Louise M.H. Miller's Blog, page 16

Dragon’s Loyalty Award

A huge thank you to Irene Waters at Reflections and Nightmares for nominating me for the Dragon’s Loyalty Award.

Irene Waters is an exceptional writer whose blog is well worth a visit.

There are some rules associated with this award which is found at http://versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com/vba-rules/

You must tell seven things about yourself then nominate 15 bloggers.

In return for this fantastic nomination, I’ll be awarding the Dragon’s Loyalty Award to:

in no particular order:

http://deborah-bryan.com/

http://troyhgardner.wordpress.com/

http://5kidswdisabilities.com/

http://bookishardour.com/

http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/

http://changeitupediting.com/

http://patriciahysell.wordpress.com/

http://michelleproulx.wordpress.com/

http://thiskidreviewsbooks.com/

http://justrochelle.com/

http://bookmammalmusings.wordpress.com/

http://selfpublishingadvisor.com/

http://thereadingdate.com/

http://legionwriter.com/

http://readfulthingsblog.com/

Okay, now for the tricky part, 7 interesting things about me….

1. I’m from Yorkshire. I may have been born in Cambridgeshire, now living in Derbyshire….but I’m still Yorkshire – honest.

2. “I am proud of what I am. I’m a librarian”

3. I can’t wait to own my own home.

4. I get a cold nose like people get cold fingers.

5. I should have been born in a different era. Don’t ask me which though!

6. I’m a bit of a sci-fi nerd.

7. I spent way too long on thinking of what to put here.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: blogging award, dragon's loyalty award, versatile blogger award

Do you think before you type…?

 

A lot is said about social media about how everything typed down and ‘published’ on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, and how it lasts forever. Forever imprinted onto the internet and forever able to be found again, only a click away. Nothing can be forgotten or swept under the carpet, once it’s written, it stays written. The permanence of the internet. Does this make you think about everything you do on the internet? Every blog post that you may write, every Facebook post, every tweet?

I do to a certain extent, for example, while debate is good it can be difficult through the written word. Emotions and inflections of the voice, body language and facial expressions are difficult to convey through the written word. A hearty debate verbally can be seen as cruel and offensive if it’s written down. Sarcasm, for example, is not always easy to translate.

I mean you don’t always want to tow the line and you want to stand out from the crowd, either by saying something witty or at times controversial, but there is a fine line where controversial can be just plain nasty.

Furthermore, as a writer, I’m always worried – more concerned – that what I write or type doesn’t in fact make sense, or even worse there’s a spelling or grammar issue. Cringe! So I always check through what I’ve written to make sure it’s all correct, because while tweeting for example isn’t writing per say it does in my opinion reflect on the writer.

So do you think before you click ‘send’?

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: blogs, facebook, internet, permanence on the internet, social media, the written word, twitter

Awesome Quote

You’re never in a position where you can’t learn. So get learning! Believe in yourself. Learn. Expand your mind and broaden your horizons.

 

It is shocking to find how many people do not believe they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult, Muad’Dib knew that every experience carries its lesson.

 

From Frank Herbert’s Dune

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Dune, education, Frank Herbert, learning, quote

Getting on the property ladder…..what a nightmare!

A bit of a different tack today. While flipping through yesterdays Metro newspaper, I came across two stories about housing.

The first highlighting house price rises throughout the UK and the other about children growing up in fuel poverty.

According to the Metro ‘Owning home ‘is a dream’ as prices rise by up to 17%’. Great. Wonderful. I always realised that the prospect of owning my own home is going to take longer than I would like. My partner and I have been renting now for five years, and quite frankly we’re tired. We can’t wait to own our own home. But with prices rising higher and higher the likelihood keeps moving beyond our reach. I must say that it’s not really the mortgage repayments that we’re not able to afford, although these will be higher no doubt than want we’re paying for rent, but also saving up the deposit, plus enough left in the kitty to make any changes that we may want – or need – to make with the house we eventually want to buy.

[Sorry for the quality. Taken from the Metro 30/1/14, Source: Land Registry]

The second story is very sad. It states that more than 2 million children are ‘growing up cold’ amid an escalating fuel poverty crisis. I can appreciate in this day and age with the technology and the access to housing insulation that we have that we shouldn’t be facing this. The economic crisis has plunged families into fuel poverty. But stories from my father (and mother) show that almost everyone of their generation grew up cold. No central heating, mornings where frost lined the inside of windows, cheaply made ‘pit houses’ with no insulation, and one warm bath a week. (My dad, as the eldest was the lucky one here out of his two brothers. The eldest got the first bath!) And this was only the 1960s. Not the 1860s. They grew up cold, but fine.

No one should have to live without warmth, not these days. But living in fuel poverty is not a new thing.

 

 

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: fuel poverty, growing up cold, house prices, housing, Metro, mortgage

Editing. Editing. Editing.

I’m currently on my edit of my second novel. And I’ve made a brief list of the number of edits & what needs to be done at each point. And I’ve got 6 editing procedures that I’ll probably be doing. 7 if I include the initial read through to get re-familiar with the story.

I didn’t really know if this seems too many times to edit. But I guess if it works for me then I’ll stick to it.

The procedure that I put in place for my first novel and the one I’m keeping follows:

1st edit : initial read through to familiarise myself with the story and characters

2nd edit : to go through entire novel chapter by chapter and do a general edit. Altering obvious mistakes (but not getting bogged down in spelling and grammar too much as this will come later), highlighting regions that need a heavy edit or seem superfluous or doesn’t really work, and identifying areas that need more text/story/background – or in fact what areas need less.

3rd edit : scroll through and pick up the obvious areas needed the most re-working and fill in what’s needed etc. Really obvious highlights first, then all others until all highlighted areas dealt with.

4th edit : another entire read through to see if happy with the story line and character consistencies etc.

5th edit : Go through chapter by chapter. Working on each until satisfied. Making sure chapters are fully edited and as strong as they can be. Things to look for here:

Does the story in the chapter make sense?
Can the wording be better?
Is there any anomalies with the story or characters or timeline?
Could anything be added or removed to make it better?
Are there any weak spots?
Any superfluous text?
Anywhere that needs extra information so that the storyline makes sense?
Check names and dates etc
 Check spellings, including of names and place names and technical wording if any etc
Check grammar
Finally is the chapter as strong as it can be?

6th edit : Leave for several days or weeks if possible before reading through as a reader as if it’s a finished product and edit any remaining/overlooked mistakes

7th edit : give to another pair of eyes to read through. Review their recommendations and edit.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: advice, editing, novels, writing, writing tips

Happy Anniversary To Me

Happy Anniversary!

You registered on WordPress.com 2 years ago!

Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging!

Wow! Well done me! Blogging for two years today! Where has the time gone!?!

A big thank you to all who followed me these past two years (and have stayed with me) and for taking an interest in my little blog.

Thanks guys!

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: anniversary, followers, thank you, wordpress

I didn’t want to like it……..but I did…..

Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer

 

I really didn’t want to enjoy this book, (I’m not a great fan of the man – no offence Jeffrey!), but I actually did. The story-telling is tremendous and got me hooked almost from the first page. The story of the biblical Cane and Abel is well known enough, but this basically turns it on its head. Archer manages to create sympathy with both characters, making it a difficult – if not an impossible – choice to ‘choose sides’. Each man endures personal hardships and the characters are clearly influenced by it, and it is abundantly clear that in another world these two men would be the best of friends. I won’t say anymore just in case there are people out there yet to give it a read – so no spoilers.

The writing itself is excellent and a delight to read. Archer manages, almost effortlessly it seems, to strike the right balance between dialogue and prose and background stories to keep the story moving forward. At no point did I find myself flicking forward to find the end of the chapter so I could put it down. It was rarely out of my hand. I was truly absorbed. It’s been a while in my reading that I’ve managed to say that about a work of fiction.

I know that I shouldn’t have put off reading it just because I’m not a massive fan of the author, but it’s too late now. The important thing is that I’m happy to prove myself wrong and I chide myself at my hope to find it underrated. I’ll definitely pick up some by him again.

If you haven’t read it. Do so. Now. It’s quite simply one of the best books I’ve read in the past few years.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: book reviews, books, cane and abel, jeffrey archer, kane and abel

Operation War Diary

I was thrilled to hear the announcement a couple of days ago that The National Archives have digitized the first batch of World War One unit war diaries to mark the First World War Centenary. This will open up more than 1.5 million pages of real lives to the amateur historian, general inquisitor or the writer, globally. (Operation War Diary)

None of the novels that I’m working on right now have any links with the First World One, but if they did (or may do) then this is a virtual treasure trove of information that I can’t wait to get my hands on.

Hopefully, in time more and more first-hand accounts such as these at various times and settings in history will be made available to any one who wants it. Instead of being limited to the few who have the time and not to mention the money to (in the case of the UK) to keep travelling down to London to the National Archives or to the British Library.

And I’m not just excited as a writer for this but as a historian and a Brit as well. It’s wonderful to see that the lives of ordinary men on the front line during the First World War will be having their voices heard.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Centenary, First World War, National Archives, Operation War Diary, World War One

Pen and Paper. A writer’s best friend?

Pen and paper. Are they still a writer’s best friend? Or should we leave them behind and move into a truly digital age?

I love using a pen and paper. Using computers and softwares are great and as writers these days we have to use them. But I still wouldn’t be without my trusted pen and paper. I have several notepads flying around, one for making notes on the go, another for making a day-to-day or week-by-week to do list, and another for research notes whether it’s a book or article I should read or the actual notes from them.

And while I could do all these things using technology, I don’t see myself ever abandoning pen and paper. For notes on the go, I could use my smart phone and I could use my laptop for synching all my calendar events with what my writing plans are for that day. I could but I don’t. I think the primary reason is that I’m not glued to technology. Some people are, but I’m not one of them. It may ‘technically’ be easier sometimes to plan my days or plan and document my research using a specific computer software system, and if I was used to using it, I may one day be able to use something like that on a regular basis. But not any time soon. I still like the feel of the pen in my hand and I’m actually able to remember what I’ve writing better after physically writing it down on paper – this is especially helpful for research.

But that’s me. I like technology, it’s useful. But I don’t love it. And I think I’m still a traditionalist that way. I think that a lot of people will agree with me to a certain extent. You can never underestimate the utility and the ease of pen and paper.

So is this the case for you? Or am I in the minority now?

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: technology, tradition, writing, writing tips

Top reads of 2013

My top 5 books I read in 2013.

Magician by Raymond E Feist

 

 

 

 

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

 

 

 

 

Armada by Robert Carter

 

 

 

 

Sharpe’s Tiger by Bernard Cornwell

 

 

 

 

Guards! Guards! By Terry Pratchett

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: 2013, best reads, reading, recommendations, reviews, top reads