Seraph7

I thought I'd better do a quick entry about the books read in March.I still want to to carry on this reading challenge for the year. Although I feel I need to start reading things that are a bit more highbrow. I still have more ebooks than I strictly know what to do with. My TBR pile is off the chain at the moment. I doubt I will ever get through it.

Trilby - George du Maurier
The Highwayman - Emily Vainglory
Almost like being in love - Steve Kluger
The Nobleman and the Spy - Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon
Undeniable Magnetism - Bonnie Dee
Test of Faith - Aleksandr Voinov and Raev Gray
The Prince who never smiled - Pepper Espinoza
Jungle Heat - Bonnie Dee

In other news, I got the projectionist position. We started the training today. There's a lot to take in, but so far (fingers crossed) no major mishaps. I even managed to lace up the projector twice although that a complex job. So much to remember and we have to do it in three weeks. On average it's meant to take 6 months , so we're really up against it. I have to get some new uniform as well so that's something I have to do.
I also have to buy a Mother's Day card and present. I already got a cake so I hope she likes it, I think Kwesi is going to take her out for lunch somewhere but as usual I'm working.
As for 'Songbirds' that's sitting at 90k. Ideally I want it to be done by 100k max but there's so much I haven't tackled properly yet! I am starting to get a bit worried. It can't be too long because it won't be publishable and it will be a huge mess to edit, but I need to finish the actual story! What am I going to do?

I feel very down and out of sorts today. I think it's because I have been really tired and fed up after working all weekend yet again. I feel I live there at the moment. Frankly it's a bit depressing considering that I spend most of my time at work slaving my guts out and yet I still can't afford to do anything.
My life feel like a constant round on the treadmill. Work. Sleep. Work. Sleep. Naturally nothing is getting done. I desperately need a holiday but I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to get one 'til after April if I get one at all. This is very depressing.
I have ideas for 'Songbirds' but I don't know whether I can sort this out. This draft is taking way too long to sort out. I know I have to be patient but it's hard to know if I'm just wasting my time. Most of the time I work alone and it doesn't bother me that much but I don't have a great deal of self-confidence at the moment.

This popped up on my f list. I would imagine there is several weeks worth of reading on this one. To be honest it's probably the kick up the arse that I need fic-wise. I really do need to finish 'The Poignard' and then it can take pride of place there as well. Not to mention 'In too Deep' and 'Shades of Loyalty' as well.

Master List of Gen Kill AUs

in case anyone's interested.
I was kind of getting to the stage when I was considering just leaving it because I've written myself into a corner and I don't really know how to write myself out of it. The end is written; there's a whole bunch of plot that happens after the massacre and the king's death. But I just cannot for the love of God get past this plot hole. More like a plot swamp at this point.
I cannot find anyone who wants to beta and to be honest I know it's a big ask. It's long. Very long. I actually wish I hadn't written it long. But try as I might I really cannot write short and it's something that I'm going to have to work on.
I mean 'Songbirds was only meant to be a short slight tale and it's close to 80k or will be by the end of the week.

I think I need something to cheer me up a bit as I can tell I'm doing the moping thing, and that's not good. How about this?

Double Exposure featuring Armie Hammer and Jessica Stroup
getting hot and heavy for a photoshoot. And before you ask: No I am not remotely green with envy. Why do you ask?

Since I have no money, I think I'm going to spend the next two days writing 'Songbirds' I only hope I can get some head way on it. I just want to finish this draft now!

* Today's been kinda stressful to be honest. I work up a bit late but I could have handled it just fine. Then I attempted to ring a taxi, only to find the phone wasn't ringing out. Nightmare. I had to go to the corner shop to get money for a taxi. Meanwhile my father just looks at me running round like a blue arsed fly. Eventually he comes out with 'Oh, do you want to phone for a taxi?'. He really does make it so damned obvious that he cannot be arsed doing anything for me at all. Anyone else in the family he would actually offer a lift. I'm lucky if I get grunted at. Frankly it pisses me off. The way I see it, if you wanted to do things for someone you would. The fact that you never bother tells me everything I need to know. You should heard him the day of my birthday when he realized that he hadn't bothered. In fact none of them had actually bothered but that's by the by. I should have expected this when I went out of my way to buy present for Christmas and got nothing. He started burbling about 'Oh, I'll get you something later' but I knew nothing would materialise.
Can this entire family make it any more obvious that I am an afterthought, lowest on the totem-pole? I wish I didn't care. I wish I could have a family that's close. Maybe it's just as well I work as much as I do, and write in my spare time. If I didn't it would probably bother me a lot more. Writing fills a gap in my life in the same way fandom does I think. I just wish it wasn't so lonely sometimes. I don't really have many fandom friends as such.

* We did the training which was a bit of a waste of time. I bought some books from the Tuesday market including 'The Great Gatsby' because it's about time I read some classic literature and seeing as they're making the film soon I wanted to know the story. It was OK, I suppose. I really don't think that it needs to be in 3D for a start and I have some reservation about the proposed casting. I can see Carey doing a good job of Daisy Buchanan even though I have to say I didn't much like the characters with the exception of Gatsby himself and even then...
I also bought a book on Stalingrad which should be interesting as I loved the film and some erotica. I kind of gave some of the erotica books the side-eye especially one called 'Sense and Sensuality'. I will report back on just how dodgy it is even though I will probably read the entire thing. Yes, when it comes to historical smut I have little to no shame.

* I'm going to try and read some Dorothy Dunnett this month and Jilly Cooper. Perhaps I should try for the whole Rutshire series from Riders which is a huge doorstop of a novel to Jump. I know I have read these book numerous times and they are a bit trashy '80s bonkbuster but I enjoy them. I love the characters and Jilly just makes it so enjoyable and easy. I don't always like her heroines for some reason. But I just love those book so much. I am definitely an unashamed fangirl and I don't think there's anyone else with the exception of Gabaldon that I enjoy so much. Of course there's the whole anti-fanfic thing which did make me think less of Gabaldon, and I was bemused by some of her choices especially in the latest book, but ever since I read Outlander I admit I have been addicted. Apparently they're making a film of the book. I can't imagine if they'll be any good because they are huge doorstops of novels and they're bound to leave something out. I dunno how they're going to tackle the whole Black Jack Randall thing either but I will have to check the train wreck.

Looking back at this post I do seem a bit low. I think if I were getting on with the novel I would feel less grumpy and mopey about life. Perhaps a bit of 'Social Network' on DVD might do the trick.

I finally got 'The Social Network' and the book 'The Accidental Billionaires' by Ben Mezrich when I went to Oxford. I haven't had a chance to re-watch the film, but now I'm having the day off I might indulge. Seeing as it's all cold and rainy. I'm not sure if I actually want to go out in this weather. The book is very interesting. I don't know how true to life the entire thing is, but one of the things I liked about it was the fact that you did more of a sense of everyone's viewpoint . You could see why the characters in the film made the decision that they did. I like that, seeing everyone's viewpoint on an event and how it differs.
In terms of the reading challenge I haven't read as many books as I'd like. I will have to make a list again at the end of the month , and see if I can squeeze a couple more in before the deadline.

I went out on Thursday and it turned into a bit of a heavy one. On Friday I usually work in the evening so I wasn't planning to rush to get to town. So I was pretty annoyed when I get a phone call from my manager at noon basically saying: 'where the hell are you?' They'd scheduled me to work even though I'm not available on Friday days. I had to do an all day shift in kiosk which was not fun with a fucking hangover. It's really spoilt my day, let's put it like that. Seeing as I do more hours than every one else and I usually have to work all weekend all day without fail, I think I am being quite reasonable if I say I can't do those mornings and they should abide by it and not try and sneakily screw me over.

I have a documentary on Joan Sutherland called 'The Reluctant Prima Donna' to watch so I'd better do that and take notes for 'Songbirds'. I have used quite a few elements of Joan's life in the character of Flora, but naturally you have to change things and twist them to suit the story. It's meant to be a odd kind of tribute I suppose.

As for progress on the manuscript, I think I will probably crack 75k. I would love to aim for 80k but we'll see. I have to try and get the story finished soon as I'm meant to be starting the sequel for novel_bigbang soon and it's going to be tricky starting to do that if I haven't resolved this first one. I need to start doing some planning and more research on country house opera companies. I feel some of my details are a bit sketchy and it never hurts to bolster one's research.

Haven't posted for a while because I have acquried a stinking computer virus which has decimated my trusty laptop. I am pretty devastated as you can guess. It's costing me two trips to Oxford plus £70 to get it fixed. Possibly. If not I have to face losing all my stuff. I can't find my backup memory stick, which has all the latest versions of 'Poignard', 'Songbirds' and the rest. God help me, if it's all lost... All that hard fucking work, I will actually cut a bitch, I really will. I hate being without internet access. Not being able to read my ebooks or work on the novels.

I can't let myself think about it too much or I really will get upset. All that money spent , all that time working on my stories...godamnit, I didn't even do anything wrong!

I have been reading a few paper novels, which is taking my mind off the computer catastrophe. The Jacobite Trilogy by D K Broster which was really enjoyable. Very much like the early Outlander books but with a lot less sensationalism and sex.They were written in the 1920s and I think they might be out of print now, which is a shame because I think they would make splndid films. I really got into it and the characters. I suspect Gabaldon has probably read these as the similiarities were too abundant for it to be sheer serendipity.
I also read 'Drums of War' by Edward Marston which was engaging enough. even if the hero was a bit of a Gary-Stu. Was it enitrely necessary to go on about every woman wanted him? Not convinced about that.
I'm also going to try and get some films watched on the other computer.I got 'To kill a King' and 'Maurice' to watch maybe tonight. If the worst comes to the worst, I'll have to save up for a new computer so In may be absent without leave for a bit. I hate the thought of it but there you go.

*Now that I've finished writing 'Troubadour' I have an urge to carry on doing original work for a bit. I know it's more than enough time since I updated on A03 and sorting out those stories is a priority, but I've been thinking about starting/planning the first of my Opera romance series.
I really like the idea of this so I might plan it out instead of putting pressure on myself to do Nano which isn't going to happen this year for certain. I want to play with my Scrivener for Windows Beta that I downloaded and this is the ideal opportunity. So far I have to say I'm enjoying the features. I think once I get the hang of it it's going to be so much better. I will probably fork out for the full version when it comes out. I think it's going to be so much more useful than trying to write in Word which can be frustrating. I did try Liquid Story Binder, but I could never get the hang of it. Too many features and it was as fiddly as hell. I need something simple so I can write without the software getting in the way.
As soon as I come up with a suitable blurb I'll post it up on here to see what I think. I've even started to think roughly of casting which is interesting and there's a fanmix floating about

*I have noticed quite a few writers blogging rather negatively about the whole Nano experience recently. I think these people mostly object to the thought of thousands of people. I personally don't understand it! What is so bad about people being creative and coming up with stores of their own. Alright, some of them might be bad. The story you come up with will probably need a whole bunch of revision and rewriting until it's fit for human consumption.
I find this with a certain type of professional writer. It's like they feel that writing is an exclusive club you can only join if you have paid your dues by taking it at college or University or you're published. It's like they forget that some time ago they too were an aspiring writer needing that push and some encouragement to write.
Nano isn't for everyone, especially if you are a perfectionist, but to my mind I have found it very useful.
After I finished my Journalism degree and admittedly I didn't do that well. I knew I probably wasn't going to make a career in Journalism. I lost every single bit of confidence I had in my writing and myself. I don't know if I would have ever had the courage to start writing again if I hadn't followed the link all those years ago and signed up. I'm under no illusion that I still have a long way to go before I can be published. If indeed I have the talent to be published. But something that gives people the confidence and chance to do something creative and enjoyable.Something that democratises the process of novel writing and shows ordinary people that they can do it. They can write! How can that be a bad thing?

*I'm still trying to sort out the Opera and Ballet showing. I'm a bit frustrated with the season as it's a tricky sell. All the showing which would have been easy sells are either not playing here because they're live and we don't have the equipment, or they're simply not showing it. Let me tell you, it's far easier to persuade people to see something like 'Cosi fan Tutte' or Fonteyn and Nureyev in Swan Lake rather than something like 'Tristan und Isolde' which is a arse-puckeringly long 4 hours plus! Still, that's the job I have to do and no one else is going to do it.

*I would like to go back to college if I could afford it, but what would I study? I would like to do something English related and creative writing based. That would be excellent.

* A couple of fic recs while I'm here to finish off.I enjoyed this immensely. I feel like I ought to read more GK fic. I might try and have a nosey round, now that I'm not writing so intensely.

The Season of Rainby Idrilka
Nate is the son of two millionaires who piss off the wrong people. Brad is the bodyguard assigned to protect him.

The Four Paw Problem by AJ Hall
John is, by now, fairly used to clients showing up at 221B Baker Street and telling him they fear for their lives. He's moderately familiar with clients from aristocratic and Government circles. He's absolutely used to having his intelligence impugned in the living room of his own flat.

He's just not used to confronting impossibilities which refuse to be eliminated.
This is an enjoyable crossover from Sherlock/Saki with a subtle dash of RPF.There needs to be more Saki fic in the world as far as I'm concerned.

Last post of the year!
In the spirit of doing something productive instead of being stuck in my bed I'd like to pimp out one of the latest writing comm i've joined, thewritingpen There was a banner I was trying to insert but as usual the HTML wouldn't work.



( Why my life sucks right now! )

I need to cheer myself up , so I was on Youtube yesterday just messing about and came across some interesting stuff, I'm a bit didgy about embedding vids as I don't want them to disappear on me.

( In which Davina gets very fangirly and inappropriate about Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Simon Keenlyside. Why change the habit of a life time? )

What else has been going on after Xmas? I got a iPod Nano, which I am more than a bit in love with from my sister. I've wanted one for ages so I was well happy. Made up for the piece of crap which was my Secret Santa. Who gives someone two cans of deodorant for a present and expects that person not to be offended? WTF? And people wonder why I'm so negative about the place. I swear it's really bringing me down. I must do something concrete about leaving and finding a more suitable job.
I really want a netbook next year. That's my goal. I also want the complete series of 'The Wire' and I still haven't got Season One of 'True Blood'. To be honest, I'm not that bothered as I'm pretty much only watching for Skarsgard and the supporting characters at this point.
I also want a bit of a makeover as I'm fed up of looking like a skank. I want to be attractive for a change.