Sunday 19th September, 2010

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.

Sunday 12th September, 2010

Finally back online.

Yeah, so… Took a while to sort out the Internet connection – but now I’m back! The house is working out ok. There were a couple of internal water feature related issues but we’ve got it sorted.

As I was offline, I didn’t get the rest of mum‘s smallholding pieces up by Sunday 29th August. But they are up now. Check out Kids Will Be Kids and Lame Ducks.

“Pride and Prejudice”, as performed by Illyria [External Link] at Nostell Priory [External Link], was pretty good. Very funny and well arranged with a cast of 5. (Yes, 5!)

More next week.

Sunday 1st August, 2010

Progress update on the house move, a plug and the repeated plea.

Sorry for not posting last week, I’m a bit distracted by moving stuff. Which extends to the foreseeable future. How do you know when you’ve hit maturity? When you spend hours looking at a very tight budget wondering whether it’s better to:

  • Buy some curtain gliders (probably about a tenner for the number I need) to fit curtains to existing rails that you don’t want.

Or:

  • Buy a new curtain rail that you actually want or a close proximity thereof. Bearing in mind I’m going to be buying them at some point, anyway.

It’s getting rather daft, isn’t it? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

The moving van officially rolls up next Saturday (7th August). The phone-line, of course, won’t be connected in the new place until the following Thursday. Probably. So next weekend definitely will be without update and possibly the week after (Sunday 15th). I will get the rest of mum‘s smallholding pieces up by Sunday 29th August, however.

The plug. You may remember that I took my dad to Nostell Priory [External Link], about this time last year, to see Illyria [External Link] perform “The Three Musketeers”. Well, we’re going again. Tonight we’re off to watch “Pride and Prejudice”, weather willing. I hope it will be as fun as “The Three Musketeers”! And I shall try to remember to comment on the next update.

My plea is a repeat of last update‘s. If you take a wander through the site, you may notice that a few people have been kind enough to comment. But in some places the comment order has got all screwed up. I use the basic (mos)comment component of Mambo 4.6.2 – it all came free with my web-space – and I’m not happy with it. It’s not as interactive as it could be and then it goes and starts screwing up the display. Does anyone know a semi-decent comments set-up that will take the existing comment database? Oh, and tell me how to do it?

Sunday 18th July, 2010

Well, not a lot to say (New House!) but…

First off, a belated public Happy Birthday to the parent. This weekend has been his birthday weekend but I didn’t mention it last week as that would have been, well, too early. Sam and Sproglet came down from West Cumbria for the family meal and that about sums it up. No, we’re not very exciting!

On the same day, I got keys to the new house. Which I have been banging on about ever since. I’m not yet prepared to admit it scares the crap out of me (growing up and being responsible and all – not to mention spending all that money) and am currently enjoying the high of owning my own property. Wheeeeeeeeeeee!

However, you may also notice a certain lack of updates around here for a while. I will try to make time for the diary but I shall be as lackadaisical as usual about the site and even more-so about the writing. In fact, my last acheivement for at least a month has already passed: I submitted the first ten pages of the first part (keeping up?) of The Longest Night (from the New Dryas world) to the Red Planet: [External Link] competition.

And now I shall close on a plea: If you take a wander through the site, you may notice that a few people have been kind enough to comment. But in some places the comment order has got all screwed up. I use the basic (mos)comment component of Mambo 4.6.2 – it all came free with my web-space – and I’m not happy with it. It’s not as interactive as it could be and then it goes and starts screwing up the display. Does anyone know a semi-decent comments set-up that will take the existing comment database? Oh, and tell me how to do it?

Sunday 28th December, 2008

I am now part way through moving. I have two sets of keys (different houses) and the lovely removal men come to take my furniture down to Yorkshire on Monday. Everything else will be done by car. If only because I can’t find enough boxes for my books.

And probably of more interest to you all: Nesting Instinct should come out this week. Keep an eye on the Crossed Genres web-site [External Link]. Issue 2 is due out on the 1st.

And here are two people more qualified than I to bring you an important message:

Sunday 17th February, 2008

The bad news is: I’m back!

After weeks wrestling with the combined bureaucratic might of AOL and BT call centres, I have finally been allowed to move. Or at least, they have finally agreed that I have moved and that I should have broadband if I’m paying for it. I must have clocked up almost a full day’s worth (i.e. 24 hours) of phone time. At least AOL have some funky music (Son of a Preacher Man, anyone?) that I could sing along to while on hold.

You may notice a slight change to the status of a few of my writing projects (check out the new acceptance to NeonBeam [External Link]!), but I’m not working as fast as I used to. The new (full-time) job with Waste Recycling Group [External Link] is very absorbing and is occupying a large amount of brain space, so writing is only sputtering along.

And I now have genealogy project alerts that will be displayed on this page for the next four weeks (three more updates after this). They have also been permanently added to the relevant Families pages.

Sunday 16th December, 2007

PLUG/REMINDER: The Girl From Yesterday is in the first issue of the Ranfurly Review [External Link]

This would be the last plug I made of The Girl From Yesterday, if not for one thing. I am in the process of moving and BT has decided that my new place isn’t connected. It will be mid-January before they send out an engineer to connect me. So the web-site will effectively be on hiatus for the next four to five weeks. I should be able to find enough internet access with work and family to check e-mails – don’t expect an immediate response – but gaming and web-site maintenance will not be happening.

Sunday 9th December, 2007

PLUG/REMINDER: The Girl From Yesterday is in the first issue of the Ranfurly Review [External Link]

Nothing much going on this week, web-site or writing wise. I’m polishing my intended Cone Zero [External Link] submission. It’s on draft 2 and seems to make sense. To me, if to nobody else. Faith is a bit of a pig. I’m still busy first drafting. It’s coming out it bits and pieces and then I’ll have to stitch it all together and (hopefully) make it work. And Hybrid is just made it to the front of the Critter [External Link] queue, so next week I shall be having another look at that.

Other than that, I’m busy with: dog, moving house, the usual flood of admin work that comes with the end of school term, and preparing for my next job.