I have a plan but shhhh... don't tell anyone!

After discovering that my book title had been used, I have spent the last couple of weeks cogitating.

And it's worked... I have a new title. My illustrator will re-design my cover and work can proceed...

But, it'll stay under wraps for now, don't want to risk this happening again.

In the meantime, I have a new timescale - end of September publication.

That should give me time to promote it ready to become a Christmas present for all those people who don't know what to get someone...

Watch this space!

The Wrong Colour...

I like blue, my bathroom is duck egg blue, I have a number of blue items in my wardrobe.

I like blue.

I have blue liquid soap, it gives an aura of cleanliness, antiseptic... maybe I believe what is on the label.

I have blue disinfectant, it makes me believe those germs have been obliterated.

So why do I have trouble with blue shampoo?

I use a lot of the Herbal Essences range, I like their shampoo. I am currently using this one and I struggle. It has coconut, which is white, and vanilla, which is cream... so why is it blue?

It feels like I am washing my hair in antiseptic hand-wash. I thought it was the bottle that was blue, but it's not, it's the shampoo.

My hair feels good after use, it is just the perception. The bottle fits my colour scheme, but the shampoo pushes my boundaries of putting a blue lotion on my hair.

So it will remain on the shelf as part of the accessories and I will return to my trusted cream coloured shampoo, and then all will be well in my little world again.

Now, I wonder what else is the wrong colour...

The Case of the Missing Birthday Card.

So, OK, this is just a way of publicising that today is my birthday in order to remind anyone who has forgotten, and for those who did remember, thank you for your cards and birthday greetings.

I had 4 cards to open this morning, more expected from the postman's visit later. I opened them over breakfast and, as I had an errand to run first thing, I stood them all neatly on top of the boom box speaker next to the TV cabinet.

Errand run, I returned home to find Brandy laid on his blanket with one of my birthday cards next to him, the corner having been nibbled away (both my dogs have always enjoyed eating cardboard, but seemed to have given up the habit over the last year or 2)

I delicately retrieved it from him, so as not to upset him too much and went to replace it, when I realised how carefully he had removed it from the top of the speaker box as the other cards remained in place, undisturbed...

Or so I thought...

It didn't take me long to count the multitude of cards and re-count to identify that there were only 2 left standing, the half-nibbled one in my hand made 3...

One was missing.

I scoured around the speaker box to see if it had fallen down the side or behind the tv cabinet... nothing.

I checked all the bed areas we have for the dogs, behind the settee, in the kitchen, under the dining table...nothing.

The only conclusion I can reach is that card number 1 has been eaten in its entirety, not a morsel, a corner, a scrap of evidence remains to say the card even existed. Had I not opened it myself, I would have questioned it's very existence.

So, thank you Shirley & Keith, I did receive my card, read it and enjoy the picture... but it is no more.

Brandy is now snoozing happily with a full tummy.

On the other hand I did get a bit of a surprise when I turned on my computer this morning and found that Google were wishing me a happy birthday... Is there anything they don't know about us?

Have a Great Day Everyone, I know I'm going to.

Oh Bu**er!

It was always possible, but I thought I'd done enough to deter someone using the same title.

I had an idea for a title for the series of children's books I am working on. I set up the website with a holding page to keep both the .co.uk and .com web addresses away from others. I set up a Facebook page knowing that anyone searching to see if there was anything out there with the same title, they would hopefully be deterred from using it.

Unfortunately, it would seem all that was to no avail. Personal circumstances have delayed the completion of my first novel and in the meantime someone else has published using the same title I had come up with. 

The story is very different although also features a dog, the covers could not be more different and the style of writing is quite different...

BUT...

I cannot help but feel very disappointed. Having searched the internet to ensure I was not duplicating a title, as recommended by various writing sites, to have this happen is really, well, disappointing.

It IS possible someone else came up with the same title, purely through creativity, it is possible someone landed on my website and as my book was not yet published, decided to use it. I'll never know. Maybe they haven't done the same research into the publishing scene and taken on the same thought process. 

What is sure is that I cannot change what has happened, and so time for a brainstorming session. I still have the domain names and websites, but these days more and more people rely on Facebook and so that may not be an issue for this other writer.

I now need to move on and find a new series name, have the book cover re-designed...

... and get the book finished, published and out there.

Personal issues? Move over, they will have to take a back seat... I have a goal and I have a plan.

Now all I need is a title!

Certificate of Completion

In answer to a recent query asking if the writing course is accredited, please see the logo at the bottom left corner,   IAO and check out their website

 http://www.iao.org/lp/academicaccreditation/about-us.asp  for further information.

Being ruthless...

I have decided it really is time to be ruthless with my collection of books, mainly paperbacks but a number of hardbacks too. I love books. Don't get me wrong, I love my Kindle too, but there is something about a room with lots of shelves filled with lots of books. Maybe in a former life I was a Librarian, that would have been seriously fitting to my love of books. 

I would spend hours browsing in a bookstore, moving from section to section trying to work out whether I was in the mood for a Thriller, or a Romance, whether I wanted fact or fiction. Someone's life story or a Fantasy novel to whisk me away for a few hours. I would buy books as I found them, storing them safely on my bookcase for later. I have unread books that will soon be celebrating their 10th anniversary.

I have lost count of the number of times I have packed my books into cardboard boxes to move from one house to another, one country to another, the weight alone telling of the amount of trees I am responsible for no longer growing in the forests.

I am about to move house again and I refuse to carry this volume of books once more, so today I decided I would look at options for reducing the number on my shelves. I have vowed to only take one bookcase with me. 5 shelves is all I will have. I have already promised the other bookcases to other homes, I am committed to being ruthless...

There are a number of options available to me. I could give them to a charity shop, but a few I have asked don't really want them, they have plenty already and don't have room to store them. I know if I asked further afield I would find someone to take them, but I thought I would see what other options are available to me. I wondered about finding a 2nd hand book shop who may buy them from me in bulk. There are the websites that you can sell books, dvd's etc and among these I found www.greenmetropolis.com an online charity bookstore. I decided to fetch a few from my bookshelf, pop the ISBN numbers into the various websites and see what came back.

As anyone who reads books knows, the ISBN is on the back cover. So is the blurb about the book.

And that's where the problem began. As I looked at the small pile of 6 books I had chosen at random, I realised not one of them had been read, the spines were perfect, the pages were pristine. I turned the first one over and began to read to synopsis... and actually, it sounded pretty good, so I decided I would hang on to it to read at some later date, and moved on to the next one which also sounded good enough to hang on to.

Several minutes later all 6 books were back on the shelf to be kept for a later date and I was pulling the large dictionary from the shelf to check the meaning of the word 'ruthless'.

Hodsock Priory - Snowdrop Time

Last year I visited Hodsock Priory to take photos of the snowdrops in the woods. In order to get a reduced price entry ticket I went online and became a friend of Hodsock. They haven't sent many promotional emails throughout the year so I hadn't thought about it being snowdrop time again until I opened an email from them asking for volunteers. 

'Why not,' I thought. Wages were poor, well none, but I got tea & coffee and lunch for free and 2 free entry tickets. So, I kept a close eye on the weather and I was really pleased to see that the day I had chosen to volunteer for was forecast to be really good.

Last Sunday I reported for duty and waited for the other volunteers to arrive. While I waited I was introduced to George Buchanan, the owner of the house and his father, Sir Andrew Buchanan, a real live Baronet and a real old fashioned gentleman. 

The role of us volunteers was varied and during the day I did everything from fetching more milk cartons, helping direct traffic in the car park (field) and pestering people about their visit. Oh, and whenever passing, checking the loos to make sure there was enough loo paper.

The weather was glorious and after several wet and windy days it seemed everyone had decided to take advantage of the lovely spring sunshine. There were coach loads of people plus so many cars. The tea tent and woodland cafe were soon crowded and the few volunteers were rushed off our feet. 4 hours flew by and before I knew it my day volunteering was over.

So, today I returned as a visitor to use one of my free tickets and to take some photos. The carpet of woodland snowdrops seemed better this year than last, although individual clumps were past their best, but I found a few.

There is a woodland cafe in the woods, with a real live bonfire for you to sit around while you tuck in to bacon butties and hot, steaming coffee and every afternoon the owner of the Priory, George, does a talk on the history of the Priory, which is really interesting. Firstly, the Priory has never been a real life Priory. It was previously just known as Hodsock, but when Ann Chambers took over she added the word Priory to make the property seem more important.

Secondly, Henry VIII visited in 1541 and you can imagine his entourage entering through the gate house, which looks lovely against the spring sky.

Lots of people stopped to talk to me while I was doing my photo, and i met some really nice people.  

After a couple of hours I took a break, settling myself on a wooden bench across the lake watching everyone milling around when I was aware of a group of people helping a man to the bench next to me. He had, unfortunately, fallen into the lake while taking a photograph and had hit his head on something, which had left quite a large mark. He had lost his camera in the lake and seemed very shocked by the accident, but we all rallied round and got help. The paramedics came and took him to be checked over, poor man. Hopefully, he is okay, but it certainly cut his visit short.

So, another enjoyable day out with my camera.