Something "Writerly" Now

The 'good lucks' from all of you in the Land of Blog worked. So, many thanks *smile*. I had a letter today from the large print publishers. They've accepted Sunlight on Shadows. No publication date yet - hopefully it will be sometime in 2009.

Puppy Love - A Day in the Life of Tessa B

Can I go and Play Out?


Follow me, Tessa B!

Mum, this one Growls!
He's scary! I'm not staying here.

I'll go where I'm appreciated.



Aaaah! Is this My...

Special Friend?


OK, sheep are meant to be 'No-Nos'.
But what can one do about Sheepish Puppy Love?

Getting The Creative Juices Flowing...

I've been rewriting, editing and subbing but I haven't written anything new for the last three or four weeks.
That's partly because I couldn't decide what to write - if I could hear from the agent who has my full ms, maybe I wouldn't be dithering - partly because Tessa B has kept me busy and 'lot-ly' I didn't really feel like writing.

Now, I think I'm ready to start in on a novella for My Weekly. I've had the idea bubbling around for quite a time and I know I'm going to set it in my fictional North Yorkshire Dale - Skirradale. I've already got a model village and pictorial maps but I needed something new to get the creative juices flowing. So I found a 1950s kitchen for Lintie and mocked up a cover. Then, instead of opening a new document and writing those magic words Chapter One, I decided to blog instead.
My excuse is... if I start writing in the morning, I can happily carry on writing in the afternoon - and sometimes the evening - but I find it hard to start writing in the afternoon. Does anyone else have this problem?

NEWSFLASH... Annie Bright is blogging again! Go say 'Hi' http://anniebrightisofficiallycrazy.blogspot.com/

Something Else Nice Happened Today...

Warning: A bit of a 'Me...Me' Post

This Pocket Novel was accepted about eighteen months ago and published last December and I really like the 'moody' cover. Today is the first time I've seen it! My author copies went awol and my local newsagent doesn't get the My Weekly Pocket Novels (can you believe that)! So a big thanks to editor Tracey for 'plundering' the MW stores.

Now I'm sending a copy to the Large Print publishers - hoping they'll want to publish it, too!

Edited to Add


Yummy Palets Bretons recipe for TF:

4 egg yolks240g butter 120g castor sugar300g plain flour, siftedMilk, to ‘wash’ the cookies
1. Beat together the egg yolks and castor sugar till light and creamy.
2. Cream the butter then beat into the egg and sugar mix till well-combined.
3. Slowly add the flour, about 1/4 cup at a time, making sure to mix well after each addition.
4. Once all the flour has been incorporated, tip the dough onto a large square of cling wrap and press into a ball shape, then refrigerate for 30 mins.
5. Remove from the fridge then roll into a long, thick sausage. It should be about 5-6cm in diameter. Place back in the refrigerator 1 hour.
6. Preheat oven to 375degrees F. Gas Mark 5. Slice the dough into rounds about 1-1.5cm thick.
7. Place rounds on a baking tray lined with baking paper and lightly flatten with the palm of your hand. Give each round a milk wash, then lightly trace a lattice pattern into each one with a fork.
8. Bake for 15-20mins till the top of the biscuits looks golden; remove and let them cool on the tray.

Oh...Oh! Just Look at This!

Lane sent me (us) this Friendship Award!

Thank you so much, Lane.

OK, so I need to pass it on and it's an impossible choice because everyone who visits my blog has been so fantastic - supporting me through the bad times and sharing my ups and downs. So I'm going to pass it on to the inventors of electricity, computers and batteries, because without them Blog Land would never existed and I would never have met such wonderful people. I must give a special mention to Womag because, to start off with, it was her blog guided me to most of you. And, as the Award will surely bring 'warm and fuzzies' to all who receive it: Here it is again for Crystal Jigsaw's Amy - a lovely little girl who shares her stories and rhymes.

Some Days are Great...Today STINKS!

So, the great days are the Tessa B Days! She's a fast learner!


Last time I went close to those white things I got smacked.



Best to ignore them. Mum called me a 'Very Good Girl.'


Will I have to 'Get Down?'


No. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie.


Today stinks...I got four rejections!
All sympathies gratefully accepted (sigh).

By Popular Request...Introducing Tessa Buttons

In a way it hurts to post these photos just a week after Charlie-dog left us.
But I'm sure he and all our other pets, who are in the land over Rainbow Bridge, are happy Tessa Buttons feels so much at home already. And Tessa says:
Am I pretty or am I pretty? I feel SO happy here. I can hardly believe I can go all over the house, or that either Mum or Dad, and often both at once, are around to love me all the time. Just think, I'll never feel lonely ever again!


Next stop was the kitchen!
Food for Tessa? I like!
Then I explored the garden











I've got a lead on in case I run off.
As if I'd run away from my new home!








Tessa's Third Day
Hey, I get taken for walks lots of times every day now. And I'm such a good girl Mum and Dad let me off the lead to run and play. There are things called sheep, I started to chase one but Mum smacked me. She said that was the only thing she'd ever smack me for. I've promised Mum and Dad I'll try hard never to chase any.


Ok, I can see I need to work on layout (sigh) but, hopefully, you won't notice how messy this is because you'll all be too busy looking at Tessa.

Added Sunday 24th Aug: We know for sure now Tessa Buttons isn't pregnant. So glad, but it's going to curtail her new-found freedom for a while.

A New Writing Competition in...

...this month's Company magazine out NOW! Galaxy Ripple and Little Black Dress (Headline) have teamed up with Company to search for a new young (sh*t, does that let an OAP like me out?) writing talent. The winner gets the chance to have her (or his, I guess) short story of no longer than 2,000 words published at the end of a forthcoming LBD book + 5 runners-up go for lunch with Headline and have the chance to ask Julie Cohen for advice on becoming a bestselling author.
Closing date 16th Sep.
Happy Writing!!

Do things happen for a Reason?

We've never been without a dog - or dogs - for thirty years. When Charlie-dog died we thought we would maybe get another dog in a few months time when we'd had time to mourn but it would only be if a dog needed us.
I even contacted Collie Rescue to say in a few months we'd go on the list for rehoming a dog who needed rehoming. I was told we were too old to go on the list and anyway there was a long waiting list (that's good it means there aren't many rough collies needing help).
Then on Sunday afternoon we get a frantic phone call from a breeder who'd heard we might be looking to help an older dog in the future. She desperately needed someone for an eight and a half month old girl rough collie puppy who needed rehoming. Needed them like right NOW, she was off on holiday and couldn't take the puppy herself, she'd been on the phone all morning and couldn't find anyone.

We dithered for a while, but then decided the timing of Charlie-dog leaving us and this phone call was fate or something. We wouldn't have brought a pup into the house with an old boy like Charlie, it wouldn't have been fair to him.

And, we couldn't really turn our backs on the situation. So now we have Tessa. I think she'll settle in happily and, although we feel a bit emotional about not having long enough to grieve for Charlie-dog, I like to think he and our other dogs we had down the years are happy we're helping Tessa. Am off to the vet with her now to get her checked over.

Added after vet appt. Vet says Tessa's in good condition - except for her weight and lack of muscle. Proper walks will sort that one out. She got fed on junk food and fish and chips etc and some cr*ppy cheap dog food. I was worried she might be pregnant although she is a bit young to have had her first season; it can happen from 6 months, thought that's rare. Vet doesn't think she is but hard to be 100% certain because she's so plump and it was hard to tell by just feeling. We're going back in 10 days and Tessa aka Buttons might have to have a scan.

R.I.P. Charlie-dog

So, Charlie-dog went off over the Rainbow Bridge at midday today.

He was fourteen so really it should be a celebration of a long happy life.

Bye, Charlie-dog.

Well, I Never Did in all 'me' Born Days!

Matt's comment on my previous post got me thinking about some more strange things 'wot' are said in this part of the world.

Here's a few to be going on with:

When referring to dodgy market traders:

"H/She’s as sleazy as a cows udder."

Boasting about the undoable:
"If tha can do that I can knit fog."

Q. How do I look?

A. A mon (man) on a mad horse wouldn’t notice you.
Or if your legs were a bit bent: You couldn't stop a pig in a ginnel (narrow passageway between buildings).


Anyone got any strange saying from their neck of the woods?

Hen, Historic Racing Cars and Agent Request YAY!

The hen who came in from the storm to eat cornflakes in my kitchen before going to a new home has been laying eggs. OK, I know that's what hens do, but still, it's nice my rescued hen is doing it.

And I think the hen brought me luck as well as eggs because one of my completed my children's novels is on its way to an agent!

Have started a sort of show-blog for Husband who scratch-builds miniature Historic Racing Cars in the House up the Hill. Please click on the picture on my blog and go visit.

Congratulations to Annie Bright of Writing and Stuff

SQUEEEEE!

Annie got a Grade 2 Pass for her OU Creative Writing Unit.
Hope you'll all go and congratulate her.

Pictorial Maps

Click to get bigger view

OK, I told TF I'd see if I could show a pictorial map I made on here - so you can all see how I so can not draw! This is a map I drew for the main village in my fictional North Yorkshire Dale - Skirradale.

Needless to say (sigh) I can't make the pictures line up like they should.

Each house, shop or cottage industry has a number or name and also the names of the people living or working there.

So I've Got a New Character...

...and a bit of an idea of her story. I know roughly what she looks like. But I need to know more about her.
I always need to know far more about my characters than I ever use. Once I know about their childhood, their likes and dislikes etc, I like finding out more about where they live. They can't always live in my area or my house.
So, it's time to look at some of the models/collages I've made over the years.






The one above is one I made for my children's mystery series (as yet unpublished - sob). But, hey, nothing is ever wasted; I can use my fictional seaside town, based on a real area along the North Yorkshire coast, for my new character's story.

OK, so the pictures haven't come out very clearly, the foreground is a station on a preserved railway line - play spot the train - the background is the houses and shops in the seaside town.

To be honest, I'm not that sure how I managed to get the pictures to appear at all, it took me three tries. And now I can't get them where I want them to go!
They'll have to stay like this because I'm ready to start scribbling more notes about my new character.