I never understood why Chloe wanted to join the Girl Guides. She came home every Tuesday evening looking miserable, and she never went on any of the outings or brought friends home. She did, however, enjoy earning the badges. The first one she got was for needlework. I’ve always insisted she mended her own clothes, [...]
Archive for August, 2009
#fridayflash – Firefighting
Posted in My Writing, tagged #fridayflash, Chloe, writing on August 28, 2009 | 25 Comments »
Kreativ Blogger award
Posted in General stuff, tagged kreativ blogger award on August 25, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Gosh! What can I say? The lovely Laura Eno at A Shift in Dimensions has given me a Kreativ Blogger award! I am overcome with very British embarrassment! As a recipient of this award, I am required to pass it on to seven deserving blogs and list seven favourites. And the award goes to… The [...]
Chloe again, again…
Posted in My Writing, tagged character, Chloe, interview on August 24, 2009 | 4 Comments »
And she’s back. The questions she chose to tackle yesterday were the easy ones. I had to talk her into returning to answer the rest. It’s wonderful what the promise of wine and chocolate will do! You have something in a drawer that you have told no one about. What is it? Why have you [...]
Chloe again…
Posted in My Writing, tagged character, interview, writing on August 23, 2009 | 1 Comment »
She’s finally surfaced and is going to answer your questions. She was sulking with a hangover yesterday, too much introspection and Chardonnay the night before, if you ask me. So, Chloe, it’s over to you. Take as many posts as you want, don’t rush. Thanks, Old Bat. I didn’t know your friends were such a [...]
#fridayflash – Out of the Blue
Posted in My Writing, tagged #fridayflash, Out of the Blue, writing on August 21, 2009 | 9 Comments »
Dad held one of my hands and Mum held the other. Every so often Dad would say, ‘One, two, three…’ and on three they would swing me high into the air. I thought they’d pull my arms off but I didn’t care, it was so funny to watch my feet flying up in front of [...]
Interview my character
Posted in My Writing, tagged character, interview, writing on August 20, 2009 | 9 Comments »
OK chaps, I need practice in putting on other people’s lives. It’s one of the prime mistakes for new writers, to make all their characters aspects of themselves, and it’s a mistake I’m certainly prone to. I often (not always, which is strange) find it difficult to imagine how a character feels, why they react [...]
How Not To Write A Novel
Posted in Reviews, tagged how not to write a novel, review on August 16, 2009 | 3 Comments »
I have to say, I thought I was the expert on this subject. I thought I’d made all the mistakes there are to make. But no, there are more! And Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman have kindly collected examples of 200 of them in this handy book. The pun to end all puns The sixth [...]
#fridayflash – Marigolds
Posted in My Writing, tagged #fridayflash, marigolds on August 14, 2009 | 13 Comments »
Yesterday I cleaned the kitchen sink fifteen times. Fifteen pairs of rubber gloves pushed fifteen dual-textured sponges over gleaming chrome surfaces. The fifteenth time, I needed two blue pills before stripping the plastic sleeve from the gloves. Can’t clean taps without water. Can’t get water without touching taps. Today, this paradox freezes me in place. [...]
More On Being A Novelist
Posted in General stuff, tagged character, darning, JFDI, novel-writing, plot on August 13, 2009 | 1 Comment »
(or at the risk of being politically incorrect, moron being a novelist – that’s what I feel like at the moment, floundering around and trying to make it work) I’ve been through the flames of hell since my last post on this topic, which was apparently less than a month ago, although it feels like [...]
Eight Legs Good, Two Legs Bad
Posted in General stuff, tagged blog take-over day, sally quilford, spider on August 11, 2009 | 8 Comments »
What timing. I managed to chase the big lump out of the room just in time to take over her blog for Sally Quilford’s birthday. Like all two-legs, this Sally person has some very strange ideas, she wants people to hand their blogs over to … well … anyone or anything. Now I don’t know [...]
