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The good morning, good night thread

Started by Ed, October 22, 2007, 03:49:05 AM

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delboy

It's been a really busy week both at work and in the evenings. I'd just got into a writing groove and was working morning, noon, and night on a couple of pieces and then suddenly I didn't have two minutes to rub together. Hopefully this weekend, it being a long one, I'll get back into the swing of it all - though I suspect other plans will be made to thwart my solitary endeavours.

Del
"If you want to write, write it. That's the first rule. And send it in, and send it in to someone who can publish it or get it published. Don't send it to me. Don't show it to your spouse, or your significant other, or your parents, or somebody. They're not going to publish it."

Robert B. Parker

Caz

  I went down the town today armed with the list from Danse Macabre of books to read. I expected to buy two, maybe push the boat out and buy three. I left the shop with one. I can't believe that in a major high street book shop I could only find one of the books on Stephen King's list. Jeez, that's ridiculous. :bangh:
  Still, The Shrinking Man is good.   
Some may say slaughtered is too strong a word...but I like the sound of it.

Caz

  I heard something similar to this last night on Planet Rock and thought it too good not to share.

  It has recently been reported in the press that Francis Rossi, he of Status Quo fame, has parted with his ponytail. After the hair cut the whereabouts of the ponytail was unknown. It has since been located, captured and sectioned as it is quite clearly off its rocker.   

Some may say slaughtered is too strong a word...but I like the sound of it.

Ed

*groan*

Shame about the book shops. Cut price books as offered by the supermarkets are all very well, but the scrapping of the net book agreement did untold damage to our high street book shops and, one by one, they've gradually cut back and then closed, leaving only the internet retailers and the supermarkets who sell books. The supermarkets are only interested in the blockbusters, so anything that's slightly quirky doesn't get stocked. Sad, but I don't know what the answer is.
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

Ed

Heh - today my wife had to write a letter to somebody whose surname is Moosehammer. It's a German name, apparently :idiot:
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

delboy

Sounds like a good name for a brand of Vodka!

So how is everyone? Who's doing what? Who's working on what? Where's the action at?

I've just finished the first draft of a SF short story, but it's suffering from my usual problem of leaving too much unsaid and relying on the reader having to do too much work. So I shall be rewriting it later.

I've actually sent a few shorts off recently (including two brand new ones that I would have put through the crit group given time... or rather patience!) - and have already had one rejection. A nice rejection though, they said it was fast paced exciting read (this was for The Add-On Man that some of you may recall from the crit group).

I'm also a few chapters into a fun fantasy novel, but I'm unsure of where it could fit - the language is a little coarse for teenagers and the subject matter a little childlike for adults. Not sure what I'll do with it. Also got a cool idea for SF/Horror novel that I'm itching to write - I've plotted it all out but want to go back and re-think some of this plan before starting the actual writing. It's an experiment in trying to get the plotting sorted before I start.

But at the moment I seem to be mining a rich vein of short stories so I think I might keep on at those for a few more weeks.

So lots on in my writing world.

Anyone else?

Del
"If you want to write, write it. That's the first rule. And send it in, and send it in to someone who can publish it or get it published. Don't send it to me. Don't show it to your spouse, or your significant other, or your parents, or somebody. They're not going to publish it."

Robert B. Parker

delph_ambi

I'm currently writing daily haiku and flashes/poems for the Grail forum, weekly poems for TWI, weekly flashes for Musemuggers, weekly poems for UKAuthors, fortnightly poems/flashes for W4F, fortnightly poems and short stories for the Whittaker prize, plus stories/poems for the Earlyworks Press workshop -- as well as revising for maths exams at the end of this month and beginning of next, so I've had to put the novels on hold for the time being. Once we get to early June, I'll have finished the maths and intend to learn French, plus try some art experiments in different media as I have a painting holiday coming up, and I'm sick of carrying around ten tons of acrylic paints and assorted paraphernalia - intend to go for lighter-weight media instead.

In between all of this I attempt to earn some sort of a living by giving music lessons.

delboy

Plenty on there, Delph!!

I occasionally make some pocket money through music lessons but I think I'd have to do the number of lessons in a week that I currently do in a year to make a living at it - Jealous Del  :idiot:

Had a call this morning to find that half of our team are being made redeployees - one step away from voluntary redundancy - and the rest, including moi, are having to take on their work. "You'll all be doubling your work load," the boss said to us this morning.

That might mark the end of my writing for a while if it really does come to pass that way. Yesterday I worked seven until seven, had some tea, spent two hours redrafting my latest SF piece , and crashed out. It's not a lifestyle that I'd be able to maintain for many days.

Del
"If you want to write, write it. That's the first rule. And send it in, and send it in to someone who can publish it or get it published. Don't send it to me. Don't show it to your spouse, or your significant other, or your parents, or somebody. They're not going to publish it."

Robert B. Parker

Ed

Dirty tricks all round. I don't see how any reasonable employer could expect their employees to double their workload. It's not sustainable, surely?

Things seem to be getting steadily worse on the work front. One of the builders I've been working for is trying to fire several of their employees or make them quit, in order to get out of paying redundancy. Many of them are due over twelve years' worth of payout, which amounts to a fair bit of money. They have been given impossible tasks to do within ridiculous time limits, insulted, yelled at, had their company vehicles downgraded. It's unbelievable :/
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

delboy

Yep, there's a lot of this type of thing around. Fingers crossed the economy picks up over the next few months and the workers are empowered a little more.

Just bit the bullet and submitted my latest tale. I'm trying...

Derek
"If you want to write, write it. That's the first rule. And send it in, and send it in to someone who can publish it or get it published. Don't send it to me. Don't show it to your spouse, or your significant other, or your parents, or somebody. They're not going to publish it."

Robert B. Parker

Ed

#970
My friend kindly gave me some fresh scallops today, and I was really looking forward to trying them, because I've had clam chowder before and loved it, so I was thinking these would probably be of a similar texture. I went to all the trouble of cleaning and gutting them, fried them in a hot pan with some butter and olive oil, and served them with a tomato salsa.

Yuck - not keen at all. Didn't like the texture. I think I may have slightly undercooked them, but I can't see them getting substantially better with longer in the pan. I'm disappointed. I expected to like them a lot.

Edit: While there was still a few left, I tried cooking them longer, to see if it made any difference. The flavour improved, but the texture was still really offputting for me. I worked out what it was it reminded me of - squid. Similar taste, same texture, only bigger. Like a big lump of squid meat. Bleaaaach :buck:
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

Geoff_N

It's been an odd few days for me, too. Funny baccy, saucy women, a book launch that wasn't. Hey ho. Fun but I shan't repeat it all now but it is in my blog at
http://geoffnelder.wordpress.com/

Geoff
PS I thought I'd already posted this but can't find it. Spooky.

Ed

Wacky-baccy - you, Geoff? :huh: Surely not :cheesy:

Shame the book launch was delayed like that. You probably could have sold a few copies while you were there.

I had one of those painful days today. Sometimes it's like that. I was working in a tight space, stood up and smacked my head on a lump of timber, which took a chunk out of my scalp, which in turn bled profusely. It took three plasters to stop it bleeding. To add insult to injury I then hit my head at least four more times, then burnt my finger - it sizzled, and I now have no fingerprint on my right index finger. ::)
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

Woody

Quote from: Ed on May 12, 2009, 06:09:58 PM
then burnt my finger - it sizzled, and I now have no fingerprint on my right index finger. ::)
Probably the best way to go if one enjoys the holy herb, especially if you want to foil CIS!  :grin:
___________________________________________________________
Writers Anonymous(http://www.writersanonymous.org.uk)-a source of sinister anthologies
Perception is nine tenths of the look. Brave Dave the Feather in Caribbean Conspiracy

Geoff_N

Blimey Ed. I felt the agony in your post, and fancy leaving your DNA everywhere even if you are removing fingerprints!

We didn't set out to smoke  wacky backy but when you amble down the narrow streets lined both sides with the 'cafes' the air is thick, and sweet. Unless you hold your breath there is no choice but to inhale  :buck:

Geoff