Writers' groups, a typo and yay, a holiday!

Good evening folks - sorry that I'm about ten hours late but it is a step-kiddy weekend and so all hell lets loose in this house and my weekly routine hits the skids.

Anyway, I did as I promised last week and knuckled down to writing every day - I even managed to take my IPad 2 into work and do a little bit during my lunch time, when I wasn't reading. I must say that owning an Ipad has made it far easier for me to snatch moments in time - mainly for research as I now have the internet with me where ever I go, but also little snippets of ideas and random thought - of which I have many!

Sadly, on Wednesday I had to cancel my attendance at my usual Mad Hatter meeting due to a crisis at school - which I won't go into. But, thankfully I managed, or rather was determined having missed one group meeting to attend the Grace Dieu Writers' Cirlce on Thursday. I read chapter one from my novel 'Her' to the group. They loved it! I received positive feedback for the characters, their setting and the chatty style. My first chapter is only a thousand words, which is pretty short but I do manage to depict the growing tension between characters - hinting at the difficulties that lie ahead. There was one detail that ignited conversation and that was 'are asparagas tips' a Christmas vegetable? Now, I've read this extract to many, many people and this was the first time that a writer/gardener had picked up on a possible inacurracy. I thanked them for noticing such a small detail, which I have since deleted. It goes to show that a writer must share their work in order to perfect it.

Continuing with typos in writitng, I experienced the disappointment of finding one in my current reading book. The author had made the mistake of calling a character by the wrong name, Lewis instead of Louis. I'd read three quarters of the book with little Louis running about on chubby little legs only to turn the page to find Lewis. I had one of those double take moments before realising that the whole page contained Lewis but then it switches back to Louis. I personally would be so upset if a published novel of mine had that kind of error. Which goes some way to explaining why I was so grateful to Tony on Thursday for pointing out the asparagas error.

Last week, I spoke about my writing place - this week I'll say a little about my reading habit. I am an avid reader, always have been since a little girl. I read everyday at numerous times of the day. I fill any spare moments before work with a page or two, lunch time is mainly reading and then I read before bedtime. I can sometimes snatcha  few pages whiel the dinner cooks, but no always. I always have several books on the go at the same time, mainly due to my location and the format; traditional book or ebook on Ipad. Beside my bed, I have Winifred Gern's biography of Emily Bronte - which I'm currently half way through. The Brontes are another of my fascination, one of many I hear you say. I have learnt that Emily seems to be the geeky/nerdy sister, being very introverted and shy in company and only being herself when amongst nature. The book is beautifully written, portarying in detail her daily life within the confines of Haworth, Yorkshire. I love how aspects of Emily's life appears within 'Wuthering Heights', from the Irish travellers in Liverpool through to incestuous neighbours living close by on the Moors.
My second current read, on ebook on Ipad is 'Meet me at the cupcake cafe ' by Jenny Colgan - this is the book mentioned earlier, but it hasn't taken away my enjoyment. This is the first ebook that I've downloaded and so far I've enjoyed the 'novelty' of electronic pages, but it isn't the same as feeling the weight of paper, print, or that book smell within your palms. Anyway, back to the novel. A light hearted chick lit, which is very funny, a little twee in places but hey, a girly book to escape too during my lunch time - which is what I want from chick-lit.
My third book, also an ebook is 'Forget you had a daughter' written by  Michael Tierney/Sandra Gregory - this book traces the real life horror of a naive British teenager caught smuggling drugs though Bangkok airport - and her struggle during her imprisonment in the notorious 'Bangkok Hilton'. I'm only on chapter two but already I'm hooked on her story. As silly as her actions were, her honesty is refreshing - she shoulders the blame from the very start delivering a strak message of just how easy it is to mix with the wrong crowd and end up in trouble.
My fourth - honestly, I am reading four books - is War and Peace by Tolstoy - with an endless cast of characters, whose names I can't even begin to pronounce. I'm not sure if I'm loving this book or loathing it. It's a book that I vowed I would one day read and so I began it at the New Year 2011 - maybe on completion I'll be able to say more, but at present the jury is still out discussing the verdict. So, that's my four (shakes head) my four books, that I am currently reading. The other books that I have read this year are noted on a side bar of my blog.

And finally, school holidays have arrived so, I am offically a writer for one whole week! Now, as I said earlier, the step-kiddies are staying but I am determined to write for at least four hours each day. Honest - I have promised myself, and now you! I shall have bum on seat, fingers on keyboard working the 'magic' early each morning so that I can spend the rest of the day decorating - hopefully!

Thanks for reading, sorry it was a late entry but the kids kept me busy with a high demand for blackcurrent squash!