blogfest: advice for new writers

today, the black dog is prowling.  i told Twitter about it, and my tweeps instantly set about cheering me up.  or, in one particular case *looks hard at @peevishpenman* bullying me to do something about it.  Carrie's suggestion was to join her blogfest. 
after a little persuasion, i guess i may have one or two things to add, with the caveat that most of the advice probably comes not from me, but from Saint Neil (better known as Neil Gaiman - thoroughly bigged up in this post on how i became a writer and got my name).

1)  write.  just write.  doesn't matter what. emails, blog posts, poems, short stories, scenes, *anything*.  if you haven't been trained, you need the practice.  even if you *have* been trained, it'll keep the writing muscles in your brain nice and limber.

2)  write about stuff you find interesting.  if *you're* not interested, your readers sure as hell won't be.

3)  read. lots.  sounds obvious, i know, but that's how i learned to write.  just by having my nose (literally) in a book from the age of seven or eight.

4)  read different stuff to what you'e used to.  you may not enjoy a lot of it, and that's fine.  but *give it a chance* before you put it down and say "this isn't for me".  you may be surprised.  also, it will give you clues as to what you in particular probably *shouldn't* be writing. (see #2)

5)  ask yourself "what if?" ALL THE TIME.  this is how stories are made.

6)  most importantly (for me, at any rate) find a support network!!!  seriously.  Twitter (where i found mine) has more value to me as a writer than i could possibly, possibly express.  for advice, opening up new genres, and a vast, limitless supply of support, encouragement and Twitterlove, i woldn't call myself a writer if it wasn't for those little 140 character messages, cheering me on from all over the world.
it gives me the warm fuzzies. ^_^

hey, carrie, whadya know?  it seems to be working! *smile*

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warm rock (and a video!)

so i was going to say that anyone who's been on twitter in the last few days will have noticed my unusual taciturnity and general miserable grumpiness when i was on.  but why would you, right? *blushes at own presumption*  but for anyone who was worried (bless you!) the tide of hormones has now retreated and i'm much more my usual chirpily irritating self. ;o)
so friday it was on the retreat, and i managed to drag my lazy arse out of the house to go climbing at Alter-Rock with hubby.  this was, frankly, a pathetic session.  i barely lasted two hours, climbed nothing above a 5+, and my hands weren't even sore when we came away.  bloody hell, my forearms were, though! (twanging tendons!).  headed to a pub in derby afterwards for dinner with some colleagues (remember the night out i forgot to go to? this was the rematch).  my mood took a total nosedive on the way there, though, as i had learned that my shiny new bike wouldn't be ready to pick up until maaaaybe monday, but probably tuesday, and various other little things had all crashed down at once.  however, once i got to the pub (i was early), liberal application of vodka, O...Saya by A R Rahman (from the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire), half an hour to myself, and sunshine had an astonishingly positive effect.  had a great night - even if it was two months late. ;o)
yesterday, the weather was beeeautiful, and hubby, astonishingly, managed to persuade me to go climbing outside for the first time in probably six months.  look, i am a*total* wuss when it comes to the cold.  i hate being out in it, and i hate climbing in it with a passion.  but i was persuaded that we should go here:

Harborough Rocks

it's a beautiful limestone outcrop near Wirksworth in Derbyshire.  it's very popular with climbers, and is particularly good for practicing trad climbing techniques, since the faces aren't huge, the terrain is friendly and easily accessible, and it's a particular kind of limestone that's pocked with lots of holes and pockets - easy handholds on lots of the routes.  it's used by a lot of groups - scouts, guides, etc.  there was a group there from Stafford yesterday.

it was so lovely.  the sun was warm, the breeze wasn't too cold, and the outcrop faces south, so it gets the sun virtually all day.  gods - i have missed the feel of warm rock far more than i realised.  maybe we should move to Spain?... 

we took all of the gear to climb trad, but ended up soloing instead (climbing without safety equipment - just shoes and a chalkbag). it was great for me.  i have virtually no confidence left after not climbing outside for so long, so i took baby steps soloing the easier routes with lots of juggy (big, easy-to-grip) holds, whilst hubby did the harder stuff.  the only trouble with Harborough is that it's so popular (also, people have been climbing there since the 1800's), many of the holds have been polished to glassy smoothness.  friction?  what's that?  had to be sooo careful!

and as we were soloing, we could please ourselves what we did.  so when i decided that i'd had enough, i just lay in the sun, or wrote a little more of my book, or wandered around on the hillside enjoying the gorgeous day.

i also spent some time admiring the perfectly blue sky - not a thing in it except for the local corvids (thank you, unpronounceable Icelandic volcano). utter, utter bliss!  i even caught the sun across my cheekbones and the bridge of my nose!  not quite enough to bring my freckles out, though - not quite yet.

but getting there... ^_^

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spring, new life and shooting stuff

good afternoon, dear reader.

wait...afternoon?...surely that can't be right?...isn't it tuesday?...

well, yes it is.  but i'm on holiday, so ner.

weeellll...i say holiday, but really it's just leave.  can't really go on holiday, since poor Isobel is STILL in the paint shop! *grumblegrumblegrumble*. 

oh, look - never mind that now - i'm in a bit of a fragile mood today (yup - hormones strike again - expect a four AM post any day now...), and very likely to get cross or burst into tears at the drop of a mouse, so i will stick to the happy stuff, shall i?  my keyboard is, after all, not waterproof.

soooo...happy stuff.

well, spring is here.  definitely, this time.  thank the gods.  the wind is still chilly, but the flowers are coming out, there's a haze of acid green over half of the deciduous trees, the rest are budding, and some even have blossom on them. *sighs with relief*  sad bugger that i am, i was playing "Spring I-Spy" from the car on Sunday - vegetation (particularly of the flowering kind) only.  here's some of what i saw:

blackthorn blossom
cherry blossom
broom in bloom
daffodils
big, fat magnolia buds
heather
tulips
budding and blooming willow trees (of various kinds)
acid green hawthorn leaves
gorse
flowering currant
laurel buds
almond blossom
dandelions
and, most excitingly for me - daisies. my favourite flower.  i don't know what it is about these tiny, perfect little things, but i absolutely adore them.  they gladden my heart every day.  the common Day's Eye is a tiny little personification of bliss for me.  each and every one of them, no matter where they are.  i can't even make daisy chains, any more - haven't been able to for years, in fact.  i just can't bear to see them wither.  in fact i have, for about seven or eight years, worn a tiny little silver daisy on a hoop in my ear.  it's kind of a part of me....

anyway - the reason i was playing Spring I-Spy in the car is because it was a beaitifully dry, sunny day, and we were off to visit my shiny new step-grandson.

yup, you heard right, dear reader. i am a grandma.  at thirty-three years old.  sheesh!  thanks, guys - way to go! *headsmack*

i should, perhaps, explain.  hubby is 11 years older than me, and his eldest son is 20.  which, whilst it seems a ridiculously young and stupid age to me to have children...well...look - this is another of those things i'm not going to get into.  rant-avoidance techniques activated.

but...oh, he's soooo sweet! look!...

This is Finley.

look, i know - all right?  i tried to get them to spell it properly, but they wouldn't have it.... *eyeroll*

aaanyway - here we have three generations:

Stepson, Hubby, and Stepgrandson.

actually, to give him credit, stepson does seem utterly in love with the little 'un (as well as slightly zombified by lack of sleep - cue evil laughter and cries of "Revenge, at last!!!" from his parents...  hee hee hee!).  his girlfriend was just too tired to do or say anything much.  she seemed to be coping ok, though...

and that was most of Sunday taken care of.

exciting, huh?  wait till we get to Monday!!! (actually, you'll have to...)

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teamaking intermission

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actually, not a great deal happened on monday.  well - not outwardly, anyway.

inwardly, i appear to have a novel growing...  now how the bloody hell did that happen?!  i asked for a short story, goddamnit!!!  *sigh*  actually, i'm not complaining.  not really.  i know i said not long ago that i was going to write short stories for a bit, and that was how this one started off, actually.  but then it grew.  and grew.  and then it grew a bit more.  it seems to be generic romantic fantasy-flavoured, but i don't really care.  i like that stuff!  and i'm not ashamed to admit it! *stands tall and proud*  at the moment, in my head, it tastes a bit like one of my very favourite books, called "Spirit Fox".  it's by...noooo...not Neil Gaiman, (for a change!) two ladies.  one of whos name i can't remember.  the other is Mickey Zucker Reichert.  and i confess i only remember that lady's name because it's soooo...well...interesting.  but i love this book.  it's generic, yes.  but it's a perfectly shining gem of a book, too - the story is beautifully told, and the romance is romantic without making me want to cringe/throw up (allllways a bonus!)

of course, mine won't be nearly up to that standard, but at least i have a high water mark to aim for.  i'm beginning to think ouroburos was a fluke...

and, once i've got this one out of my system, maybe i can go for comedy? or horror?  or both?  yeah!!!

...ahem...sorry...quite excited... *blush*

and so to today.

today, we did archery, for the first time since...um...probably early october (gets a bit cold after that to be standing around twanging stuff).  we were supposed to do climbing, but since i spent the first hour or so of today sobbing my eyes out for no good reason other than i was sad and hormonal and tired, hubby suggested we go shoot some arrows, or take a walk in the woods.  between us, we couldn't make our minds up, so we decided to combine the two and shoot some arrows in the woods.  a splendid idea, as it turned out.  it's beautiful in Shining Cliff Woods.  peaceful, spacious, and just lovely.  and there's a little lake in the middle beside which we got handfasted.

our surroundings looked like this:

today we were up on the top of the shining cliffs themselves (and they really do sparkle in the sunlight, by the way - it's just magical to see), since it's nice and flat, and not too many people go up there.  the arrows are real, and can really kill.  i know, because not only did i kill the target, i killed a tree - at least twice - and a rock.  i'm not kidding - i took a chunk out of a rock with an arrow! 0.o

when hubby and i shoot arrows, we make it a competition.  otherwise, what's the point? (other than the incredibly satisfying sound of a well-shot arrow going "thwap" or "thud" as it hits the butt, that is...)

so, the rules are:

1 point per ring, starting at 1 for the outer white ring, and 10 for the last gold ring, 15 for the bullseye.

six arrows per person per turn.

flip a coin for the choice of first or second to shoot on the first round, winner goes first thereafter.

first one to five wins the round

best of three rounds wins the match.

and, in pictures:

Robin Hubby 

hubby searching for the first of today's lost arrows.  we lost four in the end, but managed to retrieve two, so not tooo bad... :oS

 

Robina In Da (campervan) Hoody

the scores were:

5 -0 to me

5 - 3 to me

2 - 5 to hubby.

i won!!! *triumphant happydance* this has only happened once before.  but best of all, my shooting was better and more consistent than when we started last summer.

here is my winning score:

check out the two together! *pride*

needless to say, i felt a little better after that.

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smells and sleep and stories

yup - smells.
see, i was going to blog about sleep, and how i don't seem to be getting enough at the moment. 
but smells come first at the mo.  this evening, i smell of violets and lemons and patchouli.  that's because i went to Lush today, to stock up on one or two much-needed items (and, as usual in Lush, one or two that just said "you need me" - whatever they happened to be...) however, the reason i chose to go *today* in particular, is that i had a really shitty afternoon.  things just kept on comin', and getting worse and more bloody irritating as they did. by a quarter to four, i'd REALLY had enough. so (and gods bless the joy that is flexi-time!) i called it a day.  in a foul mood, i thought i'd head for lush as i had the time for once, and was getting really low on some things.
oh! i am sooo glad i did.  the smell in that shop is just...*sigh*...heavenly.  and i've noticed before, i immediately feel better when i walk through the door. i.m.m.e.d.i.a.t.e.l.y.  and after my bath tonight (with my delicious Space Girl bathbomb and lovely new violet-smelluing Daddy-O shampoo and Sexy Peel soap - guaranteed to make you feel good, just on its own), i feel - MUCH better.  almost drunk, in fact.  coz, y'know - there's certain times when us girls (through no fault of our own) feel really, really crap (the girls know what i mean, right?).  but i've found that smells can help.  and at other times, too. 
aromatherapy? maybe. 
but i think it's a very personal thing.  for instance, the most wonderful woman in the world's favourite smell?  poplar trees in bloom?  it HATES me.  i mean, it REALLY hates me.  makes my nose feel all crinkly and weird inside.  but, then, we're all different, after all.  with similar chemicals and cells and stuff washing around inside us, but such vastly different mixes, you might as well compare graphite to diamond.  both carbon, but the similarity ends there.  same with taste and sight and, well everything.  nature is such a wonderful thing. :)  oh, yeah, and i was listening to the new album by The Imagined Village, too.  also sold in Lush (0.o).  to go with the bathbomb - "inspired" by one of the songs. yeah, yeah, yeah.  even the organically tree-hugging Lush and TIV aren't above marketing. *grin* and why the hell should they be?  everyone's gotta make a living somehow, after all.  good album, though.  and the song's great! sort of an updated version of "My Mother Said I Never Should..."  lovin' Eliza Carthy.  just lovin' her.  if i could be anny singer/musician/whatever, she's the one.

and now, to sleep.  briefly (if i can ever be brief about anything!)  my body clock seems to have reset itself to wake up at 5 am.  by the gods, it's annoying!  by the time i'm just about ready to drop off again, the alarm's due in about 20 minutes!  GAAAH!!!  hate this.  not getting enough sleep.  at. all. 

this morning, though, i woke up with the germ of a story.  dunno if it was a whisp of a dream or what, but it was kind of an image of a set of twins.  one magical, the other not.  but, the non-magical one is more magical than the magical one, in a way, because everything comes as a quality of her, rather than the magic.  or something.  that one needs to settle in the silt for a while...grow some roots.  along with the vampire, and the incubus and the succubus.  this could take years, but i'm happy to have them there, just kind of...barely simmering...i guess.  it makes me happy in a tiny but important way.