Stuart Aken's Blog, page 317

Writing Goes Well: Printer Knackered.

The writing continues to go well and I've finished Ch19, which runs to 5043 words and ends on page 190. So, a good day's work there.
Had a great walk with Valerie this morning, taking a 15 mile drive to a local village and walking along single track rural roads and an abandoned railway line with no track. Peaceful and spiritually uplifting. We did just 4 miles and returned home to have lunch in the back garden under a fine warm sun.
This afternoon, Valerie was trying to print from the laptop on my printer in the study. For some inexplicable reason, the printer would not respond. initially it seemed the spooler was at fault but I managed to cure that. Then the system said that there was no printer driver. I jumped through all the hoops and tried all the so-called 'help' solutions, but to no avail. Finally, I decided the best solution was to uninstall and then reinstall the printer, using the CD supplied. Big mistake! It uninstalled in a trice. But, since buying the printer, 3 years ago, I've updated the OS from Vista to Windows 7 and the CD won't install to the new OS. So, I tried online and got precisely nowhere.
Looks like the only solution is to buy a new printer. So, I go online to compare features of the various printers I might want to buy, but can I find a useful site for this? No, they all want to give me price comparisons, when what I need is somewhere that tabulates all the various features so I can quickly assess the most likely to suit my purposes. Is this too much to ask? In the process of looking, however, it's become clear I'm probably best off getting a mono laser for my text and a cheapish all-in-one inkjet for the colour work.
Ah, would that life were simpler!
The picture was taken on our walk this morning.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Zalmoxis

Image via Wikipedia
Zalmoxis: noun – a Thracian sky god who, traditionally, spent time on Earth before becoming the ruler of the underworld. It's probable his make up was influenced by the cult of Osiris in Egypt.
'On his knees, the worshipper begged Zalmoxis to teach him about the immortality of the human soul.'

Writing Progress: 2000 Words

Up relatively early and completed around 2000 words of Ch19; continuing to go well. Remembered I needed to insert a couple of sentences of explanation in Ch17. It's too easy to miss essential information for the reader when you're in creative mode because you live so close to the story as you're developing it.
Had a walk with Valerie after breakfast for exercise and fresh air. Nothing exciting, just a short loop to take in the edge of town and a small section of land set aside as a green space.
Spent time in the garden, trimming the laurels so the magnolia has room to bloom in style. Took some of the height off a fir and reduced the lilac, as it had grown into a very ugly shape and was in danger of obstructing an access path.
Had to rest after this, of course: the only way I can do anything physical is to rest afterwards. But it coincided with today's Grand National, so I saw that live for a change. Hadn't placed a bet, though.
And, now, I have completed the compilation of the love story anthology, sorted the formatting and prepared it for upload to both Smashwords and Kindle, designed a suitable cover picture using a stock photo from that great site, Dreamstime.com, and uploaded the whole to the two sites. Just have to wait for them both to come back with approval and I can let people know it's available to read.

Today's picture is from one of our regular Sunday walks.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Yahoo

Image via Wikipedia
Yahoo: noun – someone coarse and bestial, lout, hooligan; large hairy man-monster supposed to live in eastern Australia; one of a race of man-like brutes subject to the Houyhnhnms, the intelligent horses in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels; widely used web search engine that finds information, news, images, products, finance.
'Daisy says that David is a real yahoo; apparently, he thinks it's funny to put her down in public and he once pulled her skirt right up over her head as she was walking down the High Street.'
'In light of the dictionary definition, Janice never fully understood why the popular web search engine had chosen to call itself Yahoo.'

Writing Now

Book 2 progresses. This morning, I added 800 words of a death scene to chapter 18. Always difficult to kill of a character you love, but it had to be done. Later, I completed chap 18 at 4,189 words, ending on page 179. Chap 19 is well under way, with about 2000 words down and more to come. So, going well at present.
It's been an odd day. The new bed we ordered over 6 weeks ago, finally arrived, which meant the old one had to be dismantled and the new one assembled. The headboard didn't quite fit the base, so, instead of sending it back and having to wait for more weeks, I got out the drill and screw driver and did a spot of modification. Looks fine and is as solid as you could wish. Should be a good night's sleep tonight.
Completed Kate's funding application with the bit Valerie and I had to contribute to the process, so now just waiting for things to happen there.
More stuff transferred from collapsing cardboard boxes into sealed plastic containers for the loft. Will have to get those up there tomorrow.
And now I'm for a drop of red stuff whilst I watch 'Have I Got News For You' and 'QI' on the idiots' lantern.
Another picture for your inspiration.
By the way, if you like writing contests, take a gander at the Writing Contests page, where you'll find links to over 120 such competitions.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: X certificate

[image error] Image via Wikipedia
X certificate: noun – a film classification (now sometimes superseded by '18') indicating a movie is suitable only for adults; used figuratively to denote an entertainment, event, object etc., suitable only for those with an adult disposition, usually because of either sexual or violent content, or both.
'The film, Reservoir Dogs, was awarded an X certificate ranking due to its extreme violence.'
'Arthur marked Ursula's bikini swimsuit in Dr No as X certificate because he thought she looked so hot he wouldn't be able to keep his hands off her if she moved too close to him.' 

Edit; Now complete. So Begins the Writing.

Well, that's the editing complete for those chapters I had already written. So, Book 1 is complete and ready to send off (though, I'm waiting until I have book 2 ready as well, as there has been some suspicion of fantasy series recently, where authors have started but never finished a series). Today, along with a number other bits and pieces - helping Kate apply for university funding, dealing with the tax man, organising a plumber  for the faulty shower (yet to be properly fixed), returning a new music centre because it doesn't work, and taking a walk with my wife - I've sorted a few more bits for the blog and written about 3,000 words of the novel.
Now I'm going to rest and relax.

Today's picture is of Spinalonga, Crete. The island was used as a leper colony until the 1950s and features in an excellent book, The Island, by Victoria Hislop.

Author Interview To Come

Regular readers will know I generally post an interview with a published author on Thursdays. This week, I'm missing that, because the author has a book launch on Monday 11th April and it makes sense to save the interview for that date. So, look out for next Monday's post, when I shall be interviewing crime writer, Lesley Cookman.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Wadd

Image via Wikipedia
Wadd: noun – a pre-Islamic Moon god of southern Arabia, whose sacred animal is the snake.
'Under the bright orb of a newly risen full moon, members of the tribe prostrated themselves, paying homage to Wadd and releasing sacred snakes to bite the unwary or unbelievers.'

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Vacate

Image via Wikipedia
Vacate: verb - make void; deprive of legal validity, annul or cancel; make a position vacant, remove an occupant or holder; leave or cease to use a place, seat, house; give up an office, or retire; take a holiday.
'When Nixon was impeached, he was forced to vacate the office of President.'
'Gloria and George decided to vacate their seaside home before the cliff on which it was perched succumbed to the constant erosion from the restless sea.'