Victoria Zigler's Blog: Zigler News, page 101

#Writing Wednesday - #Poem: Candle

Candle

One candle among many; tiny flame in the dark.
Yet, when something comes to extinguish the spark,
And its flickering light is a thing of the past,
The space where it shone somehow seems vast.
Then, here on Earth, the watchers mourn,
While, up above, another star is born.

© 2018 ~ Victoria "Tori" Zigler

R.I.P. Grandad

My Grandad died last week.

For those who don't know, I'm talking about my Mam's Dad... My Dad's Dad died before I was born.

Anyway, my Grandad was 83 years old (he turned 83 at the start of December) and died in his sleep in the early hours of the morning of January 24th 2018.

Grandad's never been 100% healthy, and has had multiple close calls with his heart alone. So the fact he made it to 83 with how poor his health has always been is amazing. But that doesn't make it any easier.

It's good that, when the end did come, he went peacefully in his sleep, and didn't suffer in his final moments. I always think that's a nice way to go. But, when it comes right down to it, that doesn't really help much either.

I can't say I was close to my Grandad, though we had some things in common - he was a book-loving writer too. I didn't see him regularly, especially not in my adult life. But I do have some fond memories I can look back on.

My favourite is one from when I was about six. My Mam took my brother (Carl) and me up to London. We spent time with him, and got spoiled by him and his wife at the time, my Nanny Beryl (who died several years back). There were plenty of great parts about that trip, including getting our photo taken with one of the guards at Buckingham Palace. But my favourite part was sitting with Carl and Grandad while he read to us. I especially remember him reading a book called "Dogger" - I believe it's by Shirley Hughes - which was a story Carl and I both loved.

I don't have a copy of that book. But if I did, I'd read it right now in his memory.

#MondayMotivation And #Inspiration - January 2018 Edition

Nothing is impossible, the word itself says “I’m possible”!
~Audrey Hepburn

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
~Maya Angelou

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.
~Henry Ford

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.
~Albert Einstein

Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart.
~Ancient Indian Proverb

When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy”. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.
~John Lennon

January 2018 #TV Talk And #Movie Mutterings

I missed doing one of these posts in December, so let's take a look at what I watched over the past two months.

As with the previous posts like this one, just click on the titles to go to a page where you can find out more details about the movie or TV show in question; the title links will usually take you to a page on IMDB.

Don't forget: I watch things across multiple genres, as well as for different age ranges, so you should always check before viewing to make certain something is suitable for the intended audience, especially when children are involved. IMDB will usually provide this information for you, but you'll have to look elsewhere if you can't find it on the page I link to.

OK... On to the reviews!

Despicable Me (2010 movie):
For the most part this was an entertaining movie, with some really sweet scenes. There were parts I thought were stupid though. I give this movie four out of five stars.

Despicable Me 2 (2013 movie):
Not quite as good as the first movie, but still with several entertaining or touching moments. I'm being generous and rounding up here when I say I give this movie four out of five stars.

Despicable Me 3 (2017 movie):
This movie had some bad parts, some entertaining parts, and some sweet scenes. All in all, it wasn't fantastic, but was a pretty good movie. I give this movie four out of five stars.

The Last Airbender (2010 movie):
I wasn't sure what I was going to think of this one. People kept telling me I probably wouldn't enjoy it - including Kelly, who watched it before I did, and didn't enjoy it as much as he expected to - but there was a copy among the DVDs that Mam brought here, so I figured I'd watch it. I'm glad I did, because I actually really enjoyed it. It's not one I'd count among my favourites, perhaps, but I enjoyed it enough to want to give it a high rating, to be glad I watched it, and to hope they made - or will make - more (since this did spacifically state it was "book one" near the start of the movie, something Kelly agreed was the case). There's also a TV series, so I might have to see about watching that too. Anyway, I give this movie five out of five stars.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001 movie):
This was a fun movie that the whole family could enjoy, and which would appeal to those fascinated with the various myths surrounding Atlantis. It wasn't an amazing movie, but it was a really good one, and I did enjoy it. I give this movie four out of five stars.

#Furkid Friday: Lilie The #Westie's View On #Trains

Hi everyone. This is Lilie the Westie.


(The above photo was taken when I was nine and a half months old. I'm ten months old today though).

I decided something earlier this month: I DO NOT like trains!

I went with the humans to this noisy and busy place with lots of people, and we left Mummy there. I'm not sure why we left her there, but we did. I might have tried to protest, but I was so busy sniffing things and greeting people that I didn't notice she wasn't with us until we were back home and she didn't come in. I waited for her, and waited some more, but she didn't come. I did hear her voice coming from the plastic ringing thing a couple of times when Daddy played with it though.

A couple of days later, we went back to the noisy and busy place to get her again. I'm still confused about why we waited so long to go back there for her. But a lot of what humans do confuses me, and I'll probably never figure out the mystery. We got her back though... Even if she did smell of some other dog.

Anyway, about those trains...

I didn't notice them when we went to the place the first time. Daddy and I just went in a little way, the humans talked to someone, and then Daddy and I left. But when we went back for her we had to go further in to this place. I guess she wondered off from where we left her or something, because she somehow found her way on to one of those train things. At least, the humans tell me their called trains. Personally, I call them terrifying!

I love car rides. I don't mind too much when busses go past, though I wish the people in them would get out and come say, "hi," to me. Some of the big lorries do make me jump a bit, but even them I don't mind too much. But trains.... Trains are another matter all together.

Trains are even more scary than drums!

It's like someone took the biggest and most noisy busses in the world and stuck them end to end. I don't like it one bit!

I was shaking so hard Daddy thought I was having some kind of seizure or something. Honestly, I was so scared it wouldn't have surprised me if I had ended up having one! I was so relieved when it was time to leave that place.

The humans say they had talked about me riding on one of those, and are glad they decided not to have me do it considering how scared I was. I bet they're not as glad as I am! It was bad enough just being near one. I can't imagine how much more scary it would have been to ride on one.

I couldn't get away from that place fast enough, and hope I never have to go there again!

I think I'll stick to cars. Or maybe just use my paws...

Lots of licks,
Lilie

#Writing Wednesday - January 24th 2018

I've done a lot of writing related work during this past week, but very little actual writing, since I haven't really worked on the writing projects I actually want to be working on. It's frustrating, but the other tasks did need to be done, since they're an important part of the writing and publishing process, and it does feel good to get them out of the way. Yes, I could ignore them and just write. But then I wouldn't be sharing my stories and poems with the world like I am, and that would be sad, because stories and poems should be shared. At least, I think they should be. So I spent the past week working on the things I put in the "publisher tasks" catagory.

I got my profiles updated, and now they mention audio books instead of just eBooks and paperbacks. Then I sent the updates for my website to the person in charge of dealing with that (I do my social media accounts and blog myself, but am not personally responsible for maintaining my actual website). I also changed the links on my books' Smashwords pages so they have Amazon links in place of the CreateSpace eStore one, since - as I mentioned in previous posts - CreateSpace are no longer selling books directly from their own site. Plus, while I was on Smashwords sorting things, I updated my Smashwords interview. After that, I got more of my books set up for audio production, and even arranged who would be narrating some of them. Considering I've also written several blog posts, and managed to keep my inbox mostly under control... I even cleared it at one point... I think that counts as being a pretty productive week... Even if I still didn't spend as much time on the actual writing part as I'd hoped to.

So... All the stories I hadn't yet made available in audio are now in various stages of production, ranging from accepting auditions to heading for retail. I'll deal with setting up the project pages for my poetry books later.

Speaking of my audio books: "Cubby And The Beanstalk" is now available in audio - in case you missed that post. You can buy the audio version from Audible, Amazon, and iTunes; see the post I just linked to for links. The narrator is JD Kelly, who you can read more about in his recent narrator interview.

Like I said, it's been a pretty productive week... Even if actual writing time has been a bit thin on the ground, so to speak. I was being rather critical of myself, and struggling to feel positive about it due to not having done the thing I really wanted to do, despite the fact dealing with all the stuff took up most of my waking hours during the past week. But seeing it all written down in this post, and realizing just how much I actually did do, made me realize I actually achieved a lot. Maybe I should reward myself? Or maybe I'll just go for a nap...

You know, it's so easy to be critical of yourself and your own work. Do you find that? Is that critical voice getting in your way when it comes to coming up with story ideas? Don't worry. Just check out this post on keeping a dream journal, and using it to generate ideas. There are several other great posts among those for this year's STORYSTORM, so you may want to check those out too... Assuming you haven't already been doing so. And, hey, if you're participating in STORYSTORM 2018 and don't have as many ideas as you should have, remember that it's ok to fail.

OK, so you've got your idea(s). Good for you! Time to write! Oh, you can't concentrate? No problem. Just check out these tips to help you concentrate while writing. Better? If so, great! If not, I hope you find something that works for you.

Either way, do you want to inject some comedy in to your writing? Then read this post on the art of bantering for some tips on how to keep it fun - and entertaining - rather than hurtful. Unless insults your readers will find amusing - even if the characters don't - is what you were going for, in which case the post will be advice on what to avoid. Either way, you should consider the difference between playful banter and insults, and make sure to use the right one to get your message across, giving some consideration to the relationships between your characters when doing so.

Speaking of your characters: here are some ways you can
Are you writing a series of books? Or, perhaps, you've already written one? Either way, check out this post for some tips on promoting a book series.

Whether it's a series or not though, here are some tips on figuring out your idea's potential marketability.

When the day comes that you reach the turning point you weren't expecting - and, yes, I do mean "when" not "if" - only you can decide how to go on. What will you choose? Whatever you choose, write the kind of content you enjoy reading whenever you can.

Finally, here are seven tips to being an indie author - in case you're planning on going that route when publishing your book, but new to the world of self-publishing.

My Visit To Wales - January 2018 (LBE & FD)

The dog in the photo above is Alexis-Hope (Lexi for short). Lexi is my Mam's Golden Retriever x Labrador puppy, who you may remember me mentioning a few months back. She'll be seven months old next week, but the photo was taken during my visit to Wales near the start of January, so she hadn't long turned six months when it was taken. Lexi is a very cuddly dog. She actually does this cute thing where she puts her front paws around you and gives you a hug, and we're never sure whether to be annoyed at her for jumping up, or pleased she's so loving. Anyway, I'm not sure how well you can tell, but it's me she's sitting on in the photo. Apparently I was in her spot. Haha! As I said, the photo was taken during my visit to Wales, which happened over the first weekend in January (I travelled there on January 5th 2018, and travelled home on January 8th 2018).

My Nan (Dad's Mother) was celebrating her 90th birthday (her birthday was on January 8th) and my Dad arranged for several of us to go out for dinner with her the Saturday before her birthday. For most of us, this meant a fair bit of travelling. The guests were my Nan's friends Caryl and Andrew, my Dad, my Mam, my brother Wayne, my brother Carl, Carl's girlfriend Tory, me, my cousin Shane, Shane's wife Donna, Shane and Donna's three youngest children, my Uncle Phillip (Dad's big brother) and my Auntie Bev (Uncle Phillip's wife). Oh, and Nan herself, of course. Kelly had been invited too, but stayed home with the furkids. The only ones who live near my Nan these days are Caryl and Andrew, my Mam, my Dad, and my brother Wayne. The rest of us had at least a few hours of travelling to do to get there.

For me this meant spending most of Friday January 5th on trains. Actually, if you want to be entirely accurate, I rode in two taxis, two trains, and my Mam's car. Then I did it all in reverse on Monday January 8th to come back home.

I love trains, but hated the journey. I tire easily, so it was a really long day for me anyhow, and I wasn't feeling well, so that didn't help. On top of that, I was doing it all by myself. I did book assistance, but the assistance isn't always reliable, and some of my experiences showed that.

On the way there, the first couple of people I dealt with had no idea I was coming, despite the fact they should have been notified, and seemed confused as to what they were meant to do with me. Well, the guards, anyhow. The ticket guy at the station near home was great, and did the job the guard should have done. Then the first guy who seemed to know I was coming - the fourth station worker I'd dealt with - sat in the driver's seat of those cart things they have, doing nothing while the taxi driver did his job for him, and only dealt with me when he had no choice. That trip ended in some confusion when they forgot where I was sat, and three guards were running around outside the train trying to decide where they'd find me, while passangers inside the train were helping me get off it (since we had no idea about the guard situation outside, and it appeared I'd been forgotten). At an end of the line stop, I could have waited for the guard to remember me. But the train never stops long at the smaller stations - of which the one nearest Mam is one - so not being remembered would have meant going further along the line, and then trying to organize being grabbed from the next station while on a train. Not surprisingly, that didn't appeal to me, so I was glad of the help from fellow passangers. Not that I'd have been entirely happy to have been left on the train either way.

Speaking of which... The journey home was worse. It started out great, with the guard expecting me and being helpful. But then I was left sat on the train for more than 15 minutes at my destination station. It's lucky it was the end of the line, because nobody offered to help at all - not even any of my fellow passangers. I was still sat there waiting when the guy came through the train to clean up, and he had to go find me a helper. Then my taxi driver had to do all the work again, except this time they not only didn't seem to know I was coming, but also didn't seem to be listening to what I wanted/needed of them. The taxi driver essentially ended up just leaving me in front of one of the station staff to make him do something, because he'd already been away from his cab longer than he should have been (officially they aren't meant to be out of sight of the car, but he broke the rule to help me get assistance; I tipped him well for it). The member of staff from the station didn't seem to know what to do with me, so sat me on a chair and fetched someone higher up, with the result that I only just got on my train in time before it left (there had been a bit of a delay with the first train in general, but my being left on that one, and the messing about to try and get help to get on the next, meant it was a really good thing I'd allowed much more time than should have been needed to get across London). The good thing is, I got an upgrade to 1st class out of it for that train. The bad thing is, it made the journey even more stressful than it already was, so I was beyond relieved when I was reunited with Kelly and Lilie at the station near where we live. I was also absolutely exhausted, but that's another story.

On top of all that, it was a good thing I make a habit of using my cane, so don't rely on others to actually watch where I'm walking for me, because most of the people "helping" me had no idea at all how to deal with a blind person. It seems like people in wheelchairs is something they can manage. Well, just about, anyhow, though they aren't as reliable as they should be with helping people in wheelchairs either. But give them a blind passanger and they haven't a clue. If anyone from any of the British Rail services is reading this, I suggest you get some training in for your workers... Just saying.

The worst part about all of this is how my experience wasn't actually all that bad. I mean, I did get the help from the station staff... Eventually. There have been times when people haven't even gotten that much. My brother, Carl, for example - also blind - has had times when he's had to somehow get himself off the train, and then stand there looking sad and lost until someone notices and helps him get where he needs to go. He's also had to take later trains, because they told him to sit somewhere and they'd fetch him when his train arrived, only to forget about him, and come for him more than an hour later... Long after his train has come and gone.

Anyway, add to that storms that threatened to have trains end up being cancelled right before I was leaving, icy conditions that had some trains being cancelled while I was there, plus the fatal accident and rail worker strikes that were causing many trains to be cancelled the day I came home, and you have a journey that I really didn't enjoy, even though trains were involved, and I did get some uninterupted reading time while on said trains.

At least the time spent with the family was more enjoyable than the journey.

I spent the weekend staying with Mam and Lexi at their place. We didn't do anything really exciting, just sort of hung out. We did consider checking out a cafe my Dad had found not too far from where Mam lives, which apparently has an excellent selection of vegetarian and vegan friendly items. But neither of us were feeling 100%, and we were both tired, so we didn't bother. I'm sure Lexi liked it that we only left for the things my Dad had arranged for us all to do together.

We all went out for the meal on the Saturday night. We'd pre-ordered our meals, because the place was closing for renovation the day after our meal, and they asked if we'd do that so they could make sure they had things we enjoyed available, especially since some of us had spacific dietary requirements (me being a vegetarian, and Auntie Bev needing a gluton-free diet, for example). Dad had secretly ordered what Nan usually gets for her, since the meal was supposed to be a total surprise for her, which it was (though us all being there was an even bigger surprise). I won't tell you what everyone had, because I can't remember it all, and there were too many of us to list it all. But my meal consisted of crispy vegetable bites with a spiced maple dip, followed by herb battered halloumi with chips (fries) and peas, ending with a dessert of cherry pie and custard. Halloumi is a type of Greek cheese, by the way... In case you don't know and are interested. I think I'm spelling it right. Anyhow, dinner was really good, and we had a great time. I think my Dad took some photos, but I don't have copies. I'll post them at a later date if I'm right about them existing.

The following day I finally met Maya. Maya is Wayne's Staffordshire Terrier x Wippet. She's going to be three years old in a few months, and this is the first time I've met her. She's certainly an energetic dog. Sorry, I don't have a photo of her... Didn't think about it until it was too late.

After that we went to Nan and Dad's house for a buffet and to do some photos. I know Dad took several, but I don't have his photos yet. I do have some that were taken with my Mam's phone though, so can share those with you. Photos were being taken with Dad's camera and Mam's phone at the same time, so some will be the same - or near enough - but I'll share any different ones with you at a later date. In the meantime, here are the photos I have:

The below photo is Carl, me, Wayne, and Shane, stood behind my Dad and my Uncle Phillip.


Here's Carl with his girlfriend, Tory:


Here's Mam and Wayne:


Me with my Dad:


And here's Nan:


Oh, and... Yes, the "Tori" and "Tory" thing did cause some confusion. It didn't help that there were three different ways people were telling us apart. One was the way Carl always uses, which is to call me Tors and her Tory, one was my Mam's way, which was to call me Victoria and her Tory, and the other was my Dad's way, which was to mention the letter we end our name with, since she ends hers with a "y" instead of the "i" that I use. Confused? Yeah... Don't feel bad... We often were too! Mostly we just answered if we thought they might mean us, and hoped for the best. Haha!

Anyway, that was my trip. It was nice... Other than the issues during the journeys... But I was glad to come home, especially since I still wasn't feeling too well. Plus, I'd missed Kelly and the furkids. I'm glad to have helped make Nan's 90th birthday such a special one for her though.

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#KidLit #FairyTale #Book - Cubby And The Beanstalk Now In #Audio!

When Cubby’s Mother tells him to take their old goat to market and sell her so they can buy food, Cubby ends up trading the goat for a bag of magic wishing beans. His Mother is furious, and in her rage throws the beans outside and sends Cubby to bed. You may think that was the end, but you’d be wrong! In fact, it’s just the beginning!

Loosely based on the stories of ‘Jack And The Beanstalk’ and ‘The Magic Cooking Pot’, this is the story of a hungry little polar bear and his journey up the beanstalk to the home of the magical giant skybears.

"Cubby And The Beanstalk" is now available as an audiobook, read for you by JD Kelly. The previously published eBook and paperback editions are still available for those who prefer those, of course.

Regardless of your prefered format, here are the main places where you can buy the book:

Audible, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Chapters-Indigo, iBooks, iTunes, Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon Canada, or The Book Depository.

The book also has a page on Goodreads.

#Furkid Friday: Maizie The #Chinchilla Turns 2 (FD)

Hi everyone. This is Maizie the chinchilla.

I had one of those birthday things. It was this past Saturday (January 13th).

I'm now two years old. That's my age in human years, of course. Chinchillas don't age the same way as humans, so I'm older in chinchilla years. But we won't get in to that right now.

I'm glad the Mummy human was home before my birthday happened. I don't like that she left, but I would have hated it even more if she was gone when it was my birthday.

I had oatmeal and raisins for my birthday, which I thought was great! I had to share them with Mollie, but I didn't mind that, because I love my adopted chinchilla sister. Mollie and I also got to spend the day watching NCIS, which was great! We love that show!

The human caretakers tried to get a birthday photo of me, but I didn't feel like having my photo taken, so kept hiding when they pointed the flashy thing at me. Mollie and I really aren't fans of that flashy thing. Eventually they gave up and let me enjoy my nibbles and NCIS in peace.

Squeak soon,
Maizie