Happy Friday everyone! The sun has been shining in West Essex, and I hope it was for you too.
Despite what I said in the last post, the GBBO had a few more programmes to wring the last drops out of it, so that’s kept me going over the last few weeks. I love the dynamic between Mary and Paul, I wonder if they’ll make a spin off cookery show. I’m making Mary Berry’s tarte tatin this weekend and I’m quite excited about it. Fingers crossed it doesn’t taste burned, or have a soggy bottom.
Since the clocks went back, despite having an extra hour to use it’s definitely affected my mood: Wednesday I felt like a grey cloud was hanging over me, and no matter what anyone said, it all just seemed a bit pointless and I just wanted to return to bed. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, I couldn’t, so instead I resolved to start Operation Winter Blues: buying a light lamp and taking some 5HTP tablets. At this time of year I can physically feel myself being drawn into the jaws of winter. Last winter I didn’t write, and had quite a dark time, but this year I will be working on book number 2, and I know this will improve my mood no end.
The cats are on winter feeding time now, so they’re fed an hour earlier every evening. They’re both going outside much less now it’s cold. Sometimes I leave the house in the morning and return that evening to find them both in exactly the same place on the sofa. I ask them if they’ve done any chores while I’ve been away, they answer with a look that says ‘as if,’ which any cat owner will know exactly.
At the UK GLBTQ Fiction meet in September, I told Anna Martin (her blog's definitely NSFW) I’d definitely do NaNoWriMo, but have completely and utterly failed to do so. I have a busy November: no free weekends; busy weeks and I’m still plotting and putting the bones on the character biogs for book 2. So, as such, I’m not at a stage where I’m ready to just dive into the new world and write. I know what you’re thinking, excuses, excuses but I really don’t feel ready. Maybe next year...I wrote the last book at a pretty steady pace of about 3-4000 words a week, and managed to fit that round other things. Maybe I’m more of a literary plodder, than sprinter. I also like to have a good idea of where the story’s going before starting to write. I know not everyone does, but I’m a planner in pretty much all aspects of life, so I’m a planner for writing too.
I’m helping out with the 2013 UK GLBTQ Fiction meet and worked on some ideas this morning, which I hope help make the next event bigger, brighter and better. Check out the website to sign up to a newsletter.
I went home for a few days last week, some time with friends and Mum. I persuaded Mum to de-clutter an entire room so it can now be used as a guest bedroom. Clutter included: an exercise bike and rowing machine not used since shell suits were fashionable; spare cushions for a long gone sofa; and the family’s first VHS video recorder. I spent all my teenage years wishing my parents lived in a town, like most of my other friends, so I’d be spared late night bus trips or drives back to the countryside. Now when I visit Mum, I’m so pleased she lives there, isometimes I feel like I've stepped into a fantasy novel, walking through the forest. It makes going back all the more like stepping back in time. I met my friend H for dinner and she has inadvertently given me some great character ideas for book 2. It's funny where you get ideas from isn't it? It can be listening to a song, having a conversation with a friend, over-hearing someone on a bus, anywhere.
Next month I’m guesting on Charlie Cochrane's blog on 1 December, which is also World AIDS Day. If you want to hear about my inspiration for Best Friends Perfect, which character I’d call on in a tight situation, or the book I’d write with no constraints, check out Charlie’s blog next month.
Until next time
Liam x
Despite what I said in the last post, the GBBO had a few more programmes to wring the last drops out of it, so that’s kept me going over the last few weeks. I love the dynamic between Mary and Paul, I wonder if they’ll make a spin off cookery show. I’m making Mary Berry’s tarte tatin this weekend and I’m quite excited about it. Fingers crossed it doesn’t taste burned, or have a soggy bottom.
Since the clocks went back, despite having an extra hour to use it’s definitely affected my mood: Wednesday I felt like a grey cloud was hanging over me, and no matter what anyone said, it all just seemed a bit pointless and I just wanted to return to bed. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, I couldn’t, so instead I resolved to start Operation Winter Blues: buying a light lamp and taking some 5HTP tablets. At this time of year I can physically feel myself being drawn into the jaws of winter. Last winter I didn’t write, and had quite a dark time, but this year I will be working on book number 2, and I know this will improve my mood no end.
The cats are on winter feeding time now, so they’re fed an hour earlier every evening. They’re both going outside much less now it’s cold. Sometimes I leave the house in the morning and return that evening to find them both in exactly the same place on the sofa. I ask them if they’ve done any chores while I’ve been away, they answer with a look that says ‘as if,’ which any cat owner will know exactly.
At the UK GLBTQ Fiction meet in September, I told Anna Martin (her blog's definitely NSFW) I’d definitely do NaNoWriMo, but have completely and utterly failed to do so. I have a busy November: no free weekends; busy weeks and I’m still plotting and putting the bones on the character biogs for book 2. So, as such, I’m not at a stage where I’m ready to just dive into the new world and write. I know what you’re thinking, excuses, excuses but I really don’t feel ready. Maybe next year...I wrote the last book at a pretty steady pace of about 3-4000 words a week, and managed to fit that round other things. Maybe I’m more of a literary plodder, than sprinter. I also like to have a good idea of where the story’s going before starting to write. I know not everyone does, but I’m a planner in pretty much all aspects of life, so I’m a planner for writing too.
I’m helping out with the 2013 UK GLBTQ Fiction meet and worked on some ideas this morning, which I hope help make the next event bigger, brighter and better. Check out the website to sign up to a newsletter.
I went home for a few days last week, some time with friends and Mum. I persuaded Mum to de-clutter an entire room so it can now be used as a guest bedroom. Clutter included: an exercise bike and rowing machine not used since shell suits were fashionable; spare cushions for a long gone sofa; and the family’s first VHS video recorder. I spent all my teenage years wishing my parents lived in a town, like most of my other friends, so I’d be spared late night bus trips or drives back to the countryside. Now when I visit Mum, I’m so pleased she lives there, isometimes I feel like I've stepped into a fantasy novel, walking through the forest. It makes going back all the more like stepping back in time. I met my friend H for dinner and she has inadvertently given me some great character ideas for book 2. It's funny where you get ideas from isn't it? It can be listening to a song, having a conversation with a friend, over-hearing someone on a bus, anywhere.
Next month I’m guesting on Charlie Cochrane's blog on 1 December, which is also World AIDS Day. If you want to hear about my inspiration for Best Friends Perfect, which character I’d call on in a tight situation, or the book I’d write with no constraints, check out Charlie’s blog next month.
Until next time
Liam x
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