Pay it Forward

Recently Teresa ran Pay it forward on her blog.  She had replied to another blogger and they had replied to another. I replied to Teresa and she sent me some lovely tea-lights, and a handmade card and gift tag from her very crafty friend. (There would be a picture but my camera is nowhere to be seen!). I loved them soo much that I used the candles the same night. The parcel arrived quite unexpectedly one gloomy day at work and really cheered me up!

The idea for Pay it Forward is to send the first three people who comment three small gifts. In return they will do the same.

This reminds me of the film Pay it Forward with the little boy from Sixth Sense doing random acts of kindness.

Now it is my turn. I am really excited about buying these little gifts! I already have some ideas. So its over to you! SO leave a comment in the box!

Visiting Time at FlashShot

I have a very, very short piece up at Flashshot today. Visiting Time is about nuns. This story was originally over 500 words long but then I pruned and then pruned some more until I reached 78 words.

You can read Visting Time here or on FlashShot's homepage. The last ten posts are usually kept on the website so it could disappear in ten days or so. If it does than I will publish it on the blog.

Wordcount

This week has been full of literary delights.
WordPLAY on Tuesday, reading a great book at the moment and also a few exciting things in the pipeline. This includes me doing Pay It Forward in the next week or so. Basically three people will get a present from me and then they will do the same. But more on that in a future post. Also there will be a guest post in December. More details in a future post too!

Actually writing this week has been good but not as much as usual. I wanted to do some last night but a headache saw that session cancelled.

Over all word count for the novel - 67,569.
I am now three quarters of the way!

I also like this post on Angry Robot Book's website - Its about National Novel Writing Month. I especially like the paragraph saying that even 500 words a day is good enough. You are a writer even if you don't complete the task. And writing in one month only does not make you a GOOD writer. Practice does. I like Novel writing month just for the motivation but I tried once when I was a student and failed. Now there is a full time job, other complications - I like the pace I'm writing this novel.

You can read the article here.

WordPLAY Aftermath

Last night was brilliant.

At first I was worried having looked at the event page on Facebook and saw there were a LOT of people coming. Deep breaths, deep breaths. I thought I might stumble over my words, read the wrong page, stutter like a nervous wreak but a few vodka and cokes and the nerves seemed to evaporate.

I read 'Blood on your Graduation Gown.' Most of the story is based on true events e.g. me getting hit on the nose by a motarboard. Not good. Painful at the time but now a comedic piece of fiction. I got some laughs from the audience which was brilliant! Also the other performers were great too. My groupie My boyfriend had a great time too!

I would definitely recommend reading or even attending the event. The Good Ship in Kilburn is a really nice venue with the stage tucked into a lower level area.

Payment was chocolate and vodka. You can't ask for more really!

WordPlay is Tonight

(Click image for more details).

Preparing for a Reading - Part Three

WordPlay is Tuesday. Panic. Panic. Panic panic.

Preparation Step Three: Last ditch Attempts

• Reading through story. Checking for an errors and that it also flows on the tongue.
• Printing off the manuscript in HUGE font so you can read it tomorrow evening.
• Planning outfit - flowery dress, cowboy boots and tights. Okay, okay. Planning the outfit was my first thought.
• Trying not to get nervous or too over the top. Deep breath, it will be fine.
• REMEMBER to google directions before leaving work tomorrow!

Preparing for a Reading - Part Two

WordPlay is next Tuesday. Major panic.

Preparation Step Two: Making Patrick Bateman* Proud

• People have recently been asking me where they can read my stories. So I write down my blog link on scraps of paper. Than I thought, having seen other bloggers doing the same - how about Business cards? All the recommendations were for Moo.com. You have full design control. So I did. I went for 'writer' on them because that is what I do, I write. Putting 'Author' on them is not quite true. An author to me is someone with a book published.

I went for pictures of my bookcase and also the name of my blog in scrabble form. I like them. Business cards always remind me of this scene from American Psycho.

• Tell friends and family. I have sent text messages and also the event invitation to friends on Facebook. Most have declined or not answered. Im not going to badger anyone but just remember that I have been bored (sorry, I mean entertained) at your performances/gigs/concerts so its payback.

• Also here's the poster for the event:

*Patrick Bateman is the main character from American Psycho.

Watching from the Sidelines at Girls with Insurance

I have a new piece up at Girls with Insurance.

Watching from the Sidelines 

This is one of my more experimental stories. Beginning, Middle and End exist in different places. Its a ghost story but not a scary story.

I wrote this piece for one of my fiction modules in my third year. The original was in ten handmade phamplets plus an instruction book. This story is also special to me as it was the first piece written after my operation. That was the point that I knew that if I wanted to write than it was time for me to pull up my socks and do some writing.

Preparing for a Reading - Part One

WordPlay is next Tuesday. Mini panic.

Preparation Step One: The Story


I have 10 mins to read a short story. The last time I did something like that was back in undergraduate times. In one presentation I used Jelly Babies as props. This time it is me, a mic and a handwritten story by me. Scary. Scary. Feelings of nervousness and excitement are colliding at the moment. 

1.) Pick a story to read. This sounds simple doesn't it? Well for me it was a long, hard task. I practiced with a few pieces. One was too, too short and another was 13 mins and I was only half way through the story. A story for ten mins. The BBC website says that between 1900-2000 words is ten mins.

2.) Edit said story. The one I will be reading is a new, fresh, unpublished piece. The story will be ready for Tuesday.

3.) Read the story to yourself. Read the story out loud. Pick the right 'voice'. Maybe the posh one, not the duck one.

4.) More reading.

Word Count Wednesday

The novel has been put to one side for the moment. I have prepping to do for the reading next week. I have finally picked a story but more on that in the next blog post.

I seem to have been wrong after initially thinking chapter four and five were going to be the hardest to write. Chapter four was the funniest to write for a long time. Chapter five is fitting together with the rest of the story better than the first post-it notes. I don't think planning should be strict. As markers and reminders, yes but not regimented.

Over all word count for novel - 64,735