Friday 4 November 2011

Middlemarch, Shoe rack and a letter to Granddad

Morning folks – you join me on a damp and dismal Saturday morning – it  seems to have rained for 24 hour. I'm up bright an early as I have a full day ahead.

I’ve had a strange week. Monday saw a return to the day job after a week’s holiday - only to find the kids hyper and the staff counting down to the next holiday. By the time I arrive home, I felt completely drained so spent the entire evening, literally until bedtime, reading ‘Middlemarch’. Wow, this book is not an easy read - I’m having to read every sentence twice to ensure that I fully understan the meaning – talk about over descriptive and wordy.  But I am determined to plod on till its completed – especially, as it is number 7 on my April Fool list.  

Wednesday - I attended a music theory exam, surrounded by young children doing a higher grade paper than my grade 2. Now, that was a moment of humility in my busy week. I sat the exam purely for fun – yet, remember all to well the terror witnessed in the children’s faces as we waited to be seated. Thank fully, those days are long gone. I know I’ve passed but will have to wait till nearer to Christmas for the exact grade.

Thursday evening saw me attend The Fizz 10, three Cork Poets in the Tithe Barn of Polesworth – a very enjoyable night spent amongst worthy poets. For more details and a review by Gary Longden, please visit http://www.behindthearras.com/

Friday saw me on the hunt for cheap printer ink cartridges – wow, even the on-line price isn’t as cheap as I’d like. Given that I use the majority for printing, I always purchase. I might have to take on a mortgage if I'm to print out ten sets of part-manuscripts for agents come December.

I mentioned last week that I had a new project under way, which was to be completed on dog walking missions. Well, in one week I’ve written several more poems: doggy bootee, swimming sock, plimsoll, with the beginnings of wellington boot sloshing about in my head. Not bad for early morning musings amongst the falling autmun leaves.

Yesterday, I returned to a personal project that I started a while back. I began writing a series of letters connected to my family tree. Given that yesterday was five years to the day since I saw my granddad for the last time, I wrote him a letter. Such a smashing man, I used my final words to him as the opening of the letter, ‘Bye, and no more dancing in the bathroom, Grandad.’

My aim for today is to proof read a whole section of ‘Her’. All week I’ve been planning for today, preparing myself for the long haul, armed with a gallon of hot tea and biscuits. Which given the weather outside is truly the best option. Though, I’ll have to nip out with the pup for our weekend trek and a shoe thought.

Mentioning the pup, I have a poem forming regards him ‘The poodle in the puddle’ which sprung out of no where on yesterday morning’s walk. In fact, I may list a dog as one of life’s essentials for any writer – dog walking duties seem to increase the creative muse.

The ‘Book of the week’ on Radio 4 was ‘Why be happy when you can be normal’ by Jeanette Winterson – an extremely funny lady born out of a difficult childhood. Please treat yourself to a listen – there are only a few days of shelf life remaining for the podcast.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/
Writers’ News magazine flopped onto the doorstep this morning; so far I’ve read three articles all crammed with excellent ideas and advice for the inspired novelist. There are several articles focusing on novel writing, along side the usual favourites: my writing day, Q&A and of course, the competitions.

The coming week is pretty basic. I’ve got the Mad Hatters Writers’ Group on Wednesday night, but the highlight of the week is going to be the Grace Dieu Short story evening on Thursday. I shall be reading my story ‘Caught in the act’ at the allotted time of 7:20 pm – or so, the evening’s programme tells me. So fingers crossed, that it’s an enjoyable night in celebration of National Short story week. We have guests attending from Ashby, Charnwood and Burton writing groups - so it should be a jolly evening.

That’s about it from me this week – so, I’ll love you and leave you to ensure that I can settle at my desk for the long day ahead. Enjoy!

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