Revision cards

 This week, I learnt something about myself that I long since suspected. I CANNOT write about myself. I decided to send what I'd written under 'autobiography' to myself on my kindle. The first part of this was writing I'd worked on for a module in my MA. It was actually quite engaging and I enjoyed rereading it. It was based on my adoptive parents. I had written their story, fictionalising the dialogue, of course. Then came the part based on me, from my own POV. Oh dear. I didn't even finish reading it. Totally different! I've tried to do this in the past, but never managed it. Perhaps I never will.

After this, I decided it was time to revisit the novel I've been toying with for a couple of years or more. It has changed dramatically from the original concept. Only one character remains from the seed of an idea I had probably five years ago. It is a bit complicated in its construction. I've only written 20,000 words so far, but it is from four POV and is set during different years/decades. I have had to date each chapter very clearly because of this. I have a corkboard which had revision cards marking the chapters and where in the story everything is, but I have taken these down and started again. I've moved chapters around, removed a couple that were 'present day' and that I felt took the story in a direction that I couldn't quite satisfy. I was sad about that because that chapter was the germ of this novel, but perhaps that is why it no longer worked. Instead, I used it recently for a 9000 word story for PF - a sort of light-hearted mystery. I don't know if the PF want it, but I narrated it for Nikki to listen to and she seems to be loving it, so I hope they like it. It takes a while for the mags to say yay or nay, especially if it is a story for the Specials. The PF have an 8 page mystery in some of the Specials, so it is more likely to be put aside until the time comes when they need to address content.

At the moment, I'm listening to Sam Neill's memoir 'Did I Ever Tell You This?' I haven't laughed so much in a long time. It is thoroughly entertaining and I have decided that Sam is now top of my 'dinner guest' list. I shall be sending an invite out next week. I'm sure he'll respond 😎.

I have had an amazing week at the cinema and theatre, but will save that for the next blog.

Quote of the day:

“Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.” —Dalai Lama.

This is one that Jon is often vocal about. I have to remind myself of it, but I'm sure we've all found that it is certainly true!

Proposals and Padlocks

 Phew. What a week! The Butlins 70s was so much fun. We always know it'll be good with Ruth and Dave as our fellow weekenders lol. Mind you, I wasn't so sure the night that Ruth dressed as a punk. Talk about terrifying! David Essex was unrecognisable and not very mobile, but he still had a glint in his eye and a great voice. Many of the singers and musicians had seen younger days (lol haven't we all?) but the talent. Wow. Each time I go, I am blown away. I think, out of all of them, I lost my head most at the Bee Gees tribute band. 

We picked Anthony up from Taunton on the way back from Minehead and then he and I went to a meeting at A2A in Yeovil. From there, the manager showed us a property in Yeovil that has a vacancy. They appear willing to support him, but we are now trying to set up a time to view another facility of theirs in Yeovil but they seem very busy and it's hard to get hold of anyone. Once we know where Ant feels he would best fit in, we can get the ball rolling (although, from past experience, the ball rolls at the speed of a boulder going uphill...).

'The Hollow' at the Swan last Wednesday was brilliant. Their productions always are. I was obsessed with reading Christie's books when I was a teenager, but it's been decades. I really need to pick up another one. There just aren't enough hours in the day! I've just downloaded Sam Neill's new autobiography on Audible for when I'm out walking Leia, or out in the car. I can tell already that I'm going to enjoy it. 

Tuesday, I finally completed the serial proposal and first instalment for The People's Friend. I was so relieved, I looked at my watch, looked at the Cineworld app and thought 'sod it. I'm off to the cinema.'  Quickly booked online and off I went. Once I was at the desk, they seemed to be taking some time. The screen number didn't match up. Not surprising really, as I 'd booked for the following day by mistake. 😬 Had to rectify it at the counter and got into the auditorium just as the titles came up. It was a good film, actually. Rye Lane. I think it was one of those films that was funded by Lottery money etc. I thought it was well done, even if quite short at 1hr 22mins, and was very surprised when the credits rolled as I hadn't seen how long the film was before I went.

What else have I done this week? I can't remember what I did yesterday lol. Took Molly out. Had Albie after school, then fed him and Jamie for tea. Got no writing done. Watched the movie 'Luther' on Netflix. Good, but credibility was definitely stretched in a few places😂. Tasha had another laparoscopy so Reece brought her home from the hospital in the evening. Poor thing. She is struggling today. 

We had a lovely surprise this morning! Jon's sister Lucy and her husband Ian called in as they were passing from Exeter to their home in Farnborough. We hadn't seen them for ages (Jon hadn't seen them for about 5 years!) so it was fantastic to catch up. Things like that make your day, don't they?

Need to get my brain in gear now - I have half an idea for a story, due to some padlocks we saw on the seafront in Minehead. I'm not convinced that I can make a full short story plot from my flicker, but I'm going to try. 

Today's quote: 

“Rarely are opportunities presented to you in a perfect way. In a nice little box with a yellow bow on top. ‘Here, open it, it’s perfect. You’ll love it.’ Opportunities – the good ones – are messy, confusing and hard to recognize. They’re risky. They challenge you.” —Susan Wojcicki, CEO of Youtube

Champions, Strikes and Naughty Characters

 Great film at Cineworld last night. 'Champions' with Woody Harrelson. Funny and moving. Lovely film.

We watched the finale of 'The Last of Us' when I got home. I see it has a 9.0 rating on IMDB. I'm not surprised. Great dystopian series if you haven't seen it yet, although I think it's on Sky Atlantic so not available to everyone. Shame.

I'm looking forward to the new Luther film on Netflix, although I think we have 'Endeavour' to look forward to next. We are away this weekend, from Friday afternoon (70s weekend at Butlins with our neighbours Ruth and Dave - we all have outfits lol), so it might need to be Luther first because I don't want to start Endeavour and wait all weekend for the final episode.

It's a teachers' strike day today so I'm over at Nikki's looking after the boys. At this precise moment, they are playing really nicely on the PS5 (Minecraft) so I'm taking advantage and writing this. I will need to drag them out before too long, to go and get Leia and we can walk Molly and Leia together, maybe at the Rec. It's not too cold out today so that's a bonus.

I finished instalment one of the serial yesterday and edited it. There are some words that I'm not sure about - context etc - (Indian Hindu) so I asked about and someone has kindly offered to look at them for me. So kind. I'm always very worried about getting things wrong when I write about different cultures or religions. Now I need to go through and rewrite the main synopsis and character synopses because, as usual, once started, the story has had a mind of its own. One character has done something entirely unexpected and very naughty, which has given me a conflict that I hadn't envisaged. Very useful! lol

Off to cook lunch for the boys, then take everyone out for a walk. I'm out at our local AMDRAM theatre The Swan tonight, which is always absolutely brilliant. So reasonably priced and always amazing value as the actors are incredible. Tonight is 'The Hollow' by Agatha Christie, still the bestselling novelist of all time. Genius. Very excited. I go with a lovely group of ladies from the tennis club I used to play at, so it's doubly fun as I get a chance to catch-up as well.

Quote for today:

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” —Lao Tzu,

Catch-up

 Ooops. Now it's 10th March.

I went to the cinema yesterday teatime to see a film that I thought would be helpful to put me in the right mindset for a serial I am working on about a Hindu family. The write-up wasn't specific and it turned out to be about a muslim family lol. It was a good movie, nevertheless. 'What's Love Got To Do With It' with Lily James and Shazad Latif (very nice looking!). I was the only person in the auditorium, which was amazing on the one hand, as I had a private showing, but on the other hand scares me because I know that Cineworld is struggling and one person in a screen is not going to keep them afloat. I know that they don't make much money out of me either because my Unlimited Card costs £16.99 per month and I use it A LOT.

My tooth situation has calmed down now, thank goodness, and the damage on the roof of my mouth must be healing as it's bothering me less. Very soon I have to go back to have an hour appointment for preparation for a crown. Oh Joy.

I did see Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantomania. Not bad, but it was so action-packed that I think I nodded off a couple of times. 

I seem to be seriously tired for the past few days, with no energy at all. I think I might do a covid test just to check. Tasha is having an op soon so I don't want to compromise that. (Test done - all OK).

Has anyone been watching The Last of Us? Oh my goodness that last episode was tense! Final episode on Monday. We're going to miss it when it's finished. We also watched The Gold, which we thought was gripping.  Hugh Bonneville was mesmerizing. Now that Elvis is on Sky, I finally managed to persuade Jon to watch it. He really wasn't keen but I think he's quite engaged with Baz Luhrmann's interpretation of Elvis' story. I'm enjoying watching it again. Trouble is, we have 48 minutes to go and Jon has a weekend festival now, so I doubt we'll finish it until Monday 😒.

I have struggled with eating healthily for a few weeks, which is not good news. Might be why I'm so tired! Today I have decided to write down what I eat so that I am accountable to myself. It will help to stop me reaching for the chocolate bars and crisps all the time. Some spots had come up on my arm. I'm sure there's a link.

Today's quote:

Reading is like breathing in.

Writing is like breathing out.

What a perfect way to describe it.

What a week!

How is it the first of March already?!

I did finish the mystery 9500 word story, edited it and sent it off. Nikki said she wouldn't have time to read it so could I narrate it so she could play it in the car. I did - first time for everything. It took a while. I think it was about an hour of reading so it's in three parts. Tasha has it too. Fingers crossed that the PF like it.

Yesterday was WTR Day. I have delayed having my wisdom tooth out for about 18 months. This is because prior removals haven't gone very well. My last dentist said not to ever have one removed again unless it was in the hospital because of my long, complicated roots (physical, not genetic lol). This application to hospital was refused, so I had no choice. The abscess wasn't going anywhere. Tears were brewing when I went into the room. The specialist had been brought in to do it. He was very nice and his dental nurse was lovely. He offered to postpone to another day but I said not a hope. If I walk out of here, I won't come back. 

Let's just say that my last dentist was proved right. Least said, the better.

I panicked because he told me that 5% of people with a nerve so close to the dental work get permanent numbing in their lip. What he didn't tell me was that the lip would be the last thing to 'thaw out', so at 5pm I was silently panicking! It's fine now, but I was convinced I was one of the 5%.😟 

Since I was last on here, I been watching Maternity on catch-up. What a fantastic series! I can't wait for season 2. I looked up the writer and it looks like it's his first foray into screenplay. He wasn't credited with anything else. It wasn't co-written either. So talented.

Ooops now it's the fourth of March. Still finding it painful to swallow due to damage at the back of the roof of my mouth. On top of that, all our payments and subscriptions linked to my bank card were failing because the bank failed to tell me that my card had been stopped due to possible compromise. Turns out it had been compromised so I'm now waiting for a new card. I had to go through everything linked to that card and delete it, replacing it with Jon's where necessary.

What a great week.

The good news was the that Picasso passed the MOT! I was a bit worried when I told the mechanic not to lock it in case he couldn't open it again lol.

I was going to have a look at what I had done so far re the next serial I'm working on for PF, but sadly I found 'Nolly' on ITV* which has put a dent in the time I had. Discipline? If only I was more like Enid Blyton or Agatha Christie. I tell myself that it is vitally important to digest books, TV series, movies, documentaries. What I shouldn't do is digest them to the point of heartburn 😬.

But there's SO much great stuff out there!

Today's quote:

“If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can’t allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.”  —Elmore Leonard

So true. Most of the time, we have to work hard to make it not sound like writing...to veer away from what we learnt in the classroom.