Victoria Zigler's Blog: Zigler News, page 83
October 24, 2018
#WriterWednesday - October 24th 2018
'Tis the season to be writing. Yes, really! Autumn - or Fall, if you prefer - is the best season for writing. At least, according to these five reasons why Fall is the best time to write. Depending on your area, if you're inspired by storms, the colours of the changing leaves, and that kind of thing, that might make you doubly eager to be taking advantage of the season and writing a lot right now. Not that you really need an excuse to schedule in some writing time, of course. But maybe one of those reasons might be enough to make you make a start on writing that book you've been meaning to write, or do some more work on one you've already started, or whatever.
No matter when you do your writing, your real life will always bleed in to your fiction, whether just a little, or a lot. But that's OK. In fact, it's a good thing, as the post I just linked to explains.
Regardless of how much of your real life is in your story... Do you outline? If so, these are the three elements to include in your novel outline - just in case you need a reminder.
Whether you outline or not, do you need to show time passing in your story, but don't want to keep having to mention clocks, days of the week, etc? Try using the Lady Bird way to show passage of time.
Regardless of how much time passes in your story, don't forget to watch out for unlikely simultaneous action in your story, and fix it when you spot it.
While you're focus is on editing, remember to check that you're using the parentheses correctly. Also, watch out for these dialogue downers.
Are you planning on adding an epilogue to your story? First, check out the pros and cons of using an epilogue.
Do you write for children? If so, here are some ways to make your children's story sparkle.
Finally, here's an excellent post that explains how to follow your dreams through writing.
No matter when you do your writing, your real life will always bleed in to your fiction, whether just a little, or a lot. But that's OK. In fact, it's a good thing, as the post I just linked to explains.
Regardless of how much of your real life is in your story... Do you outline? If so, these are the three elements to include in your novel outline - just in case you need a reminder.
Whether you outline or not, do you need to show time passing in your story, but don't want to keep having to mention clocks, days of the week, etc? Try using the Lady Bird way to show passage of time.
Regardless of how much time passes in your story, don't forget to watch out for unlikely simultaneous action in your story, and fix it when you spot it.
While you're focus is on editing, remember to check that you're using the parentheses correctly. Also, watch out for these dialogue downers.
Are you planning on adding an epilogue to your story? First, check out the pros and cons of using an epilogue.
Do you write for children? If so, here are some ways to make your children's story sparkle.
Finally, here's an excellent post that explains how to follow your dreams through writing.
October 23, 2018
Of #HarryPotter Boxes, #Crafting Kits, The #KindleFire8, Neighbours, Organization, And #Sewing Projects
Those who know me well won't be surprised to hear this, but... I did end up signing up for the Harry Potter box. I wasn't sure if I should, so Kelly made the choice for me, and signed me up for it. It asks you to pick a house, because it customizes some of the items based on your house. We picked Ravenclaw, because that's what Pottermore says I'm in. The sorting hat has put me in Ravenclaw in the past too, when I was sorted on the old Harry Potter site that used to exist. My first Harry Potter box will arrive any day now.
I've had lots of fun post this week.
On Monday - as in October 15th - my first Mr Maker box arrived. It's got kits to make both a pizza and a doughnut. Not real ones. Ones made of foam that are either decorative or for use as play food, depending on the situation or who has them. There's also an activity book and a sticker in it. I'm not sure whether I'll keep the sticker or not, but I'm planning on collecting up the activity books, and sending them to one of the people I know who can actually use them with a child. By the way, if you like the sound of the Mr Maker box, and decide to sign up, can you do so using this link, please? In theory, if you do, you get your first box for free (though they still charge you the £1 postage) and I get a half price box for refering you. I know the free thing works, because I got my first box for just the cost of shipping, having used a similar sort of link from the subscription boxes website.
Also, the nice people who do the Makerly Crafts boxes sent me one to review for my blog. It arrived on Wednesday. I'm now signed up to get their boxes regularly, and will be posting a detailed review of the box they sent me some time soon. The kind of craft their kit is for each month varies, and this month the kit in it is a quilling kit. A skull themed one, in honor of Halloween. I'd never tried quilling before, though I'd heard of it, and my Nan (Dad's Mother) has tried it. Anyway, more on that soon.
I also checked out the My Gecko Box kits. But I only liked one or two of the things they do, so I won't be subscribing to that one. It looks like a great box for teaching children, but not so much for someone like me who's just looking for some fun craft kits and goodies to enjoy each month. I did order their owl sewing kit and heart dream catcher kit though, since I liked the look of them, and they didn't cost much. Those arrived on Friday. I'm calling them an early birthday present to myself.
Then there was my early birthday and Christmas present from Kelly. You see, on Monday evening, it took me three hours to get my Kindle to open a book and start reading, and then it wouldn't read for long. For a while now, it's been slow loading books nine times out of ten. It's also been doing this thing where it starts reading a book, and then stops and closes the book and returns to the home screen. It does the same with apps sometimes too. I'll be using it, and suddenly I'm back on the home screen. My Dad had another kind of tablet that did the same kinds of things shortly before it died. We suspect that's what's happening here. In all fairness to it, I've now had it for four years, and it really is used a lot. As in, pretty much every single day (there has been the odd day I haven't turned it on to read, but those days are few and far between). Well, at least that helped me with deciding what I want for my birthday and Christmas from Kelly. Plus, the newer Kindles have more storage space on them to start with, as well as a mini SD slot, so I have more book storage on my new one. Silver linings and all that. *wink* Yes, I've now got a new one. My old Kindle was a Kindle Fire 7. The new one is a Kindle Fire 8. More storage, faster processor, slightly different size, better sound quality. Other than that, it's basically the same in my opinion. Well, other than the fact my old one isn't working properly any more, and it was a purpleish-pink colour, where as my new one works properly, and is blue. Yes, I could have had red, but we'd just signed me up to the Harry Potter box, so I felt like sticking with Ravenclaw colours. Oh, and there's the fact it has a "restart" option, which I keep accidentally pressing when I go to press the "power off" button, which is really annoying, though it's something to do with me, and not the Kindle's fault (I know it is, because Kelly can press the right button, and he's not very good with touch screen as a rule). Anyway, it was meant to arrive on Friday or Saturday, but actually came on Wednesday, which was an excellent thing as far as I was concerned. Kelly got me a case for it too, since my old Kindle's case would be too small. That's blue as well, to match the Kindle, and also arrived on Wednesday.
Like I said, I've had lots of fun post this week!
I also had an iron come. My Mam is still laughing about my needing to get an iron. You see, I always refused to get one. I can iron, but I don't see the point in ironing laundry, so I didn't see any reason to own an iron. I've always refused to get one, and wouldn't let my Mam buy me one. Anyway, the craft kits in the boxes come with everything you'll need to do the kits, except for items they assume every home will have. Items like irons. So, we start checking out what we need to do for the Autumn themed table runner, and it turns out we need an iron to make the special paper stuff become sticky, so it can help hold the fabric leaves to the runner. Except, as already mentioned, we didn't have an iron. Now, we could have improvised. Skipped that step and just gone on to the stitching part. But the leaves will be more secure with the sticky stuff as well as the stitching. Plus, we do want to do these kits as close to how they're meant to be done as possible. So, we brought an iron. It arrived on Thursday. It's not a fancy one. It's just a cheap little travel iron. After all, I only want it for crafting. Hey, just because I now own an iron, doesn't mean I'm about to start ironing my laundry. *wink* Here's a photo of my iron, for the benifit of anyone who might want to see it:
In other news:
We already have someone new moving in downstairs. Kelly's spoken to him some, and so have one of our other neighbours, and he seems nice. Plus, he was there a couple of times when Lilie was racing around like a maniac when I was playing with her, or she was playing in general, and he didn't complain about that, and hasn't complained that we walk about too loudly, even if we have some reason why we're walking around at night (such as bathroom trips). So that's a great start. Let's hope he stays this nice, since we've decided not to move now that nasty neighbour is gone.
Yes, we were still planning on moving. In fact, that was the plan right up until this past Friday. But then we had a long chat about it, and decided we didn't really want to move. We no longer have to, now that nasty neighbour has been moved, so the real reason for continuing to move now would be the stairs. Kelly doesn't consider them a problem for him, and I don't struggle with them so much now the dizziness isn't an issue, and will likely struggle with them even less again when my body gets used to exercise again. So we're just going to stay here.
When we were packing boxes before, we weren't paying much attention to how we stored them. The result was a mess of boxes blocking our access to half the stuff in the spare room - the room that's officially meant to be our home office. So, not this past weekend, but the one before, we started organizing the room better. That was what I was doing that meant I didn't have more than a few moments here and there to snatch to make a start on one of my craft projects. We didn't finish sorting it that weekend, and started doing more during this past week. We started doing it with being able to access stuff to pack it in mind, and ended up doing it with restoring the room to its intended use in mind instead. It's still a bit chaotic in there, despite our having done more in there this past weekend, but at least we can actually get in there now, rather than leaving the room to the spiders who - judging by all of the cobwebs - considered us not going in there to be an invitation for them to claim the room as their own. The spiders won't be pleased to hear this, but we'll be continuing to sort things out in there this week, and reclaiming the room from the spiders in the process.
I guess it's a good thing we never got around to packing all the boxes in the end, because we now need to unpack the ones we did get around to packing. We're making a point to properly organize things as we put them on the shelves this time though. We'll need to get some more shelves, and there are things in our home we need to replace, but we already knew that was the case, since it's something we'd have to do whether we move or not. We'll use the money we'd saved towards moving to make a start on sorting that, since we won't be using it for moving after all.
Anyway, in between all the unpacking and organization - and evicting of spiders - I managed to get about half the purse kit completed during last weekend. I even managed to watch some TV, including a new to me movie, while doing part of it on the Sunday (I'll be telling you about the new to me movie in another post). I managed to finish the purse this past weekend, so here are a couple of photos of it:
The inside fabric isn't the same one the Sew Mine Box people gave us for the inside in the kit. The one they gave us was white with purple-ish polkadots. But I had a bit of trouble with the template at first, and ended up using a different fabric. They would have replaced it if requested, but I didn't think it was fair to ask them when it was an issue caused by me not being able to see what I was doing, so we replaced it instead. We couldn't find identical fabric at short notice, so went with a solid purple instead.
Anyway, I'd planned to also do the quilling project this past weekend. I was going to do that one, and see if I could start the Autumn themed table runner too, though I was doubtful I'd get to the table runner. But time got away from me, so I didn't do more than start the quilling kit. I hope to have both the quilling and table runner projects done by this time next week. I'd like to be able to post about them around Halloween, especially given their themes. I might work on the quilling one on and off through the week, instead of waiting until the weekend, thus freeing up a bit more time to work on the runner over the weekend. We'll see what actually ends up happening though.
I've had lots of fun post this week.
On Monday - as in October 15th - my first Mr Maker box arrived. It's got kits to make both a pizza and a doughnut. Not real ones. Ones made of foam that are either decorative or for use as play food, depending on the situation or who has them. There's also an activity book and a sticker in it. I'm not sure whether I'll keep the sticker or not, but I'm planning on collecting up the activity books, and sending them to one of the people I know who can actually use them with a child. By the way, if you like the sound of the Mr Maker box, and decide to sign up, can you do so using this link, please? In theory, if you do, you get your first box for free (though they still charge you the £1 postage) and I get a half price box for refering you. I know the free thing works, because I got my first box for just the cost of shipping, having used a similar sort of link from the subscription boxes website.
Also, the nice people who do the Makerly Crafts boxes sent me one to review for my blog. It arrived on Wednesday. I'm now signed up to get their boxes regularly, and will be posting a detailed review of the box they sent me some time soon. The kind of craft their kit is for each month varies, and this month the kit in it is a quilling kit. A skull themed one, in honor of Halloween. I'd never tried quilling before, though I'd heard of it, and my Nan (Dad's Mother) has tried it. Anyway, more on that soon.
I also checked out the My Gecko Box kits. But I only liked one or two of the things they do, so I won't be subscribing to that one. It looks like a great box for teaching children, but not so much for someone like me who's just looking for some fun craft kits and goodies to enjoy each month. I did order their owl sewing kit and heart dream catcher kit though, since I liked the look of them, and they didn't cost much. Those arrived on Friday. I'm calling them an early birthday present to myself.
Then there was my early birthday and Christmas present from Kelly. You see, on Monday evening, it took me three hours to get my Kindle to open a book and start reading, and then it wouldn't read for long. For a while now, it's been slow loading books nine times out of ten. It's also been doing this thing where it starts reading a book, and then stops and closes the book and returns to the home screen. It does the same with apps sometimes too. I'll be using it, and suddenly I'm back on the home screen. My Dad had another kind of tablet that did the same kinds of things shortly before it died. We suspect that's what's happening here. In all fairness to it, I've now had it for four years, and it really is used a lot. As in, pretty much every single day (there has been the odd day I haven't turned it on to read, but those days are few and far between). Well, at least that helped me with deciding what I want for my birthday and Christmas from Kelly. Plus, the newer Kindles have more storage space on them to start with, as well as a mini SD slot, so I have more book storage on my new one. Silver linings and all that. *wink* Yes, I've now got a new one. My old Kindle was a Kindle Fire 7. The new one is a Kindle Fire 8. More storage, faster processor, slightly different size, better sound quality. Other than that, it's basically the same in my opinion. Well, other than the fact my old one isn't working properly any more, and it was a purpleish-pink colour, where as my new one works properly, and is blue. Yes, I could have had red, but we'd just signed me up to the Harry Potter box, so I felt like sticking with Ravenclaw colours. Oh, and there's the fact it has a "restart" option, which I keep accidentally pressing when I go to press the "power off" button, which is really annoying, though it's something to do with me, and not the Kindle's fault (I know it is, because Kelly can press the right button, and he's not very good with touch screen as a rule). Anyway, it was meant to arrive on Friday or Saturday, but actually came on Wednesday, which was an excellent thing as far as I was concerned. Kelly got me a case for it too, since my old Kindle's case would be too small. That's blue as well, to match the Kindle, and also arrived on Wednesday.
Like I said, I've had lots of fun post this week!
I also had an iron come. My Mam is still laughing about my needing to get an iron. You see, I always refused to get one. I can iron, but I don't see the point in ironing laundry, so I didn't see any reason to own an iron. I've always refused to get one, and wouldn't let my Mam buy me one. Anyway, the craft kits in the boxes come with everything you'll need to do the kits, except for items they assume every home will have. Items like irons. So, we start checking out what we need to do for the Autumn themed table runner, and it turns out we need an iron to make the special paper stuff become sticky, so it can help hold the fabric leaves to the runner. Except, as already mentioned, we didn't have an iron. Now, we could have improvised. Skipped that step and just gone on to the stitching part. But the leaves will be more secure with the sticky stuff as well as the stitching. Plus, we do want to do these kits as close to how they're meant to be done as possible. So, we brought an iron. It arrived on Thursday. It's not a fancy one. It's just a cheap little travel iron. After all, I only want it for crafting. Hey, just because I now own an iron, doesn't mean I'm about to start ironing my laundry. *wink* Here's a photo of my iron, for the benifit of anyone who might want to see it:
In other news:
We already have someone new moving in downstairs. Kelly's spoken to him some, and so have one of our other neighbours, and he seems nice. Plus, he was there a couple of times when Lilie was racing around like a maniac when I was playing with her, or she was playing in general, and he didn't complain about that, and hasn't complained that we walk about too loudly, even if we have some reason why we're walking around at night (such as bathroom trips). So that's a great start. Let's hope he stays this nice, since we've decided not to move now that nasty neighbour is gone.
Yes, we were still planning on moving. In fact, that was the plan right up until this past Friday. But then we had a long chat about it, and decided we didn't really want to move. We no longer have to, now that nasty neighbour has been moved, so the real reason for continuing to move now would be the stairs. Kelly doesn't consider them a problem for him, and I don't struggle with them so much now the dizziness isn't an issue, and will likely struggle with them even less again when my body gets used to exercise again. So we're just going to stay here.
When we were packing boxes before, we weren't paying much attention to how we stored them. The result was a mess of boxes blocking our access to half the stuff in the spare room - the room that's officially meant to be our home office. So, not this past weekend, but the one before, we started organizing the room better. That was what I was doing that meant I didn't have more than a few moments here and there to snatch to make a start on one of my craft projects. We didn't finish sorting it that weekend, and started doing more during this past week. We started doing it with being able to access stuff to pack it in mind, and ended up doing it with restoring the room to its intended use in mind instead. It's still a bit chaotic in there, despite our having done more in there this past weekend, but at least we can actually get in there now, rather than leaving the room to the spiders who - judging by all of the cobwebs - considered us not going in there to be an invitation for them to claim the room as their own. The spiders won't be pleased to hear this, but we'll be continuing to sort things out in there this week, and reclaiming the room from the spiders in the process.
I guess it's a good thing we never got around to packing all the boxes in the end, because we now need to unpack the ones we did get around to packing. We're making a point to properly organize things as we put them on the shelves this time though. We'll need to get some more shelves, and there are things in our home we need to replace, but we already knew that was the case, since it's something we'd have to do whether we move or not. We'll use the money we'd saved towards moving to make a start on sorting that, since we won't be using it for moving after all.
Anyway, in between all the unpacking and organization - and evicting of spiders - I managed to get about half the purse kit completed during last weekend. I even managed to watch some TV, including a new to me movie, while doing part of it on the Sunday (I'll be telling you about the new to me movie in another post). I managed to finish the purse this past weekend, so here are a couple of photos of it:
The inside fabric isn't the same one the Sew Mine Box people gave us for the inside in the kit. The one they gave us was white with purple-ish polkadots. But I had a bit of trouble with the template at first, and ended up using a different fabric. They would have replaced it if requested, but I didn't think it was fair to ask them when it was an issue caused by me not being able to see what I was doing, so we replaced it instead. We couldn't find identical fabric at short notice, so went with a solid purple instead.
Anyway, I'd planned to also do the quilling project this past weekend. I was going to do that one, and see if I could start the Autumn themed table runner too, though I was doubtful I'd get to the table runner. But time got away from me, so I didn't do more than start the quilling kit. I hope to have both the quilling and table runner projects done by this time next week. I'd like to be able to post about them around Halloween, especially given their themes. I might work on the quilling one on and off through the week, instead of waiting until the weekend, thus freeing up a bit more time to work on the runner over the weekend. We'll see what actually ends up happening though.
October 22, 2018
#MusicMonday: Monster Mash- Bobby "Boris" Pickett
"Monster Mash" seemed to be an essential addition to any Halloween music playlist when I was growing up. Seriously, I don't remember having a Halloween party without it playing at least once. So, with Halloween coming up fast, I just had to post it. Here you go... Enjoy!
October 21, 2018
#Hastings Bonfire Celebrations 2018 - Part 1
October 14th is the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. Every year, on or around that date, there's a local bonfire celebration. It's sort of a joint celebration of the anniversary of the battle, and early bonfire night celebration. This year they seem to have been giving a shout-out to WWI too. Anyway, this year it happened on Saturday October 13th.
Lilie couldn't go, because dogs aren't allowed. Plus, with the drums, she would have totally freaked, since she really hates drums. So I stayed home with her, and Kelly went by himself. He got some photos and videos for me to share with you all though, so at least I got to hear the videos.
Before I start sharing the photos and videos with you, here's a photo of a neighbour's Westie Kelly took on the way to the event:
(Kelly said he just couldn't resist).
OK... Well, there are a lot of photos and videos, so I'm sharing some with you today, and the rest next week. Here you go... Enjoy!
Lilie couldn't go, because dogs aren't allowed. Plus, with the drums, she would have totally freaked, since she really hates drums. So I stayed home with her, and Kelly went by himself. He got some photos and videos for me to share with you all though, so at least I got to hear the videos.
Before I start sharing the photos and videos with you, here's a photo of a neighbour's Westie Kelly took on the way to the event:
(Kelly said he just couldn't resist).
OK... Well, there are a lot of photos and videos, so I'm sharing some with you today, and the rest next week. Here you go... Enjoy!
October 19, 2018
#FurkidFriday: Joshua The #Degu Talks About His Fears
Hi everyone. This is Joshua the degu.
The human caretakers say it's nearly time for that "Halloween" holiday. I don't really know what it's all about - despite remembering it happening before - but the human caretakers seem to focus on scary stuff when it's coming up. They even usually cut a scary face in to a pumpkin (which is an edible orange ball, for non-human readers who may not know).
This year, we thought we'd join in the fun. Well, we usually get involved in the eating of pumpkin seeds, but this year we thought we'd do a little more and tell you about the things we're scared of. So, that's just what I'm going to do today.
At one point, after my brothers went away, I was scared of the human caretakers. You can read about that in my book "How To Trust Your Human" - which I write under the name, "Buddy" - if you haven't already done so. But I'm not scared of them now. I even let them pet me regularly, and sometimes let them pick me up for a short cuddle.
But here's what I am scared of:
Storms. Not the little ones, just the big ones. I don't squeal with fright like my brother Jasper used to. At least, not unless it's a really, really bad one. But I do hide in my nesting box when there's a big storm.Sudden noises or movements. I don't like when things happen suddenly, especially if they happen near me. If that happens, I squeal a bit - I can't help it - and run to hide.Birds. I don't mind hearing them, but I get scared if I see them hanging out too near the windows, especially if the windows are open. If you were my size, a species birds hunted in the wild, and looked up to see something as large as a seagull, you'd be scared too.Shadows looming over me. It makes me think of birds, and scares me.Silence. I don't know why, but I get scared when it gets really quiet. My brothers used to as well, especially Jasper. Even Jacob did a little though, and he was the bravest of all of us. The human caretakers have to keep the TV or radio on for me all the time.The dark... Sometimes. Some nights I can handle the dark, but some nights I can't. My brother, Jenks, used to be real scared of the dark, so I got used to having a light on, and will sometimes get scared if the humans forget to put it on for me.
I know, I'm scared of lots of things. I can't help it. I'm just a little guy.
Squeak soon,
Joshua
The human caretakers say it's nearly time for that "Halloween" holiday. I don't really know what it's all about - despite remembering it happening before - but the human caretakers seem to focus on scary stuff when it's coming up. They even usually cut a scary face in to a pumpkin (which is an edible orange ball, for non-human readers who may not know).
This year, we thought we'd join in the fun. Well, we usually get involved in the eating of pumpkin seeds, but this year we thought we'd do a little more and tell you about the things we're scared of. So, that's just what I'm going to do today.
At one point, after my brothers went away, I was scared of the human caretakers. You can read about that in my book "How To Trust Your Human" - which I write under the name, "Buddy" - if you haven't already done so. But I'm not scared of them now. I even let them pet me regularly, and sometimes let them pick me up for a short cuddle.
But here's what I am scared of:
Storms. Not the little ones, just the big ones. I don't squeal with fright like my brother Jasper used to. At least, not unless it's a really, really bad one. But I do hide in my nesting box when there's a big storm.Sudden noises or movements. I don't like when things happen suddenly, especially if they happen near me. If that happens, I squeal a bit - I can't help it - and run to hide.Birds. I don't mind hearing them, but I get scared if I see them hanging out too near the windows, especially if the windows are open. If you were my size, a species birds hunted in the wild, and looked up to see something as large as a seagull, you'd be scared too.Shadows looming over me. It makes me think of birds, and scares me.Silence. I don't know why, but I get scared when it gets really quiet. My brothers used to as well, especially Jasper. Even Jacob did a little though, and he was the bravest of all of us. The human caretakers have to keep the TV or radio on for me all the time.The dark... Sometimes. Some nights I can handle the dark, but some nights I can't. My brother, Jenks, used to be real scared of the dark, so I got used to having a light on, and will sometimes get scared if the humans forget to put it on for me.
I know, I'm scared of lots of things. I can't help it. I'm just a little guy.
Squeak soon,
Joshua
October 17, 2018
#WriterWednesday - October 17th 2018
"Where's Noodles?" will soon be available in audio, since Judith has already completed production of it. As long as it goes through the part of the reviewing process that ACX are responsible for without any issues, it won't be long now. Personally, I love it! I especially love Judith's voice for Lilie!
Also, the new narrator for "Yua And The Great Wizard Hunt" is Matt Jenkins, who you can learn more about in this recent narrator interview of his. Matt has done so well with production progress that we'll soon have that one available for you to buy in audio too.
Oh, and I recently updated the page on here that lists all my published works. It now also lists the narrators beside the titles - though only in cases where the audio versions are available - providing direct links to their ACX profiles. I'll do the same for the rest as the titles become available in audio. I thought it would be nice to list the narrators beside the titles they've narrated. At some point I plan to send a list to the person in charge of my website, and have him list them on my actual website too.
That's all the personal writing and publishing news I have to share today, since none of the other audio books are finished yet, and I don't have anything worth saying when it comes to actual writing progress, since there really hasn't been much of that. At least, not enough to make it worth talking about.
My mind is full of ideas. Finding time to write all the stories and poems is the problem. But, if you aren't so lucky, and you're struggling to find your next idea, try one of these 7 places to find novel ideas. Yeah, it really is that simple. Ideas are everywhere. The trick is to find the one that speaks to you, and turn it in to a story people will want to read.
Speaking of which, this is how to turn an idea in to a plot - in case you're struggling with that, or want to make use of those steps to ensure you're totally ready to write your story when it's time for NaNoWriMo (which is only a couple of weeks away now).
Sticking with the subject of NaNoWriMo for a moment: this is a great post on how to achieve NaNoWriMo success - even if you're really busy.
Oh, and... If you have an idea, but feel you can't write about that, because it's too boring, or weird, or whatever. Well, just write it anyway. You can always improve on it later if you need to.
To help you with that, here's a post about how to describe settings, and why it matters, along with some tips for improving show, don't tell, tips for invoking the five senses, fixes for microblocks and miniglitches, and tips to help pantsers get moving again when the story stops.
Anyway, to keep things realistic, chances are you're going to want to do at least a little research. In fact, with some genres - historical stories, whether fictional or otherwise, for example - you may find yourself using research as your novel outline, even if you don't usually use outlines, just so you can keep your facts straight, and make sure nothing gets missed.
You need to make your characters believable too. So, to help you do that, here are some tips for how to write grieving characters, and writing the teenage protagonist.
By the way, sometimes impostor syndrome will try to sabotage your writing career - dont let it! Yes, publishing has gotten easier, and success has gotten harder, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try.
Your answers to these three questions will determine whether writing is your true calling, or if you just like the idea of being a famous author, but should probably go do something else instead.
On a similar note: these are five things every writer should have, to help you on your writing journey. Those following other creative paths could do with having those things too.
Here are some ways to keep writing when you're struggling with your mental health, because sometimes you need to, and a lot more people deal with that kind of thing than you might think. The image of the depressed writer may not always be accurate, but sometimes it is, and there are a lot of people suffering from depression, anxiety, or some other mental health issue. Not just writers, but other creatives too. In fact, plenty of people in general. In short: you're not alone in your struggles. With that in mind, here are some self care strategies for authors, which will either help you avoid the issues, or help you deal with them, depending on your state of mental health.
Remember: sometimes you need to press that reset button.
Finally, check out these ways to support writers (and other artists) online, and maybe consider doing some of them.
Also, the new narrator for "Yua And The Great Wizard Hunt" is Matt Jenkins, who you can learn more about in this recent narrator interview of his. Matt has done so well with production progress that we'll soon have that one available for you to buy in audio too.
Oh, and I recently updated the page on here that lists all my published works. It now also lists the narrators beside the titles - though only in cases where the audio versions are available - providing direct links to their ACX profiles. I'll do the same for the rest as the titles become available in audio. I thought it would be nice to list the narrators beside the titles they've narrated. At some point I plan to send a list to the person in charge of my website, and have him list them on my actual website too.
That's all the personal writing and publishing news I have to share today, since none of the other audio books are finished yet, and I don't have anything worth saying when it comes to actual writing progress, since there really hasn't been much of that. At least, not enough to make it worth talking about.
Have your adventures, make your mistakes, and choose your friends poorly — all these make for great stories.
~Chuck Palahniuk
My mind is full of ideas. Finding time to write all the stories and poems is the problem. But, if you aren't so lucky, and you're struggling to find your next idea, try one of these 7 places to find novel ideas. Yeah, it really is that simple. Ideas are everywhere. The trick is to find the one that speaks to you, and turn it in to a story people will want to read.
Speaking of which, this is how to turn an idea in to a plot - in case you're struggling with that, or want to make use of those steps to ensure you're totally ready to write your story when it's time for NaNoWriMo (which is only a couple of weeks away now).
Sticking with the subject of NaNoWriMo for a moment: this is a great post on how to achieve NaNoWriMo success - even if you're really busy.
Oh, and... If you have an idea, but feel you can't write about that, because it's too boring, or weird, or whatever. Well, just write it anyway. You can always improve on it later if you need to.
To help you with that, here's a post about how to describe settings, and why it matters, along with some tips for improving show, don't tell, tips for invoking the five senses, fixes for microblocks and miniglitches, and tips to help pantsers get moving again when the story stops.
Anyway, to keep things realistic, chances are you're going to want to do at least a little research. In fact, with some genres - historical stories, whether fictional or otherwise, for example - you may find yourself using research as your novel outline, even if you don't usually use outlines, just so you can keep your facts straight, and make sure nothing gets missed.
Cram your head with characters and stories. Abuse your library privileges. Never stop looking at the world, and never stop reading to find out what sense other people have made of it. If people give you a hard time and tell you to get your nose out of a book, tell them you're working. Tell them it's research. Tell them to pipe down and leave you alone.
~Jennifer Weiner
You need to make your characters believable too. So, to help you do that, here are some tips for how to write grieving characters, and writing the teenage protagonist.
By the way, sometimes impostor syndrome will try to sabotage your writing career - dont let it! Yes, publishing has gotten easier, and success has gotten harder, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try.
The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.
Sylvia Plath
Your answers to these three questions will determine whether writing is your true calling, or if you just like the idea of being a famous author, but should probably go do something else instead.
On a similar note: these are five things every writer should have, to help you on your writing journey. Those following other creative paths could do with having those things too.
Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.
~Erich Fromm
Here are some ways to keep writing when you're struggling with your mental health, because sometimes you need to, and a lot more people deal with that kind of thing than you might think. The image of the depressed writer may not always be accurate, but sometimes it is, and there are a lot of people suffering from depression, anxiety, or some other mental health issue. Not just writers, but other creatives too. In fact, plenty of people in general. In short: you're not alone in your struggles. With that in mind, here are some self care strategies for authors, which will either help you avoid the issues, or help you deal with them, depending on your state of mental health.
Remember: sometimes you need to press that reset button.
Finally, check out these ways to support writers (and other artists) online, and maybe consider doing some of them.
October 16, 2018
#Halloween And #Christmas #Movies + Themed Treats
I don't often do much to celebrate when the holidays roll around. But, one of my favourite ways to celebrate various holidays is to read or watch something that relates to the holiday in question on or around the date of it. If I can pair that experience with eating or drinking something holiday appropriate too, so much the better.
If you feel the same way, or if you're looking for a fun activity to make a part of your celebrations this year, why not check out this list of Halloween movies and themed treats, and this similar list of perfectly paired Christmas movies and treats.
The posts provide links to the recipes, so you know what you need to do to make the treat that matches your movie(s) of choice.
By the way, my website's recipe section contains some other recipes that could work for some of these movies too. For example, why not try making some banana ghosts to enjoy while you watch Casper, some butterbeer to drink while you watch the Harry Potter movies, or some pumpkin-shaped Halloween biscuits to eat while watching The Nightmare Before Christmas.
If you feel the same way, or if you're looking for a fun activity to make a part of your celebrations this year, why not check out this list of Halloween movies and themed treats, and this similar list of perfectly paired Christmas movies and treats.
The posts provide links to the recipes, so you know what you need to do to make the treat that matches your movie(s) of choice.
By the way, my website's recipe section contains some other recipes that could work for some of these movies too. For example, why not try making some banana ghosts to enjoy while you watch Casper, some butterbeer to drink while you watch the Harry Potter movies, or some pumpkin-shaped Halloween biscuits to eat while watching The Nightmare Before Christmas.
October 15, 2018
#Music Monday: Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep - Middle of the road
Since my brother, Carl, celebrates his birthday tomorrow, I thought I'd post a song he's loved since he was a toddler... Maybe even since he was a baby for all I know. The song is "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" by Middle of the road, and here it is... Enjoy!
Oh, and... Happy birthday for tomorrow, Carl!
Oh, and... Happy birthday for tomorrow, Carl!
October 14, 2018
3D Unicorns, Accessable Dice, Subscription Boxes, And Other Random Things
My Dad got a 3D printer. Not a posh expensive one, but a reasonable one. Apparently he's having a great time with it. He's made several things, including a unicorn keyring he sent me recently, which you can see in the photo at the top of this post.
He's also made some tactile dice, which are pictured below.
One is just like the usual kind of tactile dice you get, where counting the dots gives you the number you rolled. The others are actual braille dice, where the letters of the braille alphabet is used to represent the various numbers. The regular tactile dice is a D6, the others are two D10s and a D20.
Right now he's trying some different templates to see which types work best before he makes a full set. I'm helping him test them out. Checking which ones roll best, which ones are easiest to read, etc. When we get it figured out, he can make accessable dice for me and my brother, Carl, for all the games we play that need dice, especially the various roleplaying games we play.
There is a company called 64 Ounce Games that does braille dice, as well as accessability kits for some card games, etc. But a lot of their stuff isn't cheap. Just like everything else you can buy to make things accessable. While I'd like to support their efforts, I'm also happy to help Dad figure out a less expensive way to get some accessable dice.
***~~~***
We have a certain amount of money we set aside each month spacifically for us to spend on things for ourselves. It's sort of like an allowance, only we don't get it taken away for bad behaviour. Yeah, we could go without this spending to move quicker. But it wouldn't make a lot of difference to timescale. Besides, we can now take as long as we need to with nasty neighbour gone.
Anyway, Kelly uses his for magazine and game subscriptions. I mostly use mine for books, sometimes also DVDs, since I can no longer see to play the games, or read the magazines. I mean, there have been some magazines I've had anyway, for the stuff that comes with them, like the gems and minerals one I got for the samples that come with it. The ones out now though either don't interest me, or have nothing with them I could enjoy despite my inability to read the magazines.
But, I miss having things come in the post. I like getting post, and the only fun mail I've had in months is the package from Dad with the unicorn and dice in it. Everything else has been bills, copies of medical letters, or stuff for Kelly. So, either not for me, or not the kind of post to get excited about.
I know my DVDs sometimes come in the post (unless I get Kelly to fetch them when he's in town). But I've not been getting many DVDs, because I have a huge stack of them to catch up on as it is. Yeah, I know that's the case for books too, but they don't end up in piles all over the livingroom while waiting for me to get to them, since I mainly buy eBooks. Plus, only not having the money available can stop me buying books. *wink*
Anyway, as I said, I like getting things in the post to open, and wanted to have that happening regularly.
I'd heard about boxes of goodies you could get sent to you regularly by subscribing to the companies. The idea sounded like a fun one, so I figured I'd go see if any of them appealed to me, and were also accessable to me. I mean, I knew there were ones filled with food and drink products, like one for tea, one for healthy snacks, etc. But I didn't really want a food and drink one. Although, I'd have ordered the tea one if I couldn't find anything else, just so I had a regular package to look forward to.
Anyway, we found this site that lists the various subscription boxes in the UK. They have loads of great ones.
I was pleased to see all the different catagories. It didn't take me long to pick which one I wanted to look in to most either, because I also miss doing crafty projects. In fact, I mentioned earlier this year that I wanted to get back in to it, but just couldn't decide where to start, what to make, etc.
I'm sure you've figured out where I'm going with this, right?
Yep. I subscribed to a couple of the craft boxes.
One of them is officially meant for children, but I didn't see why I couldn't have it too. Besides, those kinds of simple craft projects are ideal for me to manage by myself, even without being able to read the instructions. Actually, if I know what I'm meant to be making, I'm pretty good at figuring out most craft kits without reading the instructions. But crafts aimed at kids are always easiest. Plus, some of them are fun. The activity book that comes along with the craft project in that particular box won't be any good to me, but I want it for the kits. Yeah, OK, so I'm a big kid. Whatever. The kits sound fun, and I want them.
Anyway, I've already subscribed to Mister Maker Club, and the SewMineBox. The first being the one that's officially meant for children. I'm also planning to subscribe to Makerly Crafts, since I like the sound of their boxes too.
I was going to say that my first boxes should come in the next week or so. But I got my first Sew Mine Box already. It arrived on Friday, and Kelly's still laughing about how excited I got when it arrived. It's got two kits in it. One is for an Autumn themed table runner, and the other is for a purse (a little coin purse with a clasp).
It won't be long before I get more fun post. I'm looking forward to having a go at making the things. Not just the kits in this box - one of which I've already made a start on - but the others that will be coming too.
I like to keep my hands busy while watching or listening to things, so I enjoy doing crafts while watching movies and TV shows, and sometimes while listening to books (assuming I'm not listening to the books in bed). That's what I did when I was doing crafts a lot before. So my plan is to work on the kits while catching up on the things I want to watch and read. Especially the things I want to watch.
I've got plenty to catch up on too. I've got NCIS and Ghost In The Shell to finish watching, as well as a stack of Disney movies to rewatch (which I'm rewatching because they're among the DVDs in the boxes my Mam gave me). There are a few other things too, but I actually don't even remember all of what I need to catch up on. Yeah... That just shows how long I've been meaning to watch these DVDs! I have a long list of other stuff I want to see too, so I'll have plenty of options for things to get hold of to watch when I finally get through all those DVDs. Plus, I also need to catch up on watching past episodes of Critical Role, since I'm still quite a few episodes behind with that too.
I made a start on the first kit yesterday (Saturday). I started to work on the little purse, while reading part of a book for a buddy read. Although, I didn't get to do much work on the purse project, because I was also doing other things, and only finished as much reading as I did because of reading for a while in bed before settling for sleep.
I'm planning to work on it some more today. The kit is officially simple enough to complete in a couple of hours easily, which should have meant I either did it all yesterday, or was close enough to doing so that I'd be finishing it today for sure. But I'm doing it in bits between other things this weekend, since I'd planned to be sorting some things around the flat this weekend with Kelly, not expecting any kits to arrive until next week. I don't suppose it matters how long the kits end up taking me to complete though, as long as I enjoy doing them.
Oh, and... Yes. Of course I'll get Kelly to take photos of the projects when I finish each one. I know some of my followers at least would be very disappointed if I didn't do that. *wink*
I'm considering getting this Harry Potter themed box too. Because... Well, it's Harry Potter stuff!
There I was, worried I wouldn't find one that appealed to me, while also being accessable enough that I could really enjoy it, and now I find I'm spoiled for choice. Haha!
***~~~***
Apparently the last time we had the police out because of nasty neighbour - just before she moved away - was the last straw for the police.
We got a call from victim support a few days ago.
Yeah, I know. Better late than never though, right?
Anyway, I figured there's not much point in doing anything now she's gone though. We've not seen or heard anything from either her or her guy since she moved, and nobody else is hastling us. So I told him she'd finally moved.
He asked if we were OK now.
I told him we were, and thanked him for checking in, since it seemed like the right thing to say. Besides, what else could I do? She's gone, nobody else is threatening us, so there isn't anything he could help with, and it was good that they followed up, even if she'd already gone by the time they did.
Well, I suppose I could have asked him to help us move too. But usually they only help with that kind of thing if the situation can't be resolved another way, so it seemed pointless to ask.
***~~~***
We went to Oscars in the evening this past Thursday, instead of for our usual Friday lunch, and were the only people there.
We usually eat outside, but went inside because it was trying to rain. So we were in there chatting with the people who own and run it while enjoying our meal. They're lovely people, so it was nice.
I'm assuming the weather was why it was so quiet. It's always quieter near the beach when the weather isn't so good. It probably also helps that most of the Summer visitors will have gone, so it will be mainly locals around for the next several months.
Anyway, Lilie loved our trip to Oscars too. She always does, but was really excited about being able to go inside (they've always told us we could take her in, but we never did... Until now). They think she's adorable, and she knows it. She loves attention, and they always give her plenty of it.
As it happened, the rain did start while we were having dinner. Not that there was much rain. To be honest, we didn't even get all that wet on the walk home.
A warm front came through here on Wednesday, and decided to stick around. So we had a couple of days where it was about 19 or 20 degrees C (about 70 or 72 F). As I said, it got rainy on Thursday evening, but it was like a warm Summer rain, because it wasn't really that cold out.
I think we're supposed to get some storms soon though. Parts of the UK have had them already Not that I'm complaining. I mean, I wouldn't be so eager for storms if our storms were like the really nasty ones that keep hitting the US, and I'm certainly not hoping for those kinds of storms. But a mild storm would be nice. I expect we'll get plenty of them over the next few months though. We usually do.
As I said in a comment towards the end of last week, I wish I could order certain types of weather. This would be my order:
"I'd like to order a mild thunderstorm please. A bit of gust to the wind, and a reasonable shower of rain, but nothing too heavy. Also, can I pre-order some snow for the holidays? Nothing too deep. Just a few inches of the kind of snow that's perfect for building snowmen. Thank you!"
What would your weather order be?
October 12, 2018
#FurkidFriday: Mollie The #Chinchilla Turns 3
Hi everyone. This is Mollie the chinchilla.
Today is my birthday!
I'm three years old today!
You know what that means, right?
EXTRA NIBBLES!
I'm so excited! I love when we get to have one of these birthday things. The human caretakers always give us a special treat, and sometimes even a new toy as well.
This is one of those times with a new toy. I got a willow ball:
You only get a picture of the toy right now, since they haven't put it in my cage yet. They're going to give it to me later. I haven't decided if I'll let them take a photo of me with it yet. We'll see how I'm feeling when the time comes.
Anyway, I bet they'll make it an oatmeal day too, because they know I love oatmeal. They might hand out raisins today as well. I hope so, because I love those too! They're usually good about remembering stufflike that, but I'm crossing my paws anyhow.
Whatever my birthday treat is, I'm sure I'm going to enjoy today!
Squeak soon,
Mollie
Today is my birthday!
I'm three years old today!
You know what that means, right?
EXTRA NIBBLES!
I'm so excited! I love when we get to have one of these birthday things. The human caretakers always give us a special treat, and sometimes even a new toy as well.
This is one of those times with a new toy. I got a willow ball:
You only get a picture of the toy right now, since they haven't put it in my cage yet. They're going to give it to me later. I haven't decided if I'll let them take a photo of me with it yet. We'll see how I'm feeling when the time comes.
Anyway, I bet they'll make it an oatmeal day too, because they know I love oatmeal. They might hand out raisins today as well. I hope so, because I love those too! They're usually good about remembering stufflike that, but I'm crossing my paws anyhow.
Whatever my birthday treat is, I'm sure I'm going to enjoy today!
Squeak soon,
Mollie
Zigler News
Author and book news for children's author and poet, Victoria Zigler, as well as general news from the life of the Zigler family; furry and otherwise!
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