Natasha Duncan-Drake's Blog, page 33

2 Useful Excel Tips When Using HH:MM:SS Duration Format

So this weekend I was playing around in Excel trying to sort out our DVD library. I have a nice program that does most of it for me, but I wanted to do some other stuff, so Excel it was. Don't worry I'm not going to go into details about DVDs, but I did learn a couple of things that I just hadn't come across before.

I used to use Excel a lot when I was a consultant, but mostly I was doing hideously complex things in VBA, so a lot of the normal front end passed me by :).

2 Useful Excel Tips When...

#FreeFictionFriday - Looking for Luticia by Natasha Duncan-Drake

Free Fiction Friday
Can you believe we're in October already? Nope, neither can I. This year has been flying by. It's the first friday of the month which mean it's Free Fiction Friday over at Wittegen Press. We've posted a new short story for our loyal readers to enjoy. This month it's really spooky.

These stories are exclusively for subscribers of our newsletter, but anyone can join and it's really easy.

It is completely free to become a member and all you need is a valid email address. Fi...

The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Butterfly Approach to Writing #WriterlyWednesdays

The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Butterfly Approach to Writing
The butterfly approach to writing is when we, the author, do not write a story from the beginning to the end. Rather we jump around writing various scenes and then going back and filling in what is missing. It is like the butterfly going from flower to flower in random order until it has visited all the blooms it needs.

On a personal level, this is my favoured manner of writing. I can writer from beginning to end if I have to...

Potato and Courgette (Zucchini) Frittata #Vegetarian #GlutenFree

Potato and Courgette (Zucchini) Frittata
This is a very tasty meal that is filling and satisfying for any time of the year. It is also one that you can change up to your heart's content. Don't like courgette? Use green beans or aspargus or peas or even sprouts. Fancy spicing it up? Add some chilli. Want meat? Throw some pre-cooked sausage or such in. Whatever your taste, frittata is a wonderful meal. Leftovers can be popped in the fridge and microwaved to reheat as well.

This is not an exact r...

Recipe: Curried Pumpkin Soup with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds #TipsTuesdays #Vegan #GlutenFree

Curried Pumpkin Soup with Toasted Pumpkin SeedsI  literally just finished making this and it's yummy, so I had to share. Roasting the pumpkin is a bit of a faff, but it helps get rid of some of its water and starts the sugars going, so it is worth the time. From start to end it took me at least 2 hours, but it makes a lot of soup - easily enough for six hungry people, or packed lunches for days and I suspect it would freeze well. I already sent my parents off with a batch because there w...

To NaNo or Not to NaNo - That is Always the Question

To NaNo or Not to NaNo - That is Always the Question
I know, it's only September, but this is the time of year I usually start planning for NaNo. Well that's if I have a plan. A time or two I have just jumped in and hoped for inspiration.
Just in case you don't know what I'm talking about NaNo is NaNoWriMo - or National Novel Writing Month and happens every November. The idea is to write a novel of at least 50K words in a month. There is a website and lots of things to help you achieve your goa...

Recipe: Hearty Mexican Style Bean, Rice and Chicken Soup

Hearty Mexican Style Bean, Rice and Chicken SoupThis is a wonderfully hearty recipe and it is very easy to bulk up for more people. It's also gluten free and if you want to make a veggie version replacing the chicken with tofu or mushrooms or quorn, and the chicken stock with vegetable stock would work well.

This dish also only takes a few minutes to throw together if the chicken and rice are cooked in advance, so it is great for those dinners when there is little time to cook.

Ingredients serve...

How Not to Write a Police Procedural with Female Leads

How Not to Write a Police Procedural with Female Leads
Please be aware this post has SPOILERS for Women's Muder Club ep 1.
So I just watched the first episode of Women's Muder Club and I'm hoping that it is an aberation and the rest of the season is better, because it get's one more chance and I'm done.

For those who don't know, Women's Muder Club is a TV show that aired back in 2007-2008 based on books of the same name by James Patterson and the reason it caught my eye is because...

Free Fiction Friday - Dark Celebrations by Sophie Duncan

Free Fiction Friday
It's the 1st Friday of September and that means it is Free Fiction Friday over at Wittegen Press. A new short story is now up for all the subscribers to our newsletter. Soph has written today's offering and it's a little bit spooky with a touch of sci-fi.

It is completely free to become a member and all you need is a valid email address. Fill in the form at the bottom of this page and you’re done. Don't worry if you join after the 1st Friday, the password...

Recipe: Delicious Sticky Chocolate and Treacle Cake

Delicious Sticky Chocolate and Treacle CakeThis is based of the "Delicious Sticky Ginger Cake" recipe I posted last week. It's my own creation and was consumed with great speed by Rob's work colleagues who were very happy to test it for me. This makes a soft, light, sticky chocolate cake, but you do have like treacle too because that is a prevelant flavour along with the chocolate.

The only changes are:

substituting some of the flour with cocoa, adding vanilla instead of cinamon, 2 tb...