After yesterday's post causing so much confusion, I thought I'd clarify a few things before I start.
I'm not sure about where you are, but in the UK, Christmas trees can be topped with either a star, or a fairy.
Yes, a fairy. One of those little mythical things with wings that Peter Pan hung around with.
This is the story about why we have a fairy on the top of a Christmas tree.
(The above part of this entry is true, the rest…. Well, I'll let you make your mind up for yourselves.)
It all started during the build up to Christmas. Santa was in an incredibly foul mood. One of the reindeer had gone lame, and the runners on his sleigh had a couple of untreatable patches of rust. To add to his misery, he could feel the beginning symptoms of 'Man Flu' creeping up on him.
To top things off, just when he was thinking that things couldn't get any worse, the head of the Elf Union passed him a note advising that he Elves would be going on strike as from Midnight. This sent him into new unexplored depths of rage.
Just then, a fairy came in the room. "Hey Santa, what should I do with this tree?"
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Monday, 19 December 2011
A load of...
Last night I was following a lorry when it started to shed it's load.
I couldn't believe it! Surely he must know that the load wasn't secure. I started flashing him, tooting my hooter, and pointing at the back of of the lorry.
Eventually, he pulled up, and I jumped out and ran up to the cab.
"You're losing your load mate. It's going all over the road!"
He looked me up and down, gave a 'tut' and shook his head. "I'm gritting the road you fool!"
I couldn't believe it! Surely he must know that the load wasn't secure. I started flashing him, tooting my hooter, and pointing at the back of of the lorry.
Eventually, he pulled up, and I jumped out and ran up to the cab.
"You're losing your load mate. It's going all over the road!"
He looked me up and down, gave a 'tut' and shook his head. "I'm gritting the road you fool!"
Friday, 16 December 2011
Sale!
My local bookshop is doing a pre-Christmas sale. There's a massive sign up in the window:
One third off all titles!
How could I resist? I rushed in and bought…
The Lion, The Witch, and
One third off all titles!
How could I resist? I rushed in and bought…
The Lion, The Witch, and
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Sky's the limit
Last night, I was asked to give a talk at my daughter's Rangers group (the next level up from Girl Guides) about astronomy.
So far, we've tried to do this three times, but it's either snowed, or been raining, which as you might have guessed, isn't ideal. Last night, however, looked promising. There was patchy cloud, but the gaps in the clouds revealed some very clear skies.
I'm pleased to say that the talk went very well. We covered things from the basics, like naming the planets, looking at the relative sizes of planets/stars, to black holes and comets. The questions they asked were well thought out, and not asked for the sake of asking questions. It was a fun evening.
The highlight was when we went outside, and through the gaps in the clouds, they saw a handful of shooting stars (luckily it was the peak of the Geminiid meteorite shower), and we also saw (with the aidof my telesocpe) Jupiter and three of it's moons.
Originally, when I decided to write this post, I had an incredibly clever idea to link this back to writing. Unfortunately I've had lunch since then, and the idea has slipped away.
So far, we've tried to do this three times, but it's either snowed, or been raining, which as you might have guessed, isn't ideal. Last night, however, looked promising. There was patchy cloud, but the gaps in the clouds revealed some very clear skies.
I'm pleased to say that the talk went very well. We covered things from the basics, like naming the planets, looking at the relative sizes of planets/stars, to black holes and comets. The questions they asked were well thought out, and not asked for the sake of asking questions. It was a fun evening.
The highlight was when we went outside, and through the gaps in the clouds, they saw a handful of shooting stars (luckily it was the peak of the Geminiid meteorite shower), and we also saw (with the aidof my telesocpe) Jupiter and three of it's moons.
Monday, 12 December 2011
Probably more stupid than I look.
Last week, I nearly threw the towel in on this whole writing lark. It's not that I'm disillusioned, or struggling for ideas. I'm feeling quite the opposite. The problem was that I didn't think that I had enough talent.
The thing that set the train of though into motion was that I'd picked up my MS and started to read through it. It's been through some serious revisions, and I felt that it should be at the stage where I'm going to need to look at the flow, and characters, more than whether the narrative was active or passive. BUT, I started to read the first chapter, and there was shedloads wrong with it. How could I have missed all of this? If this was the results of two carefully thought out edits, then it was going to take about a hundred attempts to make it barely readable. What was the point of having half a dozen well formed stories floating around my head if I could never do them justice when I committed them to paper?
Of course, the packing it in thought was fleeting. I don't really have a choice on whether I write. It's either do it, or my head will explode. And I'm sure I'd have to clear up the mess after :o|
That was last week. Today is a new week, and it dawned on me that in my last two rounds of revisions, I've cut out the start of the story, and made it begin later into the adventure. I've had to write the start of the first chapter from scratch, and reason it reads like it's not been edited, is because it hasn't!! The first page is currently a mass of editing scribbles (again), but I have found that by the time I've reached the end of the chapter today, there's just the odd tweak. It looks like I'm not quite as bad as I feared, but I quite sure that I'm a bit more stupid than I look. :o)
The thing that set the train of though into motion was that I'd picked up my MS and started to read through it. It's been through some serious revisions, and I felt that it should be at the stage where I'm going to need to look at the flow, and characters, more than whether the narrative was active or passive. BUT, I started to read the first chapter, and there was shedloads wrong with it. How could I have missed all of this? If this was the results of two carefully thought out edits, then it was going to take about a hundred attempts to make it barely readable. What was the point of having half a dozen well formed stories floating around my head if I could never do them justice when I committed them to paper?
Of course, the packing it in thought was fleeting. I don't really have a choice on whether I write. It's either do it, or my head will explode. And I'm sure I'd have to clear up the mess after :o|
That was last week. Today is a new week, and it dawned on me that in my last two rounds of revisions, I've cut out the start of the story, and made it begin later into the adventure. I've had to write the start of the first chapter from scratch, and reason it reads like it's not been edited, is because it hasn't!! The first page is currently a mass of editing scribbles (again), but I have found that by the time I've reached the end of the chapter today, there's just the odd tweak. It looks like I'm not quite as bad as I feared, but I quite sure that I'm a bit more stupid than I look. :o)
Thursday, 8 December 2011
Room with a view
I'm struggling a little bit today for inspiration. So instead of the usual drivel, I have decided to tell you about the window behind me in my profile picture.
Yes, that really is me working hard!
The building is the old Royal Mint in London, and the view out of the window is a very impressive one of The Tower of London. I would post a picture, but sadly, I no longer work in that building.
Yes, that really is me working hard!
The building is the old Royal Mint in London, and the view out of the window is a very impressive one of The Tower of London. I would post a picture, but sadly, I no longer work in that building.
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
Doh!
For someone who thinks he's quite savvy with the ways of commercial enterprises, I can't believe how naive I've been on the writing business.
The last nine months have been a bit of a wake up call. I always thought that my writing was competent, that the plots to my stories were good, and that it was only case of knocking out a MS, and someone would snap me up.
I also had the misguided view that if I read a 'How to' book, then I would be doing it someone else's way, and compromising my own style.
If you are sitting there, pointing at the screen and laughing at me, then I really don't blame you. I think I'd be doing the same.
I think that all I really want to say in this post is that I'm grateful to my blogging friends who comment, and the ReviMo gang for their wisdom. I've finally realised that it's not a race, and that I need to make my work the best I can possibly make it before I start sending it to the people who have the power to make my dreams come true.
The last nine months have been a bit of a wake up call. I always thought that my writing was competent, that the plots to my stories were good, and that it was only case of knocking out a MS, and someone would snap me up.
I also had the misguided view that if I read a 'How to' book, then I would be doing it someone else's way, and compromising my own style.
If you are sitting there, pointing at the screen and laughing at me, then I really don't blame you. I think I'd be doing the same.
I think that all I really want to say in this post is that I'm grateful to my blogging friends who comment, and the ReviMo gang for their wisdom. I've finally realised that it's not a race, and that I need to make my work the best I can possibly make it before I start sending it to the people who have the power to make my dreams come true.
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