The Big Picture

It turns out that the best way to calm an allergy on your face - from a 'big picture' perspective - is not to wander around in insubstantial clothes when it is cold.  Yep, the face got better but I wound up with hypothermia - again!  I'm such a nut.  Still, third time lucky.  I caught it early this time.  Hubby put the forehead thermometer in place to check if my temp was genuinely low.  It was too low to register.  Cue much walking around, drinking hot beverages and, once the shivering had stopped, dancing the Y.M.C.A. until my temperature was back to normal.  Have had a stern word with myself about layers and thermal undergarments.

Of course, the layers thing is getting trickier by the month.  I've lost another half a stone (7 pounds) and nothing fits.  The budget is not roomy enough to buy more clothes (see http://rebeccawoodhead.com/blog for the story of my life-on-a-budget 16-meals-from-1-chicken life over the last year) and the heating oil must be eked out incrementally over the next season.  Never mind.  NaNoWriMo is just around the corner.  Who knows... an agent might notice me or hear me on the radio at the end of November and publication could be a heartbeat away.  Until then, I plan to eat much porridge ('oatmeal') and keep blankets handy at all times.

The Big Picture

Cheltenham Festival Buzz may have Buzzed off

An Outing!

This has not been a great year for indulgences.  The other day I realised that I have not actually been out - on a trip or 'outing' if you will - since this time last year when I went to the Cheltenham Festival of Literature. 

This year I hoped to go again.  I know funds are tight and all that but Mum gave me a £20 note and told me to go to the festival.  Everything I want to see has sold out and now I've had an allergic reaction to something.  I don't claim the two are related but, really!  Is it too much to ask to go out once a year?  My pre-festival buzz may have buzzed off.  Maybe someone will drop out of one of the events and I can scurry in?  It's quite an elegant gathering.  I wonder if my side-show attraction face will scare off the people sitting next to me and give me a bit more space to stretch out?  Hmm.  Could be a good thing after all.  Buzz buzz buzz.

Cheltenham Festival Buzz may have Buzzed off

My Characters will not Shush

Feeding Time

Like impatient horses at feeding time, my characters are kicking off in the worst way at the moment.  They can smell the start of November.  I'm worried.

I've never done NaNoWriMo before.  It seems terribly sociable.  When I write, I am a hermit.  The 'real' world has no place in my life when I'm in novel mode.  I can't chat merrily about my progress or utter a word about my characters until the first draft is down.  A few moments to moan about the horror of the 'tricky middle bit' is pretty much the extent of my communication with the world.  Something tells me I may not be NaNoWriMo-compliant.

My Characters will not Shush

Welcome to My New Blog

This is the time of year when students return to university.  The moment the weather starts to change and the leaves start to turn I get itchy fingers.  It's not eczema.  The autumn makes me lust after books and a QWERTY keyboard.  Ideas that have percolated through the summer start leaking into my conscious mind and demanding to be unleashed into a book.

How do I plan to let them out this time?  NaNoWriMo.  A month from now, I will be at the start of the third book in the series.  I'm not sure the characters would be so eager to get onto paper if they knew what was in store for them.  I have a feeling that things may not go entirely as planned.  By the end of November I should have the first draft finished.  It's an ambitious plan but I can't wait!

Welcome to My New Blog