De-Faced…
January 27th, 2012
My Facebook account has been deactivated. I told my Goblin I was seriously thinking of giving it the chop (intending to think about it a few more days and go on there one more time) and he went away and chopped it. So it’s done…or undone rather. So you haven’t been unfriended - I’ve been de-Faced!
Dancing the Maypole: I’m on chapter 44 and the word count is about 124,000. I suspect I have another five thousand words to go. I feel like I’ve been inching up the last twenty feet to the top of Mt Everest (wearing my pajamas), climbing a sheer wall of ice with two handfuls of chopsticks…the ground so far below, if I fall I’ll have endless minutes to ponder my failings before landing as the latest human Popsicle to decorate the mountain. I’m sure I’ll get to the top…eventually… I’m probably missing something and the characters are all rolling their eyes in exasperation. (more…)
And the first book printed in English was…?
January 15th, 2012
I recently came across an amazing website called, The history of Information. One man, a serious collector of information, has categorized a vast amount of information on information by date and/or subject. If you love learning new things give it a look. Every time I randomly have a search I learn numerous new things. Tonight my brain feels made of cherry jello, but I still managed to read a few things about the history of the printing press that made me go…”Hmmm?”
Do you know the first book printed in English? (1473 – 1474) If (like me) you thought ‘The Bible’ you’d be wrong! I felt slightly affronted to find I was ignorant of such an important fact. As someone who grew up wanting to be an author I feel great admiration and gratitude to the ingenious brave printers who faced the wrath of the establishment (all the people making money off scribing and painting manuscripts on vellum - ie all the people with power to have you burnt at the stake for trying to undermine their version of the universe). Gutenberg changed the world. Try to imagine the world without printed books… (more…)
Something Cari this way comes…
January 6th, 2012
A story is coming...
I may have developed a blog posting phobia. I’ve been wanting to write a post for weeks, but every time I tried to pin myself down at the computer I’d find a thousand other things that needed to be done first, like watching another rerun episode of The Mentalist. It’s not really the fear of writing a blog post, it’s the fear of letting people down because I can’t yet say, “It’s done!” However, I can say I’m nearly done with Dancing the Maypole. I started chapter 44 yesterday (it’s now over 121,000 words so it’s by far my longest story yet). This should be the last chapter before the Epilogue. Something Cari this way comes! Over Christmas I pulled out Once Upon a Wager and read what I have. I only see it needing about four more chapters. As soon as I’m done with Maypoles I’ll see if I can get the characters to cooperate.
It’s a miracle I got any writing done this past month as I spent most of it sick, but (as of the 1st of Jan) I’m back on my mega healthy Candida diet so after a few weeks my energy levels should rise now that I’ve thrown sugar overboard. This time I have some new tools to help me stay on course. I’m looking forward to being less fat and having more brain energy to write faster. Stories are piled on my mental file cabinet. I thought of another one on my walk today (a child’s picture book). I should probably make a note of it before it falls into my mental black hole. The likelihood of it getting written isn’t high, but I think it’s best to capture all story ideas just in case I turn into one of those scary super-writers who churn out brilliant stories every three months. One can always hope!
In the mean time…this afternoon I walked down to the Fairy-wood where I found some magical photos. (more…)
John Forte should be number one…
November 29th, 2011
This evening I went onto Listverse which is a website that publishes a new list every day. Sometimes the lists are created by the Website owner, but usually they’re sent in by anonymous people who want to share a list of obscure or favorite facts. Sometimes the list ends up someone’s opinion…like today. (more…)
My evening walk…
November 13th, 2011
Three-thirty this afternoon I told the Goblin I was thinking of going for a walk. ‘You don’t have long,’ he said. ‘The sun is already starting to set.’ I put on two sweaters (and one of my trusty knit hats which make me look like Santa fired me for insubordination) and headed off with my camera hoping there would be enough light filtering through the trees (the sun was already low in the sky when I set off) to take photos of something… (more…)
Tragedy Spring…
November 12th, 2011
My brother Jason playing with his band Tragedy Spring...
I went onto Facebook to check on something and found my baby brother had put some photos of his new baby son up…he’s adorable! If I’m really good I’ll get him a gift before he graduates from high school (that’s before my nephew graduates…my brother graduated some years ago and he’s still waiting for a graduation gift not to mention a wedding gift). I then found a link on my brother’s page to his band, Tragedy Spring’s latest song, ‘Willow Tree’ on MySpace. If you like acoustic/rock you may love this. (more…)
Update…
October 27th, 2011
If you’re wondering how my next novel, Dancing the Maypole, is progressing I’m happy to say this evening I’ve finished chapter 41. The book now has 114,137 words and will probably end up with about 120,000. I’m quite excited to start chapter 42 tomorrow. I can see how it starts and sort of what happens, but anything could happen…though hopefully nothing that demands an extra half dozen chapters because that would be bad for my mental health! Noooooo! As it stands I’m looking at two more chapters and an epilogue. Let that be true!!! (more…)
Remembering Lummox…
October 5th, 2011
Collective memory is such a strange thing. Living in the moment we often take for granted that movie stars, pop stars, world renown authors, earth shattering historical happenings will never be forgotten. Sadly (or gladly depending on one’s point of view) this isn’t the case. The societies we live in whether nations or extended tribes, make choices as to what we will and won’t remember collectively. That which is replayed or repeated most often will be the winner whether it deserves a place in history or not. The English have this saying, ‘Remember, remember, the fifth of November.’ Nearly four hundred years old, this childhood chant (that all English people know) calls the people to remember Guy Fawkes (and his associates) who nearly managed to blow up parliament with kegs of gun powder in 1605. Every November 5th the English build bonfires and burn effigies of Guy Fawkes. This is an excellent example of collective remembering. Whether some individuals getting drunk and setting off fireworks can remember anything specific about Guy Fawkes is irrelevant. They remember collectively! (more…)
A Companion for Life, Book Reviews, Dancing the Maypole, I've been thinking
The evil eye…
September 28th, 2011
Today I went for an eye check. For a while now I’ve been taking off my glasses (I’m nearsighted) to work at the computer and to read books. The eye doctor’s verdict; my eyes are aging. In a week I’ll own my first pair of reading glasses. At last I have an excuse to treat myself to one of those spectacle-chains worn by librarians (real librarians, the ones who gave you the evil eye if you made the slightest noise). Through my teens and into my early twenties my mother would regularly rant that I should become a librarian. I always rolled my eyes. Just because you think every moldy book should be cherished as treasure, cataloged and kept on a shelf (in alphabetical order with all the other books one can go without food to afford) doesn’t necessarily mean one has the talents to be a librarian! At least not the kind of librarians I grew up with. Those ladies (and gentlemen) had degrees in librarianisms. They probably had fantastical dreams of living the Dewy Decimal System. (more…)
For You…
September 12th, 2011
Today I learned of a birth and a death. The birth was my youngest brother’s first child, a little boy they’ve named Clayton. I haven’t yet seen a photo, but I’ll be surprised if he isn’t totally and utterly adorable. Of course I’m biased, but the boy’s mother is really pretty and his father isn’t bad looking either (he was such a cute kid). I have memories of being twelve and carrying him into stores and people saying to me, “Your baby is sooo cute!” I’d smile and say, “Yes, my BROTHER is really cute.” What I wanted to say was, ‘I’m freaking twelve! Do I look like a slut?’ I guess I did. To illustrate the past I found a family portrait from that time…I look like a mutant, but my brother is cute. (more…)
