjustment period, but we'll see how we go tomorrow.<br />
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And finally - rubbing a few drops of olive oil on your legs, armpits and elsewhere before shaving works wonders - easy shave and lovely smooth legs and....elsewhere!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-91501936925439628152013-07-18T03:56:00.001-07:002013-07-18T03:56:16.867-07:00Before your very eyes.....moisturize!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Let's be clear, you do not need to buy a new Bosch stick blender to make your own face cream. But yes, it helps. Especially when the lovely Neff people send you one to test out for free. I wonder if they had considered home made cosmetics when they developed the product, but never mind, if it can make face cream, then whipping up a cake to two will be a doddle.<br />
First impressions? Oooooh - shiny! Easy to put together, good weight, good selection of accessories. I've selected the whisk for this job.<br />
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Now to the face cream. First ingredient - bees wax. I get mine from a lovely bee lady (she keeps them, she doesn't dress as one) who sells at our local markets. She will be at <a href="http://www.hatfield-house.co.uk/events_detail.asp?event=45&id=11" target="_blank">Hatfield House </a>farmers market on Sunday July 21st and every third Sunday, so if you want any let me know. This 45 gram block cost 60p, and I need one for this batch of face cream. Next to it is a jug of camomile tea with sprigs of rosemary infusing in it, of which I will need one cup (250 ml) Next time I'm going to try green tea.<br />
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Next the oils. I'm using my favorite coconut oil by <a href="http://www.lucybee.co/" target="_blank">Lucy Bee</a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGVQE3RcaFMcWQ4_WE3uazigMfHYq2NEUVjeGZf0n412IeAgTNVlQrcYmNXmGEa_r7AvhlwQJEuiPSc8XZ89ITObCJQC1_UlzJlpB3ltI66ItoxT3SLkky0gtH5cHuspvVfHvUxLgIysA/s1600/IMG_0065.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGVQE3RcaFMcWQ4_WE3uazigMfHYq2NEUVjeGZf0n412IeAgTNVlQrcYmNXmGEa_r7AvhlwQJEuiPSc8XZ89ITObCJQC1_UlzJlpB3ltI66ItoxT3SLkky0gtH5cHuspvVfHvUxLgIysA/s320/IMG_0065.jpg" width="216" /></a>which you can get every where but I get from Sanisbury's which is easiest for me. I think it's expensive but it's the best price I've found and a little does go a long way. With it I'm using organic olive oil - I use 1/2 a cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup of coconut oil, but you could use almond, avocado or jojoba oil in the same quantity - eg 1/4 cup of three different ones or 3/4 just one of them.<br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2UQ2Bew-tryZyPiGSSpIgM03lCQT8j4funUcLdY7OAp4goGr4WhXuQdM_-y96l8knlRA9ZRamD_SfvgmcTvmz44cTQJ7AJryloh4OfYn1bCAzYByRknNPBlZMBPOdAt6_GnDjXNFCRR4/s320/IMG_0070.jpg" width="197" />I also added two flax seed oil capsules, pricking them with a pin and squeezing out the oil. This is a good source of vitamin E which helps preserve the face cream and is good for your skin - you can use any oil based vitamin E for this but flax seed is vegetarian. BTW, if you want to make a vegan version of this cream, use sheep wool lanolin in place of the beeswax. I squeeze these into the oil mixture as its cooling down. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3CR9ZFy-nd-vsPBC47I4GGvjABOfNoB1rxxRkjrf3Q_dZWR1TNufar7T4Ye46skXFIzgg72GWXlZ5MHg6gXQoGR4a8Sem-Kd8IEGXrPVoQXYg3xI_umbiPHcMT1c5poikIp4Th9FyC4w/s1600/IMG_0071.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3CR9ZFy-nd-vsPBC47I4GGvjABOfNoB1rxxRkjrf3Q_dZWR1TNufar7T4Ye46skXFIzgg72GWXlZ5MHg6gXQoGR4a8Sem-Kd8IEGXrPVoQXYg3xI_umbiPHcMT1c5poikIp4Th9FyC4w/s320/IMG_0071.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDFuzW9lCLX6Z_mATi8O1twZZF3gefqranKyBwnF1DuxIPrf5_Wnf7nkVqvpD6vMiW1w_lpj8RahISe9s4QGfPC8XcJDdz_FgnTd2oRrLeGNtdueB5_Bq_rsUSf8pvAtkGRZQ5wVcP1Zs/s1600/IMG_0072.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDFuzW9lCLX6Z_mATi8O1twZZF3gefqranKyBwnF1DuxIPrf5_Wnf7nkVqvpD6vMiW1w_lpj8RahISe9s4QGfPC8XcJDdz_FgnTd2oRrLeGNtdueB5_Bq_rsUSf8pvAtkGRZQ5wVcP1Zs/s320/IMG_0072.jpg" width="233" /></a> Now the stick blender, with the whisk attachment. Very easy to change over and not too heavy to hold which is good. MY ONLY COMPLAINT IS..... why can't they make big suckers on the foot of the goblet so as to hold it in place on your counter if you need to have both hands free? The next stage of my face cream is to stream the warm oil into the cold water while whisking to create an emulsification, which is what you'd do if you were making mayonnaise for example, but there was an issue keeping the goblet steady and holding the whisk while pouring. If you were using a larger food processor then it would be much easier, but what I LIKE about stick blenders is they are small, compact and light, ideal for a small kitchen. However, I did manage to stream the oil in though there was a little spillage, and the whisk emulsified the cream beautifully. In seconds it was a white, whipped up fluffy mix which I scraped into a big jar for me and a small jar for mum. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCDmDbVORr16XVWumaWWIxXFbeT4x4v4iwdET-woo9jzIb1L72QduwqWKtk5ZYEISaKvfzYG_F5gif5n6PCi7soeM0SbJbn8dlg3WAbVbGQ4_BTtWLGh_h86maGtPt-yRrLbzULpG1rok/s1600/IMG_0074.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCDmDbVORr16XVWumaWWIxXFbeT4x4v4iwdET-woo9jzIb1L72QduwqWKtk5ZYEISaKvfzYG_F5gif5n6PCi7soeM0SbJbn8dlg3WAbVbGQ4_BTtWLGh_h86maGtPt-yRrLbzULpG1rok/s400/IMG_0074.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfkpDUuVCAv1FkMRcC5KY8r-Z3fGIxJKv41WCugF_HlDQJFUHyyO0UajOZPdQyXZKPDzcVIl19VjS9q8jRIiAlCI7UWjWVMJfC-iJbXVL_Ka8NxQPELv3Paf0noK21cyT3R523LDDzBr4/s1600/IMG_0075.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfkpDUuVCAv1FkMRcC5KY8r-Z3fGIxJKv41WCugF_HlDQJFUHyyO0UajOZPdQyXZKPDzcVIl19VjS9q8jRIiAlCI7UWjWVMJfC-iJbXVL_Ka8NxQPELv3Paf0noK21cyT3R523LDDzBr4/s320/IMG_0075.jpg" width="285" /></a> Here it is after whisking - it smells mostly of coconut which I love and it really was hard not to taste it as it looked like whipped cream!<br />
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But the proof of the pudding, or the cream, is in the using and after I scraped the goblet clean I applied the residue to my skin - lovely! Sinks in and leaves the faintest sheen for about ten minuets, then it's gone and my skin feel soft as anything. I actually had a spill of the oil and beeswax mix on the counter, just a few drops, and so I rubbed this into my elbows. I'd say this stronger mix would be great for dry heels and also as a lip salve in the winter.<br />
The face cream goes into the fridge with the lids open to cool without trapping condensation, and in this heat I'm going to keep mine in the fridge, though in winter it would be fine at room temp.<br />
The Bosch stick blender was then washed up which even though its tricky cleaning off the oil, I gave it a whizz with the blender filled with water and bicarbonate of soda which got it clean - and this is where stick blenders win because there are less parts to wash than a big blender. <br />
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So, the cost. All together this cost £1.50 to make this batch, and I would say the two oils would easily make another four to five batches if they weren't also being used for other things. I would estimate I've made between four and six weeks worth, unless I go mad and slather myself in it, but I mean to make a more solid lotion bar next for my body and keep this for my face. I'm sold!<br />
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I should add that I have now begun my honey cleansing - I'll write a separate blog about that but so far - so amazing!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-30544416860194103052013-07-17T01:55:00.004-07:002013-07-17T01:55:51.181-07:00Doing it all myselfHello,<br />
This week and hopefully forever, I am trying to make my own cosmetics. This is for a two fold reason a) they are cheaper and b) after my father's death five years ago from cancer and my mother's recent operation for cancer, and both my Aunt and Uncle having cancer - yes, I'm kind of at a higher than average risk myself. For me this means I have two choices - ignore this fact and do everything I can to get cancer seeing as I probably will anyway or (and this is my preferred option) do everything I can to lower my risk because even if I get cancer, I'll hopefully be as fit as possible to deal with it.<br />
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So, this (and my quest to have a second successful pregnancy after loosing two in the last year) is behind my diet changes and more. I know I never had a bad diet, but there is always room for improvement, so I've switches where I can to organic meat and dairy, as many veggies as I can afford, and whole grain everything. I try and make all the food myself, so why not try and make cosmetics also? We put a lot of chemicals on our bodies that mimic estrogen which is not doing our fertility much good, and neither are the parabans which are used to preserve cosmetics but also have been shown to destroy anti-oxidants and promote free-radicals in the body, all of which may increase ones risk of developing cancer.<br />
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I'm also a big fan of making stuff and too poor to buy the organic alternatives, so hence I'm doing it myself.<br />
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Most of what you need you can buy through the super markets (or local farmers markets if you want extra brownie points) - so later this week I'll have a lot more to show you.<br />
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My first experiment is olive oil, organic of course, which this week I have been using to moisturize and cleanse.<br />
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This is me without make-up. To remove it, I massaged OO all over my face and eye lids, then pressed a warm face cloth over my face. After a minuet, I then massaged off the make-up with the facecloth - and look, all gone, It even got my water proof mascara off - which soon I shall be be replacing with a home made alternative. (Yes, really!)<br />
I then had an exfoliate with a handful of finely ground oats and water, and then a finger tip application of more OO as a night cream.<br />
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I also used OO to condition my hair - I worked it into the ends and then wrapped my head in a towel for 15 minuets, then washed it out. I have to use conventional shampoo at the moment, but I'll be working on a homemade one soon. My hair combed through fine when wet, and as you can see and despite being rather heavily bleached last week, rather a good shine. If you put OO and water into a little spray bottle and shake well, you can mist it over your hair as a shine spray, which I'll try later also.<br />
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The next quest is make-up. I don't have all the things I need yet, so I had an experiment with cocoa powder. Yes, really! I will be using beeswax and cocoa butter as a base, but today all I had was vaseline, which is not natural but I'm just experimenting - no parabans at least. I just mixed some with cocoa powder and used it to paint my eyebrows, that worked a treat. It was too pale for eyeliner, but it did make a good translucent eyeshadow, and I brushed a little mineral eyeshadow over it - not good enough yet as it has aluminum and titanium in it, but it's a start. I used conventional mascara and eyeliner - no foundation other than a morning massage of OO, but I'll be investigating powder foundation later.<br />
I also used the vasaline and cocoa powder on my lips - which tastes and smells amazing....<br />
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...but after eating obviously doesn't have the staying power of conventional lipstick. However, I'll be making my own soon, and I can easily re-apply - it does keep your lips moisterized nicely.<br />
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And what has this got to do with writing I hear you ask? If you're wondering why I've changed my hair colour, the main character in my WIP is blonde and living at a time when economic conditions means she has no money for cosmetics and has to do what she can. Call it 'getting under the skin of your character!'Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-684989048245394172013-04-29T06:06:00.003-07:002013-04-29T06:06:55.764-07:00Can you teach genius?I wandered in on the end of a radio four discussion on the niggly 'you and yours' program, which is known by many names in our house, namely 'you and bloody yours,' or 'tough tits, you bought it.'<br />
The moan today, which was definitely in the 'you're a big boy now so it's up to you' category, was the launch of a novel writing course/school run by/connected to Faber and Faber, the detail of which I am hazy about as I only came in on the end. The premise of the pedantic witterings of the program seemed to be that you can't teach people how to write a good novel, so offering courses one has to pay for is a waste of time/money and a false promise, as you can take the course and still be unable to write a novel.<br />
Leaving aside the issue that presumably we are all grown ups, and if we want to spend our money on a course it's up to us - after all, how many people take a water colour course just because they like it without any hope of winning the Turner prize - out came again the off repeated mantra that you can't teach writing, you can either do it or not.<br />
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Tosh.<br />
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As the poor man from Faber and Faber said, who must have felt rather grim sitting in the chair usually reserved for cowboy builders and fraudulent share dealers, why is it that we're quite happy to accept the teaching of music but not the teaching of writing? In my mind it's linked to the myth that writers don't plan, and some how the best writers just sit there and let the muse flow through them without knowing where the story will take them - which is rubbish.<br />
First of all, yes, you can learn how to improve your writing, and you should. If you think you don't need to learn technique, you are arrogant and you'll learn the hard way that these things won't hold back your creativity but give you the tools to properly express yourself. Master the basics, then you can let rip without the obvious tripping you up.<br />
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Second of all, no one writes anything worthwhile in a vacuum, and a creative writing course is a great way to meet people who will give you feedback on your work without an agenda. You'll also learn more from them than they know they are teaching you, if you've any sense.<br />
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And finally, no, you can't teach genius, but you sure as hell can teach how to write a better book, and not every book that sells is a work of genius. Some of them are just a damn good read, and there will always be people who want a damn good read, and to write a damn good read you need to be damn good.<br />
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Our culture seems to celebrate the over night success, as if that by it's self is a mark of quality. Let's not, let's celebrate the long hard slog of it, because actually, nothing in life worthwhile is easy and nothing in life achieved without hard work, and frankly, that's good.<br />
As for courses, look around, ask around and find one you like the sound of and put the work in. If you've not got the money, find some on-line groups and put the work in there, the key to it all is to work.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-3910318039667863692013-03-29T16:17:00.002-07:002013-03-29T16:17:24.013-07:00Research is not a four letter word.Apparently Ian Banks hates research. I quite like it, as it
happens. It's when you have that germ of an idea and the story is
all wonderfully fluid and full of potential, and almost as if you
are a fisherman tickling your trout, you can ease up to it and play
in the shallows without frightening it away, lulling your narrative
into a false sense of security.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5E0JvqTPHXsyeorr8EVchdQAs2mG8FRhND2zks8TNoh6XXKZteITAmQ4LYGpk-UlizREiytNyUAuyvBSIMGpmYbMu9417Md3WWc69gYRGNx-UbbG_lY5ukAKhYReHxYlmPJMlhC3mj20/s1600/poyraz.gen.tr*wp-content*uploads*trout-fish_1454_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5E0JvqTPHXsyeorr8EVchdQAs2mG8FRhND2zks8TNoh6XXKZteITAmQ4LYGpk-UlizREiytNyUAuyvBSIMGpmYbMu9417Md3WWc69gYRGNx-UbbG_lY5ukAKhYReHxYlmPJMlhC3mj20/s320/poyraz.gen.tr*wp-content*uploads*trout-fish_1454_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Without boundaries it could go anywhere, people you have yet to
meet but will one day know as well as your friends are still
nothing more than abstract swirls of metaphor and device.<br />
The odd thing is, or maybe it's not odd at all, but this thing is
sometimes scenes come through to me so sharp and clear that I can
see, taste and feel them before the research bit. These are both
appealing and dangerous - the more I see them, the stronger the
desire to find out more, but the danger is that I become too hung
up on retro fitting the research to the ideas at the risk of
creating a false picture.<br />
But let's not get too hung up on this yet, let's just collect the
scenes - the terrible date with the Dentist from Munich with
'eyes like grey marbles rolling round a cream-wear plate', and the
first meeting with Jenny ' so feline one had the impulse to scratch
her behind her ear, so beautifully deformed that even her missing
hand made one feel burdened to have been born with two' - and see
what back ground the research paints for those thoughts.<br />
And now a plea, if anyone had history book about with Weimar
republic, then I would be most grateful for the loan of them, and
will treat all with the utmost respect.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-86485957863146999272013-03-11T03:23:00.002-07:002013-03-11T03:23:24.829-07:00The joke, part two. <style><!--
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">In this article, and I still prefer the word article to the word
blog, I’m using the joke to expand on one of the most important tools available
to a writer when creating character, show, don’t tell. It’s an oft-quoted
phrase in creative writing, but it can be a slippery concept to nail down, so I
hope this article will help.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Here’s the joke we’re working on, incase you haven’t read the other
article.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-US">A man goes up to the doorman of a nightclub.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-US">‘You can’t come in,’ the doorman says, ‘you’re not wearing a tie.’
The man goes back to his car and searches around for something he can use. All
he finds is a pair of jump leads. In desperation he ties them around his
shirt’s collar in place of a tie. When he goes back to the nightclub, the
doorman eyes him suspiciously.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-US">‘Alright,’ he says, after a while. ‘You can go in – just don’t start
anything!’</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">A joke is the ultimate paired down narrative, but it’s amazing what
the reader’s imagination will do with very little. And that’s what you want to
happen, because the more your make their minds work, the more they’ve engaged
with your narrative. It seems counter intuitive, but often the less you
explain, the more the reader will know.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">In our joke, we have the simplest of openers, a man walks up to a
doorman; but this shows us a whole street scene, which in a novel we are at
liberty to paint, but is still here never the less in the joke. Yes, one wants
a novel to be deeper and more complex than a joke, but as an exercise, it
should be possible to cut every chapter down to a few, key sentences that are
doing the work most critical to your story. If you can’t reduce your chapter
down to this level, it might mean that your chapter lacks focus, that you’re
too much padding, or that you’re over complicating things, which can cause your
narrative to lose the plot, so to speak.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Most characters have a public persona and a private one, and the joy
of any narrative is how those two are revealed to us, and how they relate to
each other. Not many memorable characters are exactly how they appear to be;
the aloof woman is actually a passionate lover, the charming man is actually an
evil psychopath and the boring accounts clerk has the heart of the hero beating
under his polyester suit.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOH1ZVCFTmaLx8H28J7HYaWqhLdeIWPMKRRSPkYfNxoGcOZAhm8cs207VW0jYU9EKFC1g5Czy61SAZxZouKEgUhszgPsXPwjsSusTZBJZSSrIws7MhHGjHbQ5WufKbVZnPtM5k6wXNrk4/s1600/A67568.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOH1ZVCFTmaLx8H28J7HYaWqhLdeIWPMKRRSPkYfNxoGcOZAhm8cs207VW0jYU9EKFC1g5Czy61SAZxZouKEgUhszgPsXPwjsSusTZBJZSSrIws7MhHGjHbQ5WufKbVZnPtM5k6wXNrk4/s320/A67568.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">In the joke, we’ve got the man and the doorman. Doorman carries a
certain loading with it – it’s unlikely that he’s is five foot one and skinny,
so we see him as imposing, possibly aggressive, maybe even a bit thick and
possibly with a few convictions to boot. We might also see him as a ‘job’s
worth’, someone uncaring and officious. This is his public face, the first
impression we have of him, the fun comes when we play with the reader’s
expectations. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">The man, the hero at the start of the piece, doesn’t have a tie, but
he still wants to get into the club. This shows us that he’s out of his comfort
zone, he’s not a regular patron, but something is driving him to try and get in
there. He’s a man on a mission, and even if the mission is one we wouldn’t be
interested in, a mission makes him more interesting and engaging that a couch potato
who’s doing nothing. We feel he’s the sort of person not willing to give up in
the face of a seemingly implacable obstacle; he’s drawing on his inner reserves
to fight for what he wants. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">We’re not told the quest is important to gim, but shown it when he
returns to his car to search for something he can use as a tie. Had he been
simply trying his luck on a drunken night out and not really that bothered
about the club, he could have just wandered off again, but instead he tries to
think around the problem. He’s probably not an intellectual in the traditional
sense, because there’s something desperate in his search, something
directionless, but he is making the effort.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">He’s also a bit of a chancer – because who else would think that a
set of jump leads would pass as a tie? But the tension is mounting; time is
passing, so he hits on a solution however bizarre. If he were a logical person,
he might have gone up to a stranger and offered him money for his tie, or found
a 24 hour super market; if he were a violent person he might have punched the
doorman or robbed someone for a tie – but his choice is not to be a criminal,
or a quitter but to try his luck. This makes me at least see him as a loveable
looser, not a villain, maybe a bit of a rogue, perhaps even a romantic, hoping
for luck to smile on him for once? He’s a glass half full kind of a guy against
all the odds.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">By the way, you’re welcome to argue here that the jump leads are
merely there to set up the punch line, as if he’d found a string of sausages
the joke wouldn’t work, but the principal stands firm – he decides to give it a
go against all the odds. Besides, plot and character are inextricably linked in
any narrative – this is writing, and we read for more than just facts, but for
entertainment. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Now, back to the doorman. The joke has shown him as the implacable
face of authority, then he’s confronted again by the man with the jump leads
round his neck. If he were simply a one-dimensional thug, he could have told
him to shove off. He could have even taken offence and accused the man of
mocking him – it is quite an inflammatory thing to do in a way, lampooning the
whole tie rule – but no. He knows he’s had the ‘micky’ taken out of him, but he
appreciates the joke, and it allows him a killer punch line, so he’s not going
to follow orders when fate hands him a chance to be funny. He’s a bit of a
rebel on the side – by the end there’s certainly a warm heart beating under
that hard exterior, not to mention a love of word play.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Perhaps also at the end there’s a sense of sadness here – because if
the man goes into the club with a set of jump leads round his neck, no one else
will get the joke, or accept them as a tie. Perhaps he’ll end up looking like a
fool anyway, because he clearly doesn’t fit in, and his desperate antics will
come to nothing, when he discovers that getting through the door is the least
of his worries. How often have we been there, to struggle for something only to
be disappointed when we get it? The man is likable but flawed, and how real is
that?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Reading back over what I’ve written, it might be argued that none of
this is in the joke at all, I’m just using my imagination to draw these
conclusions – but that’s exactly what I’m trying to show you, this is what our
brains do. It’s the same mechanism that makes us see faces in floral wallpaper
and on buildings, and the clever writer knows this and uses it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Even with this paired down joke, I’ve already created a sense of character
for myself, I’ve invested in them, and now I’ve invested in the narrative. If
this was not a joke, but the set up for a story, chapter one, I’d already be
wondering what it is about the nightclub that make the man so desperate to get
in, and anxious to see if the author will dash his hopes, or if he’ll
ultimately win. I’ve got a sense of who he is, and I’m on his side, and I’d
even like to find out a little more about the bouncer. To ‘tell’ the reader
that this is what the characters are like, you’d have to write the joke much
more like this:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">There is a man, he’s a little bit of a looser but he’s ok really,
and he’s sometimes a bit of a lateral thinker, but under pressure he can make
some odd decisions that sometimes work out, though perhaps not as he intended.
He wants to get into night club for some reason, but the bouncer on the door is
really stern, he’s not going to let anyone in because he’s trained for years to
be a bouncer; besides, he did time when he was younger and this is the sort of
job he can do with a record, but he’s a good sort really, he’s not a bad man
but he looks bad…</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7gMJshG_MBZ2A7-bnMcomtpEfT4wKC006LmDBdAhpxtwBSLbkduTJxsKDvZqUL4srp2hsx2NTUM0znE-znjyyDhDLrlsGSKhCn_pNLJAtgEWTMIBSQQR6F1xArKjm69Qs6A57DS52oA/s1600/bouncer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7gMJshG_MBZ2A7-bnMcomtpEfT4wKC006LmDBdAhpxtwBSLbkduTJxsKDvZqUL4srp2hsx2NTUM0znE-znjyyDhDLrlsGSKhCn_pNLJAtgEWTMIBSQQR6F1xArKjm69Qs6A57DS52oA/s1600/bouncer.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Now I’m wadding through the back-story of the characters and I’ve
lost the plot. All of that detail can come later when you’ve established your
narrative – and if you use your characters actions to show their inner world,
much of their back story will be already be there in the mind of the reader, so
when they come to read it later, it feels authentic, because it’s not coming
out of the blue, but out of the seed you’ve already planted in their minds.
They will think ‘Yes, the man would do that, because that’s how he reacted when
he tried to get into the Night Club; he tried to solve the problem but in a way
that smacked more desperation than intelligence’ and that makes him seem real.
And when he learns to think first and not panic, or not want to get into the
nightclub that shows us he’s grown as a person by the end of the narrative. If
he does, of course.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">As a writer, you need to know every detail about your characters,
but to make those details come alive for your reader, show your characters in
action and know how they would react in any given situation. Then, they can get
under the skin of your reader in the most effective way, almost without the
reader noticing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-1520338633451848222013-02-27T14:49:00.000-08:002013-02-27T14:49:02.645-08:00My 'how to write' series, from the lofty position of the self taught. <style><!--
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">In this series of articles, I’m going to use a joke to illustrate on
some of the oft-talked about principals of creative writing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Jokes are a story in microcosm, but still contain all the elements needed in a narrative to make it work. Jokes – the conflict, the struggle and
the pay off – a beginning, middle and end, stripped down to their most
essential form. If you can pull off a good joke, you can pull off a good story.
So, here’s the joke, and forgive me if you’ve heard it before - </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiONpCnY2BN4obGE56TVjWDoiqZ_tSFSe52xVhd9nH75y5HgUW_g1UWRvXAOa0l_hUpgGAeesXIvPT0Vnjth3as97NDxTfpSFewQk_4Nf2C1udT6QklM80KP94hucGo8aAqRExA-mG-p9w/s1600/(Evening_Post)_Bristol_bouncer_faces_jail_for_attack_on_drinker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiONpCnY2BN4obGE56TVjWDoiqZ_tSFSe52xVhd9nH75y5HgUW_g1UWRvXAOa0l_hUpgGAeesXIvPT0Vnjth3as97NDxTfpSFewQk_4Nf2C1udT6QklM80KP94hucGo8aAqRExA-mG-p9w/s320/(Evening_Post)_Bristol_bouncer_faces_jail_for_attack_on_drinker.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">A man goes up to the doorman of a nightclub.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">‘You can’t come in,’ the doorman says, ‘you’re not wearing a tie.’
The man goes back to his car and searches around for something he can use. All
he finds is a pair of jump leads, so, in desperation, he ties them around his
shirt’s collar in place of a tie. When he goes back to the nightclub, the
doorman eyes him suspiciously.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">‘Alright,’ he says, after a while. ‘You can go in – just don’t start
anything!’</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Boom, boom! Now, let’s isolate the elements of this joke that
illustrate the key aspects to consider when writing any piece of fiction, no
matter the length.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">1) The conflict – You need to establish your world, who’s in it and
what’s at stake as soon as possible to create the conflict. Here we have the man, the doorman and a
nightclub. These are very simple terms, but each conveys something to create the conflict.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">The Nightclub tells us the time of day, and the relationship between your characters. You have the doorman, whose very name indicates he is
an authority figure, a literal gatekeeper, who is keeping our hero, the man,
from his goal. We never know the name of the man or anything about him, but we
can still relate to him because we can see he’s denied access to something he desires by an authority figure, so we’re on his side. Even better, because the
wearing of a tie is an affectation, which in itself is meaningless - a tie is a symbol of status but serves no practical purpose as something like a hard hat might when entering a building site, we feel his
situation is unjust. This makes him an ‘everyman’ who we can feel sympathy
for, because we’ve probably all been denied something we want by an authority
figure in the past. We have a conflict, and have picked a side.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">2) The struggle – the hero tries to overcome. We can
tell that he’s desperate to enter the club, because he's desperate to find a tie. He searches his car for anything
he can use, and this at once marks him out as a man willing to problem solve, to give 'it' a go - and also
increases the conflict – because effort indicates that to him, the
goal of the nightclub is worth the struggle. He might be tilting a windmills, the struggle might not be one we would bother with, but the act of his struggle is engaging.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Then, he finds the jump leads, and
sees a way forward, a way that another person might not have seen. This is key because now there is a hope. It’s a desperate hope, because who
would really accept a pair of jump leads as a tie? So we have tension, will the
struggle work, will his lateral thinking save the day after all? Doubt in the
mind of the reader means they are engaging with the struggle, you are creating that
‘edge of the seat’ sensation, and it means that they care about your character
and his fate.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>3)
The pay off – All the best stories play with the expectations of the reader in
some way. If the bouncer just waves the man through or sends him packing because he's not wearing a tie but had jump leads round his neck, where’s
the joke? What makes this joke funny, if it can still be funny after we’ve
analyzed it to death, is that the doorman subverts expectation by coming onside
with the hero, in fact, he could almost be said to take control of the story with his witty quip – at the last moment bringing a great deal of
colour and personality to his role, and it leaves the reader surprised and, we
hope, delighted by the unexpected nature of the outcome.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Ease right? Well no, not at all, that it why a good joke is hard to
find and a good story equally so, but I hope that by this, simple example, you
have an idea what the three stages of story demands of the writer – conflict –
struggle – pay off/twist.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">In my next article, I shall look at the same joke and use it to show
how actions speak louder than words when creating character.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-77115073536745373142013-02-24T08:47:00.003-08:002013-02-24T08:47:40.734-08:00Authenticity is a slippery eel....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9h3yoc9QlMuF7HFo3S0fwxboMobYtT6UT43jsxEJfYnJ5QUCTg3ChaLTWJdN2oRQxxA9inEGLJWXEJkDYNTymIFZcWTOwIvlaXh7sa_Vt2mcrTVIgp293xE7FqeIpGAupl-iUhPOUeLk/s1600/RobertDoisneauLoveandBarbedWire1944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9h3yoc9QlMuF7HFo3S0fwxboMobYtT6UT43jsxEJfYnJ5QUCTg3ChaLTWJdN2oRQxxA9inEGLJWXEJkDYNTymIFZcWTOwIvlaXh7sa_Vt2mcrTVIgp293xE7FqeIpGAupl-iUhPOUeLk/s320/RobertDoisneauLoveandBarbedWire1944.jpg" width="288" /></a></div>
I am currently working at fever pitch on the novel for which I have a full manuscript request (I'm just underlining it because that news never gets old!) - which is set in 1939 to 1942.<br />
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What I've been pondering though is that parallax error between historical fact and historical fiction - or rather, how the collective subconscious perceives an historical period, compared to how the historical researchers and academics see a time, and which makes for the better read?<br />
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To give a couple of examples, I'm not writing a bodice ripper as such, but it's a popular genre - and often features a beautiful heroine in roughly the 18th century - shall we say around 1780 - and you probably get a handsome highway man who's really the son of a Duke, or a scandalous countess with gambling debts and so forth - and a jolly good romp would be had by all.<br />
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But, if one reads into social history and consults documents of the time, would the characters concerned be as attractive if they were shown using the beauty preparations of the day, such as eyebrows made from mouse skin (grey was a popular colour for ladies hair), not to mention face cream made of puppy fat and large cut outs of galleons made of leather and stuck to the face. In those days, one or two teeth at adulthood still together in working order was considered a pretty good show, but it's not the impression we have from countless TV dramas where contemporary actors all have a fine set of gnashers, unless they are playing characters roles when snaggle tooth smiles are acceptable.<br />
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Think Vikings - never wore horned helmets until Hollywood said they should, indeed, a huge amount of Norse culture as been swept aside to present them as pillaging villains from 'The Vikings' to Mike the Knight - but would people buy an altogether more touchy feeling Viking story? <br />
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In the end, I suspect it's mostly a case of the quality of writing, that a good author will create a good and believable world, and unless one is taking huge liberties with real events ( while pretending otherwise) then a little historical license is probably allowed - never letting the truth get in the way of a good story and all. It's interesting to ponder if the books we like to read are the ones which give us the image of the past we are familiar with, and because it's one we are familiar with, we deem them authentic - where as book that are researched up to the eyeballs can, on occasions, feel less authentic not because they are, but because they go against the grain of public perception, however wrong that perception is.<br />
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Of course, that is the ultimate attraction of historical novels that once one slips beyond living memory, then lots of things are up for grabs, it is always a best guess scenario - and even within living memory perception of events is a slippery eel indeed. The past is another country, and the best novels are like the best travel guides, they should make you feel you've been there and, when you turn the last page, wish you will be allowed to return some day.<br />
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In case you're wondering, the photograph was taken in 1944 at the liberation of Paris. Or it's supposed to be - there is some argument as to whether it was taken at the time, or staged a little while afterwards before the barbed wire was removed - or even staged in the 1950's as war nostalgia began to set in and memory softened. So, it's either two lovers sitting watch together and making a stand against fascism, or two actors paying tribute to and idea of themselves the French would rather acknowledge, then images like this - but both could be the seed for a hundred different stories. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVjc_uKMEZZsaAru6VoCJVt8xyTzcGkMElZ5bUsYtjOrCJ1DZyNG-oxopBuxsO4wq2rbrcZivOGcniRQRRbPXi_XihodDYiX8YpmVUofNy4CoYUXFhfPyWtNxYVF60ncws08A7nnwVNno/s1600/73edf8f8a0e22769b1cd1bdf616690d4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVjc_uKMEZZsaAru6VoCJVt8xyTzcGkMElZ5bUsYtjOrCJ1DZyNG-oxopBuxsO4wq2rbrcZivOGcniRQRRbPXi_XihodDYiX8YpmVUofNy4CoYUXFhfPyWtNxYVF60ncws08A7nnwVNno/s1600/73edf8f8a0e22769b1cd1bdf616690d4.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-78669883264876605042013-02-15T14:38:00.003-08:002013-02-15T14:38:43.507-08:00Eight titles in search of a book<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQnoLyp02aNdyhaHx0T_kBBLyECt2QH0EWDDPuOJXZQVo4WWnlgGbPJPXDdZZmriga9RTeYdQlarNxzZViNc_mn5OSr4omkyODrNN-xTwNgNE84fKHhXFr3bmVMnO0Du71Okl4OAZ-ZM/s1600/mysterybook.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQnoLyp02aNdyhaHx0T_kBBLyECt2QH0EWDDPuOJXZQVo4WWnlgGbPJPXDdZZmriga9RTeYdQlarNxzZViNc_mn5OSr4omkyODrNN-xTwNgNE84fKHhXFr3bmVMnO0Du71Okl4OAZ-ZM/s1600/mysterybook.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQnoLyp02aNdyhaHx0T_kBBLyECt2QH0EWDDPuOJXZQVo4WWnlgGbPJPXDdZZmriga9RTeYdQlarNxzZViNc_mn5OSr4omkyODrNN-xTwNgNE84fKHhXFr3bmVMnO0Du71Okl4OAZ-ZM/s1600/mysterybook.gif" /></a></div>
Do you ever do this? Come up with titles which sound amazing but you've no idea what the book is? I have a note book full of titles yet to be attached to books, though often the title does a lot of work for you by suggesting not only the genre and setting, but perhaps even the reader it might appeal to and a hint at the cover art.<br />
After all, if you read a title 'The last husband on the shelf' you might imagine the front cover with a slightly cartoon image of a woman, probably in her late twenties, with the title written in pink script, slightly embossed, with maybe a touch of silver?<br />
Though, if you cut it to 'The Last Husband' that has a hint that it might be a thriller, or even a horror classic - white letters ( again slightly raised) - somehow even more horrific if it's shortened further to-<br />
<br />
THE HUSBAND - where you can almost imagine the bi-line 'until death do you part?'<br />
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Anyway - here are a few more - if you feel inspired, why not comment on what the genre, characters and even setting you think these ones might be, and who knows, maybe they'll some to life one day?<br />
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Mr Montague's bicycle.<br />
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Dream sliders.<br />
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Everything I'm not.<br />
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The baboon's revenge on the collective unconscious.<br />
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Execution city.<br />
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The Nightingale floor<br />
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The trials of Bunbery Rudge.<br />
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A house on a mandarin shore.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-54859889925643446872013-01-10T12:50:00.001-08:002013-01-10T12:50:36.303-08:00You can't beat the classics....I don't write as much as I should in this blog, as sometimes I wonder who cares other than the people I see every day anyway. I don't meant that to sound depressive in a adolescent sort of a 'no one cares, it's pointless, why am I here' kind of a way, though that is the heart beat of my existence most days - but in a 'well, I'm not famous yet so no one really cares yet but they might one day' sort of a way.<br />
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Leaving that aside, I am writing a blog tonight because I am doing the most important part of a writers job, finding something else to do rather than what I should be doing. Which is odd, really, seeing as I love writing, so this is not a procrastination because of fear of work sort of a thing, but rather that I am bloody knackered tonight and I need some chill out time before I begin writing. Which is also odd, as I am choosing to write as a way of relaxing before I build up the energy to....write. Yes, well, I suppose that's only like a sprinter doing some warm up exercises really.<br />
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Anyway, I have just finished reading 'The great Gatsby' or at least listening to it on audio book. I love audio books, not least because they are the only chance I get to read these days as I am otherwise either writing my self or using both hands so can't hold a physical book, and also because I firmly believe that the key to all great writing is that it should be great reading also, and the quickest way to spot the difference is to listen - bad writing honks like an out of key tuba where as good writing is sweet as a symphony and should slip without hesitation into the mind of the listener. As I am working on the next and we hope basically final draft of my book 'And so we left for Paris', I am building up to reading the whole 100,000 words out loud, and may well record myself doing so to ensure that my work is as note perfect as I can get it - though there's nothing to say I'm not tone deaf, until THE AGENT agrees with me. That's the one who's waiting to read it, the one who's asked for the whole thing, so this is rather a big deal.<br />
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Any-ho - my brother hates the Great Gatsby, which is probably the result of being made to study it, a sure fire way to beat the joy out of every novel. He was also 17 or so at the time, and I think that perhaps it is a book you need to read when you're older, because you need to have had a few obsessive love affairs and reached that weird sense of failure mixed with ennui that only the onset of your thirties can bring - or maybe it was never quite his thing. He felt that everyone in the book is basically nasty and so why should we care about them - well, none of them are great as the title would suggest, but there is sympathy to be found in Gatsby himself, and for me, Daisy also.<br />
Daisy is not likeable and not admirable, but very real. She is of course a poor little rich girl, the unwilling subject of Gatsby's obsession and trapped both in a loveless marriage and Gatsby's fantasy of her. She almost gives into Gatsby, plays along with his obsession because she's so lonely and sad in her own life, but she doesn't really love him and that sense of wanting to be loved but not by the person who loves you, came across to me clearly.<br />
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Why is it heralded as THE great American novel? Well, it is pretty amazing - though I'm not sure it's quite as seminal work as others claim it to be, despite Richard Fords reference to it in his book 'Canada' which I think is actually a greater book. It does show America at a time when it really was at the apex pf the world, where everything seemed possible after the first world war ended and before everything fell apart with the depression - a gilded time which was as insubstantial as Gatsby's dreams of Daisy. It also gives the lie to the American dream, that any man can rise to the highest position in society if only he works at it - as it underlines that no matter how a man like Gatsby tries, he'll never be an equal to those born to their position, such as Daisy's husband Tom. That's the real illusion that Gatsby chases, that he can cheat the system for real.<br />
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I think I'd quite like to write the story of how Gats became Gatsby, though I imagine someone else has got there before me, the story which is partially revealed throughout the book in hints and rumors, but that's for another project. The book made me think of Evelyn Waugh and his writing of the same period, there is I feel great similarity in their styles and the apparent easy gloss of the writing which hides something darker and more substantial underneath. It certainly makes me want to read more F Scott Fitzgerald, and there are images from the book which will stay with me for a long time - not least the giant eyes of the disheveled opticians billboard that over looks the sooty wastes of Queens and, like some comic god, looks down on the tragic events that lead up to the end. It's a great piece of dark humor, and for me hit all the right notes, like the sound of one of Gatsby's parties drifting over the lake.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-776622968684653113.post-74355303642494395172012-11-03T06:52:00.001-07:002012-11-03T06:52:05.979-07:00Art degrees are never wasted...but they may be about to become a whole lot harder to get. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the government has decided to exclude Art, Music and Drama from the new e-bac examination system due to replace A-levels. When questioned on the radio this morning, the minister in charge seemed to have one main thrust behind his reasoning - well, you've got to draw the line somewhere.<br />
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Why?<br />
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Why on earth is it not possible to run 7 e-bac's rather than 6, seeing as we're talking about subjects that are already being taught at A level standard nationwide.<br />
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This is just another way of making sure that the arts world is the preserve of upper/middle class kids who's parents have the time and money to nurture their talents. It can't even be argued to make sense from an economic point of view, the arts industry in the country is a massive part of our GDP - and you can call it an industry as it's employs hundreds of thousands of people and generated more money for the economy that the car industry and helps generate income for the service industries more than almost any other part of our economy. This is not about turning children into Shakespearean love-ies starving in garrets, but about showing kids that they can bring aesthetic flare and creativity to all aspects of their lives.<br />
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Yes - the talented ones will get through anyway, that's not the point. The point is that art, drama and music teach kids to dream, to explore, to push the boundaries and to strive for more just as much if not more than other subjects; it builds confidence and self awareness like nothing else and it feeds you for a whole life time in ways you'll never even have dreamed of at the time.<br />
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To remove them from the 17-18 year old curriculum is a crime, and saying you can take extra GCSE's to compensate is an insult. The coalition government have come up with this scheme and it's not good just voting against them because the labor party are unlikely to do anything about it once it's in place.<br />
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If you feel like me, support the<a href="http://www.baccforthefuture.com/" target="_blank"> campaign here.</a> Remember, it's going to directly affect the lives of regular kids, like mine and yours, like we were at school - who says that social exclusion is not alive and well and is the hidden heart of government policy. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15142387581047725456noreply@blogger.com0