While eating my dinner, instead of watching another episode of Hercule Poirot on You Tube, I read this great blog I came across last month. In one entry this woman, who wasn’t inclined to exercise, decided to set a goal for 2008 to run thirty minutes one hundred times in the year. She made it and she had all these adventures doing her runs which made me almost wish I felt inclined to such self-torture (almost) but reading through the comments…one person remarked that the entry had brought to mind the song “I Ran So Far Away” by A Flock of Seagulls (one of stupidest names ever thought up for a pop group). She was right…and as I thought about it I had to go buy it. I’m listening to it as I sit here digesting my pizza and fighting off the temptation to go eat a slice of chocolate cake (topped with cream and cherries and cranberries). It should be my theme song (if you know the tune sing along) And I ran…I ran so far away….so so so far away…from the chocolate cake!
General
A Companion for Life is now a complete rough draft!
A Comapanion for Life is DONE! Hurrah! I literally just finished the rough draft a few minutes ago. I’ll let it sit there for a day or so and then I’ll read it over to make sure it flows and then I’ll read it backwards to try to find errors and then I’ll put it on line! Hurrah! Yesterday I sort of finished it and I celebrated by vacuuming most of my house…yes I vacuumed…finally…and it feels lovely to have a nice clean floor and a nice finished book! I’m SO happy with the changes. It’s now just over 64 thousand words, but all those words I took out, they didn’t need to be there. It’s much better this way and the ending came without difficulty…it was slow, endings always take a lot of time because they have to be absolutely right and every word is weighed, but it’s right. So now I am happy with my book and it feels really really good. Yesterday and today I’ve been working on the first Epilogue…this book has two Epilogues. You’ll understand when you read it. Anyway…I think I may celebrate today by going out into the sunshine (the sun is shining in England right now…at least where I live) and buying myself a treat. Ok, maybe I’ll be good and try to find some more prezzies for the Goblin…maybe I should be bad and find something for me? We’ll have to see…
Cari answers a Christmas questionnaire
One of my friends sent me a Christmas questionnaire and I thought I’d share it. Be Warned…if you’ve never had a Crappy-Christmas you might find some of my experiences rather unbelievable…it’s all true!
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Depends on the gift…if it’s going under the Christmas tree I like it to be wrapped, but if it’s a gift I’m giving away and I want it to look nice I’ll buy a nice bag and tissue paper, but I almost never give Christmas gifts to people outside my immediate family so don’t feel unloved if you don’t get anything…most of my siblings and best friends won’t get anything either!
2. Real tree or Artificial?
Real ofcourse…they smell divine…however, the last real Christmas tree I had (1996) I nearly accidentally killed myself trimming it. I don’t know what I was thinking…no I wasn’t thinking…I had the “brilliant idea” to use my sculpting mallet and chisel to cut off the bottom of the tree before putting it in water. I had the chisel in the wrong hand (Why? I don’t know! I never hold the chisel in the right hand it goes in the left!) And so I nearly killed myself when the chisel slipped off the tree (because my right hand never holds the chisel) and it landed on the opposite wrist. (I can show you the scar…it was a miracle I didn’t sever an artery. I was a millimetre away from fainting into in a large pool of blood and dying because I was on my own) Never trim a tree on your own! And NEVER trim a tree with a mallet and chisel…not unless you can’t bear another Crappy Christmas. It was clearly not my time to go! Anyway…we have an artificial tree…not as nice as a real tree, but less dangerous. Thankfully back in 1996 I had a friend who lived in the floor above me who was home…instead of going to a movie he took me to the Emergency room at the hospital where he then had to endure the embarrassment of being thought my husband. Doubtless before he corrected them they were thinking he was a really pathetic man to let his wife trim the tree and nearly kill herself. When we got back he insisted on sawing off the bottom of the tree. I don’t think he wanted to have to go back to ER and face any more traumatising questions! Bless!
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Eureka…I think…
I think I finally figured out where I’ve been going wrong with my latest story(A Companion for Life). I’m going back 23 pages and rewriting it. It’ll be the same story, but slightly different. I have all the pieces of the puzzle, but some pieces are from different puzzles and I’ve been trying to hammer them with my fists into this puzzle. I stayed up all night thinking about plot possibilities and I finally accepted that if I kept it as it was then the only logical next step would take me in an totally wrong direction…so back I went looking for the root of the problem and I found it. When you read the final version you’ll wonder what on earth I could possibly have done differently. I wish I had a crystal ball. Or better still, I wish I didn’t insist on thinking I know anything. That would help!
Still working or not working on that last chapter
I’m still working on that last chapter…which I’ve seperated into two chapters…go figure! At the moment I’ve got the last chapter from the heroine’s point of view, but I’m wondering if I need to shift…hmmm? Maybe there’s one MORE chapter? Please no! I hope I’m about one page from the end (how many times have I said this now?), but endings are tricky…it has to be just right. My work today consisted of deleting a paragraph and writing about twenty words. But I did write about 2000 words over the previous two days. I’m now at over 70,000 words. This is a miracle! [Read more…] about Still working or not working on that last chapter
Loving Miss Marple and missing things I’ve loved
The chest cold has been joined by a headcold. The last chapter is still awaiting completion. I tried to write yesterday and I couldn’t. Today has been equally unproductive. I was still awake when the Goblin came up the stairs this morning (I’d slept thirteen hours so I was up all night which I happily spent watching Miss Marple on Youtube) I jumped out of my chair and said, “Happy Thanksgiving!” He looked at me with raised Goblin eyebrows and said, “Thanksgiving is tomorrow.” “Oh…” I was very disapointed as it was the first time in years I’d remembered it was Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving…or so I thought. He had to be punished with a Fairy hug. I probably won’t remember to tell him today. C’est ma vie!
I really enjoyed watching Miss Marple. I watched most of ‘A Pocketful of Rye’. Joan Hickson is the best; apparently Agatha Christie once said to Hickson that she hoped Hickson would one day play Miss Marple. Excellent taste! I love Miss Marple. If I had a daughter I’d name her Jayne after five great Janes (Jane Austen, Jayne Eyre, Jayne Marple, Jane Glazebrook and the lovely Jane whose last name I can’t remember so we’ll call her Jane Doe). [Read more…] about Loving Miss Marple and missing things I’ve loved