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Sunday 26th December, 2010

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Merry Christmas! Plus a new story online and a genealogy tweak.

I hope Christmas Day went well for everyone and you’re now suffering the traditional Boxing Day after-effects (full, bloated, slightly hung-over).

For the site updates, let’s start with genealogy. As mentioned last week, my aunt has provided some minor corrections to the LOWE data:

  1. The original Zachariah LOWE is not from Staffordshire on the 1841 census.
  2. His place of origin on the 1861 census is probably “Paines Lane”, Shropshire (now St George’s, Telford).

I have made the changes to the LOWE page but Parries Lane / Paines Lane hasn’t been corrected on the associated report. I’m waiting for more results on the mysterious Zachariah LOWE.

In writing news, not much continues to happen. Another one of my stories available on site, Baba Yaga, was part of the Christmas Day treat overload on the TTA Press advent calendar [External Link]. Again, you don’t need to go there to link to my story but there are quite a few other lovely flash fictions available from the Christmas post. The collection of links can be found here: [External Link]. Also, don’t forget the alternative advent calendar that can be printed out here: [External Link]. Meanwhile, I’m nibbling away at the latest method in 25 Ways to Kill A Werewolf (set in Alex Jones’ world but not containing her) and have several short stories out looking for new homes. As predicted, I didn’t get as much as I’d like done due to a combination of procrastination and sorting out for yesterday’s celebrations. But in an effort to make myself look productive, I offer you the following after-Christmas present: Sanctuary. Remember, a human being is for life, not just for Christmas.

Sunday 19th December, 2010

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A general update – one of those weeks where you’ll see little change but I’ve been busy (honest).

Let’s start with genealogy. I’ve been contacted by a CHARLESWORTH cousin – and haven’t yet responded so sorry, Rachel, I’ll be emailing tomorrow – and have had a bit of back and forth on some BECK and LOWE things. All of which will probably lead to some corrections and updating in the next few months. I’m cautious of anything definite involving the current generations and our near history as it can lead to treading on toes but some of the LOWE data is definitely not in that sort of time frame! My aunt Caroline BECK has checked through the Zachariah LOWE data (the first one) and has made a couple of corrections: 1) he’s not from Staffordshire on the 1841 census and 2) the location in the 1861 looks like “Paines Lane” to her. We’ve found a Pain(e)’s Lane in Shropshire – and it’s now St George’s, Telford, Shropshire. Let the hunt begin!

In writing news, not much continues to happen. I’m nibbling away at the latest method in 25 Ways to Kill A Werewolf and have several short stories out looking for new homes. I might get to work a bit more on it all this week as I’m on holiday but somehow I doubt it. I’m busy preparing for Christmas amongst other things!

Sunday 12th December, 2010

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A Genealogy Update! SANSOM data and the “Alternative” TABERNER line.)

It was a little bit of a struggle getting it out of the computer – I use The Master Genealogist, which is a Windows based program, but run Ubuntu as my operating system now – but the oft-mentioned genealogy is here. They’re only minor tweaks but I figured I better do them while I remembered! Anyway, slight changes to the SANSOM and the “Alternative” TABERNER reports. As usual, if there are any issues / errors / additions / removals, please let me know.

In writing news, not much going on. I’m waiting to hear about submitted pieces and have started polishing the general story arc for 25 Ways to Kill A Werewolf (Alex Jones’ world) – despite the fact that each chapter provides another method, there is an actual story behind it and keeping the outline straight makes life easier. It also means that the synopsis is already done when it gets around to submission time. As this is probably going to be around the 75,000 – 80,000 word length, a synopsis could end up being a vital part of its rehoming strategy. And as much as I dislike working to an outline, having an easy to prepare synopsis far out ways the annoyance I get from not making it up as I go along.

Oh, and please don’t forget about advent calendars. The TTA Press [External Link] ones can be found here: [External Link] and here: [External Link]. And don’t forget to let me know of any other interesting advent reads out there!

Sunday 5th December, 2010

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I’m in an advent calendar! Am I famous, yet?

Welcome to Advent – or the fifth day of it, as I write this. Yes, I really do write this on the same day as it’s dated, if only if I’m too lazy to do it the night before.

The writing news first. Parthenogenesis, one of my stories available on site, is being used in the TTA Press advent calendar [External Link]. You don’t need to go there to link to the story but if you haven’t read the other stories so far, I strongly recommend it. The collection of links can be found here: [External Link]. They also have an alternative advent calendar that can be printed out here: [External Link].

I’ve pretty much been house-bound since the last update. Finn and I have made it out walking near to home but I’ve been banned from sitework and my local office was snowed in for a couple of days, so I’ve been working from home the last week. And I do mean working from home. It’s been… quiet.

And genealogy isn’t quite working as intended. I can’t get the reports back in the same format (yet), so the minor tweaks to the SANSOM data and the “Alternative” TABERNER line will be up next week.

Sunday 28th November, 2010

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Getting back on track. Maybe.

With a little time and breathing space, I can admit (to those who haven’t already heard or figured it out) exactly what got in the way last weekend. I had a car accident because someone else pulled out on me. I was fine beyond whiplash and lost time but insurance, etc. will be wrangling for a while. I have a replacement rental car and I miss my Golf – to the point where I’m starting to agree with my sister’s nickname for him, “Precious”.

My computer issues are controllable if not perfect. The desktop is back to being my main computer and is as healthy as I’m going to get it for a while. The sound isn’t working but mainly because I haven’t looked into it. The solid state drive refuses to work. The new printer is happy, though Finn is not so sure about the new housemate. The laptop is usable (and upgraded to Ubuntu 10.10 in the name of testing stability for the desktop).

All this means the genealogy side of things is up and running. I’ve even done a small amount of work on the database and will hopefully have minor SANSOM and TABERNER updates for next week. I’ve also been blessed with contact from a second cousin on the BECK side this week. (Hello, Dan RAWSON).

Writing continues. In particular, 25 Ways to Kill a Werewolf (Alex Jones’ world) now has 5 methods completed. I’m also mulling over an idea in response to a first draft of one of Amber Fox’s short stories I was lucky enough to read through. Theory has it that art is generally a dialogue, a response to what has gone before and what the people around you create. I guess I’m just conforming to the theory.

(No, I’m still not going to mention the rugby. I definitely can’t cope! Although I am wondering what’s going on with Stephen Jones’ facial hair / beard. Is it something to do with Movember [External Link] or do I just spend too much time online / thinking about these things?)

Sunday 21st November, 2010

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“The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men / Gang aft agley”
– Robert Burns

Right, where was I? I’m not entirely sure. Work was hectic and I had very little brain space for anything else, then the weekend came and I planned to get back everything back on track. Yeah. Didn’t happen (see quote). I won’t bore you with the details. Oh, yes. I’ve been starting with my computer news lately, haven’t I? Right, then.

  • The Desktop

    The brand spanking new solid state drive was good for about 5 minutes. It now appears to have taken an extended vacation / become an expensive paper-weight. The good news is, I got fed up with struggling with Windows XP (trying to get the new installation to recognise the old “My Documents” stored data) and I’m Ubuntu-10.04-ed up to the eyeballs. It works and I’m getting used to it. (That wasn’t meant to come out like a crack at Microsoft’s expense but, hey, if the cap fits…) Ubuntu has even magically disappeared the “corruption” from my original system hard drive and been able to read the pictures and music Windows was getting sniffy about – so the system is working better than ever. Complete with new printer. May the spamming paper submissions begin. And I’ve now sorted out the genealogy side of things. I’m not promising updates on the grounds that my plans keep getting kicked into touch.

  • The Laptop

    OK, I haven’t done owt with this, yet. Now I have the desktop working and stabilised, though, it’s time to start surgery. I’m probably just going to wipe it and start again, now I know all my data’s secured and backed up on at least two other drives. You will probably never hear anything further about this because I intend to use it solely for browsing the Internet, reading and writing. The problem with having the desktop down was that I had effectively lost access to everything. The laptop is a small luxury (i.e. being able to check Twitter [External Link] without having to get out of bed…).

And now the writing stuff. The latest New Dryas set stories have received another round of polish and are about to start the submission process, although the re-home attempt for Down-Time is still being thought about. 25 Ways to Kill a Werewolf (Alex Jones‘ world) has had a little bit of work but has been on the back-burner while I finished off the desktop work. If I were a pro writer (or even taking part in NaNoWriMo [External Link]), the roughly 1,000 I’ve managed this week would be miserable.

(No, I’m not going to mention the rugby. I don’t think I can cope!)

Sunday 14th November, 2010

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A little bit of this, a little bit of that.

So, computers. It’s times like this I’m ashamed to admit to a degree in Computer Science (or half of one, anyway). The computer problems are not shifting very fast at all.

I’ve got a new hard-drive (solid state and wow is it good) for the OS on my desk-top. It’s still Windows XP because I prefer it, but I’ve had to reinstall from scratch and I’ve lost a lot of my pictures and music because I was lazy. I haven’t lost anything else because I’ve always run two hard-drives: one for “system” and one for “data” – except for the stuff Microsoft tends to file under “My Documents”, which I shall eventually have to pay someone else to rescue for me. It’s all up and running except for losing the driver for my wireless connection. I also have to sort out the new printer so I can start spamming submitting print copies of my writing. You never know, I may even get to do some genealogy soon. Funny how you always want to do what you can’t…

The laptop is on Ubuntu 10.04 – or “Lucid Lynx” for some reason best not looked into – and now actually recognises the wireless connection. It even networks. But when wireless networked, it’s very very slow. I’m not entirely sure what went wrong in the first place (now a fortnight ago) because it worked fine when I did the install. I may just do a reinstall but I’m nervous of potentially loosing Internet access with both computers at the same time.

I have, of course, been avoiding working on both problems whenever possible. I have other things to do in my life and so they only get a couple of hours at the weekend a piece. As well as work, Finn and turning up for fencing, I’ve been concentrating on writing.

The latest New Dryas set stories have been sent out to various readers and are being polished off. I had hoped to put Down-Time in for Warrior Wisewoman [External Link] but I’m not sure it has the sense of wonder that Roby James looks for. Otherwise, they’re shaping up nicely in my very loose time-line.

The Alex Jones world is now also back in my thoughts. I’ve completed another method in 25 Ways to Kill a Werewolf and I think the whole collection just might work. It’s intended as a stand-alone novel and it’s unlikely that Alex (or Conn) will drift into it but never say “never”, etc. Because the werewolves so definitely follow the same rules as Alex’s do, there’s no doubt that these characters are running around in the same world. It’s also be good to working on an idea I put aside for so long – it’s good to know I can pick an idea up several months later and find it still works (or appears to). Also, the latest news on The Dog Handler acceptance: it looks like it will be published in the online version of Title Goes Here [External Link] in September 2011.

My final bit of writing miscellany: remember I went to Alt Fiction’s Other Worlds event [External Link] in Derby? Part of the event was a couple of workshops run in parallel. I went to the fantasy workshop led by Mark Charan Newton [External Link]. I now have a short story (about 1500 words) as a result of the cues he gave us. Sanctuary (working title) needs a bit more spit and polish before I decide what to do with it.

Sunday 7th November, 2010

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A week off (sorry), computer problems, a writing acceptance / update and other miscellaneous.

So, I’ve had a “week off” from the web-site. Sorry, it was unintentional. The hard-drive on my main, desk top computer has corrupted to the point that the OS (Windows XP, in fact) no longer loads properly. I have now got things sorted out so I can use the lap-top (running Ubuntu, if you’re interested) to make updates but I hadn’t managed it in time for last Sunday. I am actually in the process of fixing both computers – setting up the desk-top with a new hard-drive and Windows XP again and getting the lap-top to recognise the wireless aspect of my router. I’m not the computer geek I used to be and I was never that hot at it, so this may take the rest of my life-time!

I have also been on a week off from work and that’s given me the chance to focus on getting through some second drafts and getting back on top of my writing. By chance, I’ve also managed to rehome The Dog Handler, the third of the stories with Alex Jones in. It has been accepted for on-line publication by Title Goes Here [External Link]. And yesterday I went to Alt.Fiction’s Other Worlds event [External Link] in Derby. Yes, I did enjoy it but I’m not great on reviewing. You can find one of the first reviews here: Speculative Fiction report [External Link]

The final thing to mention is that genealogy updates will be on hold. While I’ve managed to secure the data from the original hard-drive, I’m having difficulty with the program I use, so it’ll be a week or so (with luck) before I can do any updates. Not that I’ve made any in a while but I was all set to put together a SANSOM update. Typical!

Sunday 26th September, 2010

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Apologies and the promised TABERNER update.

So, Finn‘s birthday party happened a day earlier than intended – on Friday night – and he, big sis, niece, niece’s dog and I wore fairy wings. Yes, I’m a cruel owner but he deserved it. I’m not entirely sure where the RSPCA will stand on this, but it’s still cruel. And funny. However, there will be delays in sharing the incriminating evidence:

  • No camera – somehow between moving and now I have misplaced my camera. I usually use my mobile phone but…
  • Dead mobile phone – my mobile is a two year old Samsung with touch-screen (of the basic variety) and the touch screen element has stopped working. As most things are on the screen / not button related, I can’t do much with it. I’ve now got a replacement phone / upgrade but…
  • Bluetooth only – the new mobile has no cable. It needs a USB cable of the newer type, which I don’t have at the moment, or Bluetooth. I did not build my desktop with Bluetooth (hey, it’s six years old now, leave it alone!) and neither my work nor my own laptop have the capability. Work because they don’t want me distracted and mine because I didn’t think it worth it. I have cables, etc, etc.

In other words, no photos of Fairy Finn or the new Pappenheimer until I get a USB cable and / or until my sister releases the blackmail material her photos.

On the good side, I’ve managed to get over 12,000 words of writing done during my time off. I have only 5 chapters to go on my non-speculative fiction project – and I hope to make it 4 and a half later today.

I also got my TABERNER update together. The data has added a few new people to all of the three lines given on the page, so it’s worth checking out if you’re keeping an eye on these people.

Sunday 19th September, 2010

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A web-site tweak or two and life / writing update.
(Oh, and happy talk like a pirate day! Yarrr!)

The first thing you may notice is that the Swords section has disappeared. In the offline period, I realised that I don’t really hold a lot of information in it so the section itself is fairly pointless. My interest continues (where time allows me to attend the weekly classes) so I’ve moved some of the words to the About Me page. The fact that I have just received a rather shiny Pappenheimer from Armour Class [External Link] should show that my enthusiasm hasn’t waned. I’ll take some photos and show it off next week.

Time is, of course, the important thing about this week’s diary entry. Anyone and everyone knows how difficult it can be finding time for everything one wants to do. It’s a struggle fitting everything in at times. Other things that have fallen by the wayside in the offline / moving period have been World of Warcraft – which I am unlikely to start up again – and Blacksmithing – which I hope to get back to when things have settled down. The former has been removed from the About Me page and the latter is staying there as a note-to-self. (“Book definite time at the forge! Go!”)

Juggling time demands also holds my writing back. I’m fairly content to view it as a hobby – I like having a roof over my head, etc, and I’m not going to be financially successful at writing any time soon, so it’s definitely not my main focus. Not to mention that I actually like my job. At times I love it. But writing is something I need to do to clear my mind – a weird sort of therapy as I can’t generally write about what’s on my mind. I generally find I need to write about those weird ideas that sit in the back of my skull going “Yeah, but what if…?” Which is why I write speculative fiction. With concentrating on moving house, putting my work-life in order and looking after Finn (and doing my best to help my lovely sister, but you don’t want to know about that), I haven’t actually had the brain-space to have these thoughts so writing has effectively been on hold for at least a month, now. You may have realised, if you’ve been reading the diary entries, that I was struggling for a while before that to fit it all in. I’m on holiday for a week from tomorrow, though, so I hope to be able to get some more writing time in. I managed to get 4000 words down yesterday – but they’re actually on my non-speculative fiction work. My confession / unveiling of what I have been working on will have to wait for another time (there it is again).

Next week, I should have a TABERNER update from information I’ve been gathering since my return to the Internet. It will also be Finn’s birthday party next weekend, so more incriminating photos once we’ve decided on a theme for the kids. My sister’s suggestion of pirates appears to be winning.