Pain Hurts...

Pain is an odd thing, it's very personal to each individual and you cannot know how someone else's pain really feels due to different tolerances.

I live with a level of pain most of the time, some times it's very mild and local to small areas of my body other days it's intolerable and I just want to roll up in a ball and cry... not that I've ever found that helps relieve the pain.

This week has been a painful week, I've had to resort to painkillers on a regular basis, something I try not to do very often as long term use of any medication concerns me. 

I have cervical spondylosis, a form of osteoarthritis in my neck. It was diagnosed several years ago following an MRI scan (not something I would wish to go through again and one plus to having my pacemaker fitted is that I can't have anymore MRI scans, I can only have CT scans which are so much easier to endure). Along with a number of other areas affected by arthritis (hands, feet, hips) my neck is my main problem as when it flares up it's very difficult to cope with the pain.

It doesn't take much to cause a flare up... sitting too long at a dining table on chairs which don't support my shoulders, standing too long taking photos (not that it stops me), sitting too long at my desk without taking breaks (not really conducive to writing a book, but I will bear my pain for my creativity) - nothing major, just simple everyday tasks that I have to manage right in order to reduce the impact on my neck.

Without being aware of what I did wrong last weekend I caused a serious flare up and have struggled with intense pain in my neck and head since. Pain which made me feel as if my skull would explode, the type of pain that had me laid on the floor as it was too painful to hold my head upright.

Finally today, after 5 days of pain, around 3pm, the pain lifted. When it goes it is as quick as that. I don't know what I do that makes the pain go away, it's just one minute it's there and the next my neck is pain free.

I'm looking forward to a relaxing and pain free weekend of doing nothing, just enjoying the peace in my head.

How soon is too soon...?

Let me make it clear from the start, I love Christmas. I love the bustle in the shops when I have the odd present to get. I love the lights and the music played all over the place. I love dark nights walking the dogs along the streets with the twinkling lights around people's homes. 

I accept it when our local pub had a Christmas scene in at the beginning of October in order to publicise their Christmas meals.

I accept it when the shops have their decorations up immediately after bonfire night (or in some cases before) as they have to make the best of the few weeks run up to Dec 25th.

But I'm sorry, it's just too early to be putting Christmas Trees up in homes before November has finished.

While out walking the dogs last night I passed 2 houses who have both got their trees fully decorated in their lounges. It was difficult not to notice the twinkling lights through the front windows in the night darkness. 

Sorry people, it's just too soon.

Bondhay Golf Club - Champion of Champions 2013

Several weeks ago my husband (the one crouched down at the front) told me he had volunteered my services as photographer at a competition to be played at his golf club. It is the first time they have held a Champion of Champions competition where each of the winners of qualifying competitions play against each other. They want to make it an annual end of year event that people want to qualify for and have an enjoyable and competitive day followed by a meal and presentation of the Champion of Champions trophy.

His idea was that I would take a photo of each player on the tee receiving the trophy they had won throughout the year and have them printed, framed and back at the golf club on the dining table for when they had finished their round of golf. In other words I had about 4 hours to get it all done.

We had ordered the photo frames a few weeks ago, black strut mounts with silver lettering and with the photos in they looked really nice. I was quite surprised by just how much green there was in each photo as you can see from the group photo above, so I was really nervous that I was going to run out of either blue or yellow ink and have to take precious minutes out of my allotted time to go and buy more. Luckily I managed all the photos without running out, although I did get the 'get ready to replace cartridge' warning on the yellow.

The day was a great success and even the weather played its part staying dry and sunny.

I wonder if I'll get booked for next year's event?

Exciting Events Planned.

As winter approaches I love to plan trips and visits for the spring, to do things I want to do but haven't got around to doing this year. One of my loves for many years is anything Crocodilian. 

 

I've visited the Alligators in Florida       And almost stepped on an American

Crocodile that was laying like this but 

hidden around the back of a wall.   

I watch any documentary on TV about them and was a huge admirer of Steve Irwin.

A couple of years ago I saw a documentary on an English guy that had his own collection of crocs in enclosures in the back garden of his semi-detached house. The program showed how he followed his dream of opening the first croc Zoo in the UK and the ups and downs he encountered.

When it first opened it was only open to groups, schools and the like but I recently noticed it is now open to the general public and so I can finally go and visit.

http://www.crocodilesoftheworld.co.uk/croc-man/dream.html

Now, I understand the various arguments for keeping animals in zoos, but I do support the need for captive programs for conservation and better understanding of animals to ensure their longevity. These beasts have been around since year dot and the more we understand about them the more likely they will survive in the future. For me, I just love to stand and gaze and take in the incredible strength and, for me, beauty of the beast.

I used to sponsor a Croc at Chester Zoo until they closed their Croc enclosure and so I may find another adoption happening when I visit next year.

Roll on April...

Helpful Tips on Getting a Book Published

Writing can be a lonely task, generally a quiet, calm, relaxed atmosphere is required for thought and concentration and so by that very fact writers normally work alone.

Speaking with or listening to other writes describe their working techniques can help make you feel less isolated in your task. I find I work better when the rest of the household is asleep but this, by its very nature, means late night or early mornings. I have never needed a lot of sleep an so working late into the night is not a problem for me, but I found it refreshing when watching the 'Getting Published' workshop (see previous post) yesterday, to find I am not alone in this. Several of the people at the workshop get up early to have a couple of hours before the day starts for everyone else, or work long after everyone else is tucked up in bed.

What has this to do with getting a book published? Well, the first step is to get your book finished. It is one of the biggest reasons books don't make it. It's very easy to start a book, it's quite easy to get many chapters complete but it seems that the hardest part is actually finishing it and to do that you have to find manner of working that allows you focus.

The workshop covered a wealth of information, the guest speakers were very interesting to listen to and some of the websites they suggested have now been added to my favourites list. 

Writer's dream that their book will be the next big thing, they dream of the manuscript landing on a publishers doorstep and the wheels being cranked up to get it into print. In truth, many publishers no longer accept manuscripts directly, preferring to have agents sift out the ones that won't make it first. Suddenly, getting an agent takes on a whole new perspective. If you are lucky enough to get a publisher interested directly, the contract then becomes the next big thing. While publishers will have their standard contract, this will be more in their favour than the writer's and the agent plays a massive part in negotiating the finer details to get. Listening to the agents at the workshop speak about what they do for a client I have to say my views on them was vastly improved.

One of the biggest pointers to getting published that came from all speakers yesterday was to read and re-read the submission criteria and make sure your submission complies with all their requirements or it will be unlikely to be looked at. If they ask for the first 5 pages, don't send the whole book. If they ask for your submission by email don't post a paper copy to them. Apparently, it is very common for people to completely ignore the submission requirements and this does not endear them to the agents or the publishers.

It also came over loud and clear what a protracted process getting an agent, getting a publisher and getting a book to market can be. It can normally take upto 2 years to get your book out there. Hazel Gaynor, the author of 'The Girl Who Came Home'. She had an agent and she had her book based on the Titanic, but she also knew she had a massive opportunity to make the book relevant with all the publicity surrounding the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic in 2012, but the timescale for getting her book published through traditional routes would mean she would likely miss centenary year so she chose to self-publish with Amazon, the route I plan to use. 

It was very interesting to hear how much the marketing of a book matters, and how after months of working alone creating your book you then have to become incredibly sociable to promote your book.

So, a very useful workshop, and a promise of a further one in the new year on self-publishing. Depending on timing that workshop could be very useful or too late, only time will tell.

Now, to continue with my first point... time to write some more on my book and work towards getting the first draft finished and being at the point of typing the last 6 letters...T    H   E       E   N   D

Getting Published Workshop

I am always looking around on the internet for websites that are helpful to a first time writer, like me.

Sometime in September I came across a this website

 http://www.writerswebtv.com/ 

I came across it just as they were about to show the workshop for Writing for Children, which was great timing. Although I couldn't watch all of it as I had already made plans to meet a friend for coffee, I did see quite a lot of it and parts of it were very informative. If you watch it live it's free or you can pay to download it and watch at your leisure.

As my book is progressing nicely, 15 chapters now in first draft, I have been doing quite a lot of research on publishing options. Imagine my delight when this link dropped into my email inbox today announcing the workshop for Getting Published being screened this Saturday. As it happens, I have no plans so I will be able to make full use of this free screening.

They are also offering a free critique of a submission letter which, as I am on the process of preparing one, is perfectly timed.

So, my Saturday is planned, I just need to make sure the coffee is brewing and the sandwiches made.

I'm really looking forward to it, notepad and pen ready.

Who corrupted my Blog?

I rarely make changes to the layout of my blog because I don't want to lose what I have 

I normally leave the layout of my blog well alone, I don't know too much about all the settings and I'm always concerned I may change something by accident and not know how to change it back is I try and get too clever.

A while ago I noticed some of the formatting had changed and it wasn't anything I had purposely done. I managed to get my blog looking like it should and hoped that was it. 

Then Google+ started to change the way notifications went out but I thought I'd worked my way around that.

Yesterday I was made aware that the comments box wasn't working correctly. I know the verification captcha puts people off commenting as it can be too tricky to read but I really can't be doing with the rubbish that gets posted if I turn it off. However, even on posts that had a comments the little button at that bottom was reading No Comments but if you clicked on it the comments appeared.

So, I have spent tonight Googling for an answer and finally came across this post that suggested my blog may have become corrupt. 

http://help.disqus.com/customer/portal/articles/471999-blogger-troubleshooting

I tried resetting the offending widget as suggested but this didn't have any affect so I reset all my widgets to default and bingo, my comments count now works correctly again.

So, it all looks as it should again - until someone tells me differently.

Thank you Sue for letting me know I had a problem.

Writing a Story Book for Children... 15 Chapters done...

Having a break from routine is good but sometimes it can be difficult to get back into the flow. Since coming back from Malta I have struggled to get back into the flow of working on my book but today I made good progress.

I had completed the first section of my children's novel, 12 chapters and over 22,000 words before going on holiday and I took a print out of it with me to give it a first full read through. The book has fallen into the distinct sections without really planning it that way. I had to tackle the challenge of having 2 characters that went in separate story lines for a while. I had to consider whether to alternate chapters to follow the 2 stories or whether to write one story to a point and then rewind in time and write the other story to the same point. Neither really worked for my novel so I chose a 3rd option. 

I followed one character's story to a point, then let the 2 characters meet up again. The 2nd character's story of what had happened while they had been apart was told as a conversation between the 2. 

I am now at the point where the 2 characters are ready to move forward for the final section of the story. 

My story timeline is still working well and I have not had to alter it since I began writing, it is definitely worth spending the time in getting that right from the beginning and to keep referring back to it on a regular basis, but I have found that I have a few more chapters than first expected. 

I've just completed Chapter 15 and I'm all set for the main character's journey home with a few adventures and surprises on the way. I know I still have a long way to go but it's well on the way to getting completed.