An Evening with Hilary Mantel

Some people choose to spend their Saturday evenings perched on a brown faux leather cube-stools bingeing on over-priced drinks in ultra-modern bars where you can’t talk to anyone because the DJ is making their ears bleed. Not me (far too old, you see ;-) ). No, this Saturday evening saw me attending an evening with Hilary Mantel (part of this year’s Durham Literature Festival).

I love Hilary Mantel ~ not least for the breath-taking quality of her prose, whereby electricity pylons “lift their skirts in a ferrous gavotte”. Also, we both went to Sheffield University (although some years apart, and in different departments ~ she studied Law, I studied English Lit) and we both lived in Roebuck Road in Sheffield (and its not a huge street, so it is a fairly impressive coincidence, to me at least).

So, she read some sections from “Beyond Black” (if you haven’t read it do so as soon as is feasibly possible!) and discussed some aspects of the novel, such as her research processes, the character balance and back-story, and then finished up with a brief Q&A.

Being a swotty Eng lit graduate I took along a notebook and made some notes, as I knew I’d never remember it all afterwards. They’re fairly illegible and incoherent, but here are a few of the more salient points:

· Psycho-geography ~ she is interested in “what lies beneath the soil…..Every place is seething with potential, beautiful or otherwise.”

· In “Beyond Black” the character of Colette operates as the reader’s ‘way in’ to Alison’s world. Alison and Colette were there from the start, and their experiences are somewhat circular

· Is Alison a fraud? We don’t know, and it is not something that Mantel consciously addresses in the book. However she does think that the comparison of writer and medium is a viable one: both listen to the voices in their heads and spend large portions of their time engaged with characters that no-one else can see. As a predominantly historical novelist Mantel feels that she herself is often “talking to the dead” (and alluded to the fact that she had brought most of the court of Henry VIII with her to the reading, as that is the setting for her next work.).

· She doesn’t work to a pre-prepared plan, but explores themes. And she’s not looking to provide redemption for her characters, but to observe their actions, citing Waugh’s advice to“Write what they say and what they do” . Her task isn’t to educate her characters, but to see where they take themselves, and she demonstrates her characters’ intentions rather than their psychology

· “Beyond Black” is a black farce (and those who have read it will testify that humour imbues every page), and the consequences of the action pay off after the book finishes, which leaves some work for the reader to do. Not all of the loose ends are tied up. Alison and Colette redeem each other, to an extent, but their relationship is a tied and somewhat poisonous one.

· With regard to the haziness of Alison’s childhood: “recall does not always bring benefits in its wake.”

· One of many ‘laugh out loud’ moments: whilst researching mediums, psychics and their ilk for this book one lady took her hand, looked at her palm and said “Oh, what a shame! You have no imagination whatsoever!”

· Her characters tend towards a condition of marginality ~ she likes to operate in the space created by ambivalence

· Don’t spoonfeed the reader ~ they get bored. But don’t give them too little ~ they’ll be baffled. The craftsmanship is to give them just enough information. She feels she got this balance wrong in “Eight Months on Ghazzah Street”.

· Her next novel is set in the court of Henry VIII and will be publshed in 2009

· “Nobody is clever enough to write a novel” ~ at least, not all off the top of their head. It comes form a deeper place.

Well ,that’s it as far as I can make out , I was scribbling pretty fast! And annoyingly I cannot decipher my last comment, which appears to read “Sit down to write ~ no idea her mind of day” (??) .


A summary of the evenign with A S Byatt will follow in the next day or two. Although be warned, for that event I was not only scribbling quickly but in the dark too, so it may all be a bit “fax me a haddock”....

Bloggity blog

A215 is done and dusted! Big scary end of course assessment was posted off on Tuesday, and I’ve got confirmation that they received it (and therefore beat the postal strike which was cunningly contrived to coincide with our deadline of 5th October)

So, now that I have my life back, here’s what will be happening:

1) Don’t lose the momentum ~ A215 was designed to assist me with the novel. Instead it took over as the course requirements were greater than I realized. However I have come away from it with a good daily writing discipline, as well as bags of confidence from all the great marks and comments I received, so I need to capitalize on this, rather than slip into post-course ennui….

2) Write up a summary of my A215 experience for this blog and the Novel Racers ~ It might prove useful to anyone else considering the course, and it will make me take a good hard look at what I have gained from it.

3) House renovations. …..err. moving swiftly on….

4) Embark upon the counselling training and voluntary work I need to progress onto an MSc in Counselling psychology

5) And also apply to the Clinical Psychology doctorate in the hope that I can get on without a jillion years of experience as I am a (cry) “mature applicant” (hedging my bets on Clinical vs Counselling at the minute, you see).

6) Back to the novel with a VENGEANCE!! Starting with a print out & edit of what I’ve written so far (that has the potential to be rather depressing…)

7) Catch up in Blogland

8) Get pregnant

So, that should be about enough to be going on with for a week or two, eh?

Generate some randomness

Two posts in one day, eh?

Just thought i'd share this link, which has a variety of random generators for different writing genres. I suspect it has more of an entertainment value, but you never know, it might spark something. I wonder what I could make from the following? :

The story starts during a snowstorm. The story takes place a year into in the past. The story must have a lizard at the beginning. The story must involve a carpet at the end. A character becomes disoriented during the story.

Bet it's never been done before, at least!

Back on track

First of all, a thoroughly heart-felt "Thank you" to everyone who stopped by and left kind, supportive comments following my mini-meltdown. It means an awful lot to me, and it shows just what a wonderfully positive and supportive network we have in the Novel Racers. Thank you all, so much.

Things are getting back on track now ~ the dust has settled, the avalanche of stuff to think about has slowed and there's light at the end of the tunnel (and it ain't no freight train!)

Writing is picking up pace again, and I'm churning out some rather Ok stuff (and thats pre-edit!) so I'm fairly pleased overall.

And if you're at a loose end (cos we all have so much free time, right?), Holly Lisle has a fantastic site here, packed full of fantastic resources for writers ~ everything from quitting your day job to writing "suckitudinously" . It's well worth a look.

I’m still here ~ just about.

Thought I’d better pop and point out that I’m still alive ~ I haven’t evaporated!

I’ve never seen myself as, nor intended to be, a confessional writer, either in my fiction or my blogging. If anything I’ve always been more of a bottler than a blabber when it comes to things that are troubling me.

This is, I realize a far lonelier and more difficult way of navigating the whirlpools of existence than it needs to be. There is something wonderful in finding kind hands reaching out to you, especially when you haven’t even asked. My husband, my parents and the close friends I’ve opened up to recently have been marvelous at offering support (emotional, financial), advice, and general loveliness. And I’m working towards being less confrontational, and more rounded, softer, receptive.

In no order of chronology or significance, the main monsters at my door are currently:

1) Tying to translate my recently completed psychology degree into a change of career (counselling). This is involving financial sacrifices, training decisions, the search for voluntary experience, and big decisions about long term family plans ~ it’s time consuming, confusing, and scary ~ like stepping off a big ledge.

2) long-term family plans ~ as in trying to start one. It hasn’t happened yet, and whilst I’m trying to be relaxed about it, as it is universally acknowledged that tension and stress are both passions killers and highly effective contraceptives. I’m the very opposite of the “que sera” mentality that I should have. And if I’m honest, we haven’t been trying that long (just over three months), but I’m not the patient type & I want everything yesterday ~ sooner if possible. So I’m finding the fact that my ovaries don’t obey my bidding rather frustrating.

Those are the main two issues ~ and they’re fairly intertwined, and then there’s other niggly stuff:

3) We’re embarking upon a major catalogue of housing renovations ~ a logistic pain in the arse, and I’m dreading the upheaval that will come with it. Add to that the fact that tradesmen don’t always arrive when they say they will (and using up my precious few remaining days off work ~ cheers!). Again, all part of that long term plan….

4) I spent a small fortune on a new pair of running shoes last week ~ and I’ve ended up with sore heels, ankles, knees and calves. So I’m not running much, which isn’t great as it’s my main form of stress release (wine not withstanding). And it means that I’m going to have to duck out of the Tynedale 10 miler this coming Sunday ~ and they give you free jelly at the end! L. Gait analysis and replacements required this weekend ! (£££££££££)

5) I chipped one of our crystal wine glasses ~ an engagement gift from my grandmother. Must have had a flaw in it as I barely tapped it against the rim of another one, and a huge lump fell out. And according to the very sullen girl who answered the phone at House of Fraser, you can only buy full set of 6, and not singular replacements. This is surely insane? Unsurprisingly I am still waiting for her manager to get back to me with details of how I can contact the manufacturer directly….. Maybe a china matching service might be able to help?

6) And that self same day I also managed to chip one of the bowls which was part of our wedding crockery (pre-menstrual dispraxia, I think ~ although I did manage to use this as a reason to get out of doing the rest of the washing up that day ~ silver lining, eh?)

7) A215 (OU creative writing course) is hitting a critical stage ~ three assignments due in the next three weeks. Yikes.

And yes, I know that a lot of this stuff is very trivial ~ I know that there are millions of people out there dealing with much much worse. None of this stuff is life or death. And some of it is downright trivial (I do have the good grace to be ashamed of myself for whining about a chipped wine glass), but the pat-a-cake piling up of stuff at a time when my emotional reserves are low and my hormones kaleidoscopic makes for a bit of a mess.


There’s good stuff too, of course, when I remember to look for it. I went through one of my old notebooks the other day, and found a lot of really good stuff in there. So much so that if I hadn’t recognized my own handwriting I would have doubted that I’d written it.

And I’ve found a few new angles for Sonia (central protagonist of the WIP), a lot of which has come out of the recent disjointedness. The splinter of ice in this writer’s heart tells me that this will all be useable, once it’s cooled a little.

Finally, I am lucky to have a wonderful husband who pours restorative wine, lights soothing candles, does the washing up and has the safest warmest arms I’ve ever felt around me. And he loves me even when there’s snot running down my face and I’m an incoherent mess.

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Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible ~ I look forward to visiting everyone’s blogs once the job / training applications are done and dusted.

I've got worms!

It's okay, though ~ they're the good kind.

We recently purchased a wormery. I’d wanted one for ages, in much the same way that Carrie Bradshaw wanted Blahniks. Eco-consciousness is the new consumerism, perhaps?

I like to think I’m fairly ‘green’, although I think we probably all like to think that, just as we all like to think we’re good drivers. Or good lovers. But I do try: we recycle with a fervour (husband is almost evangelical about this ~ I contest that he negates the beneficial impact of recycling every single solitary recyclable item by leaving all the lights on when he goes out. At least they’re the energy efficient lightbulbs, though).

We washed at 30 degrees long before the adverts started urging us too, I only use the car once or twice a week, and then only if necessary, we buy organic locally produced veg and we don’t really keep up with technological advances, so we’re not junking a lot of electricals on an annual basis (thought this just as much to do with cash as conscience).

But back to the wormery: I love the idea of popping our food leftovers in there, rather than them going into the bin (and from there a landfill site). And the resultant ‘worm wee’ that you drain from the sump at the bottom is apparently magical in its effect on the garden. Which can only be a good thing, as lusher leafier plants must surely process more carbon dioxide.

I think I fancy myself as a bit of a Barbara Good (although I’m notably less pert of derrierre and disposition) and given the time and space to make it feasibly I’d love a veggie garden and some chickens. No such room in the garden or the timetable, unfortunately, so the wormies are the only livestock I’ll be cultivating in the foreseeable future.

I’m sure this wormery is some sort of metatphor: there’s cycles of nature and nutrients, putting something back in order to sustain our future, and so on, but I haven’t quite pinned it down, yet.

Yet despite a brace of gourmet meals (manky brown lettuce from the bottom of the fridge with a couple of tea bags for dessert on Saturday, some old baguette, more tea bags and some tops and tails of aubergines and broccoli stems yesterday ~ makes your mouth fair water, doesn’t it?) they don’t seem to be very wriggly or proactive. I fear the wormery may be a short-lived venture….. If anyone out there has any tips on perking up your wrigglies I’d muchly appreciate some advice.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

W.I.P still ticking along ~ must get round to doing some typing up, word-counting and meter-updating.

Ok, Deep breath, here goes: First page

A few months back Liz Fenwick wrote about the first page challenge. At the time I was far too much of a scaredy-bairn to post mine (although I tried plucking up the courage several times) and probably with good reason. That novel is in a semi-permanent staet of hibernation right now ~ it may have been the right book at the wrong time, perhaps, and maybe it will prove revivable at some point.

However, since then I have moved onto a new project which I'm far more motivated about, and I'm determined to do it justice. So, in a "c'mon, gels!" spirit of derring-do I tentatively present what is currently the opening page of "Should Have Been Me". Would you want to read on?




Should Have Been Me

It could have been me. No, not ‘could’. ‘Should’. It should have been me. Why not? It’s not that I’m bad looking, and I’ve certainly got the raw talent, if not the polish. I would have had an agent, one who was far-sighted enough to see the potential in me, take me under their wing and nurture that burgeoning ability, secure in the knowledge that once I got to the top they’d be raking it in. Because we’d remain friends, really close, ‘like sisters’, I’d say in interviews. I wouldn’t abandon them at the first sniff of fame and all of the fawning alternative offers that would bring with it.

No. I would remain true to my roots, close to the friends who knew me before I was someone. I’d be nice to the people I met on the way up (even though there was no real need; I certainly didn’t intend making my way back down). That would be one of the traits that would endear me ever more to the general public ~ that I was so ordinary. ‘Grounded’, they’d say, just like one of us, really, despite all the success. The girl next door with a little bit more.

Could have, should have been me. Why wasn’t it?

I’m Sonia Thompson, and you’ve never heard of me.

Sickness and health

It’s been a case of “spirit willing, flesh weak” of late.

I’ve been raring to go with the novel, but totally exhausted ~ there’s been some sort of thing going round and making everyone generally a bit floppy over this last week or so, and its pole-axed me. Saturday I felt dreadful, ~ achey, fragile, clammy. I attempted a 25 minute run: I reasoned it was kill or cure. Kill, was the resounding response from my poorly bod……

And then yesterday I awoke to discover that somehow I had acquired a very painful sleep-induced back injury. A trapped nerve, was the general consensus, based on my whiny and woeful description, just under my right shoulder blade. It hurt A LOT. (It’s still quite sore now too.) So I ended up taking the day off work yesterday and lying prone on the sofa with a tennis ball under the hurty bit (long story, but it worked sort of) and effign like a navvy every time I needed to do anything pain inducing like breathing or turning the pages of my book. At one point I sneezed ad felt like I’d been knifed in the back. Owwwwwwwwwwww. How on earth did I inflict this on myself in my sleep? ****

A further affliction includes the billions (five) insect bites I acquired in my sleep the same night as the back injury ~ you try scratching your foot when you can’t move from the neck down!


Having said that, last week wasn’t a total write–off in terms of productivity ~ I achieved a personal best on a 7 mile run on Wednesday, polished up my opening pages to the novel (jut trying to pluck up the courage to post them for critique!) & did some longhand writing (hence lack of budge on the word-o-meter) and some plotty / planny stuff. So, some ups, some downs……

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


**** Husband to me, last night whist I was incapacitated on sofa with bad back: “Misery is on later. You’re a bit like James Caan in that film. “
Me, excitedly: “Why? Because I’m a writer?”
“No, because you’re an invalid”.

He needs to work on his bedside manner……

Phew!

Last night, after work, I managed to:

Read about 200 pages of HP7
Write 1060 words of the work in progress
Watch “Heroes”
Go for a 4 mile run.

Not bad for an evening's work!

Doubt I’ll be able to keep the pace up every day of the week, but I’m pretty chuffed overall.

Looks like I might be making Saturday’s 7k target after all!

Ready, aim, fire!

Ok, weekly target: by Saturday morning (28th July 07) that wordometer doodah will show at least 7000.

Not a gargantuan target, admittedly ~ but there's a few bits and bobs which will be eating into the remaining evenings this week (i.e. today's delivery of HP7) , so i'm aiming low but manageable. And 7000 will be roughly double what I've got so far.

Still firing on all cylinders enthusiasm-wise, just wish my days were slightly more elasticated!

It is a truth universally acknowleged that a writer in possession of a good manuscript....

....must be in want of a publisher.

Interesting article all over the media today: Jane Austen in rejection shocker!

I’m in two minds about this: yes, it is rather damning that so many publishers failed to recognize Austen's work, but is it that much of a surprise that they turned the submissions down? Not a comment on the quality of the writing at all, but more a question of Austen being “of her time” (and indeed timeless too, yes). I mean, is there likely to be a battalion of publishers sitting there wishing “oh, for a submission written in the manner of an 1800’s social satire!”? Or did they take a look at them and think "hhhhm, bit too much of an Austenesque pastiche, and not what we're loooking for right now". In fairness, publishers are looking to publish what will sell, and as only adaptation tie-ins push the classics into the bestseller lists these days it's not that surprising that they weren't accepted.

(I wonder what would happen if someone submitted some lesser known Beatles tracks to a record company? Probably much the same reaction….)

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If I [need to explain the second rate writing] , then that means you're one of the many adults who don't have a problem with the retreat into infantilism that your willing immersion in the Potter books represents. It doesn't make you a bad or silly person. But if you have the patience to read it without noticing how plodding it is, then you are self-evidently someone on whom the possibilities of the English language are largely lost.

Sorry mate, but I enjoy the tales of Potter & co ~ I’m not reading it to be blown away by Rowling’s use of the English Language (the possibilities of which, you patronising *****, are not lost on me in the slightest) but because they are well plotted adventures ~ same reason that I read the Alice books, and Narnia books, and indeed Enid Blyton as a youngster (and sometimes, on rainy afternoon, still do).
Sometimes you want to watch a profound and beautifully shot arthouse film, and sometimes you want to watch “Diehard” ~ nothing wrong with entertainment for entertainment’s sake from time to time.

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Writing still coming along nicely. And I’m still smiling from the entirely unprompted kiss my friend’s 22 month old daughter planted on my lips as she said goodbye to me last night…..

Damn you, Facebook....

....for I am now addicted. Although on the plus side I am now back in touch with an old Uni mate who I haven't spoken to in years, so that's a happy occurrence .

Incidentally, Evolution Writers is heading over to Author's Abode, and the progress meters are available here. And jolly good they are too.

Can't think of a title

I really can’t (that doesn’t bode well for a budding author, does it?)

Nothing dramatic going on, but lots of lovely progress, in general really:

· The new book is starting to take shape, slowly but surely. I’m still only jotting brief paragraphs & ideas down at the minute, hence the mini-word count, but I’ve had some great ideas about character, themes, plot development, so I’m feeling very very positive about it. On the subject of plot development, many thanks to everyone who has shared their plotting ideas and book suggestions with me, both on here and over on the novel racer’s blog. I am creating a sort of amalgamated version of several of the suggestions and coming up with my own peculiar method, and it seems to be working so far. I’ll blog a wee bit about it when the plotting is all in place.

· On Saturday I attended a writing day school as part of my OU A215 writing course ~ TOTALLY inspirational, and I’ve come away with a new project partially on the go ~ the topic was life-writing, something I never really envisaged myself really going for, as previous attempts at autobiographical writing have been quite difficult for me. Nothing seems to come to me, apart from things that I don’t wish to write about, and I am fearful of offending my family and friends too (it feels like a gross intrusion to write about them, to create a version of them that they have no control over).
We tried out a few exercises in the class, and I found that a lot of childhood memories of my grandparents flooded out. In fact everything I wrote that day was connected to them somehow. Ever since I have found myself frequently recalling memories of them, especially related to their house (which is, incidentally, the house in which myself and my husband now live ~ we purchased it from my grandmother when she moved into a bungalow). I feel like I’m surrounded by ghosts, not in a spooky sense, but in a personal and emotional sense.
So, for reasons as yet unknown to me, there are stories about the house trying to get out, and I think I’d better start recording them. I’ve set a notebook aside especially for writing these memories and anecdotes down as they come to me. As I said, no idea what they’re for, just yet, but I think it will all come to make sense eventually (as well as giving me a head start on my life writing assignment for the course, too).

· I’ve been running again, a lot, after the pre-wedding / honeymoon hiatus. It’s a relief to get back into it, to be honest ~ not least as the writer’s backside is developing an unattractive case of post-wedding spread. No, its nice to be getting back to being fit again, and to getting outdoors for the inspiration. Tonnes of ideas occur to me when I’m running, usually triggered by happening upon something I would not have seen otherwise. I’m still nursing, from several years ago, the image of a buckled metal fence, with bits of car bumper embedded in it, with a bouquet of those trick flowers that a magician would use lying nearby. There’s a story there somewhere, I’m sure…. On Sunday I went running in Jesmond Dene, and I’m still smiling ~ absolutely beautiful location.

Facebook: there’s a lot of it about all of a sudden, isn’t there? I don’t really know what I’m doing, why I’ve been invited/added or what it’s for ~ is it like Myspace but for grown ups?.....

Creeping along.....

Thats what the word count for the new novel will be doing this week, sadly: I have an assignment for my OU creative writing course due on the 29th, and although I've got lots of notes I've got nothing approaching the requisite 40 lines of poetry yet, so I shall be honouring my time-served, Douglas Adams inspired approach to deadlines, an approach I have honed over two degrees and countless short courses over the years. The "skin of the teeth" method seems to work for me, somehow.

Also, much as I am dying to plunge headlong into the new novel I have resigned myself to laying some good foundations, as thus far I only have a main character, the object of her obsession and a very vague plot idea. I don't want to hit a wall of unpreparedness, so this week will be spent on plot outlines, character sketches, etc. I think the plotting will be the toughest for me ~ ideas and characters come fairly easily, its what to do with them that gets me stuck.
So as well as reading the excellent "Wannabe a Writer?" (me and 99% of the rest of the writing world seem to be reading this right now! And rightly so, it's very funny) and attempting to relive my honeymoon with "Almost French" (and proving to myself in the process that I am far, far too much of a coward to move to a foreign country! Or at least a one with a foreign language that I'm none too fluent in. ) I have also started to read "The Plot Thickens", in the hope of gleaning some plotting tips. If anyone has any other books / articles / websites they can recommend for plotting advice I will be very grateful to hear of them .

Least shock headline of the day: "Rain delays start of Wimbledon". Well I never.....

Buzzing!

A fantastic idea for a novel has just hit me! Actually its a theme that's been in the back of my mind for a long time, but never really had enough about it to expad into a full length piece. However I thought of two additional elements to add into the mix which will mesh together nicely and really beef it up.

I'm so excited I can't sit still ~ I've just bashed out the first paragraph and made a set of notes of basic content along with a "to do" list for plot and character development exercises, which I'll get onto tonight.

It's a relief, as the momentum for the DeadBeats novel has ebbed slightly ~ I am certainly still going to be working on it, but having been away from it for so long I'm not quite sure how or where to pick up, so hopefuly having this new book running alongside will help by taking the pressure off ~ maybe if I'm focussing on something else the DeadBeats will simmer away simmer way in my subconcsious until I've got something really tasty to go back to.

Loving having something to be excited about again, after the post-wedding slump :-)

Back to reality

Second day back at work, and its dreadful. I woke up in the early hours of this morning wracked with worry about how we would ever afford for me to change careers and have a baby, and then I walk straight into a day from hell where it transpires that alongside the mountains of paperwork which accumulated in my absence and was dumped on me yesterday I am discovering many things left partially done (or ignored completely) by colleagues in my absence. This has resulted in a load of old cack for me to sift through, along with a barrage of bitching complaints from customers who haven’t been responded to. I locked myself in the loo and cried for 5 minutes this morning, out of sheer frustration and misery. I am clinging to the very last shred of honeymoon serenity by the skin of my teeth. (and this is a very timely article that appeared on yahoo this morning ~ oh yes, I know it well!)


Speaking of timely, Kate’s gentle reminder about the spirit of the novel race was right on the button for me. Now that the wedding has passed I should have far more time and space for writing. The novel has been sorely neglected over the last few months (I can write a novel anytime, I reasoned, but I’ll only be getting married once) but I’m ready to get back to it. I hope I still want to write it, I am rather worried that it may have evaporated….. Maybe something new will start to glimmer and beg to be written instead, or as well as.

And I’m in the process of updating the novel racer’s list and catching up with you all too.

I’m going to aim for 5000 words a week ~ I know I probably won’t make it every week, but I always tend to aim higher than is entirely realistic. But as part of my new “married woman” outlook I’ll be treating my writing time with the respect it deserves and guarding it with pride.
Our wedding gift list booty gets delivered tonight, however, so I see tonight’s word count being nil whilst we play with coffee makers and duvets and toasters (oh my!)

A quick update....

I return to this blog a (very happily!) married woman.

Our wedding was utterly wonderful. Perfect. We arrived back from honeymoon late last night, so I'm currently in a frenzy of laundry and food shopping (ok, I admit I am mooning around in front of the pc gazing at our pics again. And again. And again) but over the next few days I'll post a bit more about it all, as well as setting out my new and improved writing plans and popping round to catch up on all of your blogs.

Maybe just one more lok at the wedding pictures first though ......

Blissful!

Truly, these last few days have been utterly blissful.

After a very hectic week of finalizing wedding details (every man and his dog wanted final payment and confirmation of every x, y & z at least 14 days before the wedding date, meaning last week was a finalization frenzy!) I have had a very relaxing and energizing few days.

Thursday evening was 42nd Street ~ I’ve seen it before, many years ago (featuring a pre-celeb Catherine Zeta Jones as a hoofer in the chorus, no less), and as an avid tap fan (and one-time hoofer myself) I LOVE it! This production wasn’t quite as polished as it could have been, it lacked a little “Kazaam!”, but there were some great routines in it and you just can’t help but be uplifted by the outstanding songs.

And then on Friday my wonderful, gorgeous, talented and adorable best friend / bridesmaid treated me to a spa day at Serenity Spa at Seaham Hall. Amazing. Words cannot do justice to the experience ~ a two hour body scrub, massage and facial (I drifted off and actually snored at one point!) followed by a delicious lunch of Thai tapas and a languid afternoon of stewing in the pool, steam rooms, Jacuzzi, hot-tub and sauna. The perfect antidote to bridal stress and strain. I swear I look five years younger now. There was some reluctant dragging of feet as we eventually forced ourselves to leave…..

Most of our time around the pool was spent deep in girl talk, but those moments that weren’t found me reading my way steadily through Lucy Diamond’s “Anyway you want me”. More on this later….

A few perfect days can do wonders for your spirit.

Write off....

....That's what this last week has been, basically. A few nasty personal issues have bubbled to the surface (nothing like an impending wedding to shine a very bright light on some unsavoury stuff lurking in corners!) but getting it all out in the open has proven to be very cathartic and probably flagged up some essential relationship mends that need tending to before they become irreparable.

I'm still bemused by the irony that planning a wedding puts you under such monumental strain ~ we've seen it happen to a few other couples over recent years too, so we are fortunate in the knowledge that its not just a fundamental weakness in our relationship. I suppose its beneficial in the long run ~ if you're prepared to go through all of this without giving up then I guess you know that you really, truly do want to be together. And we do.

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Liz Fenwick is very generously running a series of racer profiles over on her blog here. It's nice to get to know a little more about the people involved in our little community, and I shall be tweaking and airbrushing a wee biog of myself to send over to her in the next few days.

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And a big hearty congratulations to Caroline Smailes ~ In Search of Adam is on sale now. My copy is ordered. Make sure yours is too.

Keep on running....

For some reason, recently, I’ve spotted a lot of babies socks lying on the pavement ~ at least one a day, and on Saturday whilst out running I saw three. Maybe the babies are trying to tell us something...

Sunday was a gorgeous day (apart from the point when I think a speed camera nabbed me, I hope it was just the sun glinting off it but I'm not overly optimistic…) and after taking my grandma for lunch the fiancé and myself did a bit of gardening (I’ve planted some courgettes ~ hope they come to something. I was quite successful with peppers and tomatoes last year). But the odd thing was, there was a strange flying thing (not a wasp, but similar), which hovered at head-height on the side path and wouldn’t let us past. It was literally squaring up to us, and intermittently it would fly a few feet away in order to ‘challenge’ another of these peculiar flying things before returning back to the exact same point of its hovering sentry duty. What ever it was, it was very territorial.

And then last evening a bat flew past me, right outside my front door. I’m sure I should be reading something into these ‘signs’.

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I’m enjoying reading Jane Henry’s blog about her marathon memoir “Running on Empty”, and I shall be ordering a copy asap. I am officially in awe of anyone who has completed a marathon, seeing as how I have only tackled a half marathon thus far. It’s on the “one day I will…..” list, and I did try (unsuccessfully) for a place in the FLM ballot this year. Maybe next year.

“Two years ago I couldn’t run a mile”, says Jane. Me neither. But there was something about running that fascinating me, kept pestering me the same way the pesky novel kept digging me in the ribs until I sat down and started writing it. I persevered: from my inaugural run (where I managed the grand total of 89 steps in a row ~ seriously, I was so inept there was no point trying to time myself or measure distances, I counted those early runs in terms of total steps) I have managed to complete the Great North Run, and regularly take part in local 10k runs. I can’t imagine my life without running now. And I’m particularly interested in Jane’s section on what to do when you’re running and you need the loo: the only time I ever suffer from penis envy is when I’m caught short in the middle of a long run….


Today I ordered a copy of Lucy Diamond’s “How do you want me?” and I’m really looking forward to reading it.


Writing tip of the day, courtesy of Stephen King:

Never look at a reference book while doing a first draft
You want to write a story? Fine. Put away your dictionary, your encyclopedias, your World Almanac, and your thesaurus. Better yet, throw your thesaurus into the wastebasket. The only things creepier than a thesaurus are those little paperbacks college students too lazy to read the assigned novels buy around exam time. Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule. You think you might have misspelled a word? O.K., so here is your choice: either look it up in the dictionary, thereby making sure you have it right - and breaking your train of thought and the writer's trance in the bargain - or just spell it phonetically and correct it later. Why not? Did you think it was going to go somewhere? And if you need to know the largest city in Brazil and you find you don't have it in your head, why not write in Miami, or Cleveland? You can check it ... but later. When you sit down to write, write. Don't do anything else except go to the bathroom, and only do that if it absolutely cannot be put off.


Tip-top-tastic luck to all the marathonees this weekend ~ I'll be watching, in envy and admiration.