What's Up Wednesday

Hello everyone ^_^ It's another What's Up Wednesday with Jaime and Erin. Hope you've all had a great week :D

What I'm Reading

Ashes by Isla J Bick. So far, so good :D Finished Final Fantasy IX, so I think I'll have a Zelda game next...

What I'm Writing

Query letter status: COMPLETE!
Synopsis: 50% complete. It's currently too long.
Still being totally patient though (*cough*)

What Else I'm Up To

....Being asthmatic ^^; Blargh.  It's defeated me this week, but with the amount of steroids I'm now on, I should be able to bench press a tiger in a few days ;)  I did manage to finish all of my Christmas shopping though, hooray! :D

What Inspires Me

You know when you kind of can't put your finger on it? Like, just living is inspiring.  Sitting on a bus, listening to music, watching the world go by... that's kind of inspiring.  Or I just have time to day dream.  Eh, who knows.

Here's some classical daydreaming music, just perfect for this time of year:

Have a lovely week :D

Patience

You know the feeling.  Your book is this close to querying and there are loads of competitions opening and tons of agents requesting exactly the thing you've written...

FORGET POLISHING! THESE PEOPLE NEED YOUR WORK NOW!!!!!!!! NOW, DAMMIT, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW! GET THAT BOOK OUT THERE! GO GO GO GO GOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I NEED A LAPTOP! A WIFI CONNECTION! I HAVE E-MAILS TO SEND! RIGHT NOW! AAAAAAH!!!

Aaaaah, but your book isn't ready, is it? You wish it was (don't you, Cole, don't you? Oh how you wish you could send out Space!Story right this minute), but it's not. You could race through those final revisions, crank out that query letter and synopsis, ignore those niggling feelings of doubt and go for it... and maybe that'll work out just great! Or maybe you'll be shooting yourself in the foot and earn yourself a bunch of rejections when a little bit of patience would've resulted in a higher quality manuscript.

It's not easy, deciding when a book is ready. You could easily revise it forever, never feeling it's quite right, or you could take a deep breath and decide now's the moment. And if now is the moment, just be sure you're not succumbing to outside pressure like competitions or tweets from agents. Submit when it's best for you, because the book isn't the only thing that has to be fully prepared.  I know how exciting querying is, but it hurts a lot as well.  Make sure you're as emotionally prepared for it as you can be.

I recommend making such a decision over a nice, calming cup of tea...

THAT NEVER ENDS :O :O :O

So, if now is the time, GOOD LUCK! :D Here's hoping one of those agents you're submitting your work to falls in love with it. If now isn't the time (soon, Space!Story, soon), hang in there, keep going and remember - a little patience and extra polish could go a long way.

Sunday Inspiration - Winter!

December is upon us once more.  The wait for a snow day and all the excitement it brings begins!

Panorama from December 2009

Festive!

How about some appropriately wintry music to get you in the mood for writing, or perhaps editing, a wintertime story?

There's something about that piece of music that conveys how quiet and mysterious snow makes everything feel.

What's Up Wednesday

Another Wednesday is upon us. Gosh, where did last week go? Stop by Jaime and Erin's blogs to join in the fun :D

What I'm Reading

Still playing/reading Final Fantasy IX. Love it! I did pick up a book during the week, but seeing as I got all of three chapters in before tossing it aside due to utter boredom, I shan't name it. I seriously dislike first person narratives that never give any sense of character. To me, a bad first person narrative reads like a dull list of things that happen to the character. That's what the nameless book was.

What I'm Writing

Space!Story's query letter is coming together.  I haven't started the synopsis yet... Gulp. I did, however, receive loooooovely tweets from Emma Maree that really made my Monday ^_^ Sometimes, it's nice just to be told your book is good.

What Else I'm Up To

Finally got around to seeing Gravity, and was insanely proud of myself for spotting a Hollywood!Science moment. All that astrophysics research I did for Space!Story really paid off! XD Thankfully, it was a really good film. The sense of the isolation was really intense, and the Earth looked amazing.  Great sountrack, too.  Ooooh but the 3D made me queasy ^^; Pathetic, I know. Once upon a time I could go on any ride or watch any film I wanted without any side effects. Now?

HEED ALL THE WARNINGS ON THE HARRY POTTER RIDE AT UNIVERSAL, OKAY! Uuuuuuuuugh.  There were signs on this ride everywhere. Every five meters there was a "DO NOT RIDE IF YOU SUFFER FROM MOTION SICKNESS!!!!" poster. I was all, "Nah, I've had Dramamine, I'll be fine!" Well... me and theme parks don't really mix anymore.  One of these days I'll have to incorporate Cole's 2009 Misadventure At Thorpe Park into a book... It's due to my low blood pressure, okay!

What Inspires Me

LISTEN TO THIS AWESOME VERSION OF THE SONGS OF TIME AND STORMS.

That violin is so cool looking :D :D :D

And on that note (haha), I'm off to play mine. Have a great week everyone :D

What's Up Wednesday!

It's What's Up Wednesday time.  Are you going to join in with Jaime and Erin's fantastic bloghop?

What I'm Reading

Final Fantasy IX. What? It's not cheating! It's from the pre-talking era of Final Fantasy games (so the last of the good ones OOOOOOOOH) so the thousands of lines of dialogue have to be read. Personally, I think the best RPGs are like interactive books, and I looooooove Final Fantasy IX. Not quite as much as VII though...

What I'm Writing

Space!Story's edit is complete! 

While the book is in the hands of three lovely betas, I'm hard at work on the query letter and synopsis. It's so exciting to be at this stage with another book :) Other than that, nothing. I'm taking some to revisit a few ideas (hello, EvilBuilding!Story) and seeing what else comes up...

What Else I'm Up To

I've just begun learning vibrato for violin. It is sooooo much trickier that it looks. I am in for the long haul with this skill. I'm using Youtube tutors as well as my teacher to find the best way to learn, but I am open to more advice!

I've also been busy Christmas shopping. You can find my guide to shopping for writers here.  There's plenty of suggestions in the comments, too. Might be a good post to share with those who need some help buying for you ;)

What Inspires Me

My Final Fantasy replays are usually triggered by listening to the OSTs one time too many...

That's one upbeat piece of music :D Have a great week everyone!

What To Buy A Writer For Christmas

Do you have a fellow writer in your life you need to get a gift for? Are you related to/married to/best friends with a writer and have no idea what to buy them? Are you just looking for something to treat yourself with? Allow this Christmas gift guide to give you a helping hand!

I've tried to provide links to sites that ship worldwide, but apologies in advance if some of it is UK/EU only.

Notebooks

These are essential.  Big ones, small ones, plain ones, lined ones... Writers always need a notebook or two (or twenty...) You can get great ones from bricks-and-mortar stores (places like Waterstones, Paperchase and Barnes and Noble) or online.  I also recommend Artbox, Etsy, Not On The Highstreet and, if you want something really special, Earthworks Journals.

Pens

Black pens, blue pens, red pens, highlighters, fountain pens, felt tips, pencils... it's a pretty endless option. 

Laptops and Apps

Wow, you're nice! Well, I'd recommend a Vaio... but I'm biased.

If we're talking Word Processors, Scrivener is gaining popularity.  Personally, I'm still rather fond of MS Word.  You can get also get OfficeSuite Pro for Kindles and non-Apple tablets.

Give App stores a go as well. Who knows what you'll find to give to a writer!

Music

This is a pretty varied option, because it doesn't just have to be CDs, vinyl or an iTunes voucher. It could be a stereo system, an iPod dock, a digital radio, an iPod or alternate MP3 player, headphones... anything to help a writer get in the mood for writing.

 
Tea, Coffee and Other Warm Beverages

I love the idea of providing a writer with their hot beverage of choice, and these days you can get some pretty amazing tea or coffee subscriptions. What an amazing gift. You could get a hot chocolate selection, too! It's a great way to share your favourite blends/hot drinks.

And there's always alcohol too (BUT ONLY FOR THOSE OVER THE LEGAL AGE OF DRINKING IN YOUR COUNTRY):

Found this in a shop in Brighton. It's a real brand!

And don't forget to provide a fantastic mug ;) Here's one of my favourites:

I also rather like these, especially the one about editing.

Misc

Blankets to keep warm at the desk... or cute ice cube makers for all of you Southern Hemisphere gift buyers.  Hot water bottles, comfy cushions, desk tidies, inspiring images, comfy clothes (I recommend a nice pair of luxury sweatpants), relaxing candles... Basically, anything that can provide comfort while writers crank out all the words or dive into an edit.

Most of this is from Cath Kidston or The White Company

Oh and comfort food. Don't forget that ;)

There's a few ideas for you all. Feel free to ask any questions, such as where particular products I've take pictures of came from. And please add your own suggestions in the comments.

Happy gift buying, everyone! :D

What's Up Wednesday

Happy Wednesday everyone. Join in with What's Up Wednesday with Jaime and Erin and let us all know how your week's been.









What I'm Reading

What I'm Writing

I am this close to the end of Space!Story's most recent edit. HOORAY! :D

What Else I'm Up To

I've had so much fun finding videogame, film and anime music to play on my violin. I think I might've gone a little mad.  I've been working on my vibrato technique, too. I'm going to have really strong fingers once I get that right.

Oh, and I had a bit of a haircut :D

Before:

After!

Nicely styled... Behind my screen I'm rocking a bedhead

Lost about 16 inches, and yes, most of those inches went to a good cause. It feels AMAZING! That was five years worth of growth the lovely Lucy Grace cut off for me :D Best. Haircut. EVER!

What Inspires Me

You know what, me! ME ME ME! I do! I'm inspiring me! A year ago I couldn't read music and I had no idea how to play a violin.  Now I can do both of those things and I'm getting better every time I play.  So that's one childhood dream that's definitely come true. I can play the violin! Go Team Cole!

I've loved playing this lately:

Next dream, get some books published!

Have a great week everyone!