Meanderthal

Have to be honest, I haven’t missed writing blog entries. My domain ownership actually ran out a couple of weeks ago, and it took me longer than it should have to renew it. I was half-heartedly considering shutting this place down – maybe starting a new site, a more professional one with my name in the address and whatnot. Bookworms is a hodge-podge after all, with a misleading title and not enough control over the layout to keep me happy. But I’m giving it another year (if you keep reading).

Unfortunately, instead of reappearing with a flourish, this is one of those meandering entries where I struggle to figure out the topic – and I’m going with the easy stuff. This is not the place for world event sadness and opinions, not right now.

Topic #1 – a couple of days ago I finally FINALLY passed my driving test. Despite my wording, I’d like to point out that I passed first time *smug face* – but it has taken me upward of 15 years to get to the point where I was ready to take the test at all *remove smug face* (< unnecessarily gristly images conjured by that one, sorry). So the world is my oyster, or will be, once I have a car, which I will be getting as soon as possible. I love living in the North East, but you do kind of need a car to get to a lot of the good spots. (Also to get to and from work, apparently, she types through gritted teeth as Virgin Rail announce yet more delays which, btw, were rare before The Most Expensive Train Company in the Country took over the route.)

Topic #2 – Writery stuff. (Yeah, I’m labelling so you can skip the bits that bore you). The novel writing course I started back in September is drawing to a close, and it has been very helpful and I have been a terrible, antisocial student (turns out I find face-to-face easier than forums. I’d forgotten my unlikely aversion to replying to forum posts. It’s weird, given my obvious love of typing stuff, but it falls in with my crapness at writing texts as well. Just too much effort, for some reason). It has given me the boost I needed, I managed to complete assignment and am waiting very nervously indeed for feedback – nervously because the main thing I figured out thanks to the course was that my story’s tense and POV were all wrong, so I’ve been rewriting 40,000 words or so and it’s not as easy to just update as I’d hoped…

Topic #3 – More writery stuff. … and because of this and the other MS that I wasn’t supposed to be touching at all but sort of have – in fact I haven’t been ‘sort of’ touching it so much as have full-blown picked it up and smooshed it around and smeared it all over myself – and a Very Busy Time at work (enjoy the read, folks, it’s a good ‘un) I have written precisely No Poetry and No Short Stories, and I miss them both very much.

Topic #4 – Yet more… Literary Salmon’s Casual Electrocution of Strangers continues to make the rounds (for free!). There’s an interview with Jane Roberts, fellow Salmonee, over at The Literary Pig, talking about the project as a whole. (Er, the picture of me included is hideously out of date – I no longer have red hair, for a start – but I don’t have any kind of professional headshot and I photograph so badly that nothing close to a decent one really exists. Am working on remedying that). We’re planning another project, once we’ve managed to sort ourselves out and pick a title, and we and some/many of our writers will be at the Word Factory Christmas bash (11th Dec), doing a bit of a read (I can’t give you any more info than that at the moment only because we haven’t quite finalised the plan) so come along – it’s going to be a brilliant night.

Topic #5 – I’m still singing. Officially singing-ish, now, and I think that now the driving license is ticked off, along with a lot of other stuff on the list of things I was supposed to do before I turn 30 (34 is the new 30, shut up), I might actually get the nerve up to attempt some sort of open mic after Christmas (or before! Who knows!). Open mic was on the list, you see. I’ve been singing various musical theatre type songs to stretch my range and practice breathing and whatnot, and I’m louder. And braver. I stood on a stage and sang last night, only to my teacher, but Stage and Me On It historically have bad associations. So maybe I’ll record more. Or better than I have. Or something. I don’t know. There’s some amorphous plans, is all I’m saying. In the meantime, please send some sympathy on the breeze to Coffee Monster, who has to sit through me doing siren impressions and huffy scales at home.

Topic #6 – oh sport, and swimming, and running, and fluffy dogs. Etc. You know the drill. Five topics is probably enough. When I’m feeling less procrastinatory and more focused, I’ve got an idea for a post about body image stuff. It might get ranty. It’s got nothing to do with coffee, monsters or books either. Off-topic, as usual.

Peace.

 

Currently reading (yep, this is new, and my updates here so all over the place at the mo that you’ll never get a full list, but whatever. If you’re THAT interested, I’m on Goodreads, staunchly not writing reviews): Spill Simmer Falter Wither by Sara Baume. I love Oneeye – on a personal level he’s an exceedingly familiar dog. I cannot bring myself to read the last chapters in case of tragedy. But check out the artwork behind the novel – it’s fairly spectacular on its own.