NaNo Day One
Despite it probably being a dumb idea, I went ahead and registered for NaNoWriMo. It’s Melbourne Cup Day here – a public holiday – and so I got off to a pretty good start. 1701 words were written on my new novel today. That’s about 1600 more words than I’ve written in any one sitting for over a year now, so I’m pretty happy with that.
The great thing about NaNo is that no editing or revising is allowed. You just write. Usually I spend quite a bit of time fiddling with my work, trying to make it perfect. As a consequence it takes a long time to write anything at all. I’m hoping NaNo will free up my inner muse and allow me to follow my characters, without fussing so much about every little detail. We’ll see how it goes!
To NaNo or not to NaNo?
Tomorrow marks the beginning of National (or international now I guess) Novel Writing Month, Or NaNoWriMo. Basically NaNo challenges writers to write a novel in a month.
I am yet to successfully complete NaNoWriMo. I have done similar challenges through RWA but have never successfully completed “the big one”. I am torn about signing up for this year’s challenge. On the “Just Do It” side is the fact that for the first time in ages I have a new idea for a novel and I’m itching to work on it. On the “What Was I Thinking?” side is the fact that I have new job and I’m moving house in five weeks time, not to mention all the regular stuff that makes me extra busy in November – Christmas, end of year parties, concerts, speech nights and so on.
So, what should I do? Do I NaNo or not?
What I did on my holidays…
If only I had a dollar for every student who I’ve made write on this topic! But now it’s my turn to give a vacation report.
We had a fabulous time in Malaysia. We spent five days in Kuala Lumpur, staying at the luxurious Trader’s Hotel. It was a great location, with lovely views of the Petronas Twin Towers from many vantage points within the hotel. Our rooms didn’t have twin tower views but it didn’t matter because we were barely there.
Here’s the view from Trader’s Skybar, where we spent a very enjoyable evening.
We spent most of our time in KL shopping. I was ridiculously self indulgent and came home with lots of shoes, handbags, cosmetics and even some jewellery. No buyers regret, though. I love everything I bought!
This is the ENORMOUS Berjaya Times Square. Even after seeing it, it’s hard to believe the size of this shopping centre. There’s a small theme park inside, with a full sized roller coaster!
On one of the upper floors we found a “fish spa”. I decided to give it a go.
Yes, these are my feet being chomped on by dozens of tiny fish. Weird sensation but good (in an odd sort of way!)
We did manage to do a little sight seeing while we were in KL. The following photo was taken in Merdeka Square.
After the excitement of KL we were ready for some down time in Penang, which was lucky really, considering how hot it was there. We spent a great deal of time lazing by the pool reading.
My holiday reading choices turned out to be fantastic… but that’s a post for another day!
Holiday reading – the purchases
E-readers… is it time to succumb?
Thanks for all the reading suggestions. Most people posted directly on my Facebook link to this post, so not all suggestions will show up in the comments here. A diverse range of authors/genres were suggested – everything from Mills and Boon to Margaret Atwood. I’m shopping tomorrow so I will let you know what I choose.
Today I’ve started actively thinking about packing. I like to travel light. I think this is a result of my backpacking days, when I had to carry everything I needed on my back. It’s surprising how little one can survive with when forced to prioritise.
My partner, D, is a shocking packer. He takes enough stuff for five people. He blames his time in the Scouts. Apparently he really took that “Be Prepared” motto to heart. And travelling with three kids, two with rather large medicinal needs, also requires a lot of “stuff”.
Today I realised that books take a lot of space in my luggage. If I didn’t take reading material with me, I’d have plenty of room in my suitcase for all the purchases I’m planning on making in KL. And so my thoughts turned (reluctantly) to e-readers. In theory I’m not a fan of the e-reader. I love real books too much to ever contemplate replacing them permanently with a screen version. However I will concede that there are times (like now) when having one pocket-sized device that can store many books may be handy.
Help me out here! Do I really need an e-reader and if so, which one should I get?
Holiday reading suggestions?
Next Tuesday I’m heading off to Malaysia for two weeks in the sun. I have ten days in Penang, where I plan to do little more than lay by the pool and read. Trouble is I haven’t decided what to read yet. I’m looking for page turners; light holiday entertainment (but not rubbish!) Any suggestions?
After the pause…
It’s been almost a year since I’ve been here. Poor blog, abandoned in its infancy.
I’m not really sure what went wrong. I could claim I’ve been too busy, weighed down by life’s chores but that would be untrue. Yes, I’ve been busy, but I can always find time to blog when I want to. So I guess that’s it. I haven’t wanted to blog in a long time.
I haven’t wanted to write either.
Somewhere in the past twelve months I lost all confidence in my writing ability and even putting words down here became an onerous task. I’m not sure that I’m over it yet, but maybe blogging again will help. Couldn’t hurt, right?
So where to now? Maybe I should start with an update of where I’m at now.
Reading
Seeing as the writing hasn’t been going so well, I’ve been reading purely for pleasure. I can’t remember everything I’ve read since I was last here, but here’s a snapshot of recent reads:
Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel. It took me a while to get into this one, despite my fascination with the Tudor Period. The author’s overuse of the pronoun “he” to refer to the main character and her occasional slips from third to first person made this a confusing read in the beginning. Once I got used to Mantel’s peculiar style, I did quite enjoy the book and am looking forward to the sequel.
Someone Else’s Son – Sam Hayes Another great read from Sam Hayes. I love all her books and can’t wait for the next one!
The Boat – Nam Le This wasn’t what I expected but I really enjoyed this diverse collection of Le’s short stories. I think I was anticipating a book full of stories about the refugee experience, but the collection contains much more than that. Le has a strong contemporary voice and an ability to create characters that the reader easily engages with. Definitely worth a read.
I’ve just finished Oxygen by Carol Cassella. This was a real page turner and I really wish I had saved it to read on the plane in a couple of week’s time!
Writing
Not much going on in this department. I haven’t submitted anything for some time. I’m dipping my toe in the water by writing a short story at the moment. I’m working on an idea I’ve been percolating for about 3 years, but I’m not sure the story works. Only one way to find out I guess.
Running
Training for Trailwalker left me with a chronic foot/ankle injury. It’s taken almost 18 months for the injury to heal enough for me to contemplate running. When I first hurt my foot I tried to focus on staying fit using methods other than running/walking. As the months rolled by my optimism and my motivation began to evaporate. I felt like I would never be able to run again, and at the risk of sounding melodramatic, I found this thought quite depressing. I’m kind of ashamed to admit that I gave up trying for a long time. As a result I gained weight and lost fitness.
It’s a frustrating injury because it’s not an obvious one – I don’t have a cast or crutches, and other than some swelling my foot looks reasonably normal. When I don’t stress my ankle by asking it to bear my weight while I’m running or walking long distances, it’s fine. Many times I’ve been tricked into thinking that I was okay and that the injury was healed. Each time I’ve thought that I was fine and tried to run, I ended up with an ankle the size of a football and in a large amount of pain. So I stopped trying.
In last month or so I’ve noticed my ankle is not so sore. It doesn’t seem to ache as much after I’ve been on my feet for long periods, and I’m able to wear shoes with a heel for short periods without being in excruciating pain. So I’ve started running again. So far, so good! I’m taking it easy, only covering short distances and making sure I have a rest day in between runs. Hopefully my ankle will hold up, because I am loving being back out there pounding the pavement again.
Life
Life is, of course, busy. We are building a new home in a seaside location. The house is almost finished but we won’t move in fully until the end of the school year. We want to give the kids the opportunity to finish the school year with their friends before moving. I’m hoping the change of location will facilitate a slower lifestyle for us all. We are hoping that the kids will get positions in local schools, which will mean later starts in the mornings and more time at home after school. We are close to the beach and the river and so we’re hoping to spend lots of time outdoors – running, swimming, surfing, using the stand-up paddle board, walking and so on. I’m also hoping the beautiful, peaceful surroundings will inspire me to write more.
We’re headed to Malaysia for the upcoming school holidays. I can’t wait. I’m really looking forward to not having to cook for two weeks! We have five days in KL and then ten in Penang. I’m particularly looking forward to KL as I’ve never been there before. We went to Penang on our honeymoon 17 years ago. It’ll be interesting to see how it has changed in that time. We’re even staying in the same hotel, although this time we’ll have the kids with us so it’ll be somewhat different!
So now we’re all up to date. Hopefully It won’t been another year between posts.
New book and new challenge… 50K in 30 days
After sending my manuscript off to my mentor for the 5DI program I took a week’s break from writing. I ended up doing a major rewrite of the manuscript before sending, so it was a relief to have met the deadline. After a few days of chilling out I was itching to start a new story, so I dragged out an old idea I hadn’t properly fleshed out and started to fiddle. That was when one of my fellow 5DIers suggested I join her in the RWA’s 50K in 30 days. (Yep, that’d be 50 000 words we’re talking about!)
I’ve done 50/30 before, and at its conclusion I swore, “NEVER AGAIN!” but here I am with my name down, eagerly anticipating the June 1 start date. This time I’m not aiming for the whole 50K. I’m going away on June 19 and won’t be back home until after 5DI in July, so I didn’t think 50K was possible. My aim is 25K, this time. I think that’s a perfectly reasonable goal!
You can watch my progress here.
Good luck to my fellow 50/30 participants. May the muse be with you.
The Bolter by Frances Osborne. First Published 2008 by Virago Press (Great Britain)
I read the paperback edition published 2009 (the significance of this detail will become apparent!)
From the back cover blurb:
In 1934 Indina Sackville met the son she had last seen fifteen years earlier when she shocked high society by running off to Africa with a near penniless man, abandoning him, his brother and their father.
So scandalous was Indina’s life—she was said to have had ‘lovers without number’— that it was kept a secret from her great-granddaughter, Frances Osborne. Now Osborne explores her moving tale of betrayal and heartbreak.
I couldn’t wait to read this book. I’m a lover of both history (particularly British/European history) and of biography. When I read Allison Pearson’s endorsement on the back cover, ‘A wonderfully engaging book which combines the tingling immediacy of the best kind history with the stay-up-till-3am-to-finish-it urgency of a bestseller’ I just knew I was going to devour every word.
Sadly, I was wrong.
After just ten pages I was bored, but surely it would get better? By page 20 I knew that I would have to force myself to finish. I have strict 50 page rule for most books. Engage me by page 50 or it’s over! Had The Bolter not been a Book Circle book, it would have been cast aside at page 50 (many weeks ago!)
The subject matter was certainly interesting enough, so what was the problem with this book? I think I was expecting to connect better with Indina, not necessarily like or sympathise with her, but to get to know her intimately and to get some type of understanding of why she lived her life the way she did. I think that was Osborne’s intention in writing the biography, but for me, she didn’t achieve it. The book read like a history essay in parts. I felt Osborne was telling the reader all about the world Indina inhabited, rather than letting the reader discover the world through Indina’s eyes.
…Yet life went on. One hundred feet underground Tube trains rumbled through the city’s veins. Behind the scarred front doors and blinds, lights flashed on and off, babies were born, old folk died and young couples married, quickly, desperately, before they said goodbye… (pg 68)
I didn’t feel that I got to know any more about Indina Sackville than I knew before reading the book. Sure I had a few more historical details about her life, but I didn’t know the woman herself any better.
However, in the afterword of the edition that I read, some startling information about Indina comes to light. It is revealed that Indina raised two step-children in Africa, even after she and the children’s father had divorced. This seems at odds with the character we have come to (sort of ) know throughout the book. It is a great shame that Osborne did not discover this information until after the publication of the book, as it may have led to a deeper exploration of Indina’s character and perhaps greater reader sympathy.
In summary I have to say that this book just didn’t do it for me. In total it took me over six weeks to read (possibly a record for me!) By way of contrast I can tell you that today I bought Sam Hayes’ latest offering Tell-Tale. I intended to take it away over Easter, but unwisely decided to just have a peek at the first chapter before dinner. I’m currently on page 180 and fully expect to finish the book before the night is done!
The body bites back
This week I was chastised by my Personal Trainer for speaking negatively about my appearance. “Why do you talk about yourself that way?” she asked me. ” It’s not healthy to put yourself down all the time.”
For as long as I can remember I’ve been unhappy about my appearance. There’s always been something to complain about, even when I was young, thin and wrinkle free! Back then I hated my pear-shaped figure and my frizzy hair. These days the list of complaints is much longer: big bum, flabby arms, “mummy tummy” (and some!), wrinkles, fat feet etc. I’m always wishing for slimmer legs and easy to manage hair!
Despite my constant disapproval of my body, up until recently it has served me pretty well. It’s coped with all my disrespect, the unloving way I’ve treated it and still carried me around, allowing me to do everything I’ve wanted to do – well, not be an Olympic class figure skater, but pretty much everything else I’ve wanted! However in the past couple of months my body has decided enough is enough. It’s obviously tired of my lack of care and respect and has decided to fight back.
For months now I have had an ankle injury that will not heal. Months of rest, physio, myotherapy and even podiatry advice has not made much of an impact. And now I have a shoulder injury as well. The shoulder is quite painful and, like my foot, it seems that there may be no easy fix. Suddenly I cannot do the things I take for granted. I can’t run or walk long distances and my PT sessions have had to be severely modified. Not being able to exercise is terrible. I feel like there is a big hole in my life! But worse than not being able to exercise are the everyday tasks that I am now finding difficult. Styling my hair for example. I’ve had to resort to a weekly hairdresser’s appointment to have my hair washed and styled as I am unable to do it myself.
Oh, how I wish I had appreciated my ankle when it supported me fully. I wish I had acknowledged what a fantastic job my shoulders did of moving my arms around!
I think, perhaps, there is a big lesson in this for me. I think I should stop worrying about what I don’t like about my body and appreciate all the wonderful, miraculous things it does each day. Maybe if I love myself and respect myself a little bit more my body will repay me in kind.
First Draft 