CC Devine Says...

Time Slips Away...

2010-09-03T19:53:00.003+01:00

Today's post over at the snazzily revamped Novel Racers is about time management and avoiding procrastination.

For me comes down to lists and and schedules and choices/compromises. Alas I don't always make the right ones and am ever optimistic with how much I can squeeze into my day.

The result of such optimism? One scary A&E trip at 5am toute seule, three GP appointments, many scans, expensive physio and ultrasound sessions. This chronic back episode has forced me to work from home and cancel EVERYTHING else in my life but who cares, I'm getting better and can walk which is an improvement!

Turns out the discs in my lumbar spine are protesting against my office job by day, writer's arse by night and the fact I breeze around under the illusion that they are 48 hours in a day to accommodate friends and family * blah, blah...

I recently discovered the Pomodoro Technique which is a quirky time management method that seems to be good for focusing on a number of tasks. Personally I've found it to be a bit too regimented when it comes to creative writing, if I'm in the flow I'm not going to stop it because my pomodoro (mobile phone alarm) has pinged.

I'd love to make this work for me in my office job but it would be extremely difficult...Click here for more info on how to use and apply the technique.

*except blogging or commenting on friends' blogs apparently!

RNA Conference 2010

2010-07-22T21:26:00.005+01:00

It's be a crazy few months and now it's mid-July and the New Writers' Scheme deadline is fast looming. Eeek. I've been doing lots of writing though so that's good plus lots of talking about writing! Jenny came to stay on her whistle stop trip back from Bangkok. As ever it was a delight to talk non-stop, ponder writing queries and discuss our progress in recent months.

From one Novel Racer to others who I caught up with at the RNA's fiftieth anniversary conference held at the fabulous Royal Naval College in Greenwich. It was great to see Kate Harrison and Liz Fenwick again as well as meeting the lovely Chris Stovell and Debs Carr in the flesh.

I thought that it would be daunting to turn up to a conference where I knew very few people. How wrong could I have been. The reaction I received as a first timer at the annual conference was overwhelmingly positive and friendly. I spent the weekend chatting to many lovely ladies such as Julia Williams and Giselle Green - who not only shared their experiences but were genuinely interested in where I was at with my own writing.

Attending the many inspiring sessions was worth the brain drain for all the useful tips and ideas that resonated for me. It was heartening to see that experienced and new writers all gained something from each session. I also gained a large number of books that I had to drag back across London. I got some in the goodie bag and also succumbed to eight novels at the book stall. Just couldn't resist! I'm currently racing through Giselle Green's fabulous A Sister's Gift.

I've taken pages of notes so will post here over the weekend.

Lisa Jewell Event

2010-05-17T12:20:00.004+01:00

Niece Senior is now six and a half loves reading to herself as well as reading aloud to her little sister. Recently they were reading a Winnie the Pooh book together in which Tigger exclaims that something is "ridickerous". Niece Senior burst out laughing at his error. "Silly Tigger can't even say ridiculious!"

The irony was lost on her but amused me no end. Soon enough she'll realise her own error but being a voracious reader certainly helps with subconsciously learning the grammar of your language and broadening one's vocabulary. As a modern languages student at university, a lecturer advised me to read as much as I could because those students that did stood out by having the best vocabulary and a strong grip on the grammar of the French (or Spanish? Can't remember) language.

Lisa Jewell

Last week I went to West Hampstead for Lisa Jewell reading/signing where I met lots of lovely people from the blogsphere and other unpublished writers. The event promoted Lisa's latest novel: After the Party and provided a selected few of us to see her being interviewed and ask her questions about her life and writing. Like Niece Senior, Lisa devoured books as a child and always enjoyed creative writing.

After the Party

The book follows the life of Jem and Ralph who were the lead characters in Lisa's Sunday Times bestseller debut novel, Ralph's Party. Lisa was quite unselfconscious when she wrote the book as she was unagented and without any kind of expectation from readers or a deadline to meet. Much of her writing is based on her own life and Ralph's Party was written at a time when she was young and carefree whereas with After the Party Lisa wanted to explore how a relationship changes when a couple have been together for a long time and the impact that children can have. The latter meant drawing on darker periods in her life than the fun-loving twenty-something life she had when writing her debut novel.

It wasn't long before Lisa realised that tackling After the Party would take nerves of steel - she found writing it hideous and couldn't bear to reread the original. Acutely aware of the pressure of readers who loved the first book Lisa struggled to bring balance to the novel, which was intensely personal and was upset by criticism that Jem was unsympathetic and unlikeable. Being based in part on her life, this seemed like a personal attack until Lisa too a step back to recognise her editor's point and work on creating a more balanced and likeable Jem. She credits her editor with making the book far better despite the initial agony of being faced with pages of constructive criticism.

On Being a Writer

According to Lisa the best bit of being a writer is holding the finished book, which never fails to thrill her, as well as enjoying the flexibility to work from home. The worst part of being a writer is the actual writing. This struck me as an odd thing to say but Lisa went on to explain that this is because the words on the page never quite fulfill the promise of the ideas in her head. The creative process and percolating of ideas does not always succesfully match a writer's own limitations. Her statement about not enjoying the writing book now makes a bit more sense.

Even though Lisa has laboured under the misconception that she had more male readers than she does (figures show her readership is predominantly female) she writes for women who don't want to read books stuff with female chick lit cliches. An invisible little man sits on her shoulder and keeps her in check. I think this is the reason why she is so popular and one of my favourite female writers.

In terms of writing method Lisa told us that she used to write and rewrite but now keeps going and doesn't plot (agile planning). She's doesn't believe that she's any good at short stories or journalism and therefore would find it impossible to write a screenplay. Recently she has interest in 31 Dream Street being optioned but is absolutely fine with the idea of someone else writing the screenplay even at the risk of a film that does not faithfully represent her book. It's a risk she's prepared to take because the toll of trying to write a screenplay would be too much. If Ralph's Party or After the Party were to be made into films Lisa would like to see Audrey Tatou as Jem (we'll ignore the French accent!) and Tom Hardy as Ralph.

Next up is a book about sperm donors! To find out more and to get access to exclusive news and writing info sign up here or here on Lisa's facebook page.

Anzac Day

2010-04-26T07:01:00.002+01:00

Getting up at 3.45 yesterday morning was a bit of a killer especially when I went to bed at that time on Friday night and had to get up early to look after the kids on Saturday.

Aussie Flower and I trooped up to Hyde Park Corner where for the 5am start of the annual London Anzac Day Dawn Service. Antipodeans and other nationalities made their way there any which way they could: car, night bus, foot, bike, skateboard.

Courier vans, police cars and night buses whooshed past; you could see bewildered revellers peering out of the buses wondering what the hell 3,000 odd people were gathered for at the crack of dawn in central London. People of all ages were dressed in running gear, uniform, smart suits bearing their medals or winter coats to protect against the dawn chill.

The service alternates between the Kiwi memorial and the Australian one which are located either side of Wellington Arch. This year it was the Kiwis who led the service with beautiful and heart-breaking readings and poems written by Anzac servicemen who knew they were not coming home and if they did, that they would be forever haunted by the horrors of ghastly warfare.

A tear rolled down my cheek before the reader of the first letter from a Lieutenant to his wife back in New Zealand had even finished the second sentence. There was singing by a Maori cultural group, hymns and wreath laying following by the lump in throat inducing Last Post. More prayers and the British, Kiwi and Australian national anthems wrapped up proceedings before a brief laying of wreaths at the Australian memorial.

We were back home and I was tucked up in bed again by 7am. Lovely!

How To Assess Your Manuscript

2010-04-22T23:41:00.002+01:00

So despite Saturday's misadventure I went back to the London Book Fair early on Wednesday morning and breezed through the gates. I went past the permatanned women on the reception, I rattled down the empty aisles and noticed dozens of bored looking individuals manning empty stands until I reached The Literary Consultancy's Assessing Your Manuscript session.

The first half was effectively a soft sell of how the TLC can help writers...but happily the second half was much more enlightening and so I will share my patchy notes from Rebecca Swift's talk:

The best writers are those who are both filled with self-confidence and anxiety about their work. There is a direct correlation between the over-confident writer and the poor quality of their work.
A writer wrote 27 full novels and had them neatly filed in his attic before he achieved publication and went on to be a remarkable writer - now that is a guy who has self-belief (alas Rebecca could not recall his name).
Economy of prose is very attractive and suggests a writer confident enough to be to the point.
It's an obvious one but avoid cliches and even more so in the opening chapters - this will not persuade an agent or publisher that you are the next talented writer they must sign up.
The days of submitting a synopsis and your first three chapters without having completed the novel are over.* DO NOT do this nor should you ever send in your first draft. First drafts are meant to be crap (boy can I testify to that! I cringe that I showed it to anyone at all much less agents). The fact is that either way you have to finish the damn thing so better to finish it, redraft and then submit. Agents can't go to publishers without the finished book. All obvious stuff.
One agent had 800 meetings scheduled (!) for the fair but almost all were cancelled due to the travel chaos. This particular fair would have provided unagented writers the perfect opportunity to nab an agent and pitch their work. I bet some will manage to secure an agent this way, unfortunately I'm not at this stage yet.

* this is what Lisa Jewell did but things have changed since she was first published.

Back to School Blues

2010-04-19T20:58:00.006+01:00

I reckon that my insides look a bit like this:

Rusted and broken.

I've been existing on crap food, too much coffee and alot of adrenalin lately. The only form of exercise has involved staggering to the bus stop of a morning and the odd pilates class where I collapse at the first mention of locating one's core. Naturally a new regime got off to a flying start today. My normal trick is excellent behaviour until at least 12.30pm on a Monday and then things start to slip. Today was not an exception.

Anwway, it's no wonder that my sleep patterns have been bad. It's not helped by lying in the dark with a gazillion ideas fighting for attention in my head. Sometimes getting up to jot down a solution to a problem with my current wip or an idea for the next one does the job and I hop back into bed and somehow manage to go to sleep. Alas most of the time it does not.

I get excited and then my brain whirrs and new ideas or thoughts come and they get intermingled with anxiety about work and the growing To Do lists for both the office and home. It's great but not so hot when I wake up looking like a ghoul with eyes that have receded into the back of my head, an alabaster complexion and wild hair. It's not very becoming for a gal!

Last night was a typical back to school tomorrow Sunday night: that sinking back-to-school-haven't-done-my-homework feeling descended early. Whether it's school or work it's still the eve of a new week with all that that may bring. I can't even say it had anything to do with not doing my homework because I was a) a bit of a swot and b) a scaredy cat and afraid of what would happen if I didn't (it was an all girls convent school...). I think that I was just anxious about whether what I had done was good enough.

Funny how that feeling still lingers and prevents sleep from coming. Adulthood simply brings a new mixture of thoughts and aspirations and worries - they're just packaged differently.

London Book Fair

2010-04-18T10:12:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I went to the London Book Fair's How to Get Published Masterclass with Danuta Kean, Carole Blake, Lionel Shriver and others.

It was the first time I had signed up for one of these things so I had little expectation but two hours later emerged blinking into the sunshine feeling that I'd been had. Me and dozens of others going by going by the comments I overheard in the queue for the ladies'. One lady had travelled from Nottingham and was signed up for the following session on screenplay writing but was contemplating an afternoon wallowing in the sun instead.

Most of the session lacked substance despite the odd interesting tidbit. I came away feeling quite miffed that my purse was forty quid lighter and disappointed that such an esteemed panel had drifted and dawdled and little meaningful information was imparted to their audience.

On the plus side London Book Fair has spurred me on in my re-write and focused my mind. Attracted by the one-to-one manuscript assessment sessions offered by The Literary Consultancy (TLC) I reworked my synopsis and furiously re-wrote my opening chapter making it tighter and sharper than I thought it could be. I thought it unlikely that I would gain a spot given that my work is decidedly unliterary but I figured that I had nothing to lose in trying.

I'm glad I did because I have been struggling with this rewrite as I've just been keen to get the revised story down and intended to tinker with the language later. This past week has reminded me that I write because I love language. That may make me sound like a pretentious tosser but it's true and despite not getting a TLC one-to-one spot in the end, I am pleased that the exercise showed me that I need to tighten the writing as I go along - it keeps me more engaged.

How about you?

Delights of Thailand (cheese alert!)

2010-03-21T18:56:00.011Z

Not those kinds of delights - more of that later. No, I'm talking about the kind that meant I enjoyed Chinese New Year celebrations in Bangkok, a reunion with lovely university friends, paddling in the sea with the bride the day before her wedding, sunbathing and chatting by the pool hours before the big event.

The wedding: beautiful readings and speeches, fantastic scenery, top tunes, merriment, drinking, eating and dancing on the sand. Making wishes as we set off paper lanterns, talking non-stop as if our lives depended on it and wading into the warm sea water at midnight to cool off (full clothed!).

I was acutely aware throughout the whole trip that it was a special one not only because its purpose was the marriage of two good friends but because this group of very old friends will be unlikely to enjoy an extended period of time together again. Some of them are already married and hoping to start families soon, others are/will be restricted by work, mortgages, lack of funds, career changes, geography etc. For want of sounding cheesy I felt that it was a special holiday which reminded me of why these friends are my friends and to get to know a new addition to the group a bit better. Such great fun!

Thai beer, tropical temperatures, fire throwers on the beach, outside showers, temples, fresh sea food, flip flops in February, lady boys, national park, backpackers, mental taxi drivers, celebration and reminiscing gave way to the madness of Bangkok on the return journey. I was convinced that I would loathe it but I loved it and can see why a certain Novel Racer - JJ - loves living there so much.

I had been so looking forward to JJ again. Meeting her delightful family was thorughly enjoyable and hearing about the ex-pat life in Bangkok was fascinating. JJ was also able to answer some of my questions about Thailand which ranged from the sex industry to how patriotic the Thais were towards their ailing king (I had to stand to attention not just at 6pm in hallway of a major Bangkok train station but also before seeing a flick at the posh Nokia cinema).

The very hospitable JJ, she of the enviable blog and fabulous cheekbones managed to put up with my questions and inability to shut up in general and allowed me the luxury of getting to know her better and spend time with someone who 'gets' the bit of you that you do not share with all those in your life is a real treat. Thank you JJ!

Bit by bit I'm telling more friends about my writing. Not sure why I was so hesitant before, perhaps it was because it would mean putting pressure on myself in case nothing comes of it whereas now I'm more sure of my writing I can talk about it without feeling inhibited regardless of whether I ever get published or not. Does that sound silly?

So, all in all a successful trip which has provided me with many new memories. I did warn you that this post was going to be a bit gushy!

Ruined

2010-03-01T22:17:00.012Z

I've been spoilt and wonder how I'll endure another English winter without a jaunt to more exotic climes.

First stop was Madrid with it's glorious blue skies, freezing temperatures and delicious vino tinto. It was great to be back there and visit some of my old haunts as well as a few new ones; Mother Devine always manages to locate somewhere new no matter where we are or how well we know the place.

And so with hats, gloves, scarves and - wait for it - sunglasses we trooped off to the Costume Museum. Can't tell you how exciting it was to have to wear sunglasses after the bleak winter we've had in London but I digress. The museum has a brilliant collection of wonderful clothing from all sorts of periods including the Givenchy number la Hepburn wore in Breakfast At Tiffany's which was achingly simple. I highly recommend it even though it's a teensy bit of the usual tourist trail but a mere ten mins walk from Moncloa metro.

From Madrid to a birthday brunch in Old Street at a place that was so cool for school that I spent 15 minutes hunting up and down the street for the entrance. Fortunately I was allowed over the threshold despite having normal jeans and a hairstyle that doesn't include a directional fringe. Worth it when I did find it for the funky interior, good food and roof-top alpine lodge but a big fat thumbs down for rubbish and surly service - boo.

Brunch to Bangkok via the Heathrow T3 bar and two large glasses of white left by uni friends who'd made a hasty exit when the last call was made for their flight. Seeing them all there including a couple of the guys that I hadn't seen for more than 18 months made me so excited and more grateful than ever that my fortunes changed and I could even make the trip because just a few months ago it seemed unlikely. It's been an age since the whole uni gang was together and one of our numbers flew to Thailand from New Zealand so I would have really been sad not to make the wedding. Pleasantly sloshed I took my own flight to Bangkok where I met a different pair of uni friends and enjoyed the Chinese New Year Celebrations that seemed to be taking place everywhere.

Bangkok was a tad overwhelming in my jetlagged state but I didn't totally melt in the heat and I didn't absolutely hate it as I was sure I would. In fact, I quite liked it once I got to grips with the frenetic pace and of steamy temperatures. Uncharacteristically for me I saw quite little of the city apart from the Royal Palace (where I managed to lose my mobile phone in a fug of jetleg) and the notorious backpackers' strip - Koh San Road - where I enjoyed a lovely green curry and a side of ladyboy spotting while my more Thai experienced friends got stuck into the local whiskey...

Part of the laziness was to with my struggle with the time difference at the beginning of my trip to Thailand and chronic verbal diarrhea at the end but it was nice not to routemarch everywhere and gives me the perfect excuse to return.

The wedding and my brilliant time talking about all things writerly and life in general with the very hospitable JJ and her lovely family to deserve a whole other post so watch this space. In the meantime I'm fantasising about 35 degree heat and sleeveless dresses and flip flops in February.

Do Unto Others As...

2010-02-07T20:53:00.003Z

...as you would do unto you.

Well, fat lot of bleeding good that's been doing me which partly explains the early January blues. My new tactic is to suit myself as that's what others seem to do. That way I'll avoid disappointment or resentment. So far it seems to be working.

The month of January evaporated in a blur of work, sightseeing (Aussie Flower had relatives over and we played tour guide) and Doing Things Which Left Me With Very Little Time to Write so I am glad to be about to embark on nearly three weeks' worth of jaunting about in the style of an international jetsetter* during which time I intend to remedy that.**

* I couldn't be further from an IJ if I tried but it's nice to pretend :)
** not sure IJs have time in their schedule to write, that would mean cancelling a mani/pedi appointment, right?

So, as of Tuesday I am off to Madrid for a few days with my mum. I used to live there and haven't been over for three years so I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!! I plan a bit of a mooching about and also some revisions on the wip. Really looking forward to that as this month the re-write has totally stalled.

I'm back on Saturday night and am headed to Old Street for a friend's birthday brunch on Sunday morning. Am definitely not trendy enough for such cool parts of town. Wonder if you need to be wearing skinny jeans before you can get in the door? The birthday girl is doing a poetry course and I have enjoyed reading some of her work. A couple of my suggestions/comments on her work turned out to be exactly what her poetry tutor advised her which left me with a little Ready Brek type glow inside. My writing has improved even if I don't always think it has.

With a stomach full of brunch I'll be Heathrow-bound to catch a flight to Bangkok where I'll meet up with uni friends before we all head to one of the islands for our friends' wedding. There is a real risk that I might melt in the 35 degree heat. In the wedding pics I'll be the one with the 'fro, greasy suncreamed skin and a pink expression. Can't wait!

See you in three weeks.

CC x

Writers' Course and Writing Community

2010-01-28T09:38:00.004Z

Apparently HarperCollins have launched a free online community for writers, readers and publishers which is aimed at promoting new talent. As I understand it you can create an online profile once you have three chapters which you can then make available for others to read.

It is called Authonomy and also offers writers advice from published writers through the 'pitch me' section and forums. Click here for more info.

Also, London Writers' Club is offering a four week distance learning course starting next week. Click here for more info on their Fiction Masterclass.

Cranky CC and Planning

2010-01-14T23:41:00.003Z

My week has been really hectic which has distracted me from my negative frame of mind. Ish. I had a spectacularly embarrassing fall on a train to Paddington this morning - the floor was wet and greasy so I went arse over tit and now my whole body aches. I got off the train and had to help a woman up who had done exactly the same on the station concourse despite walking along gingerly like everyone else. Despite everything my tetchiness and annoyance by a variety of people in my life persists but they are slowly diminishing.

Oh and my boiler is still out of action but who cares when the forecast is for 8 degrees and heavy rain at the weekend! Who knew I'd be so happy to see that kind of forecast?

The honeymoon period at work is officially over; this role is going to be full on so I'm going to have to work harder than ever to cram in time to write. So far I've managed only an hour and a half this week which isn't great but it's something. I didn't dare edit any more until I was feeling more positive, instead I wrote a complete new chapter, one where the main character is furious about something but also struggling with a difficult decision so I channelled all my angst and aggression into the scene and then was on such a roll that I carried on with the other two scenes and felt pleased with the result.

I haven't re-read it yet so that feeling of pleasure could be cancelled right out and the chapter might be all about my hang ups and resentments and not enough of the character's. I tend to edit in chunks and do a few chapters at a time. I know some writers start each session off by editing, or at least re-reading what they wrote last but I don't often do this. Perhaps I should but because this is a re-write I'm overhauling existing writing for some chapters and writing from scratch for others and sometimes jump around and do not write sequentially which I did with the very first draft. I religiously update my thread plan (first discovered this in Jane Wenham-Jones's 'wannabe a writer?') so I don't miss things out and this helps when writing or rewriting out of sequence.

How do you plan? Do you plan at all? And if not, how do you keep a track of timelines/details etc. when it comes to editing or a rewrite?

Sunday Night Blues

2010-01-10T19:00:00.003Z

I've started the new year as a bit of a miseryguts and can't seem to snap out of it. Tonight I've got that back to school feeling that I used to get on a Sunday night when I hadn't done my homework. I'm also bloody freezing as my vintage boiler seems to have finally packed up. Fabulous.

Lack of heat aside, I should be in a great mood given that I've had a lovely day pooching around Hampstead followed up by tea and cakes at Kenwood House with Aussie Rose's visiting mother and auntie. It was snowing gently and the scenery was beautiful; the visiting Aussies had never seen snow before until they arrived in the UK and marvel that much of our architecture is older than their country. Despite such a civilised and amusing Sunday I still feel low.

I've been bad humour for a couple of weeks now and it's knocked me because normally I'm fairly upbeat and was on such a high before Christmas what with life feeling like it was generally back on track. Nothing in particular has changed and yet I can't help feeling negative and bitter and cross about everything.

And mostly everyone.

I'm a bit disappointed by some people in my life at the moment and can't seem to just accept the disappointment, leave it and move on. None of them has done anything that is surprising or out of character but it seems to sting more than at other times. I am generally overssensitive but am really struggling now, an ever present lump sits in my throat. Methinks I need to grow a big fat thick skin.*

Everything seems to be half done, complete but not quite right which makes me feel like I'm not doing anything well. My writing is a good example, just a few weeks ago I read my opening chapters and was thrilled with them. Last week I reread them and thought they were a pile of try-hardy shit and tossed them onto my bedroom floor.

Where's that buzz from December? That confidence, that swagger - where's it gone??

Having not written since the middle of last week I'm going to open up my word doc with 83,000 words' worth of stuff in a moment. I'm going to plough through it, keep putting words on paper and hope that everything else slots into place and this negative, self-indulgent, miserable imposter that I do not recognise pisses off soon. I'm fed up with her!

* God only knows how I'd cope with a bad review if I ever get published!

Coffee Breaks

2010-01-06T22:08:00.003Z

Here are my pre-Christmas, first ever Novel Racers' coffee break posts:

Edits, Stereotypes and Quality Street

Finish Line!

Heroic Behaviour

2009-12-16T23:45:00.003Z

I've just had an accident.

Don't worry not a major one. What happened was that a chocolate Hero accidentally found its way into my mouth. Five times.

Now I'm feeling guilty and queasy and there's a little pile of foil wrappers on my desk (i.e.kitchen table) and a half empty box of Cadbury's Heroes with the Twisted and Daily Milk ones scoffed.

The worst bit* is that this was part of a stocking filler for my nephew. Oh what a shocking auntie I am! Have to go and buy another box.

* possibly worse than this is that I'm doing Weight Wobblers and shouldn't bloody well have Heroes in the place anyway. I cannot be trusted!

Up With the Larks

2009-12-10T19:35:00.002Z

In a bid to get up earlier and squeeze more into my day i.e. get more writing done, I have tried to follow the lead of prolific journalist, Alice Hart-Davis and get up at the crack of dawn.

And failed.

Not once or twice but umpteen times in recent weeks. The clock radio alarm goes off and I ignore it, I snooze the alarm on my mobile then ignore that too when it bleets a few minutes later. Ploys to get me out of bed such as placing alarms set on turbo volume on the other side of the room or outside it simply serve to wake me up and not keep me up. Groggy and disorientated I sneak a glance at the clock whilst climbing back into bed and decide that another ten minutes won't hurt considering it's only 5.30am.

Next thing I know I wake up and hours have passed and I'm going to miss my train so I hurl myself out of bed and race through my brief morning routine. I envy those who can rise early but still, Alice Hart-Davis' piece made me feel slightly better - something has to give if you're getting up at the crack of dawn and I'm not sure I'm ready to forgo my nocturnal activities to be tucked up in bed by 10pm.

Is London British?

2009-12-07T15:24:00.004Z

This the title of tomorrow night's event at Pages of Hackney.

Iain Sinclair will be in conversation with Bonnie Greer and Yang Lian about how your envionment make you who you are. This is in response to Nick Griffin's recent contention that London isn't "British."

More information here.

December Madness

2009-12-02T23:27:00.003Z

I'm a December baby.

It would seem that my parents, as well as many of those of my friends and relations got a bit frisky around St Patrick's Day back in the Seventies. Whatever. December is a hellish month for me in terms of spreading both myself and my finances thin and that's before I so much as think of Christmas presents. This is exacerbated by being incapable of saying no to things and having little self-control in the turning down a drink department. Large vino? Ooh, yes please!

Department, company and division Christmas dos, reunions with old colleagues and distant friends you tend to only see in December, 11 close friends and relatives' birthdays (i.e. the kind you feel obliged to celebrate with and buy a pressie for) as well as my own. That's quite alot of liver damage. I'm the social type who's partial to a libation or two it's hard stay in and pretend that it's not your sister-in-law, niece's, best friend's birthday etc.

This December, however, I have a different type of function to go to.

A Novel Racer's book launch!!!!

My Saturday looks like this:

Panto with Mum and nieces in West London
Zip up to Holborn for Cally Taylor's launch party of Heaven Can Wait
Reluctantly leave what will be a fab gathering to put in an appearance at sister-in-law's birthday do near Piccadilly
Jump on train to Richmond where a friend is celebrating her thirtieth

I feel exhausted just thinking about it. I'm always sorry for arriving late and sorry for having to leave when I'm enjoying myself so much. I intend to be in top form to celebrate Cally's great book but I suspect that I'll be pickled by the time I reach the birthday girl in Richmond though she may well be in a worse state after overzealous celebrating.

Just as well I've got a big fat pub roast and chill out afternoon lined up on Sunday for best friend's birthday...

Things are looking up

2009-11-19T22:42:00.006Z

At last!

I've had such a crap year that I figured I was in credit for some good luck. Who knew that I'd have to wait until November for all my luck to come in at once.

So...

Got a job?
Got an in-depth and encouraging critique of my partial submitted to the NWS?

Got re-write coming along slowly but nicely?
Got reliable broadband fitted chez Devine?
Got my lardyarse* tendancies under control?
Got my confidence back?

CHECK! Yes to all of the above.

Phew. I wondered when things were going to start looking up.

* desire to scoff naughty food by the bucketload resulting in a rather lardy arse.

A Strong Online Presence?

2009-10-11T13:38:00.003+01:00

I was very, very late to the Novel Racers' coffee morning this week but delighted to log on this morning and discovered a great post from Lane about the importance of cultivating a strong online presence:

"We are constantly advised that if we want to be a writer who sells, we need to cultivate a strong online presence. Today's market is obviously über competitive and we're told that we must use 'online platforms' such as blogging, Facebook, personal websites and Twitter, to the fullest extent, to make our presence known to the widest possible audience."

I think that it was a great post and I do worry about this...I think that it's important to raise your profile but do agree that for those of us who are unpublished it's more important to get the novel written than spend too much time on other online activities.

I'm not the most consistent of bloggers at the best of times but this year has been a disaster for me personally and professionally which has affected my inclination to blog. Certain topics I may have blogged about became off limits and it would have been difficult to blog about other things that were happening without potentially upsetting relatives/friends.

On top of that I've been battling with my internet provider for being crap (long story) and have had very intermittent access since February. By the time I've checked my emails and done a few other bits either at my relative's place or from an internet cafe I have little inclination to blog or read others' blogs.

My hope is to get back on my feet shortly and get back into the blogosphere more regularly as I've learned an awful lot from fellow bloggers and believe that that's useful and not just from a profile point of view. On the plus side I've been doing a lot of writing these past few months so that makes me feel a tad less guilty about being incommunicado on the blog (and Twitter, Facebook etc.) front!

The New Writers' Scheme

2009-09-14T23:53:00.004+01:00

The kind man in the print shop told me that he was sure that it was a winning dissertation. I sheepishly told him that it was a partial novel and walked away with flushed cheeks at having told a stranger that at all and feeling happy that a random young man had a good feeling about it. This was in spite of my rational self telling me that it was a load of old tosh and that he probably said that to all the girls (and boys!).

Seeing my partial in double-spaced one page layout was the strangest thing. I've been working on it for what seems like forever in single-spaced format. When I print it off - which is rare - I tend to shrink it and cram it onto as few pages as possible so as not to drain my titchy printer cartridge.

Somehow seeing the title page and a big fat wad of double-space lines made it seem like a proper novel. It looked professional. Previously I had slogged away thinking of it as 'The Book' but it was all a bit unreal. With a mixture of anxiety and excitement I stuffed it into the postbox and said a prayer.

It Don't Matter If You're Black or White

2009-07-08T22:44:00.005+01:00

Had a very odd phone call with the nieces last night.

They had managed to sneak a peak (don't ask) of the Michael Jackson spectacle before bedtime. Consequently they were totally confused by the time I called.

'We watched Michael-Jackson-he's-dead,' Niece Senior informs me. 'He was black when he was a boy and now he's white. Want to speak to x?'

Before I can answer #2 is on the phone with her trademark speed talk. 'We saw Michael-Jackson-he's-dead Auntie CC.'

Ah, the Michael Jackson He's Dead show. At that moment I didn't envy my sister-in-law who had to explain that one.

'Michael-Jackson-he's-dead is in the box,' she tells me though I suspect that he is not in the 'box' at all but elsewhere. 'He was black when he was little and he's going to come back alive and be white.'

Huh?

It transpires that some of the confusion is in part due to a new puppy in the family. Both girls thought that my aunt's new brown and black terrier puppy called Hughie was the reincarnation of her beloved white Westie dog - Hamish - who who was sadly put down a couple of weeks ago much to the girls' distress.

Between a deceased white dog, a tiny black/brown puppy and the varying shades of Michael Jackson's skin over the years, there will be many questions yet to come as the week goes on.

Procrastination

2009-04-17T16:30:00.003+01:00

A gloriously long day. Nothing planned except writing. All day if I so wish.

But what do I do...?

A dark load, clear through piles of admin, file and recycle. Next I prepare a homemade veggie soup, then make a cup of tea, I read a couple of articles, stare out the window at the gloomy sky and study the rain spatters on the window.

Somewhere around 3.45 I finally switch on the laptop. 3.45pm!!!

Then guess what I do? Yes, you got it - faff around with emails, web browsing, Facebook.

It's now 4.50pm. By the time I get cracking and get on a roll it'll be bedtime but then I'll be in the groove and end up having a late night.

I swear I was more productive when I commuted to central London, worked long hours and partied hard than I am now that I have 'all the time in the world' to write.

Honky vs London?

2009-03-26T10:50:00.004Z

So Honky as I like to call it was absolutely fantastic. Hong Kong has something to offer everyone and a few snatched days over there on the way to Australia last year left me wanting to return.

We enjoyed the madness and high rises, observed the weird and wonderful food items (skinned snake anyone?) on sale and took the ferry as often as we could. After a few days of mayhem we visited more transquil places such as the sleepy, car-free Lamma Island with it's hiking trail, and sleeping fishing village in the photo.

Other days we went to Stanley, visited a nunnery, did a zillion Buddhist temples and all the other usual stuff on the tourist agenda. Generally we had a really relaxing time.

10 days there was more than enough and I was ready to return to London and attempt to give some structure to my work-free existence. Arriving back home to discover daffodils and blue skies was a joy. The two huge magnolia trees outside my window were just budding and everywhere there were signs of Spring.

Sunny afternoons spent with Sr Madrid, park visits with the nieces, lunch with Friend With a Baby, coffees at outside pavement cafes. Ah, this is the life I thought.

And then the rain came.

And reality.

It had to I suppose. I've got to get a job! My mother has taken to presenting me with job applications and I sense that she's on the verge of submitting them for me. The holiday, it appears, is over. I spent hours on Monday completing my first proper job application since becoming unemployed. I've got a few months' grace until I need to start selling my body but I can't wait until the money's about to run out before commencing the search.

Shame because a girl could get used to this lifestyle...

Long'un

2009-03-04T11:02:00.004Z

I've been absent from cyberspace for weeks. Alot has happened...

First I left my job.

Three days later my grandfather was taken ill and the whole family maintained a weekend-long vigil at his deathbed. He died on the Sunday afternoon after a year-long illness.

The next day was the snowday. Beautiful but less so when you've got to drive in it to collect belongings from hospital, register a death, go to the funeral parlour etc. all of which was miles away from each other.

The following week passed in a blur but not being at work meant that I was around to support my mother without worrying about taking time out of the office. Unfortunately I was also on tenterhooks because the announcement about my departure had not gone out and I had work that needed to be handed over but couldn't as I wasn't allowed to talk about having left until the formal anouncement was made...blah, blah, blah.

Monday - funeral of my great auntie at a crem down in Surrey on the most filthy wet day of the year. Peculiar at the end of the day when, instead of saying "goodbye" to relatives, you find yourself saying, "see you on Wednesday" with a wry smile.

Wednesday - grandfather's funeral on a beautiful crisp winter's day. The sun was shining and the priest was lovely if not the campest man of the cloth that I've ever come across. The cemetery was like a bog after the rain two days earlier. The same day the announcement about me finally went out to my colleagues which was a huge relief to be able to be open about not coming back and to start handing work over remotely.

I've been without internet connection hence the radio silence but am now in possession of my very first dongle a name which provokes giggles every time I say it for some childish reason. Frustratingly, it had a bloody child lock on it so I could comment on my own blog but not log on to it or most of the other novel racers' blogs until today.

I've spent the past two weeks getting used to not being at work and also trying to relax before getting my head ready to focus on jobhunting. Some good things have happened:

1. I've become a lady wot lunches. This is only possible if you have pals to lunch with and it happens that between career changes, babies and redundancy there's a little gang of 4 to play with. I've also been meeting up with former colleagues for lunch/drinks. All this activity must stop as it costs a fortune and I'm unemployed now!

2. I've met the most lovely man on Gumtree. Hang on, he's not that kind of man. Sadly. We have totally hit it off but he's gay. He's from Spain and is new to London and wants to improve his English, I want to brush up on my Spanish and we have much in common and have been spending hours together.

3. I've been playing auntie alot more and have been picking up Niece Junior from nursery and making pancakes and such things with her before going back to collect her big brother and sister for more entertainment with statements like: "you know, Auntie CC, this is a cream for bums [sudocream which gets applied to Niece Junior's sore bottom as required] that's why it's call bum cream."

4. I'm off to Hong Kong tomorrow night on a fabulous last minute package. Transpires that it's cheaper to do than a Europe deal because business people aren't travelling for meetings as much as before the credit crunch. My mum who's in dire need of a holiday after all the antics of the past months and I are off to HK for some buzzy city life mixed with the gentler pace of the islands. We may go up to China or pop over to Macau. Am very excited!

5. Best of all, I've been writing!

Will report back in a couple of weeks.