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Monday, 27 April 2009

Stone

I have a new story published on the very excellent Dogmatika website, which I am very excited about. I've only ever read really good stuff on Dogmatika, so having one of my stories accepted there is a really encouraging thing for me.
Please go and read Stone at http://dogmatika.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/stone/



In other news: I was lifting a really heavy bag of compost stuff and as I was walking along with it; shit! I did my back in. Pain.
I'm reading the manuscript of a novel written by my school mate John Tyson. So far, so good. Got to finish reading it by Wednesday, because if I do I get a dedication. :D

Wednesday, 22 April 2009

Arcade Robot


My latest Rave image has not worked out very well. I got this far and I think I might have now given up on it. It probably needs a total redraw, and I'd rather get on with some writing to be honest.
I'm working only on my novel at the moment; no short stories. But one I wrote before will apparently be featured on a great ezine soon; more on than later.
I'm worried about my onions. They look sad and droopy.
But my pot marigolds, nasturtiums, butternut sqaush, echinacea and camomile are going great guns, loving all this sunshine.

Monday, 13 April 2009

Let's Buy Happiness


I've been away for a week doing other people's DIY. Doing other people's DIY is much more fun than doing your own DIY.

Neon colours and electronic music have very much been destracting me lately. I downloaded Oi Oi Oi, a Boys Noize album, then I borrowed Homework by Daft Punk from the DIY people. This journal is named after a Boys Noize song; so is this drawing I made yesterday. I've not done any digital colouring in such a long time. It was fun, but now my hand hurts like hell.

I'm loosing patience now. The day is sunny and bright. I have so much to do, yet I waste time here. My marigolds are being eaten by an unknown source. Mr Kite's peas are getting eaten by a known source: slugs.

Friday, 27 March 2009

Fables of Folly

I went through a phase of writing a lot of spontaneous fables. I think that a lot of people failed to understand them. But I have read them back, a couple of years later. And I like them.
I might post a few of them every so often, because I don't think anyone will ever want to publish them. Magazines and ezines have no room for such things in amongst tales of dramatic tension and poignancy. These stories feature no such thing. This is not a failing, nor is it a success. It just is.


The Investors

The investors realised that the big money was in the sun. People need energy. They want to watch TV, play their Wii, own cars and overheat their home. This requires energy, and energy costs money. So the investors sucked the sun into a big tube and extracted the energy, selling it for five times the cost of storing it. The world now was dark and cold. But the people bought energy off the investors. They lit and heated their homes with it. Animals and plants died. People who belonged to the land died. No one really noticed or cared. As long as they could buy their energy, they had nothing to worry about.

Friday, 6 March 2009

Cheese Sandwich


"If your writing isn't working, the reader will go into the kitchen and make a cheese sandwich and never come back." -Alistair MacLeod.

Wednesday, 25 February 2009

Ex Libris

I'm thinking of getting a Bookplate/ Ex Libris designed for my book collection. I've got too many books to fit my shelf space and no space to put more shelves. This means that my books will have to start spilling out into my mum's collection. I don't want arguments to start about who owns what book when I move out and take my collection with me. This means that a bookplate might be a good thing to have in order to know what books are mine. I also really like them.

I'm not sure what I want my bookplate to feature. Bookplates reflect the owner of the collection and their general interests. Mine are rural and nature based. I think I'd like a snowdrop in there, because they are my new favourite flower, recently knocking Ramson off the top spot. I love white flowers, and ramsons are beautiful, but Snowdrops are something altogether more wonderful; their smell is amazing, and the difference between a young snowdrop and a mature one is incredible! They also mark the start of spring, and are a sign of hope. My preferred time of year is early spring, because I prefer coldish temperatures. (Though it must be said I love all times in the year.)
So I think I'd like a snowdrop in the design.
I also love trees and woodlands and combes, but they are more difficult to include in a smallish bookplate.
Perhaps a Red Kite (bird) would be a good feature too, since my best friend is Mr Kite, and he is a large part of my life.
Of course, I love books and writing, but I feel it is unnecessary to pay homage to that aspect of my life, since the very fact I'm going so far as getting a bookplate designed suggests my love of books and stories loudly enough.


It's difficult to decide, since the design will have to stay with me my whole life really. It's like a tattoo. I could go for something everyone else has; but I'd rather think carefully about it and be able to smile every time I see the bookplate nestled in the front of one of my books.

Tuesday, 20 January 2009

Cover Design Contest!!


The Klandestines graphic novel is coming along nicely at the moment. Soon we'll be able to start seeking out a home for it. Before we can do that we need a snazzy cover, and we decided it might be fun to run a contest to see what other people come up with.

So if you want to see your design on the cover of The Klandestines Part 1, then go here: http://www.bellstories.co.uk/klandestines_contest.doc to download the brief and information.
The deadline is the 27th of Feb, and I'm officially letting everyone know about it by this Friday. I know no one ever looks on this blog, so this is very much falling on deaf ears: but if you have stumbled here then you're lucky enough to have a 3 day head start on everyone else.

In other news: I have been trying to learn to knit. A few of my friends are doing it, so I thought, why not? For your information: most of said friends are buff men, often seen chopping logs with axes, using chainsaws and doing other typically masculine things. Versatility is a good thing, for sure. Unfortunately for me I seem to be failing at grasping the concept of the knit stitch. I'm not sure I can even cast on correctly. It worries me that two masculine men are better at knitting than me, a girl.