Awards and other news

Hello again. First off, apologies for the lack of any post over the weekend - we had been to see Snow Patrol at the SECC in Glasgow on Saturday (the gig was brilliant, by the way), stayed over and came back to muchas dishes and laundry. Then on Tuesday, my older stepdaughter turned 15, so there was a lot to organise around that. I know, excuses, excuses... At least it's been nice things that have occupied my time. We have a wedding on Saturday, but rest assured normal service will resume thereafter. Apart from the following weekend when we're making a pilgrimage to Disneyland Paris. I think things will settle down after that...

As you may have worked out, I have been fortunate enough to have two more awards bestowed upon me. On to those in a minute, but I thought I'd do a quick progress report while I'm here. My WIP is going pretty swimmingly (by my standards at least), and is at nearly 20k words now. I feel I've got into a much better rhythm and routine since having the weekday mornings to write. How about you, how are all your projects going?

Now the awards. I have been given the Versatile Blogger for a second time, as well as the Kreativ Blogger, from my estimable namesake Nick Hight over at Writing Fire. Thanks, Nick! If you're not already following his blog, it's a must. He's only a teenager, but you would never know it - his posts are amazingly insightful and offer solid advice. Sorry Nick, I probably sound pretty patronising, but I know at that age I wouldn't have had the discipline or wherewithal to do anything like that. Hats off to you.

So, let's see if I can drag up seven more juicy titbits of gossip about myself. Good word, titbits... They're going to be mostly from the realm of childhood again, I reckon.

1. When I was a kid I had an American penpal. The only thing I remember about his letters is that he told me his favourite band were Def Leppard. He also said they were German and that their name translated as "The Leopard". I later found out this was utterly wrong.

2. I once appeared on a French TV chat show when I went to Strasbourg with my French A-level group. With the group, not on my own. Luckily, I didn't say a word.

3. Sticking with the foreign exchange theme, I've got a story that I might well regret sharing. At 14 I went on a German exchange. We went in conjunction with another school in my local area. On the last night of the trip, we were divided into groups comprising of one pupil from our school, one from the other school and our two German counterparts, and each group was taken out for a treat by the German parents. In my group the other English pupil was a girl, and I thought, foolishly, that I might try and impress her - my reasoning being, "Well, she's from a different school, she doesn't know I'm a nerd". I didn't bank on the fact that the parents decided to take us ice skating - the one and only time I have tried this. My attempts at wooing were an epic fail, as I spent the entire night going round the edge very slowly while holding on to the side. The English girl nicknamed me Speedy Gonzales.

4. I have zero aptitude for any sports whatsoever, as I possess no physical co-ordination. (See above.)

5. I can't eat anything with tomatoes, mushrooms, mint or coconut. No dietary reason, I just don't like them. Cooked tomatoes are OK - I can eat pizza, just not one with mushrooms. And I don't know what I'd do on a desert island.

6. My first gig was actually a festival - the Brighton Essential Festival in Stanmer Park, 1996. It was the tail end of Britpop and we saw loads of bands - some still around today, some long forgotten. Ocean Colour Scene, Super Furry Animals, Marion, Echobelly, Menswear... I could have linked all those, but it's pretty late and I'm not even sure the last three would have anything to link to. But feel free to hit Wikipedia if you're feeling driven.

7. I once created my own fantasy role-playing adventure book. You know, the kind where you have to roll a dice to determine your stamina and luck.

And now for the erstwhile individuals who will each receive both of these awards:

1. Shallee McArthur @ Life, the Universe and Writing

2. Paul D Brazill @ You Would Say That, Wouldn't You?

3. Ted Cross

4. Stu Ayris @ Tollesbury Time Forever

5. Kathy McKendry @ Imagine Today

6. Shelley Sly @ Stories in the Ordinary

7. L C Frost @ [sic]

8. Shell Flower @ Tangent Shell

Some of these blogs are pretty new to me, but there is a great variety of content in all of them. I'll be round to notify you all of course, but it will need to be tomorrow as I'm off to bed! Take care.