Another blog award

This one has been gifted to me by Lane, whose blog I love. Thanks so much Lane.

Now I have to pass it on to five others. A tricky decision as always, because there are so many interesting and beautifully written blogs, but I'd like to give it to:

Casdok
Crystal Jigsaw
Caroline
Graeme K Talboys
and
JJ

To claim your award (in a choice of colours!) and to find out what it is all about, visit the website of The Shameless Lions Writing Circle.

Three notable things:

1. I'm still feeling ill, so have tried to take it easy today, though I have a telephone tutorial at 9.30am tomorrow and I haven't opened the text book yet. Argh...

2. Being given an award brightened my day!

3. I've received some wonderful and supportive comments following my posting about son 1. Hugs to all of you.

The impact of bullying

The subject of bullying seems to come up everywhere at the moment. Or maybe it is just that I notice it more because of son 1's experiences and the profoundly life-destroying effects they have had.

Yesterday, watching The X Factor, I was moved to see how Sarah of Same Difference has been affected by her bullying. When they showed the film clip before their second song, for a fleeting moment I thought that it was just a cynical vote-catching strategy. But her tears at the end couldn't have been more real.

I decided right then to write about the long-term effects of bullying on here today, but the lovely and successful writer Caroline Smailes has beaten me to it, and writes far more eloquently than I do. So can I just recommend that you read her post here, instead.

Three notable things:

1. Son 2 playing on his music therapist's sympathy for his cough yesterday, then twisting her around his little finger. Hilarious!

2. I've caught the cough virus. That is not so hilarious.

3. Getting a few more ideas for Christmas presents in town yesterday, but retiring to Starbucks for coffee rather than joining the queues. I will go back in the week when it is hopefully a little quieter.

Introspection

Son 2 got me up at 5.30am. It wasn't entirely his fault - the wind was banging the wheelie bin lids outside and his cough was making him wheezy. I've actually had to give him his asthma inhaler for the first time in about three years. I got it out, only to find it had expired at the end of last month. Tough. I'm sure a few days over won't hurt!

Anyway, I have quite naturally been feeling tired and grumpy. Also introspective...a passing comment made me start thinking about how restricted our lives are and how it is so difficult to explain this to people you don't know well. I'm sure people often must think we are boring or unfriendly, just because we can't take part in social activities which others take for granted.

On the other hand, if you start to explain you are likely to embarrass the other person or, worse still, evoke pity. That for me is the most dreaded, it really upsets me. So I keep quiet and keep my true personality hidden, except with people I know very well and I have become good at disguising how upsetting the social exclusion can be.

Three notable things:

1. A few more Christmas presents have been ordered.

2. The big weekly Tesco shop has been done.

3. I'm still going to try to do my 300 words on the novel tonight. I had no inspiration at all this afternoon. Too tired!

One to watch out for...

This book may be of particular interest to any of you who are taking or considering a university course in creative writing, especially with The Open University. It will also appeal to those who are interested in emerging writing talent.

First Class: Early Works of the Nearly Famous - Orchid Station, an anthology containing work by a group of students from the first presentation of the Open University's A215 Creative Writing course, has just been published.

This isn't a review, because I haven't seen the book yet, but the lovely editor, Graeme K. Talboys, informs us that copies are winging their way to Amazon right now. What I can tell you is that I have previously read work by most, if not all, of the contributors and can vouch for their collective talent. There are also many more great writers where these came from and support for this book may pave the way for future such ventures, giving even more new writers a voice.

The anthology contains work by Carole Crickmore, Susan Felix, Julie Anne Gilligan, Dragana Hartley, Leanne Iliffe, Anne Kennedy, Viki Lane, Lynne McAllister, Elaine Nadjm, Kim O’Brien, Jude Parsons, Alison Roughsedge, Andrea J Smith, Graeme K Talboys, and Olga Wojtas.

You may already be familiar with some of these names if you have picked up my previous links to two websites showcasing work from A215 students, namely Both Sides of the Story and WikidWords (which also contains two of my own poems).

Best of all, half the proceeds of this anthology are going to charity, with the rest covering production costs.

I can't wait to get my hands on a copy.

Three notable things:

1. Son 2 has a nasty cough. Urgh.

2. It has been very interesting reading contributors' responses to questions on how the Your Messages collaborative project has influenced their writing processes. I'm afraid my reply, which was written quickly, is rather bland, but I cannot underestimate the boost that participating has given my creativity and writing.

3. The missing canoeist and the Panama link...stranger than fiction?

My lucky day

Last week I ordered a leather jacket from a well known shopping channel ( spending my Christmas money in advance!). I wanted it in black but that colour was sold out in my size, so I ordered a green one instead. Today it arrived...right size, bag marked green and actual jacket is black! Obviously a stock control problem somewhere, but hey, I got the colour I wanted. Even better, Hubby actually said it looked good so there is no way it is going back!

I was out this morning but meant to write this afternoon. Somehow though I got embroiled in watching a dispute unfold on a forum I frequent, so I still have my 300 words for the day to write...

Three notable things:

1. Fay Weldon on the Spice Girls.

2. Meeting friends at the support group coffee morning.

3. Wasting the afternoon away online...

Christmas is coming...

I thought I had it all under control a few weeks ago, but I think I must have got complacent. I haven't even bought any cards yet...

So, mad ordering on Amazon has been taking place over the last few days as well as the first of no doubt many trips to town for small bits and pieces. Luckily we don't have huge families to buy for and as the kids get older we have gradually been making Christmas more low key, but still...

Three notable things:

1. The Spice Girls reunion. Why???

2. I've posted off payment for my next OU course and ordered the set texts, to prove I mean business.

3. Son 2 has just posted a teaspoon into the toaster. I've managed to get it out, with difficulty, and have locked the toaster away before he burns the house down...

Farewell 'Your Messages'

November has finished and the Your Messages blog project is sadly over.

It has been both challenging and inspirational, so I managed to post my 300 word piece for every single day of the month. To be honest it was not too hard to write exactly 300 words each day, given that we had a prompt to start from and writing to length is actually one of my strengths. My approach to the task was simple. I read Lynne and Sarah's prompt piece, wrote my own response and only after I had posted it did I read what others had written.

Looking back on what I have written I can see that some are better than others, but that is only to be expected. What is important is that I am not ashamed of any of them, no matter how quickly and roughly they had to be written and I think that my true writing 'voice' shines through. It was actually all a lot easier than I had expected, though I did find myself running out of steam a little in the last week when I was trying to write my OU assignments as well.

I had a reason for doing this project every day. I wanted to prove to myself that I am capable of writing at least 300 words everyday, no matter what else is going on. That is something I can now take back to my novel and as a start I have written over 300 more words of it this morning. 300 words or more a day is 9000-10,000 a month, my first draft could be complete in 7-8 months if I can stick at it.

Now there's a thought...

Three notable things:

1. Finishing Your Messages yesterday. I will really miss it.

2. Hubby's motor insurance certificate is lost somewhere in the post which means he hasn't been able to get his new tax disc and will have to borrow my car next week.

3. X Factor is on again tonight. My money is still on Rhydian, if they can give him good enough songs. His versions of 'You Raise Me Up' and 'Somewhere' have been technically superb. Though I'm not sure if I would actually buy a whole album of his music, as I don't really listen to much classical crossover.

Write, write, write

Today I have tarted up my Start Writing Plays assignment (to send tomorrow) and written an assignment for the other course I am doing. Written it from scratch and already sent it via the automated submissions system!

Then this evening I have written my 300 word flash for Your Messages. Last day tomorrow and I will have posted for the whole 30 days. I feel almost as proud as if I had completed NaNoWriMo!

Image by Free-StockPhotos.com

Three notable things:

1. Heat Magazine have published an apology on their website for their sticker faux pas. Too little, too late, in my opinion.

2. The keyboard on my laptop is complaining about being used too much this week. The 'N' key refuses to work half the time, which makes for a lot of editing...

3. The bus which takes son 2 to school has had to have both clutch and starter motor repaired in the last week. Doesn't fill me with much confidence really...

Sick joke

This morning I had to pop out to the supermarket and, as usual, son 1 asked me to pick up a copy of Heat magazine for him. I've just had a quick look through it myself and came across the free stickers being given away inside. Amongst them is a picture of the oldest child of Katie Price (aka Jordan), along with the words Harvey wants to eat me.

For those who don't know of Katie Price, or her son Harvey, 5, he has considerable physical and developmental disabilities, including being blind and on the autistic spectrum. He also has a medical condition which causes a growth disorder, making him very big for his age and no doubt very difficult to care for.

Now there are a lot of things about Katie Price that I'm not so keen on, but I have to admit that I have always admired her for the way she has been so up front about Harvey's issues and the fact that, despite their celebrity status, she and her new husband Peter Andre do care well for him at home (albeit with some help, I'm sure, but they do have two other very small children). It can't be easy for them.

So I have to say I found this sticker to be the lowest of the low. Harvey is a very disabled child whose size is the result of a medical problem, not over-eating. As a parent I feel for Katie and Peter, because son 1 has been on medication which has also made him put on a lot of weight. A known side effect of a medicine which helped to save his life. How would I feel if he were to be lampooned in this way?

Heat have really sunk to the depths this time. I'm glad to say I'm not the only blogger who thinks so...read India Knight here and Caitlin Moran here for a start. You can also see the sticker on their posts, I'm not going to give Heat any more publicity by putting it on here.

Three notable things:

1. Son 1 had his medication reviewed yesterday and has been taken off one of them (see above).

2. I have written my Three Little Pigs play (yes really!) for my OU Start Writing Plays course. Phew. I'll leave it for a couple of days and take another look later in the week.

3. We keep getting post delivered here which was intended for a family in a similarly named road and with a surname not unlike ours ( well the first two letters are the same...) I wonder how much of our post they are getting?

Blogging...

When I first started this blog I wasn't sure how often to post or how to find an audience. I would read other blogs out there and wonder how they had built up their readership. So, since I am feeling totally uninspired today, here are my blogging tips, for what they are worth.

Try to post regularly. It doesn't need to be every day but I aim for at least four times a week if possible.

Have a theme to your blog. You don't have to stick to it all the time of course, but it will help to find the right audience.

Try to regularly put pictures and links on your blog to add extra interest. Don't forget the sidebar too...explore available gadgets.

A free hit counter wil give you all sorts of interesting visitor statistics. I have two, though they aren't consistent with each other!

Just remember that if your blog is open for anyone to read, you need to exercise some caution in what you write. Think before posting.

Be aware of copyright issues and what is deemed to be web publication, if you are posting your actual creative writing on your blog.

Comment often on other blogs you find interesting. Look at who else is commenting there and click through to their blogs if there is a link, as they may well do the same to yours.

Build up a blogroll of your favourite reads and you might even get reciprocal links.

By joining groups of other bloggers, such as Novel Racers, you will find a ready made audience.

If you are happy for your blog to be very public, put the URL on your emails, Facebook or MySpace pages, forum postings etc and join a blog directory.

Three notable things:

1. Beverley is out of the X Factor. A shame, as she seemed a lovely lady. At least they seem to have taken note of what we all said last week!

2. I've tackled some of the towering ironing pile this afternoon. It was a good excuse not to work on my OU assignments...

3. We are into the last week of the Your Messages blog project. I'm still on target to post a piece of writing every day of the month. Today's piece is here.

Distraction

Thanks to Tia for finding this one. On top of everything else going on here, I've been trying to write an Open University assignment today and the cartoon says it all!

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Three notable things:

1. Yesterday's football disaster.

2. Buying 16 videos for son 2 for £4 in a charity shop this morning. How long will it be before he has destroyed them all?

3. Finally registering for that next Open University course as the Tesco vouchers arrived. £320 off the course!

Incompetence

Well, it is very reassuring to learn that personal details of myself and my children and almost certainly also of my bank account have been 'lost' by the government....along with 25 million others.

I've only very recently started using internet banking, but at least having that facility will enable me to obsessively check my current account every day for unexplained withdrawals.

Ho hum.

Three notable things:

1. I saw the family counsellor for the last time today. She thinks we are doing a great job with son 1 and not overprotecting him, which would be a natural response but detrimental to his recovery.

2. I have finally decided to sign up for another Open University course to start in January and have sent off for my Tesco Clubcard deal vouchers today which will help considerably with the cost!

3. You have probably already heard about this elsewhere...I'm a bit slow here...anyway, the Freerice website is not only fun but by taking part you donate to charity. Go along and test your wordpower!

A grand day out...

(with apologies to Aardman Animations and Olga who have already used this title...)

So yesterday was the special outing and what fun it was! Fifteen writers (including two very brave men), who have previously taken the Open University A215 Creative Writing course, hit London's West End and a certain restaurant on The Strand will probably take a long while to recover...

So, the plan was to meet on the steps of the National Gallery at 11.30am. I had the great idea of trying to get down there by 10am when the gallery opens, in order to spend some time looking at the Impressionist paintings, which I love. Needless to say at 10am I was only just leaving the house. I actually got to Trafalgar Square at 11am and getting my priorities right I visited the loo and the gallery shop before looking at a temporary exhibition of Renaissance German stained glass (exhibited in many cases alonside the artwork it was based on.) Before you start yawning, I should just remind you that I have a degree in German and have studied the art and literature of the period, so it was interesting for me!

Anyway, we then all started to congregate on the steps. As most people had never met outside of cyberspace it was a constant round of hugs and introductions. Amazingly some people had travelled from as far as Scotland, Northern Ireland, Liverpool, Dorset and Wiltshire to be there as well as many of the usual suspects from the South East.

Once we had all arrived there was a spare half hour before the restaurant was ready for us, so we retreated to the bar of a nearby hotel. We then spent the rest of the afternoon over a very long lunch in a theatrical restaurant, just chatting nonstop.

Food, wine, chocolate and great company, what more could you ask?

On the way home I diverted very slightly via Paddington station to see one of the visitors onto her train and I couldn't help going into the little Paperchase shop and buying myself a beautiful new notebook for writing. I had obviously been inspired after being in the company of so many talented writers, many of whom, like me have work on WikidWords!

It was a great day out and I hope we can all do it again. Soon.

Three notable things:

1. I had a phone tutorial at 9.30am today so was frantically trying to get up to date after son 2 went off to school.

2. I have written a life writing piece on autism on the Your Messages blog today. Read it here and check out any previous days you might have missed!.

3. This morning son 1 and I went to Waitrose because he has developed a craving for fish fingers and we had run out...

Overheard...

Leafing through the catalogue in an Argos shop this morning, my attention was drawn to the young man standing alongside me. He was holding a most angelic looking little daughter, aged about two.

He was chatting about what they could buy for family Christmas presents. As he finished writing down the numbers of items to purchase, he turned to her.

'And what would you like?' he asked.

'Spaghetti,' she replied with a toss of her blonde curls.

Three notable things:

1. As I write I am watching the X Factor. I think that this year they may be concentrating too much on the staging and dancing, to the detriment of the vocals and song choices.

2. I received a lovely floral arrangement yesterday...I thought I might have a secret admirer but no such luck. Son 2 has already shredded some of the flowers!

3. I am looking forward to a very special outing tomorrow...

Coffee break

I met a friend for coffee in Starbucks today. An old friend, whose children used to be in school with mine. A friend who I haven't seen for two or three years. We met there at 10.45 and finally left at 2.30 because we had so much to talk about.

Now if I think that we have a difficult few years, then this friend has had far worse. In fact, if I was to write the story of what she has experienced in a novel, it would probably be considered too far-fetched to be true. Sadly, it has been her reality.

But she is bouncing back. She is a strong, beautiful and intelligent woman who has been put through hell but is reinventing herself.

I admire her so much.

Three notable things:

1. Hubby has been off work sick for two days, but is going back tomorrow.

2. Son 2 got very upset about Indian dancing at school yesterday.

3. I've posted new pieces on the Your Messages blog. Check out each day!

Shopping on my mind

I'm starting to think about the dreaded Christmas shopping and am scouring the net for goodies.

I hope that a book will shortly be arriving from Susan Hill which will be my mother sorted (it's OK, she won't read this!)

I also have my eye on this book as a possibility for my father. He is not a great reader but is a keen gardener.

Son 1 seems to mainly want money. Son 2 is always a problem as there are so few things he enjoys, but a selection of videos/DVDs/CDs and some chocolate usually hits the mark.

Hubby will probably have his own ideas and as for me, I have ordered the two volumes of the Paris Review Interviews and I have my eye on a classic Penguin books mug, preferably the Virginia Woolf Room of One's Own mug which would match my purple themed writing accessories perfectly. I'll have to start dropping hints about that...

Three notable things:

1. A great coffee and catch up session with two friends yesterday...

2. Did I tell you I have started to knit a cardigan?

3. Doing the flash fiction on the Your Messages blog is increasing the hits to my own blog... and Sarah Salway has left a message here!

Never forget

Today is the day for wearing a poppy and remembering those who have lost their lives fighting for our country.

My paternal grandfather fought in World War One. He must have been quite young but I believe he met my grandmother through a pen pal scheme for soldiers. They finally married and had children relatively late in life. I never knew that grandfather, he died when my father was still a teenager.

My maternal grandfather was of the age group which could have been enlisted into the Second World War. As a bank manager, however, he was exempt from being called up, though he did work for the Home Guard in true Dad's Army fashion. I think he may have been an air raid warden. He later experienced some mental health problems during his life.

My parents have never talked much about the experiences which they, as children, had during the war or of how it affected their parents. I know that my father and his brother watched the Blitz over Exeter and that his family hosted young evacuees from London. Of my mother's experiences in the Midlands I know relatively little, though she is younger and perhaps remembers less. Or was it all just too traumatic for them to process and pass down? Are those memories perhaps still compartmentalised and locked away?

We, and our children, have of course known this country to be at war, but never anywhere near home territory. Even seeing the horrors that we do on television cannot begin to compare with what my parents might have seen and experienced and they were lucky enough not to lose a close relative. Those families who have lost loved ones, in any conflict, deserve our respect and remembrance as, of course, do all the survivors.

We must never forget.

Three notable things:

1. I'm quite pleased with my response piece on Your Messages today.

2. The X Factor is hotting up. Wasn't Rhydian class last night? Watch it here.

3. I've just manged to complete a brief piece for an OU tutorial...last minute stuff but at least I did it!

Virago books

I expect most female readers ( and many male) will at some time have read a book published by the Virago Press.

I was hopping around some blogs today and came across this picture, which suddenly made me wonder what current books by women will survive to be reissued decades hence in the way that Virago has traditionally resurrected little-known female writers? Of course Virago does also publish contemporary work by talented writers such as Margaret Atwood and Sarah Waters, but there must be many more current female authors who will deserve to be re-read in the future, long after their books might normally have gone out of print.

I have my personal favourites, of course, but I'd love to hear yours.

Three notable things:

1. I'm free of the voluntary work!

2. As a leaving/thank you gift I received gift cards for Waterstone's and Marks & Spencer. I can feel some retail therapy coming on...

3. I'm still posting a piece of flash prose here every day. Wonder how long I can keep that up?

Oh so quiet...

It seems really quiet in the blogosphere at the moment, or at least on the blogs I regularly visit. Perhaps everyone is up to their necks in NaNoWriMo or just gone into autumn hibernation. Which, to be honest, I feel like doing myself. I am currently just keeping myself going with the challenge of my flash fiction pieces.

Three notable things:

1. Arranging to meet up next week with a friend who I haven't seen for a few years. We both have lots to catch up on.

2. Buying a fab cardigan/jacket on eBay which will be perfect worn with black trousers and top for the meeting I have to attend tomorrow evening. It is current season Per Una, but come via the factory shop, therefore I paid only a little more than half the retail price. I can't see anything wrong with it, other than the labels cut out, as they do. A bargain.

3. Getting all my paperwork sorted for this meeting tomorrow, which is when I am resigning as treasurer of the voluntary group. Woo hoo!

And breathe...

On son 2's first day back at school after a holiday I always feel totally washed out. I have learnt to reserve that day for myself, to just allow a little me-time.

So, today was the day. I had a phone tutorial for one of my OU courses at 9.30am. That was not as arduous as it sounds, because the course has only just started so really it was just a quick chat, to find out if I had everything and how I was going to approach the course. No problems.

Later son 1 and I wandered up to the local shops to make a few purchases, collect his prescription and post a letter. After lunch I wrote another flash fiction piece for today's response at Your Messages and then soaked in a hot bath. I was much more relaxed by the time son 2 arrived home.

Three notable things:

1. Last night I finished knitting a scarf which is to be an Xmas present for a friend.

2. The cable TV has been off nearly all day but Virgin Media are aware of the problem. So that's all right then. No rush guys.

3. The Your Messages project is making me enjoy my writing again. I never expected to have written a piece every day so far, but I'm loving it!