Coronavirus Lockdown - Week 3: Part 2

Contd...

Thu 09 Apr 2020: It was really warm today, 21 degrees (grrrr, can’t find the symbol on the iPad keyboard!). Rhys wanted to take a walk to the local shop/Post Office to see if they had any bread rolls, so off we trotted. We’re very lucky to have a Post Office in our village, as I know of other rural Post Offices that have closed in recent years, so we like to give them our custom when we can. Our stroll took us through a small woodland, and the image of garlic bread popped into my head. One; I was obviously getting hungry as it was lunchtime, and two; I realised the garlicky aroma that prompted the image was wild garlic and the white flowers carpeted the ground on both sides of the path. Beautiful white cherry blossom greeted us in our meander, with white daffodils and tulips on the way back. We also saw our first butterfly of the season, a Cabbage White, I think it was. A very white themed stroll. Don’t you just love Spring?

Fri 10 Apr 2020: Yay! Ocado delivery this week, so I don’t have to take the chance of getting infected out shopping. Unfortunately, it looks like it’ll be the last delivery, as I can’t get a slot for love nor money. I may have asthma, but I don’t qualify for delivery slot priority. Apparently, it’s Easter Friday. As we’re not religious in any way, shape or form, without a regular routine, the days blur and we forgot it was Easter. We usually visit Rhys’s folks in Wales at this time of the year, but I’ll miss seeing the banks of daffs nodding their heads in the breeze in this year. 

We watched the final episode of Game of Thrones Season 8. We’ve throughly enjoyed this series over the past few years, but had to wait until every season came out on dvd before watching as we don’t have Sky, so we were always a few months behind. Last year we managed to watch three episodes whilst on holiday in the Lake District just after it had aired, but had to wait until now to watch the rest. I hasten to add that we ended up watching those episodes again. It certainly looks like it’s been set up for one or more spin-off series – gotta keep flogging it as long as it makes money!

Sat 11 Apr 2020: Another unseasonably hot but beautiful day, so we took a wander, OS map in hand, across the fields and found where our local brook joined with another, wider one with a small weir. Lots of burbling and rushing water – good job I went before we set out! I got some good shots of flora and a Lesser Spotted Rhys in willow branches.

Sun 12 Apr 2020: Easter Sunday, but no Easter eggs in this house – too many syns, as oil is added to the chocolate to enable moulding (sad face). Rhys did buy me some lovely Lindt choc bars, so we’ve been making that last as long as possible (happy face!).

Next post will be a weekly roundup, as I keep forgetting to write the blog daily, so by the end of the week I can’t remember what happened at the beginning!

Laters

Shel

Coronavirus Lockdown - Week 3: Part 1

Mon 06 Apr 2020: Wasp season has officially started. We usually get a few jaspers living in the countryside, but last year after the landlord creosoted the wooden boards on the top half of the house, we had an influx of wasps in the bathroom. We’d find them either stuck angrily in the Velux window behind the blind slats (even though it was open) and have to let them out or dead on the floor. A couple months down the line and we were into October and still they kept coming. There had to be a nest in the loft. This was confirmed one day as I was in the bath and heard the dreaded buzzing. I incredulously watched it come in through the window vent, head straight for one of the recessed light fittings and disappear. Blasted things! There’s obviously still a nest, whether it be new or old, so I let the landlady know when I saw her.

Tue 07 Apr 2020: Slimming World day. It helps to let us keep track of what day of the week it is! SW have recently opened a shop on their website and we can now buy Hi-Fi bars. These are yummy, mostly chocolatey snack bars that have a known “syn” value (SW’s unit for anything not fruit, vegetables, pasta, potatoes, rice, lean meat, fish and eggs). I bought 5 boxes - happiness, as we’ve nearly run out. These are our go to treat as we don’t have cake or biscuits in the house as we’re trying to stay on plan, even now. We’ve been doing SW for over 5 years and we’re not giving up now.

Wed 08 Apr 2020: I nearly didn’t make the Zoom chat with the work team at 11:00. I was happily eating a late breakfast and playing a game on the iPad when the reminder came through, but I had time to finish eating, make myself presentable and get set up ready. My boss decided he’s going to run a sweepstake on when the lockdown restrictions will be lifted. I’m being realistic (others call it pessimistic!) and reckon it’ll be at least July before we’re the other side of this, if not later. I hadn’t worked on my werewolf story for a while, so decided to write a timeline plan before I started writing any more, hoping it might keep all my events and characters from straying too far.

More in Part 2...

Coronavirus Lockdown - Week 2: Part 2

The week continued...

Fri 03 Apr 2020: As we had no Ocado delivery this week, I decided to brave the queues and do a Sainsbury’s shop with Rhys as my personal shopper and me with the list directing. The queue to get into Sainsbury’s was about a dozen people, all spaced out at 2 metre intervals via tape on the concrete. We thought we’d be there for a while, but it started to move after about 5 minutes, just as I stepped out of the line to go to a chemist for other items on our list. With me back in line, we all shuffled up with our trolleys, and kept going until it came to us. “Hold up,” the Sainsbury’s guy said. “Only one adult per household allowed in.” I thought I might try the high risk asthma route. My plea, and that I needed Rhys as my personal shopper so I didn’t have to touch anything, didn’t hold sway. He did say that I could come shopping between 08:00 and 09:00 and wouldn’t have to queue as I was high risk, but that defeated the object of not touching stuff! Next time I shop, gloves it is then. Rhys went in, list in hand, and I went to the chemist for other essentials.

I had time to kill, so went for a walk around town as my not-so-daily exercise. There were a few people milling about, keeping their distance from one another, but few shops open; food shops and chemists mostly. All the charity shops, cafes and clothes shops were dark and their doors shut. It harkened back to my childhood when shops were shut one day a week for stock take (pre-computer age). It was strange and sad to see. One bright spark in an otherwise slightly depressing morning’s outing was outside Specsavers, my local opticians, reading their Coronavirus notice (for lack of something better to do as I passed). The manager, Nicky, came to the door, grinning and waving a hello. It put a smile on my face as I waved madly back. They know me well in there as it takes a few tries to get my glasses right when I get new ones. Back at the car, I waited for Rhys in the windy sunshine. He took less than half an hour to shop!

Sat 04 Apr 2020: Saw my first bee of the season whilst putting the washing out. Those I don’t mind as we’ll all be scuppered if they die out and stop fertilising plants. Life would be a lot less sweet without honey. We finished watching two series: Altered Carbon Season 2 and Star Trek: Picard (both sci-fi). What to watch next? There’s a box set of Game of Thrones Season 8 calling to me…

Sun 05 Apr 2020: This was a very industrious, really warm day. I did two loads of bed linen washing and Rhys helped me put it on the carousel (interspersed with dog fussing), washing up and mended a ripped duvet button hole. You know when you keep looking at something that needs sewing and you keep putting it off? Today was not that day! We also repotted my two red flowering succulents. We did it last year and they went mental growing and doubled in size, so I bought larger clay pots and begged some compost from the landlady’s gardening shed. When I say shed, it’s a deluxe triple room aircraft hangar, so plenty of room to keep our distance!

More from my keyboard next week.

Laters.

Shel

Coronavirus Lockdown - Week 2: Part 1

Mon 30 Mar 2020: My good friend, Kay Ellis, emailed me her new novelette to proofread, so I cracked on with that. Jelly-Belly is a continuation of her contemporary gay M/M romance series, so check out her Amazon page if the genre floats your boat (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kay-Ellis/e/B00N6PF8PI%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share).

Tue 31 Mar 2020: Felt really tired today with a sore throat. I suffer from hay fever at this time of year and nothing seems to work for me to combat it, so I have to endure. This time, of course, the question was, “Have I got the Coronavirus?” Time to do the checklist: Temperature? No. Persistent new cough? No. Flu-like symptoms? Hard to tell. The worry is always there though. The evening brought a Slimming World meeting via the Zoom app. It seemed to work well and it was good to chat SW. Anything to try and keep us on track is a good thing. I’m just waiting for the online SW shop to open, so I can order some Hi-Fi bars and the new magazine! And yes, you get excited about little things when your world shrinks and you can’t go out or see anyone in person.

Wed 01 Apr 2020: 11:00 chat with the team at work to see how we were all doing, as most of us were working from home now. It was nice to see everyone and catch up, even though we weren’t allowed to talk about work (because I was on furlough leave – that felt so weird, because these are my work colleagues, not my close friends, so what do you talk about?). A couple of the younger women didn’t want to show their faces sans makeup, so we only had them on audio. Carried on with reading/proofing. It was quiet as Rhys had gone into work. They have a rota system, so they could all keep their distance and still get some work done.

Thu 02 Apr 2020: I managed to get some towels out on the line, so they’d be nice and crisp when dry, just the way Rhys likes them. We had dry and sunny weather last week, but this was the first time this week it had been dry enough. Have I mentioned before how therapeutic I find hanging out the washing? So nice to be outside with the sun on your back, birds singing in the trees, and if the landlady was in her garden, then I would get my doggy fix. Blue came bounding up to me, skidding to a halt as he collided with my legs. Why does he always stand on my toes? The great lovely lump. He’s a Greyhound/Bedlington cross – all long haired fluffy tones of grey and a loving personality. He’ll even try and take your hand, very gently in his mouth, as if to walk along with you. But when you throw a toy for him to get, can he run! Finished proofing Jelly-Belly and emailed it back to Kay - always a pleasure, never a chore.

Continued in next post...

Coronavirus Lockdown - Week 1: Part 2

The saga continues...

Fri 27 Mar 2020: My last day at work for an unknown length of time. I was stressed, but trying to look on the bright side - I’d have time to write! I had calls from both bosses thanking me for, basically, taking one for the team, but that there probably would be more of us furloughed before this was all over. Ts crossed and Is dotted, I turned my PC off and stepped away from the machine. I allowed myself a large whisky that evening.

Sat 28 Mar 2020: Rhys went foraging for food. The fruit and veg stall had taken over the marketplace to ensure social distancing. He went earlier this week so he had a chance of getting bananas, unlike last week when they’d all gone by the time he got there at 10:00. Sainsbury’s was still a bit hellish, especially for him, as he hates shopping. I usually use Ocado to deliver the weekly shop, but found out by chance that the reserved slot I thought I had booked now wasn’t, and the service was no longer available. Ocado hadn’t communicated this in any way – annoying, but not the end of the world as I made sure we were well stocked as usual. I managed to book a slot for the week after, but I do worry about those that don’t have access to online shopping, can’t get out to shop for themselves and don’t have family to help – what do they do? 

We had a role play gaming session booked with friends for the evening, but with the lockdown decided to play a board game through Steam. It took a while to set up as Rhys is a bit of a technophobe (I’m sure he thinks it defies him deliberately!), but ended up having an enjoyable game of co-op Lords of Waterdeep.

Sun 29 Mar 2020: We had run out of SlimmingWorld frozen meals, so decided to brave Iceland (no, not the country, the store!). I hadn’t been shopping since the lockdown and didn’t know what to expect. Luckily, it was Sunday lunchtime and quiet, with about half a dozen customers (including us) and a couple of staff. I kept my gloves on and tried not to touch anything. We all kept our distance and they had marked tape every two metres leading up to the tills, so you knew how far away to stand from the person in front. The woman on the check-out used hand sanitizer after every customer. What more can they do? The sun was shining, the wind was lazy (cut right through you instead of going around, but it was nice to be out.

Week 1 done. Well that was an interesting week, I’ll post more as it happens, even if I am a bit behind! How is everyone else coping/dealing with the lockdown?

Laters

Shel

Coronavirus Lockdown - Week 1: Part 1

I got an email from NaNoWriMo suggesting how to cope with being on lockdown by using writing, and one of the ideas was blogging about it, so here goes (will break it into bite size chunks as it’s a bit long):

Mon 23 Mar 2020: National announcement that the country is in Coronavirus lockdown.

Tue 24 Mar 2020: Mum had been in hospital for several weeks (she’s 87) and got home late yesterday afternoon. I was all set to go and see her, then I get a text from the government saying we were all on lockdown and not to go out unless absolutely necessary. We missed the announcement on the TV, so it was a good job I got the text. I didn’t go. I couldn’t bear it if I was a carrier and gave it to my folks – they wouldn’t survive. My sister texted to say she was OK and happy to be home. It’ll be touch and go if I get it as I have asthma. It was also my man’s birthday today. Rhys got cards and pressies, but I couldn’t get him the jelly and ice cream he said he wanted! His car’s engine light came on (again – fixed once already), so he called the garage, not knowing if they were going to even be open. They were, so we drove both our cars down and I brought him back. It needed a part, but they couldn’t guarantee how long it was going to take to get it. Fun times… not.

Wed 25 Mar 2020: I’d been working from home since Friday; picked up my whole PC and screen and set it back up on the desk at home. It was something I’d been wanting to do for a while. I was enjoying it and feeling a little guilty for being quite content in this time of national emergency. Then my boss calls me and asks me to volunteer to take furlough leave, which basically meant I’d be on 80% salary and not working for however many weeks this took to play out. It was a shock. I had two hours to decide. With shaking hands I did the maths and talked it over with Rhys. I could do it for maybe three months and it’d probably get a bit tight after that. It made sense to ask me; I was already at home because I was in the high risk category and some of my work had already been cancelled due to the Coronavirus. I said yes. I’d been working for the same company for over 18 years and they needed me to help them now, so they wouldn’t have to make people redundant later. It was a no brainer. My main question was, “How long have I got?”

Thu 26 Mar 2020: Rhys was worried he might not get his car back for weeks if the garage closed (although we did have my car) and hadn’t heard from them, so gave them a call. His car was ready, but I had to crack on with work, knowing that I’d either have until the end of the week or the end of the month. When I got the letter from HR, it turned out to be the end of the week. So much to do in so little time. All I could do was make sure what needed to be done got done by someone on the team, with as detailed instructions as possible. All but one of us was working from home by this time and I was worried that my work wouldn’t be covered and I’d come back to a massive backlog. I was assured there was cover and it wouldn’t be too bad, but my boss’s boss was a little too optimistic on timescales, thinking we’d be like this for weeks – I was ready for months. We got Rhys’s car from the garage. It cost him about £300. The second time since December, different fault. Time to get a new car, but it wouldn’t be any time soon.

... Part 2 to follow...

Blinked and missed it...

Seasons greetings!

You know when you haven’t seen someone for a while and they ask you what you’ve been doing and you can only really remember recent events? That’s what it’s been like trying to write this blog! I kept thinking that nothing much has happened in my writing since my last post, hence whilst no new posts, but actually stuff, strangely, has happened! And I seem to have blinked and missed most of the year…

February: Submitted a short to Siren’s Call e-zine, entitled “Party Pooper”, starring the Devil and was inspired by a Shinedown song, Devil. You can find it on page 118:

http://www.sirenscallpublications.com/pdfs/SirensCallEZine_February2019.pdf

May: Our annual trip to Scotland. Researched all things Scottish for my werewolf story. Came home via Ravenglass, Cumbria (and yes, it was a long journey!) for a steam train experience. Wonderful half size steam trains, and lovely people at the Ravenglass and Eskdale Steam Railway, who were ‘a small company making big assumptions’ when they gave us a certificate declaring we were now Mr & Mrs! We said, “Close enough” and let it slide - great day out.

July: I’m privileged to be beta reader/proofer for my friend Kay Ellis and had the pleasure of reading her latest offering, Judge and Executioner. Check it out at:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?i=digital-text&rh=p_27%3AKay+Ellis&s=relevancerank&text=Kay+Ellis&ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1

August: Writing Magazine announced their competition for a dark tale, so I had a crack at a short fantasy story – The Death Gift. It’s set in 1920s Bath and on a steam train (you’ve got to get your inspiration where you can!) about a young lady who inherits an antique necklace with with some inherently dark properties. I was quite pleased with it, although trying to keep it within the 1700 words was a challenge.

September: Birthday gift of whisky blending experience in York. The presenter was the founder of the Whisky Lounge and knew his stuff. An enjoyable and slightly squiffy evening later, we took home two small bottles of our own blended whisky. Nice. Also had lunch at Betty’s (the café to go to in York); caught the Ghost Bus (hilarious theatre-like ghost tour in a black painted double-decker bus – haunted, I’ll have you know!); visited the Cocoa House (gorgeous single estate chocolate) – twice; and had Sunday lunch in the most haunted pub in York, The Golden Fleece (skeleton sitting at the bar and monster Yorkshire puds!).

October: Didn’t make it into Writing Magazine, but tweaked the same story and submitted it to Sirens Call – they liked it and will be published in January, so watch this space!

So there you have, up to date again. I want to write more, but life seems to keep getting in the way… if I made New Year’s resolutions, find time to write would be the one!

Laters…

Shel

Strange Bedfellows - Creativity and Death

Firstly, my apologies for not blogging for a while. We had a bereavement in the family, followed by not knowing if we were going to be able to take our holiday to Romania pending the date of the funeral. Luckily, funeral ended up being two days before departure date and we did make it to Romania and Transylvania (more to come later and there are some piccies on my FB page).

I did start a blog intended for Halloween publication, but not only did a close family friend pass away suddenly, but my iPad decided to lose the draft blog, so I took it as a sign and left it alone for a while, as I knew everyone would be inundated with Halloween stuff. You would think that I’d had enough of death for a while, but…

You know they always say write what you know… Sirens Call e-zine have just published their latest issue and the theme is “The Bitter End”, and following my recent experiences, I managed to create a piece of flash fiction they liked, entitled “Haunting” on page 82 – check it out: http://www.sirenscallpublications.com/pdfs/SirensCallEZine_December2018.pdf

My writer friend, Kay Ellis, also prompted me to start writing a M/M gay supernatural story as she said her publisher was looking for new talent (check her out on Amazon – contemporary and fantasy M/M). I’ve written about 10,000 words of a werewolf tale (sorry, that always makes me chuckle!), and am trying to write this one organically, in that I’m just seeing where it goes for a while before plotting the rest of it. It seems to be working out OK so far and I’m waffling away quite happily, with a quite a lot of backstory and character development as I write.

So many ideas – so little time…

Hope you all had a merry Festival of Excess and I wish you all a happy New Year.

Laters!

Shel

Whisky, Whitby & Windows 10 Part 2

I’m back! And on to Whitby, the home of one of the best fish & chip parlours - Magpies, and where Dracula landed in Britain.  Oh, and there’s a very picturesque abbey (see my FB page for piccies), and it’s by the sea - a very pleasant place to spend some time!  We stayed at the Dracula themed B&B - Bats & Broomsticks, which I thoroughly recommend if you like your Dracula kitsch, even though it’s done very well, it is cheesy goodness.  This was our second stay - four poster bed, “emergency kit” in the wardrobe (wooden stakes and mallet) and breakfast to “The Damned” in a gothic basement - what more could you want?  A friendly host, who’s knowledgable about the area and tells you all the best places to get a beer? Yup!

We also managed to get up to Whitby Abbey (about 200 steps - and still don’t know the real number, even though we both counted and got different numbers).  Got some fantastic photos and came away with bottles of beer, wine and mead.  Yeah, it was a very boozy buying spree, but we haven’t drank it all yet!  Oh, and liquorice and Parma violet ice cream from a proper ice cream parlour on the way back - yum!  Even if you don’t do the Dracula thing, it’s a wonderful seaside town to visit.

And... on to Windows 10.  OK, so I’m probably going to rant a bit because I did an update on my laptop and that update took my poor laptop and ravaged it - bit it and shook it like a wolf with a sheep in its jaws - and left it hanging on for dear life and pretty much dying as far as the software was concerned.  I have never in all my years done an update and have it shaft my PC to the extent that I had to take it back to where I bought it from to get them to fix it, as the update “fix” had me going round in circles, with no desktop, and no recourse on what Microsoft had done with an update that obviously hadn’t been tested properly.  I was the 10th person that morning to ring in with the same problem and it’s going to cost me over £100 to get my files taken off, hardware checked and software wiped and reinstalled.  And that’s just the beginning.  Once I get it back tomorrow, I’ve got to reinstall any other software I had on there... joy... not!  Seeing as it was the only device I had Scrivener on, and where most of my writings were held (some were backed up elsewhere, but not the one I’m working on, of course), I have to reinstall Scriv and pray that it’s all there, and then get writing!

So there you have it, enough blathering on for now.  Wish me luck with my laptop and I curse Microsoft and their evil “we can screw you over and there’s nothing you can do about it” updates.  Seriously thinking of going over to Mac as I’m surgically attached to my iPad anyway, it’s just the cost that’s really putting me off for now.  We’ll see what happens next time I run a Windows update, and - note to self - backup your Scriv files to Dropbox before you press that update button!

Laters

Shel

Whisky, Whitby & Windows 10 Part 1

First off - whisky!  Our trip to Scotland in early May started off with a 2 night stay in Forres in an AirBnB, which turned out to be a lovely old Victorian place with lots of character and a very nice host.

We toured Benromach Distillery, as it was literally down the road, and we decided to take our whisky taster away with us as we had to drive to another distillery straight after.  And saying that, promptly bought several more to go and a bottle of Benromach 15 year old (sherry cask, hint of smoke - gorgeous!).

Next we flew off to Tamdhu Distillery in Knockando, near Aberlour.  Now this was an interesting tour - I know, you’re thinking “Aren’t they all the same?”, but far from it!  This distillery isn’t usually open to the public, only during the Speyside Whisky Festival, so their reception and tasting area was in an old station ticket office next to a defunct railway and unlike most tours, we were allowed to take photos inside the distillery itself.  It was large scale and modern, unlike Benromach, which was a much smaller affair and with very traditional processes and no computers!  I did sample the 3 that were on offer, but they were all batch or cask strength and just too strong without adding more than a few drops of water to it - and what’s the point of whisky if you can’t enjoy it without watering it down?  I didn’t buy any, and didn’t feel bad about it as the tickets themselves were £30 each, but did find out from chatting to them that they do a 12 year old Tamdhu and only sell it in M&S.  I shall be looking out for that one - and it comes in the most stunning weighted bottom cut glass bottle - just what you need in a zombie apocalypse (as one guy at the Edinburgh Whisky Experience said to us a few years ago as we were gazing bewildered by the array of whisky on offer!).  We’d like to think we know a thing or two about whisky now, but we’re always finding out new and tasting them too.

On our way to see family, we stopped off at Glendronach Distillery near Huntly, which we toured last year, for 2 bottles of their 18 year old “Allardice”.  Again, Oloroso sherry cask (are you seeing a theme here?  My fault, I’m afraid!), and heaven in a glass.

***
Got to split this into 2 parts, as I can’t see the text at the bottom of the page doing this on an iPad, so more in a bit...

Laters

Shel

Favourite Book Challenge

Hi all

I was challenged by a friend on Facebook this week to select a favourite book (I think I was supposed to select one every day of the week, but that was just too difficult, so I settled for one!), and after much consideration (about a minute), I settled on...

Dracula by Bram Stoker

This book spawned a whole sub-genre in the world of paranormal writing and although not everyone’s cup of reading tea, is still a classic.  It has sparked so many imaginations since publication in the late 19th century that I think it deserves to be chosen.  It is the one hard backed book I still have in my collection, the rest being paperbacks or digital.

And... because I am British and love talking about the weather... Spring is officially here.  The daffs have been and gone, the cherry blossom is, well, blossoming, and there are woods full of beautiful bluebells... although we did have a mini heatwave, could the weather be just a tad warmer than it is now please?

More to report soon after our trip to the Speyside Whisky Festival, Scotland and Whitby on the way back home (I think it may be an expensive trip...!).

Laters

Shel

Spring has sprung... almost!

It looks like spring may finally be here after a false start and that horrible white stuff... snow!  Surely it’s got to warm up soon?!

A nice thing about spring is you start thinking about/planning your summer holiday and this year is a big birthday, so I’ve decided to do something I’ve always wanted to - visit Dracula’s castles in Transylvania.  I usually book and plan everything, but this time I thought I’d let someone else do it, and we are going on a coach tour - never been on one before, but so looking forward to it.  Also hoping it will inspire some story writing!

And talking of stories, I’ve been plotting and plodding along with my current one - the supernatural love(ish) story, and more characters have been making an appearance, including a vicar who like parkour and running, and two chalk and cheese sisters, one of which runs a cafe that only serves chocolate cakes and confections - it’s called the “Chocolate Teapot”!

Well, better get on with the writing, although sometimes it ends up half thinking/researching and half writing, but that’s better than nothing...

Ooh, before I go, last time my post had the title “Do cyber wolves dream of electric sheep?” and I wondered where the line had come from.  Well, apparently the actual quote is “Do androids dream of electric sheep?” - it’s a story title by Philip K Dick which turned into Bladerunner, so no wonder it sounded familiar, but not quite!

More in a bit...

Shel

Do Cyber Wolves Dream Of Electric Sheep?

I love that line, but can’t remember where it originates from - anyone know?

Talking of dreaming, I had a slightly prophetic one a couple of days ago: I dreamt that a friend had wanted me to stay with her for a few days, and had bought me a pair of pyjamas, then after I’d got there, promptly decided that she didn’t need me to stay and phoned a taxi company to find out how much it would be for me to get home!

Strangely enough, we were going to stay over with friends on Saturday night for gaming, but as others couldn’t make it, decided on giving it a miss so we’d have a much needed weekend at home without running around.  We did make a date that we could all make next month though.

Maybe I’ll actually get some writing done, instead of just thinking about it...! [must make time to write!]

It’s funny what spins round in your subconscious...

I did write a drabble for a work thing - we had to be creative, and it was the obvious choice for me - although it had to have a work theme. I won’t give much more away, apart from it’s entitled “Ladder Gremlin” and I’ll post it next month after the meeting.

Well, I couldn’t write it without some kind of fantasy theme, now could I?!

Laters


Shel

Post-Xmas/New Year Hiatus

Post Festival of Excess and New Year Greetings!

I allowed myself a writing break up to Xmas, what with all the spinning plates and running about of the silly season, but did manage to write a scene over the Xmas holiday, continuing the story that I started for NaNoWriMo.

I realise now that this story will be much longer than I first anticipated, and I’ve only just got to the second day in my tale.  My protagonist, Amy, has yet to meet the other subject of the story and the antagonist hasn’t shown his face yet either, but it’s progressing, albeit slowly.  I really need to knuckle down and try to write something every day, but its hard fitting it in with normal life stuff.  That is my “not New Year” resolution - I don’t make New Year resolutions, as I’m rubbish at keeping them, but this is something I want to do, and probably need to do if a story is spinning round in my head enough!

I’ll keep you posted of plot developments once I’ve got a bit more written, but I had an idea for another story as I was driving home on Friday.  I followed a car with a number place ending “WDZ” and immediately thought of “Wizardz”, because that’s how my weird brain works!  I then followed another car whose number plate ended “WDZ” as well, (although it quite possibly could have been the same one - I was too busy thinking up a character/plot to really notice, whilst driving at the same time!), and I saw it as a sign that a story needed to be told.

An idea was written down in my ideas book, and I’ll add to that as thoughts strike me and share when I have something a little more concrete, but I’m definitely trying to write one story at a time, or the big one will never get finished!

I also generated a RPG (Role Play Gaming) character sheet for my wizard to test out our Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition new Player’s Manual.  He came out quite well, after we worked out “D&D speak” and with a bit of toing and froing through the book - I got quite excited when I found out he could throw an Chromatic Orb - where you can hurl a 4-inch-diameter sphere of energy at a creature that you can see within a certain range. You choose acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or thunder for the type of orb you create and then make a ranged spell attack against the target. lf the attack hits, the creature takes 3d8 (3 x 8 sided dice) damage.  Not too shabby at all for a first level character.

Sometimes it’s the little things that just make your day!

Talk soon

Shel

Post-NaNoWriMo, Pre-Xmas

Well, NaNo is over, and I didn’t write any more than last posted due to the fact that I realised that maybe I don’t write the way NaNo is designed for, eg, blast out your words then go back and edit later.  As I’ve mainly written short stuff before, I tend to edit as I go along, then do a read through/edit, and probably a final read once someone else has read it too!

It was an experiment, and perhaps if I write more longer stories, I may adapt to that style of writing, but for now I’m happy doing things the way I do them, when inspiration strikes.

I’ll continue with the story I started as I’ve fleshed out more in my head, and I’ve a feeling there will be more paranormal love stories in the future, as I’ve had an idea for another one...

I’ve also found that if I read another author’s novel, then I only want to read, not write, so I’ll just have to find a way to juggle both! Does anyone else have the same problem, or is it only me?

And of course there was Xmas online shopping to be done - all done now, just the wrapping left.

Laters!

Shel

NaNoWriMo - End of Week 3

Arrrggghhh!  I’ve stalled!  I want to write, but there’s too much other stuff going on and I can’t get my head round it.

I’ve also started reading again, which I suspected would be a mistake and it was.  For the past couple of years, I haven’t read much at all apart from my friends’ drafts as beta reader or proofer, so I decided it was time to read some of the books I’ve got on my Kindle.  I started reading Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris and now all I want to do it read and not write!  My story is still spinning round in my head, but I think I’ve got to a point where I need to get from one event to another and I’ve got a kind of block - I want to write, but I’d rather read instead and I don’t want to make myself do it and force it.

I’d better hurry up and finish the book, so I can get back to writing again, because I’ve got that feeling that I won’t get really in the flow again until I do...

Shel

NaNoWriMo - End of Week 2

Well, end of week 2 of NaNoWriMo and I’ve only written 5376 words.  On the plus side, it’s about 2000 words more than the longest story I’ve ever written, which I’ve recently submitted to Siren’s Call online magazine for possible publication in one of their anthologies - if they like it!  That’s the reason why I didn’t have much time for prep before NaNo and am now getting bogged down with minutae that I should’ve done then... hey ho.

I’m amazed that I’ve written so many words and that I’m just beginning - I’m shocked that it’s only day one in my story - as I said, it’s turning into a monster!

I’ll update again next week, when hopefully a free weekend will mean I get a lot more written to up my word count - I might not write 50000 words in the month, but I will have written more than I’ve ever done before and in my book, that’s a win.

‘til then...


Shel

First foray into NaNoWriMo

Week one of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and I’ve only written half the word count I’m supposed to have done (aiming for 50,000 words in the month) - who knew that you had to plan your meals and not have any social life whilst you were trying to write your novel?!

On the plus side, the story I started and thought might only be short, has turned into a monster and it feels like I’m waffling, but I’ve been assured that it may feel like that, but what you’re really doing is fleshing out the story.  Having only written drabbles and shorts, I’m used to being a bit more concise and even if I do by some miracle finish it (but probably not this month...), it’ll need some hard editing before anyone sees it, but I have my beta reader already lined up (you know who you are!).

So, that’s my update for now - I’ll try and write some each week - inbetween NaNo, finding out what people want for Xmas, ordering Xmas pressies (I managed about half of it before November), wrapping said pressies for people we may not see before Xmas, and the usual work and home life stuff!

Bye for now

Shel

Halloween’s here!

Yep, I love Halloween, and to celebrate all things creepy, here’s another little horror themed drabble for you...

The Birds

The birds perch, silent, on the telephone wire, blackest ink against the blue sky, heads cocked, their glittering eyes watch me walk by.

More amass on the playground climbing frame, their numbers increasing with every step I take towards the quiet school to pick my daughter up – I am late.

At some unseen sign, the ravens screech a deafening caw and lift off as one, their wings a feathery thunderclap.

But they haven’t gone. The dark menacing mass were airborne and aiming straight at me, their lone prey.

Hands over my ears, I run for safety, but not fast enough...

***

Enjoy the season of spookiness!

Shelly Revenant Redd

Beginnings...

I’ve never written a blog before, so please bear with me!

I was recently inspired by two of my author friends to give writing a go for myself.  Neal Noakes and Kay Ellis are both published authors and I had the privilege of proofing/beta reading some of their work prior to publish. [Quick plug for them here: Neal writes mainly urban fantasy and whatever he feels like poetry, and Kay is author of several novels and short stories, in both fantasy and modern day situations, but all in the gay romance genre - look them up on Facebook].

So this is me giving it a go.  My first attempts at writing involve vampires (write what you know they always say) and are in progress. My second are to my newly found favourite fun thing to do – drabbles! A story in 100 words exactly, if you didn’t know, and I had to look it up. I wrote 5 drabbles for a competition in Siren’s Call ezine, and had them all accepted for publication, and yes, they involve vampires and werewolves, but just a little bit of creepiness, as the subject for them was “Feel the Fear”. Check them out here on page 101:

http://www.sirenscallpublications.com/pdfs/SirensCallEZine_August2017.pdf

I had a whale of a time (where does that saying come from?) writing them and intend to create more in the future, just for the sheer hell of it!

And talking if Hell... here’s a drabble for All Hallows’ Eve is nearly here...

Vampiri Nocturnus

          He waited, hidden, outside her window until she was asleep, then ghosted silently in. 

          His pale skin glimmering in the moonlight filtering through the curtains, inky shadow 

stretching across the silvered wall, clawed hands reaching.

          Leaning over her, fangs extended, he stopped, unmoving, when she murmured in her 

sleep. 

          Tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, he caressed her naked throat. 

          Lowering his head, he bit quickly, the venom in his bite swiftly paralysing, and 

siphoned the life from the pretty one in long draughts, until her heart beat no more and Death 

claimed her for his own. 

Enjoy!

Shel