tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7531921461762085042024-02-19T02:40:13.164+00:00Lesley Hale's ScribblingsFollow my writing progress. Read some of my work. Try out a writing prompt.Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-40728975903145278552020-04-02T11:36:00.002+01:002020-04-02T11:36:49.613+01:00Lola<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Lola<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Her name is Lola. She is
a show-off. She likes to drink a lot of wine, then she gets right out of line.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It’s a family joke and
really, I wouldn’t mind the fact that Lola drank a lot, or that when she did a
torrent of foul language worthy of a Tourette’s sufferer tended to tumble from
her perfect red lips. I could just about cope with the fact that she often took
the Michael out of complete strangers and generally totally embarrassed me, but
what really got my goat was the fact that when my sister Melanie returned to
the land of the living the following morning she generally denied all knowledge
of anything that Lola had done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Take that last night at
the gîte. It was meant to be the perfect end to a perfect holiday. Two weeks of
fine food, good wine and sun in elegant surroundings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I adored almost everything about the gîte. It
had been painstakingly restored by the young owners, Sisse and Simon. Its walls,
sandblasted back to their original golden-ochre stone, were punctuated by
shutters the colour of Cahors wine and crowned by the heavy slabs of the
steeply pitched roof. Neatly trimmed vines, vigorously sending out their
trellised shoots to support young grapes, stretched like an emerald sea
surrounding our little Perigordian paradise. The stylish interior had
everything we needed but was also kept simple, letting the beauty of the
building shine through. The only jarring aspect to the whole complex was the
pool, a sharp gash in the landscape, fenced off and alarmed according to new
European regulations which I always thought the French took a joy in flouting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We spent a large part of the holiday by that pool
though, all except Nick, my husband and part-time eco-warrior, who had taken
against the unnatural vista and spent a fortnight unsuccessfully trying to
persuade us to frequent the river beaches instead. He was largely unsuccessful,
mainly because it’s so much easier to contain a six year old in a fenced, gated
and alarmed area. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">That final morning was no exception and as the
last drifts of morning mist evaporated in the heat of the sun we were to be
found poolside on our loungers. Melanie and I topping up the last of our tans
while we polished off the remains of the rosé, and watched Andy teaching my
nephew Max to swim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“Kick and dig. Kick and dig. Come on son, go
for gold.” My brother-in-law shouted at Max over and over again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“Where did that kick and dig idea come from Mel?”
I asked. “I think I’m going to scream if I hear it much longer.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“I dunno. It’s one of And’s things, but Max
seems to get the idea. Do you fancy some lunch yet? We could use up the olives
and the rillettes if you like.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I think that’s probably when it started to go
wrong. Rosé before lunch was probably not a good move, but chasing that with a
bottle of red was definitely a bad idea. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I can’t even pretend that we were wine
connoisseurs. We had tried to improve our knowledge of grape varieties and had
trailed round vineyards with the men, doing our best to sound semi-intelligent
on the subject, but it basically boiled down to it tasted red or rosé and we
either liked it or we didn’t. Mostly we did like it and that was our trouble.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">After lunch Peter popped over from the next
door property. He was a retired diplomat who had spent most of his career in
the <st1:place w:st="on">Middle East</st1:place>. An interesting chap, apart
from his hobby of making dye-cast American civil war soldiers, but no-one’s
perfect. Peter invited Melanie and me to tour his house, and being endowed with
the normal amount of curiosity for women, we accepted gladly, picking our way
across the stony courtyard in our flip flops and sarongs and carrying our
glasses of </span><span lang="EN-US">Chateau</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Nozieres. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As we were inspecting the handsomely painted
General Sir William Sherman on horseback I got my first inkling that Lola was
on her way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“So Pete, what does your wife say about you
spending all hours down in the cellar, fiddling with your little men? I mean,
it’s all a bit anoraky isn’t it?” Melanie asked, with her usual cheeky grin
plastered across her face.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“Ah, she simply despairs of me my dear.”
replied Peter, totally non-plussed by her comment which was probably very tame
compared to some of the things he would have heard in his long career. “Let me
top up your glasses. I always have some red open down here, but keep that our
little secret. She who must be obeyed would definitely disapprove.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“You need to get out and about a bit more,
Pete. I bet you’d be a right goer if you put your mind to it. Hey, do you and Sally
fancy coming out with us tonight? We’re off to The Bellevue in <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Puy l'Evêque</span></span><b><span style="color: #61718a; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">for a slap up meal.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“Oh no my dear. You wouldn’t want us old fogeys
tagging along.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“Course we would. Wouldn’t we Kas? The more the
merrier.” That was a definite Lola sign. Melanie never shortens my name. She
knows I absolutely hate it, and now I was on the spot, forced to reply.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“You and Sally would be more than welcome,
Peter. Simon and Sisse are coming too with the boys. It would be lovely to
share our last night with you all.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“Then we would love to accompany you. What time
should we be ready?” Asked Peter, his eyes brightening at the prospect of
company.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“We’re leaving at six. Have your glad rags on.”
Melanie replied as she stepped from the cellar, blinking in the late afternoon
sunshine. “Gawd, that only gives me an hour to get ready. We’d best leave you
to it Pete.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We all met up at on the restaurant’s
breathtaking terrace and stood sipping our aperitifs, with their intoxicating walnut
scent, as we watched the lights gradually come on over the brooding medieval
town. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“Ladies you all look lovely. It’s an honour to
be with you.” Peter was really a very charming gentleman. “Let me propose a
toast. To warm summer evenings and good company.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“To good company,” We all replied, chinking our
glasses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“Melanie, I love your outfit. That’s a Karen
Millen if I’m not mistaken.” Sisse was something of a fashionista, and was
simply drooling over the classy black silk dress, with its cut away low v-neck
and hem festooned with delicately embroidered gold and silver butterflies,
enhanced with sequins, beads and glittering diamantes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Melanie laughed loudly, spluttering into her drink.
“God no! It’s from Primark, but it’s a blooming good copy isn’t it?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“Then I suppose those three inch creations in
black patent are not Jimmy Choo’s either?” Sisse said and laughed as she took
another sip.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“Nope. I’d never waste my money on some stupid
name when I can get just the same stuff down Romford market, and it ain’t
knock-off either you know.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As we took our seats I reflected that you could
take the girl out of Essex, but you would probably never quite take Essex out
of the girl, never mind the fact that Melanie was now a highly successful
accountant and earnt enough to buy any number of Karen Millens or Jimmy Choos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The meal was wonderful. Pate de fois gras for
starters, followed by Magret de Canard, though Nick had to be disgustingly
different and go for the Tripoux, and of course, both courses were washed down
by more of the delicious dark red Cahors wine. By the time we reached dessert
we were all pretty lively.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“I must excuse myself folks. The little girls’
room calls.” As Melanie rose from the table she knocked Sally’s fork to the
floor. “Whoops! Silly me. Never mind Sal. At least you’ve finished with it.” Melanie
bent to pick it up, tottered on her stilettos and fell forwards, flipping a
floppy pink silicone form into Sally’s lap.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“Bugger!” Melanie exclaimed. “Bit of a Janet
Jackson moment there. Me chicken fillet has popped out. I’ll look a bit
lop-sided without that.” And she proceeded to stuff the offending item back
into her push-up bra.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“Are you feeling alright Melanie?” Sally asked,
as she grasped her elbow firmly. “Would you like me to accompany you to the
bathroom?” Sally was very no-nonsense and practical, the sort that has “True
Brit” stamped on their bottom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“No, I’ll manage.” Melanie trilled happily as
she staggered across the terrace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Five minutes later the wine was still flowing
and our well heeled party was having a refined old time when suddenly we
noticed that all conversation on the terrace had ceased and all eyes had turned
towards the dishevelled apparition that was definitely Lola, who was slowly
making what can only be termed “the walk of shame”, that agonisingly painful
journey, staggering occasionally in her three inch heels, as she, completely
unaware of her condition, made her way across the breadth of the terrace and
back to our table with the entire back of her dress tucked into her huge, flesh
coloured, suck me in knickers, instantly relegating our whole party from fine
diners to riff raff.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As usual, the next morning Melanie had no
recollection of the previous evening. She could not remember the restaurant and
she certainly could not remember the ride home, where she proceeded to mimic Sally’s
“posh” accent with a great many repetitions of,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Jolly
hockey sticks, I’m from <st1:place w:st="on">Essex</st1:place> don’t ya know.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Needless to say we told her all about it, in
great detail. Lola had her fun night out, but it was Melanie who spent the
morning of our departure apologising to everyone, and the strange thing is that
everyone loved her for it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-29806773760615733202016-02-24T17:45:00.000+00:002017-03-03T15:00:33.015+00:00About Zentangles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfaGdTca8mib9nQi7teztqV0uN9O7oeuSG__GZGFUnpf82TSFMhi7VTrG5R7ATw16WPYvYVVAyBJYNHeIL81VPutBjB1ztwu56Qj36isYuaGLXlWGTeKSI_2o_4uI7UBXpAYp_xHwKh5SZ/s1600/zen+16.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfaGdTca8mib9nQi7teztqV0uN9O7oeuSG__GZGFUnpf82TSFMhi7VTrG5R7ATw16WPYvYVVAyBJYNHeIL81VPutBjB1ztwu56Qj36isYuaGLXlWGTeKSI_2o_4uI7UBXpAYp_xHwKh5SZ/s200/zen+16.png" width="195" /></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=753192146176208504" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=753192146176208504" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Many claims are made
for the Zentangle. This method of creating </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">abstract drawings,
using repetitive patterns, developed by an ex-monk and a calligrapher, has
variously been described as a way of promoting focus, increasing mental
retention, reducing stress and stimulating creativity. It’s been likened to a
form of artistic meditation, hence the Zen bit, and it has been recommended for
improving your mood, calming you down and as a tool for anger management.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAa0vdV7bl0U-t5tT6aApNTJIN_P0Cme6cOjo86WeviXcrwF-gB-f3yCpxNnPNEd9zOBP1G1hhesM7luMh2qy3R0lTbB_I6GoVzOfgCVMf-nr3UXG99ICjnAzYtTgKdTinSjHO4jSrCJC/s1600/zen+17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAa0vdV7bl0U-t5tT6aApNTJIN_P0Cme6cOjo86WeviXcrwF-gB-f3yCpxNnPNEd9zOBP1G1hhesM7luMh2qy3R0lTbB_I6GoVzOfgCVMf-nr3UXG99ICjnAzYtTgKdTinSjHO4jSrCJC/s1600/zen+17.jpg" /></a></div>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=753192146176208504" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=753192146176208504" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I don’t know about the validity of those claims,
but I’ve always loved doodling and have used various art forms such as Mehndi
designs and Aboriginal art to teach children about line, pattern and texture, so
Zentangles instantly appeal to me. I do find creating these tiny works of
abstract art very relaxing and fulfilling, with the added bonus that they are
quick to complete, can be done anywhere and can be put down and taken up without
any planning or setting up of messy areas. Time flies when you are doing them
and so they are perfect for taking on the train or distracting you in the dentist
or hospital waiting areas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So, what is a Zentangle?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It’s a miniature abstract work of art, created from
a collection of patterns not meant to represent anything and without any orientation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In its original form, it is created on 3.5 inch
(8.9 cm) squares of good quality art paper, called ‘tiles’, using a pencil
and a fine black pen. You don’t need to plan anything in advance, as the idea
is that the creation unfolds itself one stroke at a time, and you don’t need a
rubber, as, because there are no expectations, there are no mistakes in Zentangling.
It is more than just doodling however, since you work with more focus, giving
your deliberate drawing of patterns a great deal of attention. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white;">How to get started:</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></span>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Draw a
border in pencil using freehand and a light</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"> touch - i</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">t’s not meant to be visible
once you finish creating your Zentangle in pen</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">. Don’t
worry if it’s not straight - it all adds to the finished effect.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"></span></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Draw a "string" inside the border - This is a curved line
or squiggle that acts as a simple, abstract form which elegantly divides the
border into sections to lend structure to your design. It should be
lightly-sketched in pencil so as </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">not to be visible once your Zentangle is finished.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=753192146176208504" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=753192146176208504" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoANIb7N8EpBEl_WqIphzk4uSl8_ZmcPFREXsV3i3zpN6P7Cg-zu9dcoAgXSNw8WQqMU3ohkXuNRtwZsWSIunJPepRMiymsNY5jj1oE0ybP62sTRSoyFBkmlelkE5uWpFfxD2q8940kQLB/s1600/zen+strings.png" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-indent: -18pt;"><img border="0" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoANIb7N8EpBEl_WqIphzk4uSl8_ZmcPFREXsV3i3zpN6P7Cg-zu9dcoAgXSNw8WQqMU3ohkXuNRtwZsWSIunJPepRMiymsNY5jj1oE0ybP62sTRSoyFBkmlelkE5uWpFfxD2q8940kQLB/s320/zen+strings.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=753192146176208504" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=753192146176208504" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -24px;">S</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -24px;">tart creating a tangle.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -24px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -24px;">A "tangle" is a repeating pattern drawn in pen along the contours of a string. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -24px;">Tangles should be composed of very simple shapes - lines, dots,</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -24px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -24px;">circles, squiggles, squares, arcs etc.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxZXdDHR64Z5-aPH9WPosr5fOzDIIGRaPWGOApPN9_WrYC_bTerCRNAk0u9l31q4w7b2j7rAokS3yrMPTukCDgAKIOAkC3MePek88hZBkoVq6ri_EYA9y7BfYB0T7cyC1z_YA4zMfjkLqI/s1600/Filling+in+strings.png" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxZXdDHR64Z5-aPH9WPosr5fOzDIIGRaPWGOApPN9_WrYC_bTerCRNAk0u9l31q4w7b2j7rAokS3yrMPTukCDgAKIOAkC3MePek88hZBkoVq6ri_EYA9y7BfYB0T7cyC1z_YA4zMfjkLqI/s320/Filling+in+strings.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -24px;">One Zentangle may have just one tangle, or a combination of different tangles. Use your pen to begin drawing whatever pattern comes to you. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -24px;">Pencil shading or colour can be added to the tangles to create more depth and visual interest. </span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWknhXouLF-lRyDK5j4LDkJcc-xWUaiGoFGCRVH_F27wH93b2PGbOB6eXVsCO05EXepdihBK_gdR4Ct6_IdDUJs8wfVBsy2-a0ppWXWpYt3a7sK7i2omalkYarzzZYx44E0vqQwHercSVi/s1600/zen+18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWknhXouLF-lRyDK5j4LDkJcc-xWUaiGoFGCRVH_F27wH93b2PGbOB6eXVsCO05EXepdihBK_gdR4Ct6_IdDUJs8wfVBsy2-a0ppWXWpYt3a7sK7i2omalkYarzzZYx44E0vqQwHercSVi/s320/zen+18.jpg" width="319" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: #ffd966; color: purple; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Go to my Arty Scribblings tab at the top of the page for some Zentangle ideas.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="background: white; margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
</div>
</div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-64673738524754180362016-02-24T17:42:00.000+00:002016-02-24T17:42:22.085+00:00My Zentangles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I started using some Zentangle inspired pictures as the artwork for cards to sell on our village craft stall.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7VqB9msX088rprnKLQjk-QR2r0cUQtGXjpkuTbKh90oJ6_iJJvG_31kNzmd2hdciFA_iG4yb7ANC0gDCVea9KnZnuXVl8fGjcZ1v9vmm4Y4Bq3iZNKp0ALi2Lf8EwwVpO75tlHGFYPvy1/s1600/My+cards+Summer+2014+%252823%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7VqB9msX088rprnKLQjk-QR2r0cUQtGXjpkuTbKh90oJ6_iJJvG_31kNzmd2hdciFA_iG4yb7ANC0gDCVea9KnZnuXVl8fGjcZ1v9vmm4Y4Bq3iZNKp0ALi2Lf8EwwVpO75tlHGFYPvy1/s320/My+cards+Summer+2014+%252823%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9LLyUNkPzSAl00tOPQArsJ1nyG3DskN0tPRa0ssqpy0nI0miEkIiXOGEd9ljFBFwdOQH1qsxgj6wbpyzw-lrIadM9BwPdYu4A0iG9rXENhdV-_4D-lez3eUHf1Z8wFUrlqgJT9fGVWOZJ/s1600/web+My+cards+Summer+2014++%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9LLyUNkPzSAl00tOPQArsJ1nyG3DskN0tPRa0ssqpy0nI0miEkIiXOGEd9ljFBFwdOQH1qsxgj6wbpyzw-lrIadM9BwPdYu4A0iG9rXENhdV-_4D-lez3eUHf1Z8wFUrlqgJT9fGVWOZJ/s320/web+My+cards+Summer+2014++%25281%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=753192146176208504" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=753192146176208504" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=753192146176208504" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=753192146176208504" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEK9U5s_AhhLlU5vIqehZbX0JVR3mCFvAi7tSKMglUCM3lxJ6FM2RDV6C5qi43s9tG_J1FXejfXcVfJo7Ituoa1UnqmsFZ0ReoY7Vm_MU8HPnWrgbNZDYGkPTJzFU0IeOYC220fJ0P5cdm/s1600/web+My+cards+Summer+2014++%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEK9U5s_AhhLlU5vIqehZbX0JVR3mCFvAi7tSKMglUCM3lxJ6FM2RDV6C5qi43s9tG_J1FXejfXcVfJo7Ituoa1UnqmsFZ0ReoY7Vm_MU8HPnWrgbNZDYGkPTJzFU0IeOYC220fJ0P5cdm/s320/web+My+cards+Summer+2014++%25282%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRshzTCPj5l6-CU_JkqCMtHF9-SHZnGs3Q4ieCov7dCiNgWEv5EXK9pRfGAJcmZb6Cg2_Cdb66EhEqwabY8IVIPNJF8VX0ZVHi0Ff-WV5EiVX-gCWpttUAF6oP3ro2lvpmhZ-grlFDMBjX/s1600/web+My+cards+Summer+2014++%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRshzTCPj5l6-CU_JkqCMtHF9-SHZnGs3Q4ieCov7dCiNgWEv5EXK9pRfGAJcmZb6Cg2_Cdb66EhEqwabY8IVIPNJF8VX0ZVHi0Ff-WV5EiVX-gCWpttUAF6oP3ro2lvpmhZ-grlFDMBjX/s320/web+My+cards+Summer+2014++%25283%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-55545854763818801432016-02-24T17:29:00.001+00:002016-02-24T17:29:53.116+00:00Zentangle Ideas<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Playing with patterns for Zentangles is great fun and there are masses of ideas at the click of a quick search, but I've gathered a few together that I like to use and posted them here.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl5MnwWl59YNSONbOs0wcZ1q-4DdaMOHVex8Opqq9B6xpOycOgpL8BNO1SNzk3-VQPtK5vBL2Lq4wn6b42D_fiysCGp6ZHUw4ty3-CUUd9YQItquDviDws4uLDYG7kVHwG82GG_Wd4lISL/s1600/Tangle+Ideas+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl5MnwWl59YNSONbOs0wcZ1q-4DdaMOHVex8Opqq9B6xpOycOgpL8BNO1SNzk3-VQPtK5vBL2Lq4wn6b42D_fiysCGp6ZHUw4ty3-CUUd9YQItquDviDws4uLDYG7kVHwG82GG_Wd4lISL/s1600/Tangle+Ideas+1.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4eaERmbLXLQgia5R9Y7T5s8T_GBxm9-de-ZkdgzAQVSI1cNgnKItbFt8MvdrtLpDeCOHbkz9FXG8jZcipuGsOehRXzyH4zqOgX_xT5UfQnAgTY4lK_onDvqKHbW3on44sW3e2hLqMbOYX/s1600/Tangle+Ideas+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4eaERmbLXLQgia5R9Y7T5s8T_GBxm9-de-ZkdgzAQVSI1cNgnKItbFt8MvdrtLpDeCOHbkz9FXG8jZcipuGsOehRXzyH4zqOgX_xT5UfQnAgTY4lK_onDvqKHbW3on44sW3e2hLqMbOYX/s1600/Tangle+Ideas+2.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=753192146176208504" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=753192146176208504" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=753192146176208504" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=753192146176208504" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuaeEG4UJ3l_YrL58Qd_Mr2a9ICXq2dNTtpZJ9ZMbWkc_A7Y-R8orDidjdnwqy5novEXKqrcBzLpPe4sFU4EB7U-ynr9TmqasNaM2wqHGagu79MlRkfUVIWBoVVM8hsHDNRDDZV4hP2XJ9/s1600/Tangle+Ideas+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuaeEG4UJ3l_YrL58Qd_Mr2a9ICXq2dNTtpZJ9ZMbWkc_A7Y-R8orDidjdnwqy5novEXKqrcBzLpPe4sFU4EB7U-ynr9TmqasNaM2wqHGagu79MlRkfUVIWBoVVM8hsHDNRDDZV4hP2XJ9/s1600/Tangle+Ideas+3.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-43494229768163793472014-04-28T16:27:00.003+01:002014-04-28T16:27:51.298+01:00Give the people real facts, and beer.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When you’re writing an historical novel it’s
all too easy to get sidetracked by the many fascinating tidbits of information
you unearth during the research stage. Well, I say ‘research stage’, but, in
fact, for me that stage runs alongside the writing and editing stages too, as I
check and double check on historical details.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I can’t remember when I came across this
little trifle about the supposed invention of bottled beer. I suspect it was
when I was looking for information about Cheapside, which features at the end
of ‘<i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00HGULBU0" target="_blank">Witness</a></i>’ and is where I begin my
sequel, ‘<i>An Act of</i> Treason’. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was interested in what a late 16<sup>th</sup>
century St Paul’s would have looked like, and stumbled across the name of Alexander
Nowell, who held the deanery of St Paul’s for much of Elizabeth I’s reign.</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGr6i4ceOt6Fb-5Xjg-IWZNrlxqz9kF08htR7BgxpiBd12VN1nqTKGQr1i2QXj2ApYbh40RGI6TVo3q5KB6UBChJ_d-zKYULZsrzOZEos0o6BjAjZEXPt8LDtvBDNsqmXf6-Hx-PL2wqzz/s1600/newell.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGr6i4ceOt6Fb-5Xjg-IWZNrlxqz9kF08htR7BgxpiBd12VN1nqTKGQr1i2QXj2ApYbh40RGI6TVo3q5KB6UBChJ_d-zKYULZsrzOZEos0o6BjAjZEXPt8LDtvBDNsqmXf6-Hx-PL2wqzz/s1600/newell.png" height="320" width="260" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alexander Nowell</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The bishops of London had a country house
in Much Hadham, Hertfordshire, which gave them rights to fishing in the River
Ash and Nowell, an ardent angler, indulged regularly in his favourite pastime
there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One very hot day. Nowell is reputed to have
taken a bottle filled with beer and stoppered with a cork to the riverbank. To
keep it cool he tied a string around it and lowered it into the river and then
forgot all about it. No-one knows why. Perhaps he caught an exceptionally large
fish which distracted him, but whatever happened the result was that this beer,
presumably home brewed, was left on the riverbank. Nowell returned a week later
to fish in the same spot, came across the string and remembered his bottle of
beer. Pulling it out he took a drink, and was pleasantly surprised to find the
beer much changed and even improved, describing the sound of the cork coming
out as that of a gun.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The changes he noticed would probably have
been it turning fizzy, as Elizabethan ale was generally fairly flat. Secondary
fermentation in the bottle probably caused a build-up of carbon dioxide, which
would account for the loud pop when Nowell pulled the cork out. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The whole incident is reputed to be the
accidental discovery of the benefits of bottled beer, though it is likely that brewers
were experimenting with storing beer in glass bottles in the latter half of the
16th century. It’s lucky that Nowell came across his string within such a short
time though, as the yeast in the beer would continue to ferment, causing the
bottle to eventually explode. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finding this snippet of information sent me
on one of my many distracting research sessions. I liked the idea of the dean
of St Paul’s inventing bottled beer and wanted to include it somewhere in the
book. I decided to have my actors presented with a crate of bottled beer, but
was not sure would have been possible. What would it have been bottled in? Part
of the problem was that the hand-blown glass bottles of the time would not have
been able take the pressure of all that fizz. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In 1615, the English poet Gervase Markham wrote ‘<i>The
English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in
a Complete Woman</i>’. In this he advised housewife brewers that when bottling ale
they “should put it into round bottles with narrow mouths, and then, stopping
them close with corks, set them in a cold cellar up to the waist in sand, and
be sure that the corks be fast tied with strong pack thread, for fear of rising
out and taking vent, which is the utter spoil of the ale.” </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So would my crate of bottled beer need to
be a box of sand, and would the bottles be blown glass or stoneware?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You’ll have to read ‘An Act of Treason’ to
find out whether I decided to include bottled beer or whether this was one of
those details which fell by the wayside!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><!--[endif]--></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-70946072327174969222014-04-02T14:12:00.003+01:002014-04-02T14:12:47.693+01:00With a Little Help from…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
In my last post I mentioned the great support
I get from my family. Well, to misquote a Lemony Snicket title, I’ve
experienced a series of fortunate events… which has resulted in a fantastic
book cover for my sequel to <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HGULBU0" target="_blank">Witness</a>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">My sister was having a conversation with an
IT contractor in her office and I guess somehow my writing came up, or maybe it
was how I was trying to create my own book covers and asking my family’s
opinion on which version was the best. Anyhow, the IT bod commented that his
wife was a graphic designer and could design something for me, and she’d do it
for free. How fantastically fortuitous is that?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">So here is my new book cover and I love it.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><a href="http://www.ukgraphicdesigns.co.uk%20/" target="_blank">Tanya Esterhuysen</a></span>. Now all I have to do is finish my final proof
read and get An Act of Treason out there.<span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih6etlyyIGCWJXB8hI23lRXvn5on50z0_uDBywJWNw4qlHjAWp_Zr-Jj16ZK5kX7FRxOhiQ-O3QxVPYUA9ES2cKi7fJjNy4MEq4PMURPxo3NePzg8ADcAFOZrrHaWh-5OFM7Khumrubq09/s1600/Act+of+Treason+Tana+cover+1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih6etlyyIGCWJXB8hI23lRXvn5on50z0_uDBywJWNw4qlHjAWp_Zr-Jj16ZK5kX7FRxOhiQ-O3QxVPYUA9ES2cKi7fJjNy4MEq4PMURPxo3NePzg8ADcAFOZrrHaWh-5OFM7Khumrubq09/s1600/Act+of+Treason+Tana+cover+1.jpeg" height="640" width="512" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-57605397163521762312014-03-26T11:44:00.001+00:002014-03-26T14:24:39.562+00:00'Tis not enough to help the feeble up, but to support them after<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: clear;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 16.3pt;"><b>- William Shakespeare</b></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: clear;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.3pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: clear;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.3pt;">Funnily
enough, just before notification of </span><a href="http://helenmackinven.wordpress.com/2014/03/25/friends-with-benefits-of-the-literary-kind-only/#respond" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.3pt;">Helen
MacKinven’s latest blog-post</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.3pt;"> popped up in my in-box, I was browsing through
this year’s little brochure for </span><a href="http://www.arvon.org/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.3pt;">Arvon Foundation
Creative Writing Courses.</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.3pt;"> I’m too late to get on anything this year, but there’s
one particular course I’d have loved to go on, tutored by </span><a href="http://www.malorieblackman.co.uk/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.3pt;">Malorie Blackman</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.3pt;"> (‘nuff said), but
as I am currently unwaged (by choice) I’d feel guilty spending such a lot of
money. The same goes for a creative writing MA, which I’d love to do.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-color: clear; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Helen’s
blog asked:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-color: clear; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> Was
your creative writing course worthwhile? Do you feel the need for support from
a writing group? How do your family and friends support your writing ambitions?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-color: clear; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">It
made me think. I began to write a comment to add to her blog, but it grew and
so ended up on my blog instead!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-color: clear; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I’m
very lucky with my family support, especially that of my husband, who is
tolerating my unwaged state and giving me room to try my hand at this writing
game. My wider family also provide support and are proving to be valued readers
and marketers of my books. Their clamouring for the sequel to <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HGULBU0">‘Witness’</a> has given me
confidence that my writing has wide appeal, as I know they wouldn’t bother with
it if it were not their sort of thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_JJWJ7vgP5QMjfMro2r5cxkJFq483tiuNUpfKFjEPHeGvqpyaGgv1c91M7b2EjP_bGLr2D1SKNcDg5PoFHsEqQJBqkon3xV3V44DC_Djcww9kDqpFS593utHCLlNmbEzNt8t_t15UefyB/s1600/reindeer+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: clear; clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_JJWJ7vgP5QMjfMro2r5cxkJFq483tiuNUpfKFjEPHeGvqpyaGgv1c91M7b2EjP_bGLr2D1SKNcDg5PoFHsEqQJBqkon3xV3V44DC_Djcww9kDqpFS593utHCLlNmbEzNt8t_t15UefyB/s1600/reindeer+1.jpg" height="199" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: clear;">My family support!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-color: clear;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.3pt;">As
to creative courses, well, I’m a teacher, of course I believe you can be taught
something. You can be given the skills, then let loose to see where your creativity
and determination can take you.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-color: clear; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In
July 2009 I went on an Arvon course led by the authors <a href="http://jilldawson.co.uk/pages/">Jill Dawson</a> and <a href="http://kathrynheyman.com/">Kathryn Heyman</a>. I found this exceptionally
stimulating. What gave me the biggest buzz was living and breathing writing
with a group of like-minded people. This group proved to be of great support in
the ‘you can do’ style of things, and we still meet up a couple of times each
year, which has the effect of spurring me on, especially since a couple of
folks (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Bookstore-Deborah-Meyler/dp/1448213762">Deborah
Meyler</a>, <a href="http://www.cherisesaywell.com/">Cherise Saywell</a>) have
now published great books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHxZv0-g7n3XDWMMxOuBoHueowb4RI_SwdPvuFUgRLlf9_vfaQbtVLs7bhHHDRTM77Troc1022F-mnB2RX7DOjBjzGiXIMsUPDjiSeSd2I9FomCj-ZN1H_pNg9n0cGhGSDZH6-9TLRiDyf/s1600/20100513+Domburg+beach+evening+(15).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: clear; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHxZv0-g7n3XDWMMxOuBoHueowb4RI_SwdPvuFUgRLlf9_vfaQbtVLs7bhHHDRTM77Troc1022F-mnB2RX7DOjBjzGiXIMsUPDjiSeSd2I9FomCj-ZN1H_pNg9n0cGhGSDZH6-9TLRiDyf/s1600/20100513+Domburg+beach+evening+(15).JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-color: clear; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-color: clear;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.3pt;">Two life changing decisions came directly from
doing that creative writing course. I resigned my job as a deputy head and took
off in a small van on a tour of Europe with my husband and dog. At the same
time I was mentored by Kathryn Heyman as part of </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.3pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.3pt;">the </span><a href="http://gold-dust.org.uk/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.3pt;">Gold
Dust</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.3pt;"> mentoring scheme for writers. Jill Dawson likens Gold Dust to a fast
track MA in creative writing. I can’t say how true that is, and there’s an
interesting blog about it </span><a href="http://writingneuroses.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/as-many-of-you-know-im-deeply.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.3pt;">here</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.3pt;">,
but Kathryn certainly taught me much about structuring a novel, tightening up
the writing and strengthening the characterisation and dialogue.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-color: clear; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I think it’s possible to teach yourself writing,
but I am also certain that you can get there by a less tortuous route with a
bit of well-placed tuition/direction/mentoring. Someone pointing out the plot
holes, the clichés and, in my case, quite how often your characters wink at
each other, keeps you on a better writing path.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-color: clear; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">At the present time, much of my writing support comes
from the ‘Writing for Children’ branch of the Cambridge Writers Group. This
group is good at critiquing work, and I value their excellent commentary. They
also spread the word about writing events in my area and it’s more
companionable to attend events with a few familiar faces.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-color: clear; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Not all writing groups support in this way, I know.
The last group I attended (OK, ran) had less experienced writers as members,
and we were rather more the blind leading the blind. Even so, we did writing
exercises each week, and that in itself was incredibly stimulating for me and I
produced a lot of writing which led to short stories and starts of novels (to
be continued at a later date!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.3pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlSbAxaUgOPWmpUCKYmeVRBX7DMEekryzj_zZkK-tVZp-fJ460Y5gwNtqXmO1VsBgOesR7j1YZDjg9meEcsPNI_1ssuDeW7q8vYMIHeqehDX8m7A22bSP4C7kJ5LMh4JV3CC7_NqZwCF00/s1600/the-blind-leading-the-blind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: clear; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlSbAxaUgOPWmpUCKYmeVRBX7DMEekryzj_zZkK-tVZp-fJ460Y5gwNtqXmO1VsBgOesR7j1YZDjg9meEcsPNI_1ssuDeW7q8vYMIHeqehDX8m7A22bSP4C7kJ5LMh4JV3CC7_NqZwCF00/s1600/the-blind-leading-the-blind.jpg" height="356" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: clear; color: #888888; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">Pieter Bruegel's 1568 oil painting, often called The Parable of the Blind,</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.3pt;">Perhaps it depends on your personality. Some people
get on better working in their little garrets, agonising over their writing
until they produce masterpieces, others find their ideas flow better when they
have someone to talk to. I think I am the latter type of writer. As I spend a
fair amount of time on my own, sat in my study, I am considering trying to
build more online writing support for myself. My writing group meets monthly,
and in between sessions I could do with more than my husband to bounce ideas
about with and to comment on chapters. He’s a fantastic proof-reader, but he
concentrates on the linguistic side and I need people to get into the story. I’ve
not found quite what I’m looking for as yet, but hopefully I’ll know it when I
see it. Any suggestions would be most welcome.</span><span style="background-color: clear; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"></span></div>
<div style="background: clear; line-height: 16.3pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="background: clear; line-height: 16.3pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-24292734930222298792014-01-20T12:20:00.000+00:002014-01-20T12:20:26.737+00:00Where do you get your ideas?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Where do you get your ideas? It’s a stock
question when interviewing an author, not that anyone’s asked me yet! However,
it’s best to be prepared, so to celebrate the launch of my first novel, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Witness-Matthew-Reed-Tudor-Adventures-ebook/dp/B00HGULBU0/">Witness</a>,
I’ve had a little think about where the ideas for the book came from.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.neilgaiman.com/p/Cool_Stuff/Essays/Essays_By_Neil/Where_do_you_get_your_ideas%3F">Neil
Gaiman</a> says his answer to this question is, ‘I make them up. Out of my
head.’ – but admits that it tends to make interviewers unhappy. He goes on to
explain that he gets his ideas from daydreaming and asking himself ‘what if…’ questions,
which pleased me no end, as that’s what I do.</span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4bZaE6pmF9YhWK-bjH03Pu4KnbV6NoUJk60XwAqHjXJJoxhMLZpcXxJBRUrtZoWFFy2YShiVdzdGvvjKI2QmIsV8Vx96lqyfMiMU1uuu2cyl6KI7f2uFYil8Qaynwdrdaybm7_TLHRatx/s1600/St+Switins+with+tower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4bZaE6pmF9YhWK-bjH03Pu4KnbV6NoUJk60XwAqHjXJJoxhMLZpcXxJBRUrtZoWFFy2YShiVdzdGvvjKI2QmIsV8Vx96lqyfMiMU1uuu2cyl6KI7f2uFYil8Qaynwdrdaybm7_TLHRatx/s1600/St+Switins+with+tower.jpg" height="140" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St Swithin's pre-1880</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I can trace my ideas for my first novel, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Witness-Matthew-Reed-Tudor-Adventures-ebook/dp/B00HGULBU0/">Witness</a>,
back 30 years to a post-</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">university stint on a history research project at the
University of East Anglia when I was asked to produce a pamphlet about <a href="http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/norwichswithin/norwichswithin.htm" target="_blank">St.Swithin’s Church</a>, also known as the <a href="http://norwichartscentre.co.uk/">Norwich
Arts Centre.</a> St. Swithin’s had an association with the medieval tanner’s
guild and this sparked off an interest in cloth preparation, so when I joined a
creative writing class in </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO_ERUNzkYLElNFCqYeBHuhSCY1FrgzORXnQ-VLFXMtoAr39xLianj0AZzsdQwfuNn7ZBkZCpvLRjLDM7pz4eLMAg44Ez8kP0AOB0e1R2sXAY5JA0i0T2tZMyerYw-YRDxR5XJaU5cO_wb/s1600/St+swithins+now.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO_ERUNzkYLElNFCqYeBHuhSCY1FrgzORXnQ-VLFXMtoAr39xLianj0AZzsdQwfuNn7ZBkZCpvLRjLDM7pz4eLMAg44Ez8kP0AOB0e1R2sXAY5JA0i0T2tZMyerYw-YRDxR5XJaU5cO_wb/s1600/St+swithins+now.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St Swithin's today</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Leicestershire and was set homework to write the
first chapter of an historical novel, I started off with Matthew Reed’s stomach
lurching at the smell of urine as he entered a fulling mill on the banks of the
River Ver in St. Albans. Editing moved this scene to chapter four, but this was
where idea for the whole book started.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span><br /><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The creative writing class got me hooked
and when it finished I started a writing group with some of my fellow participants
and my historical novel developed. In stowing away on his father’s cart,
Matthew’s dream had been to get to London. One obvious place for his father to
sell his cloth was Cheapside and during my research I stumbled across an
article on an American blog which mentioned the ‘Cheapside Horde’. This remarkable
collection, now the feature of a major exhibition at the <a href="http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/london-wall/whats-on/exhibitions-displays/cheapside-hoard-londons-lost-jewels/">Museum
of London</a>, is regarded as the greatest cache of Elizabethan jewellery in
the world. In 1912, workmen demolishing a 17th century building discovered a
decaying wooden box beneath a brick floor. Stashed there by some long-forgotten
goldsmith, the contents of the box included over 500 pieces of 16th and 17th century
jewellery of the type which would have been worn by wealthy merchants and their
families rather than the aristocracy. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZfQ-hHl6e6pKcdRIqGlJ4Fby2dbFWUKoDHf1kfMC_I1m9D3nglrt2viZAAFAvrIDPJ0QR0_wuImmdMsgQxKnUmXdZQVmTmS8wxb_0-U01rduMPe4oFLFZF5-RtKV7Ok-tpceYLL21aTD/s1600/cheapside+horde.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZfQ-hHl6e6pKcdRIqGlJ4Fby2dbFWUKoDHf1kfMC_I1m9D3nglrt2viZAAFAvrIDPJ0QR0_wuImmdMsgQxKnUmXdZQVmTmS8wxb_0-U01rduMPe4oFLFZF5-RtKV7Ok-tpceYLL21aTD/s1600/cheapside+horde.jpg" height="250" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Cheapside Horde</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The idea of this jeweller stashing his
wares under his floorboards took hold in my mind. What had happened to him? Why
had he never gone back to collect his box? Perhaps he was murdered and he’d
never even told his wife where his riches were hidden, and so my goldsmith,
Thomas Hyckes, was created as the maker of this jewellery. In early versions of </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Witness-Matthew-Reed-Tudor-Adventures-ebook/dp/B00HGULBU0/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Witness</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, I had Matthew and his father, John, examining the jewellery and buying
it as a gift for Matthew’s mother, but this got lost in the editing process and
instead Thomas Hyckes became the friend in London to whom John Reed could turn
when Matthew finds himself in danger. The Cheapside Horde is not in itself
mentioned in the novel, but we do see, or rather hear, Hyckes carefully putting
his stock away somewhere secret in his workshop on the corner of Friday Street
and Cheapside.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGKkGRahii9hK1R4QNtw2-fkyV92nkALZ8u79rw7kqC696BYvh5KQvcW6cGE6_xlGb1NddNaJ4ZTZeKRkRgspW450dVr6-D6mD3Z5Z_DuZCTM6YMUNW2fNa3oZpjxUTAY7UY1S7HUOlwKp/s1600/Cheapside-Hoard-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGKkGRahii9hK1R4QNtw2-fkyV92nkALZ8u79rw7kqC696BYvh5KQvcW6cGE6_xlGb1NddNaJ4ZTZeKRkRgspW450dVr6-D6mD3Z5Z_DuZCTM6YMUNW2fNa3oZpjxUTAY7UY1S7HUOlwKp/s1600/Cheapside-Hoard-7.jpg" height="138" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIX4flGFU0jRFF7O4x6y5VzPfTsI1lOEJeS3V5n1ilcds1rfsFdI6KjwizQZrVIdlK5_602Pxfe2lTGdkrRtQ4983KMtEDo-3SgiauVDzMqZnYIgmpOfhN97C_GVLYO-m_b1JxemNGxvTV/s1600/In-Detail-Cheapside-Hoard-Museum-of-London-0110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIX4flGFU0jRFF7O4x6y5VzPfTsI1lOEJeS3V5n1ilcds1rfsFdI6KjwizQZrVIdlK5_602Pxfe2lTGdkrRtQ4983KMtEDo-3SgiauVDzMqZnYIgmpOfhN97C_GVLYO-m_b1JxemNGxvTV/s1600/In-Detail-Cheapside-Hoard-Museum-of-London-0110.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As the novel progressed I wanted to learn
more about the craft of writing and so booked myself on an Arvon course with
the authors <a href="http://www.jilldawson.co.uk/" target="_blank">Jill Dawson</a> and <a href="http://kathrynheyman.com/" target="_blank">Kathryn Heyman</a>. We covered a huge amount in our
week of workshops and writing, and I learnt a great deal about developing characters
and about the underlying structure of a novel. I decided that Matthew was on a
journey, both in an emotional and physical sense, and created a map of where I
wanted him to travel, which ended up stretching from London to Waltham Cross.
I’m a very visual person, and so this map, made up of pages printed from Google
Maps and glued together, was where I pinned bits of research associated with
Tudor England and places along the route of the Old North Road. Much of this
went into the second of Matthew Reed’s adventures, some of it never went
anywhere other than the map, but one bit of research which made its way into the
first novel, </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Witness-Matthew-Reed-Tudor-Adventures-ebook/dp/B00HGULBU0/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Witness</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, was about the Eleanor Crosses, which ended up featuring
at several points during the novel. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMY8VTTEKCtwOrf19sHGQWO0NukrcJTGgMzX66tvHZofGPDbcXTOjQUQdUjKRY3qHRkzynRP7QmDDNHXGWOVO7BZT9_7a4gcerfjiTnehTZvNY0X5YdIBjH3x1KFGfuxatWtelxhrRB7fe/s1600/Eleanor+Cross+Waltham+Cross.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMY8VTTEKCtwOrf19sHGQWO0NukrcJTGgMzX66tvHZofGPDbcXTOjQUQdUjKRY3qHRkzynRP7QmDDNHXGWOVO7BZT9_7a4gcerfjiTnehTZvNY0X5YdIBjH3x1KFGfuxatWtelxhrRB7fe/s1600/Eleanor+Cross+Waltham+Cross.jpg" height="320" width="127" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waltham Cross</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ybkGxJlFsdVulWWKoj5CJwQNV9p54FwQI7WuUqQYMIMWujpoK5Jgg6-uxKw1rnjrURbTOMfajQUPxdcqrT_x6GzGlrI2IDNV708_t0NlZ_l3BigbrhLYeiFu8U7eZTaTTWPKVpLH-OpY/s1600/Eleanor+Cross+Charing+Cross.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ybkGxJlFsdVulWWKoj5CJwQNV9p54FwQI7WuUqQYMIMWujpoK5Jgg6-uxKw1rnjrURbTOMfajQUPxdcqrT_x6GzGlrI2IDNV708_t0NlZ_l3BigbrhLYeiFu8U7eZTaTTWPKVpLH-OpY/s1600/Eleanor+Cross+Charing+Cross.jpg" height="320" width="108" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charing Cross</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The inclusion of the Eleanor Crosses is
largely down to family living near Waltham Cross, where a fine restoration
exists of one of the twelve memorial crosses Edward I erected along the route
of his beloved wife Eleanor’s funeral procession between Lincoln and London in
the 1290s. This cross interested me originally because of its similarity with
the one standing outside Charing Cross Station in London, which I had passed on
many an occasion during my later teenage years - Charing Cross being my entry
point to central London nightlife from the suburbs. In </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Witness-Matthew-Reed-Tudor-Adventures-ebook/dp/B00HGULBU0/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Witness</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, the Eleanor
Cross link begins with Matthew and the playwright, Richard Beaumont, in their
scene in at the foot of the Eleanor Cross in St. Albans.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The inspiration for writing can come from
various places. Thankfully, writing what you know does not mean that you have
to stick to things within your life experience. If it did I’d write mostly
about school, children and dogs. To me, writing what you know means using your
experiences in your writing. A major part of </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Witness-Matthew-Reed-Tudor-Adventures-ebook/dp/B00HGULBU0/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Witness</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> was written while
travelling round Europe for a year in a small van with my husband and our dog.
Lots of small details from this modern day trip ended up accompanying Matthew
in his journey. I studied a man fly fishing on the banks of a river in Luxembourg,
and this, filtered through research on the history of fly fishing, found itself
a tiny place in Tudor St. Albans. In Poland most places we camped seemed to
have stands of silver birch, and we collected fallen branches for our camp
fire. I noticed that when the bark was peeled back it left a beautiful pale
pink wood shining beneath. It also left brown stains on my hands. Some of these
details made their way into parts of the novel. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Often the ideas you start with spiral off
into new places. In fact, it can become difficult to keep track of your
research as you flit here there and everywhere, chasing your thoughts. It’s a
fascinating process, but there’s an inherent danger of it all taking over your
writer’s life to such an extent that little writing gets done. Blogging can be
a bit like that sometimes, so I’d better stop now and get back to my last bits
of editing on the sequel to </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Witness-Matthew-Reed-Tudor-Adventures-ebook/dp/B00HGULBU0/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Witness</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. I’ve yet to decide on the title, I still
have a cover to produce and I need to get back to writing my Iron Age novel. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-27722216066398094542013-11-04T15:12:00.000+00:002013-11-04T15:12:18.629+00:00Another Year, another NaNoWriMo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="Novel">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyoR8y_SbNzDV1hyphenhyphenGEZyEm9QS_2GrTBTNfJYMnXRmsPSwpjYuGlk0ysYPBNTvpb4t4nwgzr2UmKOirmMBU9kpgy0ZG-HhhVFmRE7-R-qw0Nj2PqETLErGoy_YBdpxdJeHMqviTbeAOQgLv/s1600/nano_12_poster_main.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyoR8y_SbNzDV1hyphenhyphenGEZyEm9QS_2GrTBTNfJYMnXRmsPSwpjYuGlk0ysYPBNTvpb4t4nwgzr2UmKOirmMBU9kpgy0ZG-HhhVFmRE7-R-qw0Nj2PqETLErGoy_YBdpxdJeHMqviTbeAOQgLv/s320/nano_12_poster_main.jpg" width="243" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’ve
gone and done it. I’ve signed up for a second year of NaNoWriMo in the hopes
that it will boost my productivity. It’s ridiculous really. I wrote last time in
this blog about procrastination, yet I know I can put in the hours and achieve
huge chunks of writing – pleasing writing, that I am more than happy with as a
first draft – in a relatively short time, when I set my mind to it. However, it
seems that I work much better to a deadline. I’ve always been the same, whether
it was essays at uni, or my very long list of projects for work, I become much
more productive the closer I run to the line.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Novel">
<span style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="Novel">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">My new
novel is no different. I wrote my first chapter ready for critique by the
writing group in early October – 920 words done. I sorted the plan out in mid
October and wrote my second chapter, again ready for my writing group deadline,
a week later – another 1423 words written. Today I sign up for NaNoWriMo. It is
the 4</span><sup style="text-indent: 0cm;">th</sup><span style="text-indent: 0cm;"> of November and NaNo has been going for 3 days. I am already
behind. I sit and write, despite the disturbing sounds of builders fitting
external insulation to the row of council houses down my street, and lo and
behold I have completed 6,026 words. Slightly less that I need to keep on my
NaNo track, but at this rate I might even finish early, after all, I only have
43,974 to go. </span></span></div>
<div class="Novel" style="text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Novel" style="text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oh, and this blogpost adds another 300 words to my
NaNo word count, because one of the good NaNo tips I’ve picked up is that you
should include any and all your writing for the month of November. I wonder if
that means job application letters too?</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-72200299213182169202013-10-20T20:11:00.001+01:002013-10-20T20:11:05.741+01:00Procrastination is my Middle Name<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgztq9PXVIIhFWSJK1n1E5LGc3nd7G0JnwDSrUuJWxUph625Up1LM_ikmu70KBY89nQX3q9QiV93xcNTyJNQNgHsQpQonPPQjX53k_qVwkyzFoWxMPBnf-JvpSaoWNBQVwHHHav5RzmDtfL/s1600/leslie+caron.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgztq9PXVIIhFWSJK1n1E5LGc3nd7G0JnwDSrUuJWxUph625Up1LM_ikmu70KBY89nQX3q9QiV93xcNTyJNQNgHsQpQonPPQjX53k_qVwkyzFoWxMPBnf-JvpSaoWNBQVwHHHav5RzmDtfL/s200/leslie+caron.jpg" width="108" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Actually, it’s Karen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m not sure if I was named after the actress Leslie Caron,
but I’ve always blamed her as the namesake who doomed me never to be elfin or sylph-like.
Oh, but that’s a whole other story – see what I mean about procrastination?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I mentioned in my last blog post that I was starting a fresh
project. In between sending off my first novel to agents and publishers and draping
the dust sheets over its sequel, I’ve been researching and plotting my new
novel.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The opening sentence came to me in the middle of the night
some time in September, and was quickly followed by the first chapter and the
character of my protagonist, who will be living with me for the next few
months, but since then I haven’t written a whole lot more. I haven’t even made
changes to this first chapter following some excellent suggestions and comments
from the <a href="http://rebeccahgiltrow.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/cambridge-writers-group-writing-for.html" target="_blank">children’s writing group</a> I go to. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’ve researched plenty though. I love researching. I love
the way one pathway can lead to another, sending me on a voyage to so many
interesting places, but for me it is also a trap of procrastination and I think
I’ve fallen into it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Google is also my biggest distraction, and while in theory I
could just not use it, could even turn the router in the cupboard off, I don’t.
I sit and play on the computer. Oh, I don’t play games. No Candy Crush for me.
I can’t allow myself to get into that. It’s bad enough that I have Yahtzee and
Rummy 500 on the computer. No, I follow weird and wonderful Google searches,
which take me to interesting sites where I learn what <a href="http://www.zentangle.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=99" target="_blank">zentangle</a> is or where I get sidetracked by articles about <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/oct/04/spandau-ballet-new-romantics" target="_blank">80s bands</a>.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How much I procrastinate came home to me quite powerfully when
my husband and I took ourselves away in our little van for a few days. </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDxNW55JunqCb9x6-lHdiWBUm4IvVdqcvqyOBJ1tWub4r09Z3mCRmMTfLL46_rJO3_-Mn8a-xvmppgd0wpbiOyerpvQPrt-JkNynSvU0xGU31GyyHWpeUhI37hC6iijYnREnOtf3ccHzPc/s1600/20131009+(7)+Dunstanburgh+Steads.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDxNW55JunqCb9x6-lHdiWBUm4IvVdqcvqyOBJ1tWub4r09Z3mCRmMTfLL46_rJO3_-Mn8a-xvmppgd0wpbiOyerpvQPrt-JkNynSvU0xGU31GyyHWpeUhI37hC6iijYnREnOtf3ccHzPc/s320/20131009+(7)+Dunstanburgh+Steads.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Beautiful Northumberland - Dunstanborough Steads</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just the process of travelling up to Northumbria in early
October provided valuable ponder time. I learned the importance of mulling over
the story when we pootled off in our van for our ‘<a href="http://charliedogcametoo.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Big Trip</a>’ in 2010. Drive time
(husband driving) lets my brain tick over. It might look very similar to
procrastination, but it’s not. Plot lines are being developed and sentences are
rehearsed. Sometimes I even remember them and write them down.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2gAyB2xACwn6Hdk6g7C5zfZ9796N-YGp3J6RHft7Vatpc_7ToBpvo4gOn3Ac8jxq92BNhujt8dJA9JSz11LXeTdgOw99jRr69a_12zJ8sjmqQxrrRO8Es3at3KO-A4iLQpLsW0haNPmG/s1600/20131008+(11)+Scottish+border+at+Yetholm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2gAyB2xACwn6Hdk6g7C5zfZ9796N-YGp3J6RHft7Vatpc_7ToBpvo4gOn3Ac8jxq92BNhujt8dJA9JSz11LXeTdgOw99jRr69a_12zJ8sjmqQxrrRO8Es3at3KO-A4iLQpLsW0haNPmG/s200/20131008+(11)+Scottish+border+at+Yetholm.jpg" width="138" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Husband reached Scotland</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By far the best thing about being in our van though, in
terms of my writing, is the absence of an internet connection. Our ‘Big Trip’
was when I got most of my Tudor novel written, over many, many days with no
internet, so I hoped that this week in October would help me develop the plot,
and the perfect opportunity arose in the form of a whole day when my husband
went for a bike ride (Beadnell Bay to Kelso), leaving me and the dog in the van
with, importantly, no internet to distract me. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There were potential distractions, I’ll admit, but really,
there are only so many dog walks on the beach I’m prepared to do in a day, so
it was just me, the computer, my notebook, two packs of felt tip pens (fine and
broad tips), coloured post-its, a Prittstick and some A3 paper. Have I
mentioned that I’m a primary school teacher by profession? It might explain my
approach to planning and my choice of tools.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJkxOeHhInBUdP3pm224rGzyQJyMvODzXYLzmMATWTmNA-0gJvMmPyDkyD1nr0Z3vi_1IZSdzQDdIQVy3jExEfd9eE59SOOaHlu1FmcZHeYZWA6z8oPgGUIXkO4LQy_qhBkHzFN3HUd3SQ/s1600/20131010+(23)+Pom+in+van.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJkxOeHhInBUdP3pm224rGzyQJyMvODzXYLzmMATWTmNA-0gJvMmPyDkyD1nr0Z3vi_1IZSdzQDdIQVy3jExEfd9eE59SOOaHlu1FmcZHeYZWA6z8oPgGUIXkO4LQy_qhBkHzFN3HUd3SQ/s200/20131010+(23)+Pom+in+van.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Pommie shows no interest in my writing</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I began by gluing 3 sheets of A3 together, and set out my
plan based on the ‘Ten Scene Tool’ I picked up from a useful book – <a href="http://www.learntowritefiction.com/review-writers-little-helper/" target="_blank">The Writer’s Little Helper by James V. Smith, Jr</a>. This is where the post-its come in. One
colour is for the most important ten scenes in my story – only I can’t quite
get mine down to ten. Twenty-seven scene tool doesn’t sound as snappy, but the
post-its are a lovely lime green. Alongside the plot post-its are another set
for characters (bright blue), which I can add to as I decide on names, ages,
looks, personality, personal journey – whatever. I also have (white) post-its
for miscellaneous ideas to address, research to undertake when I eventually get
back to the internet or questions to answer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It took me the whole day, and many post-its bit the dust en
route, but by the time the cyclist returned I’d cooked a delicious soup and
sorted out the basic plot details. No internet meant no procrastination. I was very pleased with myself. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last November, for <a href="http://nanowrimo.org/about" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a>, I found it so much easier to
crack on with writing 2,000 words a day after I sorted out my plot, so my
expectation on returning to South Cambridgeshire was that I would do the same. Have
I? Not a chance. How many words have I written? A big, fat zero. Do I have
excuses? I’ve had a nasty cough and cold, but it hasn’t stopped me sitting at
the computer. I’ve been here, with the internet. I’ve found out why the dog might
be biting her bottom (trust me, you don’t want the results of that search). I’ve
found lists of books to attract reluctant readers. I now know how much vaguely
Art Deco bathroom suites cost, and that a turmeric/honey mix is reputed to be
very effective in easing a hacking cough (it does, but tastes completely
disgusting, especially if you let it get cold). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You see, I’ve been procrastinating. Maybe procrastination is
actually my first name. Procrastination Hale – it sound quite Amish, don’t you
think?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-8286131251069816922013-09-01T15:47:00.000+01:002013-10-20T18:14:40.930+01:00Starting a New Novel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m excited to be starting a new project, but with several
ideas banging about in my brain, choosing ‘the one’ to run with has been
difficult. I’ve wanted to do something with the 3,000 words I wrote on an Arvon
course. It centres around my grandfather and the East London docks, and works
as a character study, but I haven’t yet got the whole story worked out. There’s
also the first chapter of a children’s novel about a half-goblin who’s a
detective, which my nephew keeps asking if I’ve continued. If that’s caught his
imagination it should be worth taking further, but at the moment I’m rather
taken with the Iron Age, so have plumped with that for my new novel, in the
hope that the revised primary history curriculum will need some fresh children’s
books.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJHYy9JRfJW25ebeD43uG9YCvDC6mU1DhATaN6OIM99Z7ANH9FzbnbpYZCKZziDilDEaz2j8EKtM_eLD26VtMdt6JlHJmmh8BIrQ4xIY-XL_XZ4hKN6_iCsp-INSvqdxHGBm9bKvXu2cM8/s320/bsl_torc_snettisham_channel_624x351.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An Iron Age torc will feature in the plot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJHYy9JRfJW25ebeD43uG9YCvDC6mU1DhATaN6OIM99Z7ANH9FzbnbpYZCKZziDilDEaz2j8EKtM_eLD26VtMdt6JlHJmmh8BIrQ4xIY-XL_XZ4hKN6_iCsp-INSvqdxHGBm9bKvXu2cM8/s1600/bsl_torc_snettisham_channel_624x351.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even though I studied history, I know little about the Iron
Age, so getting stuck into a completely new era is great fun and odd bits of
information I come across spark off new ideas for the plot, though the plotting
itself remains the slow bit for me. Once I’m into the writing things seems to
flow quickly, but I agonise for ages over the story line, regularly waking in
the middle of the night with ideas. I’m considering trying my hand at NaNoWriMo
again this year, which gives me just one month to sort myself out with the
story.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s all early days, but it is proving a lot harder than
starting a sequel, which is what I did last year for NaNo. Just knowing
all my characters back then, as well as the world they inhabited, made the task
so much easier, so one thing I have to do early on in the whole process is dive
into some writing to get to know my main character. It might be something I
never even use, but unless I get a protagonist down on paper and start living
with them I can’t seem to sort out ‘stuff’ for them to do.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhitr2NZdmzvuKKdXYKpmAACJLCI9MJQr-1xJw5qIOBoaCT4LnBjSsr3Iv1sUDAe2HR2wRI31a_6tHQesVwtAPaEc3stmsnhgQVbfd4LiBHtsdc2oSIqApQJe61vCc68Z3kptJ16rRDhaVy/s320/iron-age-recon-silchester.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I know about Medieval villages. How different will an Iron Age village be?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhitr2NZdmzvuKKdXYKpmAACJLCI9MJQr-1xJw5qIOBoaCT4LnBjSsr3Iv1sUDAe2HR2wRI31a_6tHQesVwtAPaEc3stmsnhgQVbfd4LiBHtsdc2oSIqApQJe61vCc68Z3kptJ16rRDhaVy/s1600/iron-age-recon-silchester.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m also drawn to making a map of where the story is to take
place. I did this for my Tudor novels and, as well as helping me with the world
as it was in 1594, it helped me match my protagonist’s emotional journey to his
physical one. For this, as yet untitled, Iron Age story, part of which will be
set in the present, I need something which also includes a bit of geological
detail. I’m on the hunt for chalk and I daresay I’ll be using a fair few post
it notes on the map as I build up my world, past and present. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One thing is for sure, there’s masses to do and I can’t
afford to keep putting it off until tomorrow. I stopped writing after NaNo last year, as starting a new teaching job took up all of my time, and it has
been proving harder than I thought it would be to get back into the swing of
it. At the moment I have much less on my plate, so there are no excuses, I’ve
just got to get my head down and crack on. Now, where’s that map to print out?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTL4Rt18B6zJjgEEr2qeq_K70boXrn0JN62vBeZBaBa4-tAR0ct4_cprZkF6u_yg69BAZVTvuOFJNRbIEWEuc02bjK2xuL_9LNa_Le7afxgb5OWNG-lUdWlo8J6_q2-J22FBn2_mkjGIvS/s320/huntingdonshire_map_iron_age_tirbes.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="269" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In this book I plan to spend time somewhere on the Icknield way.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTL4Rt18B6zJjgEEr2qeq_K70boXrn0JN62vBeZBaBa4-tAR0ct4_cprZkF6u_yg69BAZVTvuOFJNRbIEWEuc02bjK2xuL_9LNa_Le7afxgb5OWNG-lUdWlo8J6_q2-J22FBn2_mkjGIvS/s1600/huntingdonshire_map_iron_age_tirbes.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-21704145359766733232012-11-12T13:53:00.002+00:002012-11-16T11:16:09.113+00:00NaNoWriMo and Distractions Galore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Edgar Allen Poe may have continued writing through joy,
sorrow, hunger, thirst, sunshine and moonshine, but I know for sure he never had
the distraction of deleting his entire iTunes library from a computer and then
finding only half of it remained in the recycle bin. That was my big
distraction on Sunday 11<sup>th</sup> November. I guess I could just sync to
the iPod, but I only ever listen to the music on my laptop, so haven’t bothered
to update it for two years and don’t want to lose anything I’ve added in the
meantime.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz3ERo9jITLHRnHmhqDjbCVM8cNbCE4tZ6XlfB7uZxquPlmkRb1JBaAHtLT7uOZjl6eioX77pNi42mRpE4HbOGspPhAT7L4xT8SWaSAB9XQ67XsrEmKWfiNFdU4_PwQUcjy-P3x9tN7Jtf/s1600/Picture+of+Henninck+Cloekens+fictional.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz3ERo9jITLHRnHmhqDjbCVM8cNbCE4tZ6XlfB7uZxquPlmkRb1JBaAHtLT7uOZjl6eioX77pNi42mRpE4HbOGspPhAT7L4xT8SWaSAB9XQ67XsrEmKWfiNFdU4_PwQUcjy-P3x9tN7Jtf/s320/Picture+of+Henninck+Cloekens+fictional.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He's going be a new character in my novel.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, them’s my computer woes, and they came after going
to a family birthday on Friday night, staying up late imbibing too much and not
writing on Saturday. So a grand total of 942 words ended up being written over
the weekend, putting me 2K behind, which I should be able to catch up on this
week (crosses fingers).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My other big distraction is research. This NaNo novel is a
sequel to my first Tudor novel, so I know most of my characters very well and,
having taught the Tudors for many years, I am fine with the period. But wouldn’t
you know it – the characters are all going to new places, travelling by modes
of travel they didn't use in the last book and even meeting people who don’t speak
the Queen’s English, and all of that requires research.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So far I have researched accusations of witchcraft, symptoms
and treatments for gout (oil of stag’s blood and poultices which cause dreadful
blisters were two suggestions), the start of ‘tulipmania’ in the late 16<sup>th</sup>
century, sea journeys and Dutch ports, the city of Haarlem, 16<sup>th</sup>
century Dutch names and Dutch vocabulary. You can spot a theme building there,
I’m sure.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love the research. It’s all great fun. However, it does
consume vast amounts of time and that is holding up my NaNo word count.
Luckily, I am on my own in the house during the week and not due to hold down
a proper job until January (fingers crossed again), so I will have the time to
do this.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am pleased with the way the story is developing, and I
started this novel with a plan, unlike the first one, where the planning began
somewhere after chapter four. I am resisting the urge to edit, which, I have to
say, is helping the story flow, even if, when I do look back over the pages, I
do wince a bit. This is advice I’ve read from many an author – get the story
out there, edit later. </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4vdUIda8IaqEKVA3ucP-lFR6nnTdvgzi06ifBNi8fC87BFtaLFH1whuxSYSJep1eSSbCH4dsSgix59bSC3D11IBJ6czHqvLOUh2iuZDcP5bTpHxFyzYhu4YZf5gXXMRsY-1BI2efI8OTV/s1600/Haarlem+river+scene.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4vdUIda8IaqEKVA3ucP-lFR6nnTdvgzi06ifBNi8fC87BFtaLFH1whuxSYSJep1eSSbCH4dsSgix59bSC3D11IBJ6czHqvLOUh2iuZDcP5bTpHxFyzYhu4YZf5gXXMRsY-1BI2efI8OTV/s320/Haarlem+river+scene.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dutch river scene</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As part of NaNoWriMo, I have joined the local Cambridge
writing community on the NaNo website and on Facebook. I even ventured along to
a ‘write-in’ at the CB2 café in central Cambridge and met a lovely bunch of
writers. However, I seem to be more productive writing at home, in my lonely
garret, which is actually a lovely, refurbished study with views of the garden
courtyard and its out of place palm tree (not </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">my</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> garden design, I hasten to add). Maybe I should try meeting the
Wrimos (or is that winos?) at their Wednesday evening social meets? Oh no, that
requires being brave again!</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKbvlzxb-nzbB06bH0bJ8SfSn1CeO79AJalnOuGoSy8b7Bre5NwEqtwzMO6UJELxRaxphHyN_SO8yQ38_5MgiTXxmCV4CAhUgYXe1jpBgis5UsJolHk0HSgSAA1zqmSKxIfDE00SXFd_tM/s1600/20120508+Pommie+on+table+(2)web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKbvlzxb-nzbB06bH0bJ8SfSn1CeO79AJalnOuGoSy8b7Bre5NwEqtwzMO6UJELxRaxphHyN_SO8yQ38_5MgiTXxmCV4CAhUgYXe1jpBgis5UsJolHk0HSgSAA1zqmSKxIfDE00SXFd_tM/s320/20120508+Pommie+on+table+(2)web.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My garden view</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-70802693369723471922012-11-06T12:29:00.000+00:002012-11-07T17:50:15.977+00:00A Newbie's View of NaNoWriMo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqtUB38twHLJFT3koOtw-_zjAJvoKSeiJ5rI8vtmA9zMw0DqLzkDruKB_CG5MhUBataqiv_cD5sHOjlAJO1Zgs5whH0jZmJHZ4soRQoOEQ3Kw2ZzhSAc5cENUJs8vJ-1B8CxdJkB2LAXWb/s1600/nanowrimo+cartoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqtUB38twHLJFT3koOtw-_zjAJvoKSeiJ5rI8vtmA9zMw0DqLzkDruKB_CG5MhUBataqiv_cD5sHOjlAJO1Zgs5whH0jZmJHZ4soRQoOEQ3Kw2ZzhSAc5cENUJs8vJ-1B8CxdJkB2LAXWb/s400/nanowrimo+cartoon.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm really into fiction writing this month, having launched
myself into <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a>, which, if you haven't heard of it, is National Novel
Writing Month. I don't know who first came up with the crazy idea of writing 50,000
words in one month, but it's been going for a fair few years. I'm a nervous
newbie to this. I see it as a way of giving me a kick up the rear in getting
started on a sequel to my first novel, a Tudor adventure for teenagers. While I
send out this first novel in batches to addresses on my well-researched list of
agents, I can't just sit here and twiddle my thumbs. That way lies the path to
madness - right? So, in a grand gesture of optimism, with visions of two-book
deals and all, I am embarking on my sequel, with a target of 1700 words to be
written daily, every day, during the month of November.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another reason for taking part in NaNoWriMo is the hope that
I'll hook up with some local writers. I've only been in this area for just over
a year, and don't know that many people yet - not that I'm lonely - I'm pretty
much fine with my own company, even with my husband working away from home
during the week. NaNo has regional groups, you see, and they meet up for
'write-ins', wage 'word wars' against each other via an online chatroom and have
social meets in the pub. It all sounds good doesn't it? But it's also a bit
scary - putting yourself 'out there', meeting new people, doing different
things, and for me there is the irrational fear that they'll all be younger
than me. Now that shouldn't make a difference, I know, but somehow it does. I
decided to avoid the first social as it was being held in a student pub on
Hallowe'en - a sure fire guarantee to make me feel out of place, but today I am
going to be brave and go to a ‘write in’ in a local café. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIXB9Jg8O4wOR3LF2stmb0v2UtvDYLJuYhX_w2wYzJrq3oTCbEJ3qwmRR3YvnxTnA6DbB03webDFllQ8Bqx1pH05Jwic6O0b_JFREZdS-0nH92GbGx8zyVAMrT7Zl7ZPan8SQbzTcFYpB7/s1600/write+or+die.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIXB9Jg8O4wOR3LF2stmb0v2UtvDYLJuYhX_w2wYzJrq3oTCbEJ3qwmRR3YvnxTnA6DbB03webDFllQ8Bqx1pH05Jwic6O0b_JFREZdS-0nH92GbGx8zyVAMrT7Zl7ZPan8SQbzTcFYpB7/s200/write+or+die.gif" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One excellent tool to come to my attention via NaNo so far is the ‘<a href="http://writeordie.com/" target="_blank">Write or Die</a>’ app. On its website it states its aim is to ‘put the prod into
productivity’. It certainly had that effect on me, since the first two
paragraphs of today’s blog were written in ten minutes while trying out the
site. The Write or Die website suggests that working with the Sword of Damocles
swinging over your head will force you to write:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 35.35pt; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #365f91;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">by providing
consequences for distraction and procrastination. As long as you keep typing,
you're fine, but if you become distracted, punishment will ensue. Everything is
configurable, name your word goal, time goal and preferred punishment, then
start writing. Once you're done, export your writing to Dropbox, Email,
Clipboard or Text file.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, if you don’t fancy the harshness of your words suddenly
starting to disappear because you’ve stopped typing, you can always set it at a
gentler method. If the general idea of any kind of punishment is all too much
for you, there other, similar site, which work solely on rewards – such as <a href="http://writtenkitten.net/" target="_blank">Written Kitten</a>. At
the very least this way of writing will add a little fun into what might
otherwise become a repetitive process. I’m not sure how I’d fare on a longer
timescale. I have only done it for ten minutes. Maybe I’ll ask some of the more
experienced NaNo writers at my ‘write-in’ today.</span></div>
<br /></div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-41216110814850542242012-10-18T13:05:00.000+01:002012-10-18T13:05:07.929+01:00Continued Object Writing and NaNoWriMo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m pleased to say that I’ve
managed to keep up my daily stints of ten-minute object writes. I haven’t
missed a word offered by the website </span><a href="http://objectwriting.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Object Writing</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> since I joined, even
though some words gave me no immediate inspiration, power adapter and ladder
being two of those. However, I managed to come up with something in the end,
and have included both in a small selection of writing below.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://lesleysscribblingsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/ladder.html" target="_blank">Ladder </a> <a href="http://lesleysscribblingsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/bandwagon.html" target="_blank">Bandwagon</a> <a href="http://lesleysscribblingsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/bonus.html" target="_blank">Bonus </a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://lesleysscribblingsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/power-adapter.html" target="_blank">Power Adapter</a> <a href="http://lesleysscribblingsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/bicycle.html" target="_blank">Bicycle</a> <a href="http://lesleysscribblingsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-relatives.html" target="_blank">The Relatives</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As we come up to November I
am seriously thinking about taking part in this year’s <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a> which describes itself as ‘a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing’,
and ‘an annual (November) novel writing project that brings together
professional and amateur writers from all over the world with a goal of writing
a 50,000 word novel by 11:59:59, November 30’. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0aCC-3ufVQHPhILkcHbsVB-dwfBI86Lj-PNysrGz_dakcG6T4kWfWvI_WprVRxBeKuZq3wa_4v-qeKJgkJDt7eaV7FxjURPRLHyYNXe3Je0uz6UPzqxZN_2KmcU9R80BnL7MAg5XU3ZB9/s1600/nanowrimo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0aCC-3ufVQHPhILkcHbsVB-dwfBI86Lj-PNysrGz_dakcG6T4kWfWvI_WprVRxBeKuZq3wa_4v-qeKJgkJDt7eaV7FxjURPRLHyYNXe3Je0uz6UPzqxZN_2KmcU9R80BnL7MAg5XU3ZB9/s320/nanowrimo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The NaNoWriMo organisers stress
that the writing is more about output than quality, as the approach forces you
to ‘lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly’. I think that
might be good for me, as I have a tendency to let go of the flow as I become
engrossed in researching some minor detail or editing a section endlessly only
to end up chopping it out. Forcing myself to write intensely, leaving research
to a later date, getting on with the story and just creating could be a good
thing. I have no fear of writing complete rubbish. I’m pretty much used to
that!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m also looking forward to
meeting up with local writers and sharing ‘laughably awful yet lengthy prose’
over a glass of something. Though being new to it all, I will have to gird my
loins and brave the getting out and meeting people part. I’m hoping that the
fact that I keep misreading the face book page ‘Cambridge Wrimos’ as ‘Cambridge
Winos’ could foretell good times to come. Watch this space!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM0bX_g_JPeCLRY7IDserzTizgutcRZGDJJj44UmaT3-TqhiO6ixCAzdL45wO5QlzeP6SVcz1zWpzF6KywyAzO9JdfvibN5cyMX1edS3PtMkDpyGCnPJRYyY819R5j71mPPF-nKwWcZirS/s1600/nanowrimo_2_w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM0bX_g_JPeCLRY7IDserzTizgutcRZGDJJj44UmaT3-TqhiO6ixCAzdL45wO5QlzeP6SVcz1zWpzF6KywyAzO9JdfvibN5cyMX1edS3PtMkDpyGCnPJRYyY819R5j71mPPF-nKwWcZirS/s320/nanowrimo_2_w.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-36055042354709717622012-10-18T04:00:00.000+01:002012-10-18T12:43:13.682+01:00Bandwagon <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFC000;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hop on the bandwagon, leave you
own point of view on the step. You don’t need any baggage – the herd will tell
you what to wear, who to vote for, when to laugh, how to love. See what’s
trending, follow that. Savour the fifty shades of saccharine coated latest fads
and never mind the sour underbelly or the rising stench of warmed-up bullshit.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFC000;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFC000;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Who cares if you sail blind for a
thousand days through indifferent air? Who notices that it’s a bumpy ride, with
your jellied spine continuously jostled and jolted by the whims of others? Just
wallow in the forlorn knowledge that you are in with the in crowd. Your envy is
the perfect shade of green and you can lay all individuality aside as you roll
along with the circus parade.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFC000;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-63355561187171221932012-10-14T12:46:00.000+01:002012-10-18T12:46:39.754+01:00Bonus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCECFF;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt;">Stepping
down from the raised dais of the cash desk she smoothed the skirt of her
uniform, feeing a warm surge of pride. She stood a little taller, striking a
pose of puff-chested responsibility. Only sixteen and promoted to supervisor
for her Saturday job in Woolworths. It was a pity that the uniform upgrade was
so unglamorous. She looked down at the Crimplene two-piece ensemble. It was
hardly exquisite, and combined with </span><span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-size: 12pt;">American
tan tights and sensible shoes it was positively frumpy. Still, it was worth it
to earn her pocket money and tonight the small brown pay envelope would be
thicker. Tonight the Christmas bonus would be there, plumping up the banknotes
and coins like weights on the scale dragging her waistcoat pocket down as she
signed for her money.</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #1d1d1d; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-size: 12pt;">She
took her</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt;"> pride for a walk around the shop floor,
smiling generously at the girls on the make-up counter, their pancaked faces
cracking in response. Over to the sweets next, you had to keep a close eye on
those girls, and that’s where she saw him. Her heart sank as she sighed his
name, “Grandad”. He had promised never to come here. Never to bring his
uncontrollable urge to her place of work. He had sworn he would not. She could
see that a certain look of excited pleasure was already suffusing his features,
filling him with an exhilarating satisfaction triggered by the thrill of
temptation<span class="apple-converted-space">. She was a supervisor. It was her
duty to report shoplifting and failure to do so could lose her this job, but
rigor mortis had hold of her, painfully locking her knees as she remembered
that his name for this counter was Pick and Nix. She turned, and walked away.
Stationery was bound to need a tidy.</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-87511166389517813222012-10-13T12:47:00.000+01:002012-10-18T12:48:27.583+01:00Bicycle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFFCC;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Swift my heart flies in a
downhill chase, feet stuck out at the end of straightened legs and fingers
curled round handles in tightened grip. Velocity picks up and an involuntary
scream of terrified joy is torn from my lungs and dragged back, past my ears,
by the blasting rush of the charging air.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFFCC;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFFCC;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wheels spin, sizzling as they eat
up tarmac, flying across the road surface with little resistance. Shapes speed
past in a blur of green and brown. Hedges and trees passing by in a haze of
spring scents, while time distorts, splintering into abandonment with the
freewheeling exhilaration of my racing heart. Until at last resistance comes,
the ground levels out and I slow to a pace where feet can once more find pedals.</span></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-88024157719903988212012-10-11T12:49:00.000+01:002012-10-18T12:53:04.090+01:00The Relatives<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFCCFF;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Red flocked wallpaper soaks up
the atmosphere of steamy tea and whisky, and faded prints of pastel
watercolours oversee the tearful laughter of the relatives, subdued and
straight-backed, perched on chairs pushed to the outer edges of the room either
side of her vacant armchair, its antimacassar still bearing a faint greasy
imprint. Wrapped in their many shades of mourning they feast, like crows, upon
the maggoty remnants of her life, and slip with the passing hours into
indecorously singing their music-hall laments.</span></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-37779324807696536682012-10-09T12:52:00.000+01:002012-10-18T12:52:47.215+01:00Power Adapter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pull the velvet curtains and block the siren stars. No more
distraction from purple dancing skies. Lie back on the bed. Let lavender from
freshly laundered sheets wrap around and root you to the mattress where
thoughts slide away in a slow melt towards nothingness. Taste silky dreams
begin to grace the tip of your tongue.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You see, I prefer my darkness really black, perfect and
uncompromising, so even the devilish glint of that one red eye staring at me
from the corner has the power to disturb, to dismantle my calm and set up a
frenzy of throwing, where sock follows sock in an arc towards the slim, white
of the power adaptor. It sits, its gaping wounds, like tiny mouths, punctured in
its plastic case by giant industrial teeth, in full understanding that I will
not sleep until a well aimed item of clothing shutters me once more in welcome
night.</span></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-68054156299852756772012-09-26T16:54:00.004+01:002012-09-26T17:01:52.541+01:00Object Writing 17<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCCCFF;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today’s word - ‘Genre’<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCCCFF;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCCCFF;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The dame running the writing
workshop sat on the desk, eyeing me up like she knew I’d be trouble, nose
wrinkled in distaste at the stench of our collective wannabe desperation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCCCFF;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCCCFF;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I stared at her hair, piled so
loosely on top of her head that it threatened at any moment to tumble down. It
put me in mind of a haystack after the rain.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCCCFF;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCCCFF;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“You are going to write a
detective story in the genre of Mickey Spillane.” She lisped the last name,
sending a fine spray of spittle over the front row.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCCCFF;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCCCFF;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I licked my lips. It was going to
be a long, dry hour. My tongue already felt as if it had been baked on a rock
somewhere in the Australian outback.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCCCFF;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCCCFF;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A ringing phone, way off in the
distance, dragged my mind away from the blank page in front of me. It screamed
at me, disrupting my thoughts like an irritating child in a supermarket queue.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCCCFF;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCCCFF;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The tutor dame began to tap the
desk with her pen, sending staccato bursts of gunfire pelting my brain,
creating a spiral of ragged holes through which all ideas fled like water through
a colander.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCCCFF;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCCCFF;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Who the hell was Mickey Spillane?</span></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-89852811935075479582012-09-26T12:54:00.000+01:002012-10-18T12:55:02.296+01:00Ladder<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFCCFF;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m shorter than short – standing
at exactly five foot nothing – so I put ‘small kitchen step stool’ on my
Christmas list, to allow access to the highest reaches of my shelves. What he
bought me was a vintage step-ladder, with a wobbly leg and a precarious list to
the right that makes it unfit for purpose. I don’t know what panic sets in as
he goes shopping for gifts, but he has a remarkable skill for choosing just the
wrong thing with such care and love that I cannot do anything but show
gratitude, and it is a beautiful ladder. A small metal label, tacked onto the
warm oak, is embossed with the date of its hand-crafted birth, 1925, an age
when someone cared about the smallest of design details. It cantilevers open
with the complex grace of a greyhound rising from a sofa. I cannot use it. I
have tried, but the stress as I listen for that creak of impending disaster is
too much to bear, and so it languishes in the shed, dingy with stranded
cobwebs, awaiting re-use as a shabby chic towel rail, or bedside bookshelves.</span></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-46458457613494832062012-09-23T14:29:00.001+01:002012-09-26T17:01:44.541+01:00Object Writing 16<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFF99;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today’s word –‘Method’<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFF99;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFF99;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m a person of words, not
numbers. A hundred creative ideas may, on a good day, flow from brain, down
arm, through hand to be delivered, via pen, to my battered notebook, but ask me
a maths question and the buzzing begins. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFF99;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFF99;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It starts with a click at the
back of my head. It is the sound of the last light being switched off on the shop
floor before the foreman goes home for the night, but instead of empty silence
there is a hum, which increases in crescendo before zipping round with zigzag
speed to plant that frisson of fear behind my eyes. My mouth does its
impression of the Sahara, with my saliva dammed and diverted, to form a clammy
film in the dead centre of both palms.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFF99;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFF99;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So today my thirteen year-old
niece asks for help with linear equations. She smiles expectantly and has no
doubt whatsoever that I’ll be there for her. So I am.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFF99;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFF99;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rusty hinges squeal as a quick
Google reintroduces me to long forgotten methods. Thirty-five years of dust makes
quite a pile. Sweeping it aside is as strenuous as raking blown leaves from the
lawn, but suddenly I am there, in that zone of flying where you can see the
whole universe mapped out before you and all you need to do is reach out and
pluck the answers, one by one, from silver branches.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFF99;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFF99;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An hour later the cinnamon scent
of best auntie lingers at the desk and I smile. It is all so much more than
maths.</span></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-35371580456854549282012-09-21T15:56:00.000+01:002012-09-26T17:01:34.840+01:00Object Writing 15<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFFF99;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today’s word – ‘Smoke’<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFFF99;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFFF99;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Subtitled - Smoke me a kipper, I’ll
be back for breakfast!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFFF99;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFFF99;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A thick wooden door, painted red,
was set at head height in the chimney – a window into a blackened, soot
encrusted world. The smokehouse keeper opened it and stepped back as smoke billowed
out, puffing the scent of winter churchyards to softly shade the room in grey
pencil.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFFF99;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFFF99;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Inside hung row upon row of twin
bodies, nails hooked through their eyes, drizzled with minute beads of oil
which threaded downwards over exposed spines to hang like crystals from fanned
tails. Their amber flesh, caught up in beams of sunlight spilling into the
chamber, glistened and shone like pebbles in a stream.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFFF99;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFFF99;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The smokehouse keeper tossed a
handful of wood-chips onto the smouldering embers which lay glowing in the
hearth, where they hissed and spat before settling down to send taste trapping
tendrils of smoke curling and dancing around the dangling fish. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFFF99;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-65980703540643546082012-09-20T11:49:00.004+01:002012-09-26T17:01:24.669+01:00Object Writing 14<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFFFF;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today’s word – ‘Tube’<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFFFF;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFFFF;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Down in the realm of the dead, a withered
place of no return, a tunnel stretches into infinity. This feat of urban engineering,
a gateway into the world beyond, is air-conditioned by the chill fear of
unknowing and swept daily by the trailing rags of the dispossessed. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFFFF;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFFFF;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Standing on the platform’s hard
edge, some ancient fear, buried deep, submerged beneath a surface of acceptable
behaviour, screams out. Its echo, trapped in the tiled walls, cries “Do not
ride this tube.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFFFF;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #CCFFFF;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pulsating breezes, followed by vibrations
which travel up my spine, turn me about as some invisible hand in the small of
my back pushes me towards the escalator and I rise from the deep and step, blinking,
into the world of cars, buses and scurrying workers. I breathe deep, inhaling
the full life of fumes and dusty streets, and am glad.</span></div>
<br /></div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-753192146176208504.post-84497418442781403032012-09-19T13:00:00.002+01:002012-09-26T17:01:15.816+01:00Object Writing 13<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFCC99;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today’s word – ‘Band’<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFCC99;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FFCC99;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some alchemy had transformed base
metal into echoes of crystal raindrops and thousands of glittering bodies swayed
to the exotic rhythm of a steel band, allowing the throbbing rumble to permeate
their bones. The lime tang of the music quenched thirsty souls and sent them
soaring, flying towards paradise on the pulsating Calypso beat. Light ricocheted
from the city windows, sending its discharge out in a sequined rainbow, sewn
over a hundred tired evenings by loving mothers, who now, with ample hips
swaying, reflected the dance in their proud smiles.</span></div>
</div>
Lesley Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682717188979792073noreply@blogger.com0