Talli Roland's Blog, page 45

I Heart Reality TV

Thank you to everyone who chimed in on yesterday's post! I definitely felt better after reading your comments. And after some wine, of course.

So... it's Friday! I'm brain-dead from editing! And I'm warning you that this post has nothing to do with writing. It's all about the wonderful world of reality TV.

I know not everyone shares my enthusiasm; I've been accused by my darling husband of turning into a Roman spectator at the Coliseum, calling for blood and gore. There is that voyeuristic element, yes, but even more I love the false drama, the contrived conflicts and the hideous music. I revel in its corny glory... and in the fact it calls itself' 'reality'!

And who couldn't love contestants who claim 'my first word wasn't mummy, it was money', as on a recent episode of the UK Apprentice? Or Simon Cowell's lovely lovely shiny white teeth and oh-so-sexy chest hair on the X-Factor?

Friends and family, I admit it. I'm a reality telly addict, and I'm not ashamed. Any others out there care to profess their love?

(Blogsplash up to 316 now! Yay! See the list and sign up here !)

Feeling Twitchy

No, I haven't consumed too much coffee. Or had too many cupcakes -- yet.

But I'm feeling twitchy because the e-book release of The Hating Game is getting ever closer, and I'm getting ever more nervous. Today my publisher sent me over the final cover (a few minor changes, but FINAL!) and the penny dropped. This is it. My fiction will be out there. And soon!

I'm still doing some tweaks here and there, but it's now too late for major revisions. And with every sentence I read, I wonder: will people like this? Will they think I'm a bad writer? Will they ever want to read anything I write again?

It's the most nerve-wracking time of my life -- even more than the first day of junior high (because at least then I had cool deck shoes and rolled-up jeans). Yes, I have non-fiction published and I did a little bit of stressing over that, but this is different. This is my creation; my world. And I want people to love it.

I know not everyone will -- that's the nature of books. It's subjective. But what if no-one does? What if I get slated?

Ahhhhhh! Give me some wine!

How do you cope with the stress of showing others your writing?

Butt, Arse, Proms and Zip-Wires. Or: Why I Love Twitter

Living between two cultures speaking the same language but with many differences, I often find myself confused when it comes to le mot juste. Now that I'm doing some final edits to The Hating Game, I find myself often wondering if the word I'm using is indeed the right one. My main character is British, so I need to be ultra-careful that she speaks like a Brit -- a difficult task, even though I've been here for almost seven years.

Back in the summer, I wrote an anonymous short story for a writing competition. With only 1400 words, I was sure there was nothing in it that would flag me up as North American. But oh, how wrong I was. The lovely judge, Katie Fforde, told me afterwards the word 'butt' gave me away. Sigh!

So this time, I'm determined my British character will be 100 per cent British! And when in doubt, I turn to Twitter. It's a great tool -- within seconds, people chime in with their opinions. I do my own research too, but it's a great way to verify what you've found.

For example: Butt is not used much in Britain, although among the younger set it's starting to be more common. Arse is the way to go!

Proms are quickly being adopted UK-wide.

Calling someone a 'chap' is posh. 'Bloke' is more colloquial and 'guy' is being used more and more among hip types.

Tree-swinging is called a 'zip-wire' or 'zip-lining'.

And there you have it! Thank God for Twitter or my MC might still be tree-swinging!

Ten for Tuesday: What I Learned on My Vacation

Happy Tuesday!

First of all, I'm sorry for not getting around to everyone's blogs yesterday! I've been having loads of issues with BL**DY BLOGGER and then I was off to book launch last night, so there wasn't much blogging booty going on yesterday, I'm afraid. But! It's a new day, I'm only marginally hung over, so I expect to be able to blog with the best of them (or at least not the worst) today.

Vacations are a time of reflection, so here's what I learned!

1. I love love LOVE my little Android phone. I love it so much I I'm going to design a special pillow for it so it can sleep serenely beside me.

2. I can't NOT blog. Or Tweet. This is where my Android phone and all its wonderful apps came in handy. I loved having the connection to my online friends!

3. It's not possible to eat too many mussels with garlic butter. I had four buckets and I could have had more. Many more.

4. Coconut cream pie needs to be adopted world-wide. It's awesome!

5. Square-dancing rocks. Especially when it's at a ceilidh, to live fiddle and piano music (a Cape Breton tradition) and even more so when you have no idea what you're doing!

6. There's no place like home. Really.

7. My part of the world is simply GORGEOUS. I forgot just how lovely it is!

8. It's a small world! Upon arriving at the Halifax Airport, who do I run into but the lovely blogger Jan Morrison! Sadly I did not know it was her -- I looked at her, thought she resembled Jan, but then told myself not to be crazy. But it was! Nice to see you in real life, Jan.

9. Jet-lag sucks. But wine helps.

10. I really really love London!

So there you have it! Have a fab Tuesday, everyone!

I'm Ba-ack!

It was hard to leave behind some glorious sun and lovely warm temperatures for the rainy confines of London, but I'm happy to be back! Although I managed to squeeze out a few posts in between wine-swilling and seafood-stuffing episodes, I really missed visiting your blogs. Yes, I am an addict.

We arrived back in London in the early morning and by seven a.m. we were unpacked and trying to remember where we'd parked the car. A few turns 'round the 'hood later, and we were faced with the horror we had tried to avoid: a massive lorry was now occupying the space we'd parked the car. Either the lorry had crunched its way over our vehicle or... the council had towed it away. A few frantic phone calls, a visit to darkest Chelsea and £600 later and the car was ours again. Welcome home.

Life in London has improved since then, though! In a jetlagged-fuelled energy burst, I managed to create a Facebook Events Page for the newly-named Take on Amazon Web Splash (evolving from Blogsplash to include Facebook and Twitter) and send out an email to everyone taking part. If you didn't get an email -- or if you're not signed up but just want to see what's going on with it -- click here. And if you do want to sign up, there's plenty of time! You may have noticed by the nifty thermometer gauge on my side bar that I'm well over a quarter of the way to my goal of 1000, with still two months left. Thanks to much everyone!

With everything that's been going on, I'm extending my September contest to Oct 15. All you have to do is be a follower before that date and you're in!

I can't wait to catch up with everyone!

Farewell to Nova Scotia

The time has finally come to say goodbye to Nova Scotia and wing my way back to London! This time tomorrow, I'll be back in my adopted homeland with memories of an amazing vacation behind me. It's been absolutely fantastic being home again. My stomach's still bulging from all the seafood, my heart's full of time spent with friends, family and assorted moose, and my liver, well... let's just say it needs some recovery time!

So... farewell to Nova Scotia!

Island Capers

It's been years since I've been to Cape Breton Island, just off the coast of mainland Nova Scotia. Voted most scenic island in the world by Conde Nast magazine, I was certainly reminded why!

Stunning vistas, delicious lobsters and mussels, super friendly locals and moose, and some fantastic fiddle music made the whole trip unforgettable.

PS: Thank you for all the comments on my posts while I've been gone! I miss you all!Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9

What a Character!

I'm still gallivanting around the wilds of Nova Scotia, but I wanted to take part in Elana Johnson's Great Blogging Experiment on Compelling Characters. It'll take me awhile to get around to everyone but I will, I promise!

So. How to create compelling characters? First of all, I can only hope, pray and bribe you with wine to make you think the characters I create are compelling. I've tried loads of different methods: interviewing them, writing their backstories, tracking down photos... but on...

Anne Land

Growing up with relatives in Prince Edward Island, I was lucky enough to make frequent visits to the land of my childhood hero, Anne of Green Gables. It's a special place and this visit really brought that home to me.

I'm now in Cape Breton and off to a ceilidh tonight!Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9

Bluenoser's Paradise

Bluenose: A person from Nova Scotia.

I'm writing this from my phone, plus I'm stuffed full of fish and wine, so I'll just leave you with a few photos of the idyllic last few days here.

Off tomorrow to Prince Edward Island!
Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9