Billy Young's Blog, page 32
March 26, 2010
26th March 2010
I see there is more trouble for our political leaders in Westminster. Three former cabinet members getting three grand a day for pushing through legislation that benefits rich mega corporations. Of course the opposition is claiming that it would never happen under them. Only thing is that it did happen under them as I remember. Back in the eighties and nineties there was the arms dealer scandal, when Conservative cabinet members were involved in taking cash for contracts to furnish weapons to the army and the cash for questions one. It sounds like Labour and the Conservative’s are very much the same when it comes to shady dealings. And then they expect us all to vote for them in the coming elections? No wonder the number of those voting is declining when we see the corrupt nature of those wanting to win our confidence at the ballot box.
I believe that it is our duty to vote, so will not miss casting mine when the election comes. Too many people died to give me the right to have a say in who runs this nation. Though my vote may not mean much on its own when added to all the others it will combine with them, and so will, hopefully send a loud message to those in power. Though wither they will listen is another thing all together. After all they have shown a certain deafness to what the people think recently. We just need to look at their wage increase they awarded themselves and the expenses they seem to think is alright to receive. It just goes to show how the politicians have really lost touch with those they want votes from, doesn’t it?
I believe that it is our duty to vote, so will not miss casting mine when the election comes. Too many people died to give me the right to have a say in who runs this nation. Though my vote may not mean much on its own when added to all the others it will combine with them, and so will, hopefully send a loud message to those in power. Though wither they will listen is another thing all together. After all they have shown a certain deafness to what the people think recently. We just need to look at their wage increase they awarded themselves and the expenses they seem to think is alright to receive. It just goes to show how the politicians have really lost touch with those they want votes from, doesn’t it?
March 19, 2010
19th March 2010
I forgot to mention the great review that I got from LLBookReview.com for Bublos. I meant to mention it in my last past but it slipped my mind when writing it. It is always a good feeling when someone seems to have enjoyed what you have written. I remember the first review I got for Teddy the Bear, it wasn’t very good to say the least, which was a real knock. Though without the bad ones how would we appreciate the good ones?
Banshee 2 is coming along nicely. I’m moving onto chapter 11 and fully enjoying creating my new tale of the vengeful spirit. Mandy has met up with her deepest and worst nightmare. As you may imagine it didn’t go to well for her. Also another character, Frannie has had a not to friendly confrontation with the evil that has already cost her the father of her unborn child. Alice, Mandy’s sister had her meeting with the banshee earlier in the story but I’m saying too much. Best be careful or I may give you the whole story, hehehe, and I don’t want to do that. Especially as it still will need a lot of work once I have got the first rough draft down. There are lots of things that need adding as well as smoothing out so the flow is just the way it should be.
Since my interview a few weeks back things have been slow in the job market. The news is that the recession is supposedly over but I think someone forgot to tell employers as I haven’t seen much in the way of vacancies. It reminds me of the mid eighties, when I left school. There was a real shortage of jobs then too and being fresh from school seemed a deterrent to finding work. I was full of energy yet it took a very long time before I actually got my first job. In fact it wasn’t until I had kids that I got work, by which time I had almost given up all hope that I would ever find a job. I just hope that I don’t go through that again, I don’t think I will as now I do have a work history. That is important as it does show employers that you aren’t averse to putting the effort in.
Banshee 2 is coming along nicely. I’m moving onto chapter 11 and fully enjoying creating my new tale of the vengeful spirit. Mandy has met up with her deepest and worst nightmare. As you may imagine it didn’t go to well for her. Also another character, Frannie has had a not to friendly confrontation with the evil that has already cost her the father of her unborn child. Alice, Mandy’s sister had her meeting with the banshee earlier in the story but I’m saying too much. Best be careful or I may give you the whole story, hehehe, and I don’t want to do that. Especially as it still will need a lot of work once I have got the first rough draft down. There are lots of things that need adding as well as smoothing out so the flow is just the way it should be.
Since my interview a few weeks back things have been slow in the job market. The news is that the recession is supposedly over but I think someone forgot to tell employers as I haven’t seen much in the way of vacancies. It reminds me of the mid eighties, when I left school. There was a real shortage of jobs then too and being fresh from school seemed a deterrent to finding work. I was full of energy yet it took a very long time before I actually got my first job. In fact it wasn’t until I had kids that I got work, by which time I had almost given up all hope that I would ever find a job. I just hope that I don’t go through that again, I don’t think I will as now I do have a work history. That is important as it does show employers that you aren’t averse to putting the effort in.
March 12, 2010
12th March 2010
Another week of struggling to get my computer back up and running. Most of that was waiting on the postman delivering the parts. As it turned out my PSU was part of the problem, delivering only power on one of the power looms. My motherboard had also blown, which I was able to prove once I had a new PSU. The processor was fine though now I have a more modern one. I finally got my system up and running yesterday and was never so glad, even if it did mean the dreaded reinstall of Windows. Now I can get back to writing again.
The government seem to have gotten away with their wage rise and this week announced that other government workers would have their wages frozen. One rule for us and another for them. Not a wise thing considering that it is an election year. Maybe Labour doesn’t want to stay in power. Though does it really make a difference who is in power? After all they all seem to be only interested in themselves after they have attained our votes. Still what can be done to change things? Can we change anything? I have my doubts. After all I have seen it all before. Last time was when Labour came to power in 1997. Things did seem to improve for a time but not by what was promised, or maybe I just expected more. I don’t believe the Conservatives promises though. Being Scottish I remember the last time they held power and it wasn’t pretty for us north of the border. Yes we have our own Parliament now and that may make a difference, I doubt it though. If anything I thing it make it a lot worse as at heart the Tories were against the idea of Devolved power for the other nation within the UK. In the end though we have to wait and see how the election will turn out.
The government seem to have gotten away with their wage rise and this week announced that other government workers would have their wages frozen. One rule for us and another for them. Not a wise thing considering that it is an election year. Maybe Labour doesn’t want to stay in power. Though does it really make a difference who is in power? After all they all seem to be only interested in themselves after they have attained our votes. Still what can be done to change things? Can we change anything? I have my doubts. After all I have seen it all before. Last time was when Labour came to power in 1997. Things did seem to improve for a time but not by what was promised, or maybe I just expected more. I don’t believe the Conservatives promises though. Being Scottish I remember the last time they held power and it wasn’t pretty for us north of the border. Yes we have our own Parliament now and that may make a difference, I doubt it though. If anything I thing it make it a lot worse as at heart the Tories were against the idea of Devolved power for the other nation within the UK. In the end though we have to wait and see how the election will turn out.
March 5, 2010
5th March 2010
A nightmare of a week, my computer suddenly stopped working, and I have no idea what is wrong. My guess is that the processor is fried. I know the PSU is working fine as the light on the back is coming on, also it isn’t that old. So that leaves the processor, or the motherboard. I’ve been forced to put a new one on the never, never, what a pain. Now I have to wait for it to arrive, which has left me unable to get at my files. As I said a real pain. I’m using my wife’s laptop to do my blog but find it awkward to use, so I have found myself internetless for the most part, and unable to continue my writing. Though if I find myself without my computer over the weekend I may have to resort to more primitive mean, the dreaded pen, and paper, hehehe. At least I can still laugh about it.
Putting aside my troubles, for once I hear you say, I was disgusted today to hear that politicians have voted themselves a pay rise at Westminster. They have frozen many other public sector workers wages yet, they feel they are deserving of a rise. And this after the expenses scandal only a few short months ago. Add to this all those who are struggling on unemployment benefit, who the government often try to paint as nothing more than criminals, and layabouts. Yes, some of them maybe but most would rather be working, and earning an honest living. That is more than I can say for the politicians at the moment. To me it looks like they are the one living the free ride. I think it is time that they were all held to account, and forced to take a major wage cut. After all they should be leading by example, and at the moment they keep telling us all that we have to tighten our belts. Well it should be them that should tighten them first, don’t you think?
Putting aside my troubles, for once I hear you say, I was disgusted today to hear that politicians have voted themselves a pay rise at Westminster. They have frozen many other public sector workers wages yet, they feel they are deserving of a rise. And this after the expenses scandal only a few short months ago. Add to this all those who are struggling on unemployment benefit, who the government often try to paint as nothing more than criminals, and layabouts. Yes, some of them maybe but most would rather be working, and earning an honest living. That is more than I can say for the politicians at the moment. To me it looks like they are the one living the free ride. I think it is time that they were all held to account, and forced to take a major wage cut. After all they should be leading by example, and at the moment they keep telling us all that we have to tighten our belts. Well it should be them that should tighten them first, don’t you think?
February 26, 2010
26th February 2010
It has been a busy week, one of those unexpectedly busy ones. You know where everything just seems to in a hundred different ways at once. I knew it would be kind of full as my daughter turn thirteen this week, I had to sign on and I had my interview, which I think went well. But then other thing fell out of the blue to add everything that was planned. By the time thing began to settle down I felt like my head was on backwards.
It doesn’t help that I changed ISPs this week. This has entailed its own frustrations to everything else. Internet Providers are never easy to deal with but it always seems worse when you change over, or is that just my take on it? I’m still getting used to the new way of doing things. Last night it took me twice as long to surf through all the sites that I usually visit. Why I have no idea, let’s hope that things get back to normal quickly.
Even with all the head bashing my mind has took this week I did manage to do a bit of writing, just not as much as I would have liked. Other news is that I have been invited to write a piece on one of my books for another blog. The blog in question can be found at http://a305w.wordpress.com/ and is really been set up to show the authors views on another site I go to. He/she doesn’t take many prisoners yet I have found it a diversion just when I needed it.
It doesn’t help that I changed ISPs this week. This has entailed its own frustrations to everything else. Internet Providers are never easy to deal with but it always seems worse when you change over, or is that just my take on it? I’m still getting used to the new way of doing things. Last night it took me twice as long to surf through all the sites that I usually visit. Why I have no idea, let’s hope that things get back to normal quickly.
Even with all the head bashing my mind has took this week I did manage to do a bit of writing, just not as much as I would have liked. Other news is that I have been invited to write a piece on one of my books for another blog. The blog in question can be found at http://a305w.wordpress.com/ and is really been set up to show the authors views on another site I go to. He/she doesn’t take many prisoners yet I have found it a diversion just when I needed it.
February 19, 2010
19th February 2010
finished reading The Stand by Steven King last night. A great read. I found myself doing something I haven’t done in a long time, sitting in bed reading until in the morning to finish it. Have you ever found yourself doing the? I think it’s the sign of a really good book. A gripping read as some would call it. I know it is a bit old now and does at times show its age. Yet I have read many books older, such as The Day of the Triffids, which are older with great joy whilst losing myself within the words.
My own writing is coming on well this week, reaching chapter 8. As it develops I see that this first draft will need a lot of work to pull it all together. A new character will need to be introduced at the start of the book, with more about the trouble she has cause for Munroe as the story moves on. Who is she? Well she’s a reporter for a local rag by the name of Susie. So as you can guess being a reporter she won’t be really the bee’s knees for a policeman.
Getting a little nervous with my coming interview in the coming week. It will be worse the night before, as always. Until then I can easily put it to the back of my mind but the night before, that is when mind starts to run over it. Even though it’s never like I imagine it I can’t stop running it over in my mind. I’ve always been the same when it comes to that kind of thing. Too much day dreaming as my teachers would call it. Sometimes an imagination can be a bit of a curse, a hard thing to rein in and so of it goes keeping you awake when you really need sleep.
My own writing is coming on well this week, reaching chapter 8. As it develops I see that this first draft will need a lot of work to pull it all together. A new character will need to be introduced at the start of the book, with more about the trouble she has cause for Munroe as the story moves on. Who is she? Well she’s a reporter for a local rag by the name of Susie. So as you can guess being a reporter she won’t be really the bee’s knees for a policeman.
Getting a little nervous with my coming interview in the coming week. It will be worse the night before, as always. Until then I can easily put it to the back of my mind but the night before, that is when mind starts to run over it. Even though it’s never like I imagine it I can’t stop running it over in my mind. I’ve always been the same when it comes to that kind of thing. Too much day dreaming as my teachers would call it. Sometimes an imagination can be a bit of a curse, a hard thing to rein in and so of it goes keeping you awake when you really need sleep.
February 12, 2010
12th February 2010
Another fruitless week of job hunting. I haven’t seen the jobcentre this bad though it does remind of how the boards used to look back in the mid eighties. And the news is that we are supposed to be out of the recession. I wish it would show in the number of jobs available. Mind I did get a phone call at the start of the week asking me to an interview on the 23rd of this month. It’s for a new store that is opening up soon in the town. As you can guess I’m keeping my fingers crossed for that one.
I’ve been tapping away on the computer, as expected, working on Banshee 2. It’s been going well with lots more still to do. I stole a name of one character from the book I’m reading at night, The Stand by S. King. I like Frannie in the book, she’s a strong, with real feel to her. Maybe it was her diary entries or how she feels guilt for the way she didn’t feel the same for Harold. Anyway I liked the name and choosing names for character is not always that easy, after all there are so many. Sometimes the name just comes and you can see the person they are but then at other times you have to work on building them. I think my Frannie will need more work, a lot more. It will come when I have a first draft which is what I need to get on and finish first. I doubt though that she will be anything like the Frannie as in Mr. King’s book other than the name. It will be fun creating her though for she does have a good role in the story though how big it will be I still have to decide but it does look like it may be a large one.
I’ve been tapping away on the computer, as expected, working on Banshee 2. It’s been going well with lots more still to do. I stole a name of one character from the book I’m reading at night, The Stand by S. King. I like Frannie in the book, she’s a strong, with real feel to her. Maybe it was her diary entries or how she feels guilt for the way she didn’t feel the same for Harold. Anyway I liked the name and choosing names for character is not always that easy, after all there are so many. Sometimes the name just comes and you can see the person they are but then at other times you have to work on building them. I think my Frannie will need more work, a lot more. It will come when I have a first draft which is what I need to get on and finish first. I doubt though that she will be anything like the Frannie as in Mr. King’s book other than the name. It will be fun creating her though for she does have a good role in the story though how big it will be I still have to decide but it does look like it may be a large one.
February 5, 2010
5th February 2010
You may have noticed that last week I put the wrong date for the title. Why? Well I don’t have a reason, just somewhere in the week I must have lost a couple of days. How did I not change it? Simply because I believe if you make a mistake you have to live with it. It isn’t like it’s a real big issue that would bring the world down. It does show one of the consequences of unemployment, losing track of time. Another thing which is strange is that you feel tired even though you struggle to find things to do.
When I was younger I was jobless for many years. The longer I remained out of the job market the harder it seemed to be to find the motivation to get out of bed. Really you would have put me down as a lazy good for nothing. In some ways I am but when I do work I put a lot of energy into the job. Yet when I’m back in the list of jobless I do find it hard to drive myself. There is one thing that doesn’t suffer though and that is writing, where when I work there is less time so less gets done. Of course that is too be expected after all.
We all dream of what we would do if we could give up work because of winning the lottery or something. I suspect that most of us would soon become very bored with little to do. Of course with that kind of money we would soon find some way to fill our days, all you need if the incentive. The opposite is the case for the rest of us I suspect. We may have the incentive but the funds are lacking in many cases.
So what do you do? You pull up your socks and do the best you can with what you have. Or if you seem to lack the motivation then when you realise that you’re wallowing, give yourself a good kick up the rear. If you don’t then get a friend to, though that may prove more painful because they may actually kick you behind.
When I was younger I was jobless for many years. The longer I remained out of the job market the harder it seemed to be to find the motivation to get out of bed. Really you would have put me down as a lazy good for nothing. In some ways I am but when I do work I put a lot of energy into the job. Yet when I’m back in the list of jobless I do find it hard to drive myself. There is one thing that doesn’t suffer though and that is writing, where when I work there is less time so less gets done. Of course that is too be expected after all.
We all dream of what we would do if we could give up work because of winning the lottery or something. I suspect that most of us would soon become very bored with little to do. Of course with that kind of money we would soon find some way to fill our days, all you need if the incentive. The opposite is the case for the rest of us I suspect. We may have the incentive but the funds are lacking in many cases.
So what do you do? You pull up your socks and do the best you can with what you have. Or if you seem to lack the motivation then when you realise that you’re wallowing, give yourself a good kick up the rear. If you don’t then get a friend to, though that may prove more painful because they may actually kick you behind.
January 29, 2010
27th January 2010
It’s almost the end of my January sale on my E-books. There is still time to use the codes if you want one of my books. Just check one of my previous posts for them.
I’m going onto the fourth chapter on Banshee 2. I may change the plot a little just to add more action but that’s only a thought, which is still half formed. So I’ll need to think about it. Should I kill of one of the characters sooner? Will it help the storyline? Maybe. As I said I’ll need to think it over some more.
It is amazing though how much more difficult it is to write a sequel. You have to double check what was in the previous book. Really just making sure that what you remember is correct so as to keep the new book for contradicting the first one. Luckily there isn’t a lot that needs check for Mandy was only in the prologue of the first one and Munroe at the end. Still you don’t want to make a bloomer.
I’ve been having problems with my internet this week. Well really it has been longer than that but usually it sorts itself out. This week my son has been the one affected the most. He has found that a few of the anime sites that he goes to won’t load. The Internet Provider I’m with might need changing soon. The good thing is that my contract ends soon so we’ll get the Mac Number then and see who is doing the good deals. Sky looks good and we do have TV from them, so might be good to go with them. It’s just been a pain phoning the one I’m with every few months because of a problem. We did get it fixed and things are back running not to back, though I have noticed a little lag on my sites now. Not long to go though till I can change my Provider.
I’m going onto the fourth chapter on Banshee 2. I may change the plot a little just to add more action but that’s only a thought, which is still half formed. So I’ll need to think about it. Should I kill of one of the characters sooner? Will it help the storyline? Maybe. As I said I’ll need to think it over some more.
It is amazing though how much more difficult it is to write a sequel. You have to double check what was in the previous book. Really just making sure that what you remember is correct so as to keep the new book for contradicting the first one. Luckily there isn’t a lot that needs check for Mandy was only in the prologue of the first one and Munroe at the end. Still you don’t want to make a bloomer.
I’ve been having problems with my internet this week. Well really it has been longer than that but usually it sorts itself out. This week my son has been the one affected the most. He has found that a few of the anime sites that he goes to won’t load. The Internet Provider I’m with might need changing soon. The good thing is that my contract ends soon so we’ll get the Mac Number then and see who is doing the good deals. Sky looks good and we do have TV from them, so might be good to go with them. It’s just been a pain phoning the one I’m with every few months because of a problem. We did get it fixed and things are back running not to back, though I have noticed a little lag on my sites now. Not long to go though till I can change my Provider.
January 22, 2010
22nd January 2010
Another slow week, yet when I look back it seems to have only just been a couple of days. It’s funny how time just flies past as you get older but I can remember when I was younger how time always appeared to drag. Now I wonder where it vanishes to. I suppose that’s what we get for all those times when we were kids and wished it would hurry up and be that special day we all waited for, Christmas, birthdays, holidays or whatever. Now you want it to slow down so you have more time to do all the things that you want to do but there never seems to be enough hours in the day or week for that matter. I hear it only gets worse, I’m hoping it’s just a scare story to worry us middle-aged worriers.
I have noticed a bit of interest in my offer for January at Smashwords, yet there hasn’t been many sales. There is still time if you wish to get an E-book cheap. Just used the codes for my previous posts and get which ever book grabs you for $1.
Work on my next book is moving along steadily. Not a lot more I wish to say at the moment as there is still a great deal to write and even more to do after that. First though is to get it down on paper, out of my head or so to speak.
My son has set up a website, one of those Japanese Anime things. He’s a big fan, as is my daughter though my son is the larger fan. He drove me mad till he got the domain name, AnimeJunkies.co.uk. He paid for it himself but need me to pay for it with my card. Of course it was the wife that got the money to pay to the card.
After he had the name though it caused more of a headache as he tried getting the thing up and running. At least it should keep him happy when and if he can get it going the way he wants.
I have noticed a bit of interest in my offer for January at Smashwords, yet there hasn’t been many sales. There is still time if you wish to get an E-book cheap. Just used the codes for my previous posts and get which ever book grabs you for $1.
Work on my next book is moving along steadily. Not a lot more I wish to say at the moment as there is still a great deal to write and even more to do after that. First though is to get it down on paper, out of my head or so to speak.
My son has set up a website, one of those Japanese Anime things. He’s a big fan, as is my daughter though my son is the larger fan. He drove me mad till he got the domain name, AnimeJunkies.co.uk. He paid for it himself but need me to pay for it with my card. Of course it was the wife that got the money to pay to the card.
After he had the name though it caused more of a headache as he tried getting the thing up and running. At least it should keep him happy when and if he can get it going the way he wants.
