Girl Number 9

I'm taking a brief procrastination break from the final edit of the second Tarot book, to let you know that Danny Stack has a great post which reminded me about the internet sensation Girl Number 9.

So if like me you don't tweet - 'cause face it there are more than enough other ways to procrastinate, or you do but you missed it, then now is the time to check it out.

All the episodes are free to view on the Girl Number 9 official website until the end of November and after that you can purchase the DVD with lots of behind the scenes goodies on board.

YAY! :)

Do you really want to be a writer?

Michelle Lipton has a great post discussing what you might want to take into consideration if you decide you really, really do want to be a screenwriter. Or, alternatively, if you already know in your bones that you are a writer, and you think maybe script writing is for you, then you really should read what she has to say. IMO. (click on her name above)

There are plenty of other screenwriters out there posting on the net that you might want to familiarise yourself with too - check out the links, over on the right.

The key concept is SELF EMPLOYED. Which is likely to go hand in hand with full time, or part-time, work as an employee in a day job that pays for the roof over your head and the food on your table. Because writing takes a long time to bear fruit - Terry Pratchett told me he couldn't give up the day job until he'd published his 6th book. In the event he waited until he had 7 books out, to be safe. (I quizzed him briefly at a book signing several years back as he kindly put his signature on my latest prized purchase.)
Even Phillip Barron has a day job, ask him, go-on. He may kill me. LOL.

Sad bast*rd.

I'm talking about me.

How many years has it been since I first saw the Welsh Whore and fell head-over-heels at first sight? Longer than I like to admit, 1994 ... when was that? Been a while.

And I haven't clapped eyes on him since 1998.

And now, I hear he's out and about again - - and my obession has switched itself from dull glow to fire on the hearth. Luckily it's not back up to full roar, but I guess that's only a matter of seeing his ugly mug again.

*SIGH*

Bollocks. I'm supposed to be writing and recouperating, not pining for someone I can never have. GRRR!!!

'Scuse my language, but FUCK!



What else has happened this month?

Oh yes, Producer No#1 is making encouraging noises about The Grim (A.K.A. The Legend of the Beast) again. :)

So, in the last few weeks:
* 2 books (full swing),
* the American Collaboration Rewrite (full swing),
* The Grim (peering at me from the darkest jungle),
* and the Welsh Whore is hogging all my thoughts.

I have to concentrate on writing.
Someone send me an "anti-love potion"? Please?

[UPDATE 21st November 2009: Thank you for the anti-love potion. :) Greatly appreciated!] *evil laughter*

da-na ... da-na-daa ...

Well, I could write all about my current health issues which are impacting on the day-job, in addition to the added stress of the Evi-- Wi-- (erm, I've said waaay too much) . . . the lovely lady my Father loves and dotes upon and won't hear a word said against: my Step Mother, who ... and it is nightmare-ish for all concerned, especially her ... has been diagnosed with a serious form of cancer (although no one is using the T word, or palliative) but they found it early and she should pull through fine after a long and trying dalliance with chemo, radio, and drugs over the next 6 months, probably.
And no, I wouldn't wish this on her, despite everything. But it reminds me of the HELL that was 2004/2005 when my mother died.

But all of the above is boring and painful and generally crappy. So instead I shall write about something wonderful!
When you're as low as you can get, anything nice that happens is wonderful, but this really, really is. Maybe.

WONDERFUL.

Okay - health impacting on day job, has also impacted on my self-esteem, so in order to regain my feelings of self-worth and the illusion of power, I decided to self-publish my two Tarot books (I'll point you at 'em when they're out - should be the next month or so).

So I'm doing the final edit on both books, getting them shipshape and up to scratch - basically quite a lot of work (as I'm having to learn some functions in word and in PDF that I've never used before), liaising with artists, and beginning to think I'm a bit busier that I wanted to be. But what the heck, I'm achieving my dream of seeing my work in print, and if no bugger buys them at the end of the day, so what. At least I'll have tried! :)

... and then ...



EEK!

Just when you thought The American collaboration had completely expired, and the producer was long gone, ... he's circled back. :) And I swear I saw him lick his lips!

Basically he wants a finished script in December.

We're still discussing. It's early days. But suddenly my workload seems to have grown exponentially.

And thankfully, you can write from your sick bed. - - Otherwise I'd be totally stuffed, mainly because I'd have already eaten through my arm with boredom.

Anyhow, WAY-HEY! :)

....

For those of you interested:
I had what was most likely swine flu back in July, and it doesn't go particularly well with Asthma (I was one of the first to get it just after they'd stopped testing and said "Ring your doctor"), and the after effects - for me - have been unpleasant. I was doing okay, but feeling crappy, and then in late September I got a temperature (a brief lurgy of some kind) and since then I have been totally wiped out. It really ain't pleasant. The doctor says post viral crapness can go on for many, many months. All I can say is, I hope not, because this ain't fun.
If you have the chance to get the vaccine, I would say take it... but obviously it's your choice and I'm not qualified in any way to give medical advice. It's just my opinion, for what it's worth.

Time to Nest

It’s that time of year again, when the nights are drawing in and dark o’clock comes earlier and earlier in the evening and hangs around far too long in the morning.
You try to ignore the clock and stay snuggled in bed, nesting.
(Sadly without the cat – my evil black and midnight Monster was run over last year by some scumbag who doesn’t believe speed limits exist at 3am. I found it very traumatic, I don’t want to talk about it.)

Snuggled in bed, nesting....

This morning it wasn’t my internal clock that woke me, it was a sound I recognise from way back when I was little and we lived in the middle of nowhere – the harsh, abrasive sound of a mouse chewing its way through cardboard.
Better than a rat, most definitely – I’ve got nothing against rats per se. Pet rats are lovely. But the wild ones ... they get my hackles up, when they’re not caught being very cute in that brief second when the light comes on and then they vanish at light speed.
Both sets of rodent are considered vermin, both sets can be very cute and “ooh-aah, look at its little nose, and its ickle paws. Aah.” And both sets can be very, very destructive. Chewing through cardboard is the least of their sins.
Mice like nesting in paper. As a writer I have a fair bit of paper hanging around; carefully stored in boxes – ideas and inspirations noted down over the years, to work on later.... So I guess mice love my environment as much as I do, but in a way that makes me panic.

I have set up two live traps (self-made, so it may be a disaster), and baited them. Hopefully I’ll catch the little bugger and transport him away somewhere safer. He, or *horrified gasp* she, can spend the winter nesting somewhere well away from me thank you very much.
My nest is mine, I tell you. MINE! Grrrrrrr.

Z'up?

So, where have I been? ...

Holiday, followed by family crisis, discovering facebook, writing, researching, mulling.

What am I doing next? More research and mulling, maybe some writing ... unless I procrastinate by getting the rust off the car and all the fun of discovering how to paint bodywork badly, that that involves.

In short, sorry about the lack of posts. I'm in hiding for the mo. Back as and when.