Back!

Yes, I'm back. The holiday was amazing, which I'll talk more of very soon. I've spent the last few days catching up with the responses to the last few A-Z posts as well as dealing with three holdalls' worth of laundry. (Four people get through a lot of clothes in two weeks.) It's been really great seeing what you're all up to and it seems the post-Challenge lull is well and truly over.
To ease myself gently back into the blogosphere, I thought I'd do a round-up of the tags and award I've received recently, which is also a great opportunity to give a shout-out to some of the amazing people I either met, or got to know better during the course of April. So here goes...

I was tagged twice with the Lucky 7 meme, by Tobi Summers and Cortney Pearson. Thank you ladies! Although it's my third time of doing the meme, it's my first time doing so legitimately, as I now have an actual page 77. Woo! Here's a quick recap of the rules:

1. Go to page 77 of your current MS
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next 7 lines as they're written-- no cheating!
4. Tag 7 other writers
5. Let them know!

Once she had got in, and put on her seatbelt, another thought occurred to her. What if anyone recognised her car? She hadn’t changed the numberplate, after all. After some deliberation she decided that it wouldn’t matter. She would rather not be recognised, but she had every right to be herself, driving around during her time off. Just as long as no one knew about the man currently fast asleep on the couch in her undercover flat.

Kevin or one of the others would definitely know her car and numberplate. The only icky point was if she ran into them while filling up the car with her stuff. But why would they be there?

And I will tag...

1. Kyra Lennon
2. Madeline Mora-Summonte
3. Mina Burrows
4. Nicole
5. J.L. Campbell
6. Elise Fallson
7. C.B. Wentworth




Then the other day Alyssa over at Life Is Good nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger award. Thank you! You should check out her blog if only for the cute pandas.

1. Thank and link back to the person who presented you with the award
2. Answer the ten questions below
3. Share ten random facts/thoughts about yourself
4. Nominate seven worthy blogs for the Kreativ Blogger Award

What is your favorite song?


It's incredibly tough to pick one out. But you can't go wrong with Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

What is your favorite dessert?

Rhubarb crumble and custard.

What ticks you off?

People who love to moan.


When you're upset what do you do?


Think about what's good in my life.


Which is/was your favorite pet?


Our cat when I was growing up, Poppy, who lived from when I was five up to 19.


Which do you prefer to wear, black or white?


Black.


What is your biggest fear?

Losing the people I love.


What is your attitude mostly?

Optimistic.


What is perfection?


Being with my family somewhere away from normal stresses and chores (luckily I just got to do that), other than that, being really happy with something I've written!


What is your guilty pleasure?

Spongebob Squarepants.




So here's ten random things... I'll try to think of ones I haven't said before!


1. My great-great-grandfather was an unknown Greek sailor (I think...) There's a good story there!
2. My college newspaper won Best College Publication at the 2005 Herald Scottish Student Press Awards. I was Features Editor.
3. I trained as a cocktail barman in one of my jobs but now I can't remember any of them.
4. I tried to become a songwriter for about a year despite having no discernible musical talent.
5. As a kid I had a passion for Enid Blyton, even the Malory Towers books which were supposed to be for girls.
6. My brother and I kept stick insects when we were kids. One time we got one which we didn't realise was a pregnant female. We ended up with 200 babies which we had to distribute among friends and pet shops.
7. I went on a health kick when I was about 14. I used to get up at 6am, go for a run around Preston Park in Brighton, then do my paper round before going to school. It didn't last.
8. I've never watched "The Sound of Music" and make every effort to avoid it when it's on TV.
9. I got off a bus in the wrong city while travelling. I took a 42 hour ride from Buenos Aires to Rio. After 36 hours the bus stopped at Sao Paulo and everyone got off. I followed suit, thinking in my delirium the journey had ended. It took 24 hours to realise my mistake.
10. I briefly took fencing classes.


I will pass the award on to:


1. Liwi
2. Susan Oloier
3. The Beans
4. Mel
5. Hilary Melton-Butcher
6. Chuck
7. Tobi Summers


Enjoy everyone. Stay tuned for a review of my cruise as well as details of my 200 follower giveaway! :o)

Z is for Zzzzz

We did it! It's the last day of the A-Z Challenge, and my series "26 Things that Made Me a Writer". Ready to collapse?

Well, that's what this post is about: the importance as a writer of taking a break now and again. Putting your feet up. Getting those Z's in. I'm on holiday right now, hopefully, as you read this, doing exactly that (my long-suffering wife will attest to my snoring problem).

We can all get frustrated while writing. Run down a likely-looking alley only to find it ends in a brick wall. Jump off that plane before realising you've no parachute. In other words, you thought you were getting somewhere but maybe your ingenious idea isn't seeming so good. Or you could just be out of inspiration.

Walk away, if only for a couple of days. Indulge in another of your favourite pastimes, such as watching a movie, or take the kids to the beach. Try to put all thoughts of your WIP out of your mind. When you're immersed in writing every day, focussed on meeting those daily word counts, you sometimes can't see the wood for the trees. (And you get tired and end up slipping in cliches like that one!) If you remove yourself for a while, you might just find that the right way forward comes to you of its own volition. Even if you're not stuck, a pre-planned holiday is a good opportunity to take stock.

The end of a first draft is also a great time to take a break. It could be what spurs you on to get to the finish.

I've certainly found that time away has helped me think about how to address problems in my writing. How about you?

And what about your plans post-Challenge? A well-earned rest, or are you straight back to business?

NB: As I mentioned, I'm currently on holiday until May 13th. I will do my best to respond to comments while away, but if not, rest assured I will get back to you on my return!

Y is for Yakety-Yak

"Y" hello (groan), almost at the end of my A-Z series "26 Things that Made Me a Writer".

This one relates a bit more to what makes me a blogger, I think. I try to keep the yakking in my writing to a minimum!

I can be pretty quiet a lot of the time, but when it comes to a subject I love and feel passionate about, I go nineteen to the dozen. And unsurprisingly my favourite subject is writing. That's why it's so great for me and others of my ilk to have an outlet like this.

Before, I would have internal conversations about how to go about things in my writing that seemed to go round and round interminably. Now, that still goes on, but interspersed with my own thoughts are those of my fellow bloggers, which may have originated in a post, comment or email. Those little snippets are often hugely insightful and inspiring.

I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to air what's on my mind and read all the thoughts of my friends out there. It makes writing so much more exciting and motivates me no end. I covered this a bit in my "C" post, but I can't sing the praises of the blogosphere enough! So, a big thanks to all of you for being here - you brighten up my day, and I'm overwhelmed that some of you have returned day after day during the Challenge! :o)

So, here's to yakking about writing and whatever else - let's all continue to learn from each other!

Do you enjoy yakking on here?

NB: I am away as from today until May 13th. I will do my best to respond to comments during my trip, but if not, rest assured I will get back to you upon my return!

X is for X Marks the Spot

"X" today in my A-Z series "26 Things that Made Me a Writer". Nearly there!!

I thought I'd make today's post a little more creative and fun. What better way than with "X Marks the Spot"?

We all loved pirate stories when we were kids. Heck, most adults still love them. I didn't read Treasure Island, the flashpoint for many a pirate trope, until I was 26. That spirit of adventure is infectious. Finding buried treasure would be about the coolest thing in the world, wouldn't it?

So bear with me, I'm coming to the point. Finding that treasure is a lot like finding a good story, or even having a story but finding its meaning. You start off without a map, so first of all you have to find that, by which point you might have already covered quite a lot of terrain and have an idea of the lie of the land. Or then again, possibly not.

Then you have to learn how to read the map. It might look pretty daunting, with mountains, forests, bandits and spooky caves. How are you going to find your way through? A lot of these maps weren't exactly accurate. The "X" could be tiny and almost impossible to find. If you decide to take the boat and sail round to that handy-looking cove, better watch out for those sharks and assorted sea monsters. In other words, trying to take shortcuts might not be such a good idea.

So let's say you think you've reached the magic spot and you start to dig. That can be back-breaking work. Who knows how far down that fabled trove is? And you have to hope that no one got there before you.

But if they did, hopefully what you learned along the way will be just as, if not more, valuable.

Pirate fan? Does writing feel like a treasure hunt to you?

W is for Writing

"W" day in my series "26 Things that Made Me a Writer".

This might seem an obvious one for today, but the number one thing that made me a writer is writing.

A long time ago, I used to dabble in writing. I'd have the odd idea which I'd scribble down and shove somewhere, probably under the bed, without thinking it was very good. Then, about six weeks later, I would sit down and have a go at writing it, which took a phenomenal effort.

I never finished these stories. They tended to go round in circles, or I'd get stuck and walk away. I think my problem was that I expected everything to be perfect as soon as I put it down. My ideas weren't perfect, so I was reluctant to work on them, and then I didn't like what I wrote.

When I decided to take writing seriously I wrote a novel. I'd come to the conclusion that I couldn't nail short stories, and I wanted something that would demand a sustained effort. I think it paid off. I learnt to let go during that process, to an extent, and realise that getting anything down on paper was better than agonising.

Now, I feel like something approaching a proper writer. My relationship with a blank page used to be strained and awkward. I was embarrassed. I still feel like that a bit, especially on a bad day, but what's really helped me is rhythm and routine, as well as an emotional investment in my characters. I need to stick around to find out how things pan out for them.

Tell me a little bit about your writing journey.

V is for Voice

Welcome to "V" in my A-Z series "26 Things that Made Me a Writer".

You know that new TV show, "The Voice"? There's a US and a UK version. If you don't, it's a twist on the talent show format where contestants sing to a group of judges with their chairs facing the other way. If they like what they hear, they turn round to see the person.

Well, it's always been like that with writers. We send off an email or letter to an agent or publisher, and they judge us based on our writing, while knowing the bare minimum about us (because there's hardly space for a detailed biog in a covering letter). Voice is vital. And unlike the bricks and mortar of good writing (sentence construction, structure, grammar), it can't be taught. Your voice is the way it is, although of course it can be developed with practice to be at its best.

Not everyone is going to like your voice. They could be hooked by your story and intrigued by your characters, but it's hard to keep reading a book if you don't like the way it's told. But there could be plenty of others who are drawn in by your mellifluous phrasing or clipped prose. Like everything it's subjective, but it's wonderful that every voice is unique.

I'm glad I have my voice, and I wouldn't change it for anything. It's me. Let's celebrate our voices today!

Do you like your voice? Do you work at it, or find that it comes naturally?

U is for Unfinished

"U" are welcome to today's post in my series "26 Things that Made Me a Writer". (OK, I need to stop doing that!)

I was going to title this post "Unstoppable", but that sounds a bit arrogant. Unfinished is good. I'm referring to that thing - a bug, a demon, an itch, or whatever you want - that drives us on to keep writing no matter what.

I guess I must be a real writer because it's got me. It's very hard to envisage a time when I would stop, because there's always more I need to do - more stories, more characters wanting to be heard, more dreaming. And there's that pesky search for perfection to think about - OK, we all know it doesn't exist but I think most of us want to give it our best shot. My best shot is probably a long way off!

If I was marooned (love that word) on a desert island, I would use a stick to write in the sand. If I lost both my hands, I would learn to dictate. Whatever the situation, I would always want to be working.

Do you think you'll ever be finished?

A quick note: I won't be able to comment as much for the rest of the Challenge, as we're preparing to go away on Saturday for a couple of weeks, first to my parents' house for a few days and then on a Baltic cruise. I'll always reply to anyone who leaves a comment, but I'm a couple of days behind on that, so that will be my priority along with continuing work on my WIP and drafting the last couple of posts, which I'll need to prepare in advance. Hopefully I'll be able to respond to any comments on those last two posts from my parents' house, but there's a chance it'll take a couple of weeks!

I know this sounds a bit lame, and I've been horrible about checking out new blogs on the sign-up list, but the news is this will remain up for the rest of the year so I'll get to some more after I get back. I feel lucky to have got to know some great people, though. Hope everyone is enjoying the last week of the Challenge! Can't believe it's nearly over!