Express Yourself Monday - but on Thursday :-)

                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Express Yourself meme is a weekly jaunt brought to you by Dani at Entertaining Interests and Jackie at Bouquet of Books. At the beginning of the month the girls will post a gadget with a list of topics, something different for each week. Make sure to head on over to either of these blogs to check out the details more fully and see who else is taking part.

                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This weeks topic of conversation:  What are some of your favourite author quotes?

And here are mine:

When asked, "How do you write?" I invariably answer, "one word at a time."

- Stephen King

It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.
- Ernest Hemingway

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
- Douglas Adams

There’s no such thing as writer’s block. That was invented by people in California who couldn’t write.
- Terry Pratchett

Tell the readers a story! Because without a story, you are merely using words to prove you can string them together in logical sentences.
- Anne McCaffrey  

What are your favourite author quotes? Have you been over to the hosts to check out some more?

                                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Friday's here!!!

                   *****************************************

This post is part of the 'Celebrate the Small Things' blog hop hosted by VikLit, and is for celebrating even the smallest of victories during the week. Head on over to her blog to check out more people taking part in this hop, and to sign up yourself too.

                    *****************************************



 This week I'm celebrating:

• I'm finally better! Woop woop! Still a little tired, but no snots and no sore throat. It was touch and go on Wednesday and my voice nearly went completely but thankfully it's back to normal. I had fun trying to get my daughter off the playground that day, she could hardly hear me!
• I saw the new Star Trek film, which was brilliant! My geek-side was thoroughly satisfied and I'll probably be seeing it again. I'll post a little something on my full thoughts about it next week.
• I managed to write and submit two 2000 word essays in two days. Not great organising but they're done and gone. Now it's revision all the way!

What are you celebrating this week? Have a great weekend all, especially those enjoying the bank holiday!

                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heroes and Villains Blogfest - coming 6th June!

 

This is another blogfest from the partnership that is Dani at Entertaining Interests and Jackie at Bouquet of Books. 

All you need to do is post about your favourite heroes and villains, and we all know we've got them. They can be from books, films, tv, comics, whatever takes your fancy really.

Don't forget to head on over to the girls blogs and sign up to the list, and note the date so you can check out the others and see what they have come up with.

I'm looking forward to this one!

                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Express Yourself!

 

I came across this meme a couple of weeks ago and have been meaning to get involved for ages. It is hosted by Dani at Entertaining Interests and Jackie at Bouquet of Books and you can head over to either of these to check out the details more fully and see who else is taking part.

At the beginning of each month the girls will post a gadget with a list of topics for each week. This is the list for May:

 

On the Monday of each week you can then post something in relation to the topic for the week. I'm a day late with this one, but it's alright because if you don't/can't post regularly on a Monday there is still the rest of the week to post.

Head on over to the linky list if you'd like to sign up!

And so, for this weeks Express Yourself, What are you reading right now?

Picture from blog.paperblanks.com

This is the first book to be read as part of the new book club we've started at work. I'm only about 30 pages in at the moment but it's going along nicely. It's not very long, only 117 pages, so I'm hoping to whizz through this one fairly swiftly.

Then I can go and see the film!

What are you reading at the moment?

                                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Best and Worst Movie Remakes - courtesy of Ninja Alex!

 
Today is the day for the Ninja Captains Best and Worst Movie Remakes.

Head over to his site, or one of his excellent co-hosts to check out more contributions to this blogfest:

                             Alex J Cavanaugh

                              Stephen Tremp

                             Father Dragon Al

                                Livia Peterson

At first though this seemed to be a fairly straightforward blogfest, but as usual with these things I begin to over-think and make it far more difficult for myself.

Here is what I came up with:

Worst remake:

Picture courtesy of www.dbcovers.com

 

 Best remake:

Picture courtesy of www.moviepostershop.com

It's F-F-F-Friday!

                     *****************************************

This post is part of the 'Celebrate the Small Things' blog hop hosted by VikLit, and is for celebrating even the smallest of victories during the week. Head on over to her blog to check out more people taking part in this hop, and to sign up yourself too.

                    *****************************************



 This week I'm celebrating:

• I'm just glad to get through this week to be honest. I've been full of cold, waking up all bunged and I've been so tired my blog has been severely neglected.
• We've started a little book club at work. Our first read is The Great Gatsby, mostly because we want to read the book before seeing the film. I do hope the book club continues though, it sounds like lots of fun.
•  Star Trek Into Darkness is out! I'm so excited about seeing it but I'm having to wait until next Tuesday because my husband wants to see it and he's away in Edinburgh all weekend. I have been debating whether to sneak off to see it without him though, and then see it again on Tuesday! Is that too naughty?

Have a great weekend everybodies!

                                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flash 500 is here!

  I meant to post this good news yesterday, but this is the first chance I've had over the weekend to get on my computer.

The Flash 500 anthology is here, and I just want to say another massive thank you to the wonderful ladies behind this venture. Carrie Sorensen and Nicole Pyles have worked so hard to get this together, and I'm thrilled to be a part of it.

Download Fiction 500 here. As it becomes available for different platforms I will let you know.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!


                                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Smile - it's Friday!

           
                    *****************************************

This post is part of the 'Celebrate the Small Things' blog hop hosted by VikLit, and is for celebrating even the smallest of victories during the week. Head on over to her blog to check out more people taking part in this hop, and to sign up yourself too.

                    *****************************************



 This week I'm celebrating:

• The biggest thing I'm celebrating this week is the publication of some of my stories in the Flash500 Anthology. It was due to be released today, but unforeseen circumstances means publication will be tomorrow. I'll let you know as soon as it's available though!
• I went to my first writing group on Tuesday. I don't really know what I think about it yet, but I'll post something about it soon.
• It's only been a four-day working week, thanks to the May Day Bank Holiday. I've got another four-day week next week too!

What have you been celebrating  this week? I hope everyone has a great weekend!


                                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reflections from a 2013 A-Z Blogging Challenge survivor

 

This will be a brief reflection post on my experience of this years A-Z Blogging Challenge, I used my IWSG post last week to offer my first thoughts on how it went.

The main points that I have taken away from doing it this year are:

• Plan my posts - most of the time I write my posts on the fly, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but looking back I can tell which ones I took more time over. For whatever topic I choose to blog on, a simple list of notes is enough to make sure they are coherent and make sense. I don't want to repeat myself or miss anything out.
• I need to take more time over my posts - I've always been a very impatient person, but I'm gradually making progress on taking my time over things. I'm slowing down a little and enjoying what I'm putting together. I hope this will be reflected in my future posts.
• Enjoy what I'm doing and post about what I'm interested in - perhaps the most important point to bear in mind. It's too tiring and time consuming trying to figure out exactly what other people want. In this great sphere there's bound to be at least one other person that shares my interests.

To share in other reflections on this years A-Z challenge head on over to the sign up list, but hurry! It's only open for submissions until tomorrow!

                                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday Blog Hop - Saying Goodbye

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This story is part of the Writer Wednesday Blog Hop,
a wonderful weekly hop created by Nicole and Carrie to
stretch those creative muscles. Along with their co-hosts Tena and Leanne each week they provide the writing prompts for you to create what you can.

The rules are simple:

• there is one photo and five words, all of which must be incorporated
• there is a maximum limit of 500 words
• you have until the following Tuesday to write your post and link up to one of the hosts
• have fun!

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My contribution to last weeks hop is a day late I'm afraid. I intended to do it last night but I went to my first writers group meeting, which I think is a perfectly valid excuse ;-)

So, the picture:

The words:                                      Mole, napkin, poison, concert, neck

Saying Goodbye

The sudden rush left me as suddenly as it had taken me. I landed hard, my knees buckling and I fell against the bookshelves. Scared to open my eyes, I wasn't sure if I'd made it. My head was swirling from the journey and my neck ached from the landing, but I steadied my feet and took a glimpse at my surroundings.

I almost fell over again in relief when I realised where I was. The town library was one of Nathan's favourite places, I just hoped I was here at the same time he was.

My sight took a moment to adjust, and even when it did there was still a haze around the edges. I guess that was one of the side effects. I shuffled my feet, getting a feel for my legs. Movement was surprisingly easy, but it wasn't to last. The formula I'd taken to make the trip was working like a poison in my body now; this was a one-way trip.

I wandered up and down among the bookshelves, glancing at the books but constantly on the look out for him. Once or twice I shifted to avoid people, but found it unnecessary. They passed through me without even a shiver.

Emerging from the shelves I glanced over to the sofas by the window, and there he was. I should have known really. He sat with his back to me, gazing out at the sunshine in the gardens and a book open on his lap. It wasn't a book from this library though. It was one of my own. I recognised my own writing and the moleskin cover that he loved so much.

Coming up behind him I could see what he was reading. It was one of the stories I'd written for him when he was little. He'd always insist on reading it before bed, and he learned it by heart so that eventually we would read it together in concert with one another. It was always the time when I felt closest to him, and him to me. It pained me deeply that I was no longer there to read it with him.

He shifted in his seat and his bookmark fell to the floor, and as he retrieved it I noticed it was a picture of me, holding him the day he was born.

From behind me I heard a familiar voice call his name, and we both looked up towards his father. My heart gave a jolt as I saw him too, and I was suddenly filled with love for these two souls.

As they walked together towards the door I knew that I needn't have worried. As long as they had each other they would cope with my loss together. In this moment was the proof that my trip had been worth it. Tears welled and fell freely down my cheeks, in this body not even a napkin was of any use, and I knew I could finally say goodbye.

Word count: 500

                                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Movie Remakes Blogfest - 17th May 2013

Now that the adventure of the A-Z Blogging Challenge is over it's time to get into another blogfest.

Our very own Ninja Captain, Alex J Cavanaugh, is hosting the Best and Worst Movie Remakes Blogfest on 17th May, alongside his co-hosts Stephen Tremp, Livia Peterson and Al Diaz.                   

As it says on the tin, all you need to do is head over to Alex's blog to sign up, and then on 17th post about what you think are the best and worst movie remakes.

For a bonus point you can also give the best and worst song covers too. I think I need to think through my movie remakes first though, hmmmm ....

                                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flash 500 Anthology

Just over a week ago you may remember that I gave a little hint about some stories of mine that have been chosen for publication.

Well, I can now reveal the anthology in question will be released on 10th May 2013 - this Friday! Woop woop!

This anthology has been put together by Nicole Pyles and Carrie Sorensen, who have been secretly working away on this project for the last few months.
These two gals are the main brains behind the Writers Wednesday Blog Hop, a weekly hop designed to get your creative muscles exercising on a regular basis.

Each week there is a photo prompt along with five words chosen at random. You then have up to 500 words and one week to knock something together and link to the hosts blog to be shared in the blogosphere. Nicole and Carrie have been running this hop for a little over a year now, and have gained two wonderful co-hosts along the way, Leanne and Tena.

To celebrate their first anniversary the girls have chosen a selection of stories from all the prompts and put them together into a single ebook, available from Amazon and completely free!

I was so thrilled to have some of my stories chosen, I'm sure I nearly burst with the excitement. Why is it that when you get news like this there is no-one around to celebrate with?

Here is the cover for the anthology:

 

I'm obviously not the only one to have my work chosen for this, and I am in some excellent company alongside the other authors. Here is the list, and I urge you to check them out:

Anne Organista - anne-writersspace.blogspot.com

Carrie K Sorensen - chasingrevery.blogspot.com (WWBH co-host, co-editor)

Cindy Cagle - thewoodenrollercoaster.blogspot.com

Emily Jean Roche - emilyjeanroche.blogspot.com

George Beckingham - whyhowwhatif.blogspot.ca

Heather Musk - readingwritingeverything-heather.blogspot.com

Krystal Wade - kyrstalwade.blogspot.com

Leanne Sype - leannesype.wordpress.com (WWBH co-host)

L.T. Dalin - chessnysilth.blogspot.no

Melissa Gardiner - unpublishedworksofme.blogspot.co.uk

Nicole Pyles - theworldofmyimagination.blogspot.com (WWBH founder and co-host, co-editor)

Randy Lindsay - randylindsay.blogspot.com

Scott Taylor - scottywattydoodlealltheday.blogspot.com

Roman Taylor (Scott's son)

Sydney Aaliyah - sydneyaaliyah.wordpress.com

Tena Carr - jottingsandwritings.wordpress.com (WWBH co-host)

Tony Roberts - writingforfoodinindy.wordpress.com

Yolanda Tong - whereslanda.wordpress.com

 

 

I've been trying my hand at this writing game for about two years now (which I've only just realised!) and this is the first publication that my work will be featured in. It still feels a little odd, that maybe I am now a published writer. Ooh, that sounds weird, but in a good way.

 

I'd like to say a huge thank you to both Nicole and Carrie for all the extra effort they've put in to getting this anthology launched. It's a pleasure to contribute and I'm looking forward to many more prompts in the future!

 

                                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

That Friday feeling ...

                    *****************************************

This post is part of the 'Celebrate the Small Things' blog hop hosted by VikLit, and is for celebrating even the smallest of victories during the week. Head on over to her blog to check out more people taking part in this hop, and to sign up yourself too.

                    *****************************************



 This week I'm celebrating:

• Finishing the A-Z Blogging Challenge. I had to do some catchup at times, and there were a couple of days with two posts, but I made it! Congratulations to all my fellow Challenge Survivors!
• I have joined a local writing group. The first meeting is next week so I'll let you know how it goes. I've never discussed anything about my writing properly with people in the flesh before so I may be a bit nervous to begin with. Wish me luck!
• I've just about kept up with my to-do list this week, and now I've done this post that's one more thing to check off!

I'm going to the horse racing tomorrow so with a bit of luck I'll be able to celebrate a win there too! Have a great weekend everybodies!

                                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun is shining!

I need to send a very belated thank you to M J Joachim ,who very kindly passed on the Sunshine Award to me way back on 18th March. Her blog is definitely worth checking out so make sure you head on over.

March seems like such a long while ago now, but what with the A-Z Challenge I've had to wait until now to get my post in. Anyway, huge thanks again M J, and thanks for passing on the questions.

So, here goes:

• What inspired you to start blogging?

I think I started blogging when I first started to get into writing. I didn't know anything about it when I started (actually, I still don't!) but I wanted to have somewhere that I could talk to fellow writers that were, and had been, on the same journey I was embarking on. It was slow going at first while I built some confidence but the A-Z Challenge last year was a huge boost for me and my followers. I highly recommend it for bloggers old and new.
 

• How did you come up with the name of your blog?

When I began my blog I didn't have a clear direction that I wanted to take it in. I knew I wanted to blog about writing and reading, they are my two favourite things, but I know that other things get in the way too so the 'Everything in Between' seemed to cover the rest. There is actually another blog called 'Writing, Reading and Everything in Between' too.

 

• What is your favorite blog to read?

That is a really tricky question to answer, I follow so many now that I'm racking my brains trying to think through them. I think I'd have to say all of them, and I know how lame that is. I get something different from all that I read, but it all helps me to focus my attention on improving my writing.

 

• Tell us about your dream job.

It would definitely involve writing. I really want to be my own boss, making my own schedule and having just myself to answer to. I would be able to write during the day while my daughter is at school, and then spend proper quality time with her and my husband in the evenings and at weekends. I don't get to do that enough.

Plus, I can be there for her with whatever school activity she's got going on, instead of fretting about getting the time off work to do something I'd much rather be doing anyway.

  

• Is your glass half full or half empty?

Definitely half full, I try my best to stay positive. It's all you can do really if you want to be happy.

 

• If you could go anywhere for a week’s vacation, where would you go? 

I'm not too fussed where I go really, as long as I could go on my own! That may sound anti-social but I never get proper time to myself, so it would be nice to have some chill-out me time, away from the family.

• What food can you positively not eat?

I don't think there's anything I couldn't eat. I've always been a bit of an eating-machine, or a bottomless pit as my dad liked to call me. As long as it's properly cooked and isn't off I'll eat it.

 

• Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?

Definitely milk chocolate, and it has to be Galaxy. It's the best chocolate in the world.

 

• How much time do you spend blogging?

I think I spend about an hour at least every couple of days blogging. I could easily spend more on it but I wouldn't get anything else done. I love browsing around for new blogs to visit.

  

• Do you watch t.v. and if so, what are your favorite shows?

I don't watch much television anymore, there doesn't seem to be much choice and we don't have Sky. I love box sets though. I've just finished The Killing Season 1, and love shows like Smallville, Supernatural, Buffy, Angel. I could watch them all day (and sometimes do!).

So, there you have it! I'd like to take the opportunity here to pass on this little bit of sunshine to some other worthy bloggers:

                                               * Dani at Entertaining Interests 

                                * VikLit at Scribblings of an Aspiring Author

                                * Click at Clicks Clan


Enjoy the sun ladies! Feel free to take the *weird* sun picture and don't forget to answer the questions!

Here they are again as a quick reminder:

• What inspired you to start blogging?

• How did you come up with the name of your blog?

• What is your favorite blog to read?

• Tell us about your dream job.

• Is your glass half full or half empty?

• If you could go anywhere for a week’s vacation, where would you go?

• What food can you positively not eat?

• Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?

• How much time do you spend blogging?

• Do you watch t.v. and if so, what are your favorite shows?

                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Lesson learnt from the A-Z - An IWSG post

This post is part of the Insecure Writers Support Group. A great place for sharing all those insecurities we writers have, and for offering advice and support for our fellows. To join in head over to Alex J Cavanaugh's blog, you can check out what other people are posting about and sign up yourself too. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I missed last month's IWSG post because of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Although I had planned in advance what my topics were going to be for each letter, I was still writing the posts themselves on the day they were due. I often do this with my IWSG post (as with this one) so I decided to forego it for one month rather than try and rush something that wouldn't be quite as good.

The challenge this year has made me think a bit more about how I've been dong my blogging and how I'd like to improve it. 

The better posts that I had were always the ones that I took more time over and put more thought into, rather than the ones done at the end of the day or night in a mad rush to get it in. It was certainly evident to me, and I'm sure it must have been evident to you lovely readers. From this I've learnt to give each post a little more time, and enjoy what I'm writing about rather than have it feel like a chore.

I've been thinking about whether I need to get more organised but I realise now that I'm not doing too badly in this department. I'm already managing my studies around my job and family life, and I've managed to complete the A-Z so my organisation must be working. 

I want to get more involved in my blog but at the moment my focus is almost completely on my studies. Once the exam is out of the way I can divert my efforts to here and my writing more fully.

Finally, having been whizzing around the blogosphere throughout the challenge, I've thought a bit more about what I want to get out of my blog. As the title suggests, it was intended to be primarily about reading and writing, with some of the extra joys of life thrown in, but the last few months feel as thought I've lost sight of this a little.

I have spent a lot of time second-guessing myself, and worrying about whether my content is interesting or worth reading at all, which means I've been struggling with my confidence. This is something that I've been dealing with in many aspects of my life, not just writing.

The main thing I've learnt though from the challenge, is to go with what my interests are, and enjoy what I'm writing. If people enjoy what I'm doing then great, but if not I'll try not to lose to much sleep over it. I can't please everyone after all!

Don't forget to check out more IWSG posts over at Alex's blog. Until next month ...

                                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~