Express Yourself - Living as an X-man

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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.

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This weeks topic of conversation: Which book/movie do you wish you lived in?

 

 

 pics2.imagezone.org

 

 

I think if I had to live in a book it'd be something like Pride and Prejudice. Spending all my time getting dolled up in fancy dresses and going to balls all the time? Sounds like fun. Plus I could put my efforts into trying to be wooed by an eligible bachelor and if none were forthcoming, then my books and the outdoors would be just fine.

I always love the Red Dwarf episode when they all go to Pride and Prejudice World. Especially when Kryten invades with a tank!

 

 

 

 

 

As far as movies go, I always wanted to be an X-man, so I'd definitely want to live in that universe.  I quite fancy having invisibility as my power, and of course I'd be best friends with Wolverine ;-)

 

Picture from www.fanpop.com

By the way, the hardest part of doing this post was choosing a picture of Hugh Jackman. There are a lot to choose from! 

 

Research is tough ...

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A Song of Ice and Fire Book Club - Chapters 29-42: Dragons, Family and Lannisters

 

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It's time for another round up of A Song of Ice and Fire in our A Game of Thrones Book Club. As usual I am accompanied by our host, mithrilwisdom.com, Allison at Geek Banter and Ria at Bibliotropic.

Make sure you head on over to see their thoughts on the book so far and answers to this weeks questions.

This week we are discussing Lannisters (again), dragons and family.

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From Jamie:

 

Danaerys has grown quite bold since she was sold off to Khal Drogo, to the point where she has much less of a problem swinging for Viserys 'douchebag of the year' Targaryen. Do you think her development is down to her becoming stronger, the fact that she has a child to protect or is she getting comfortable in the safety of the khalasar?

 

Danaerys has always been dominated by her brother, who takes pleasure in reminding her of who is the 'true dragon' and heir to the Iron Throne. Since becoming part of the khalasar she has become a more important figure than her brother, earning the loyalty of some of her new companions including the khal himself. She has had to become strong to survive amongst her new people, and in so doing has realised she is far more capable than she or her brother first thought. The safety of the khalasar certainly gives her room to grow, knowing she has protection if her brother responds badly to her gentle pushing of his limits. With the seed of thought in her mind that maybe Viserys isn't the 'true dragon' after all, that only leaves her and her unborn son. The strength of a mother is a force to be reckoned with, and will only serve to increase her confidence further.

 

 

From Allison:

 

So far, I am generally pro-Stark and anti-Lannister, but in the case of Catelyn vs. Tyrion I am torn. Who do you feel allied with in their situation?

 

As much as I'm beginning to like Catelyn Stark, I am not with her in her decision to take Tyrion Lannister prisoner. I don't think he has had anything at all to do with what he has been accused of, and is being used as an easy scapegoat because he is so much more vulnerable than the other Lannisters. His physical limitations leave him open as a target, and I think Catelyn has taken the opportunity to get any vengeance she can in the name of Lannister.

I have definitely been rooting for Tyrion through his adventure as a prisoner.

 

 

From Ria:

 

It seems that the author uses a good deal of archetypes as a base for his characters. Do you feel that this weakens the story when characters are models bordering on stereotypes, or does the large cast with a diverse number of archetypes balance that out?

 

With such a large cast of characters all interacting over such a vast landscape, the level of archetypes is less important. As they progress and come into contact with each other and are presented with different situations, they have the opportunity to break from their stereotype and establish themselves as a fuller character. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out in future books, with the introduction of new characters along the way.

 

 

 

 

From me:

 

What do you think of Catelyn Stark's sudden capture of Tyrion Lannister and her trek to see her crazy sister? Was it a mothers reaction seeking revenge, or a strong woman trying to do her best for the Realm?  

I think it was a split-second decision made by Catelyn to take Tyrion Lannister as her prisoner. In the Inn where she was trying to remain hidden, his unveiling of her identitiy backed her into a corner and she lashed out in response. In her thoughts she holds him and his family responsible for the attack on her son, and so it is in part a mothers instinct to want to have some revenge. Her acts are a reflection of this impulse to pay back what has been done to her family.

  

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I have enjoyed having proper time this week to sit down and get fully engrossed with the book, and the questions have been great for stretching my thoughts on what I've made of the story so far. 

 

Having discussions like this really does encourage you to think a bit more about what's being read, rather than just skimming along as I think I have done in the past. It's definitely helped in changing my reading habits and has made me enjoy the book even more.

 

Thanks you guys!

 

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It's Friday! Yippee!!!

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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.

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This week I'm celebrating:

• Having the internet back! I've felt a bit lost and out of the loop without it, I'm still catching up on my bloggy stuff.

• I'm halfway through my two week holiday. It took until yesterday to feel properly chilled out though so I'm glad of another week to enjoy it.

• Most of yesterday was spent reading, reading, reading! I'm reading a wonderful book that has really touched me, and I might just finish it today. It's so nice to have some quality time with myself and a good book.

What are you celebrating this week?

Have a great weekend!

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What's Up Wednesday! - 7th Aug edition

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What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Erin L Funk and Jaime Morrow . It's a brilliant way to tell the bloggy world what you're up to, in both reading and writing and anything else that's going on for you.

It's broken down into four headings:

                    1. What I'm reading
                    2. What I'm writing
                    3. What else I've been up to
                    4. What inspires me right now
 

What are you waiting for? Head on over to join in!
                                              

                  

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First of all, I send my apologies for my absence last week in the What's Up Wednesday hop. Those of you who follow me regularly will know that I've been experiencing some internet issue, but now it's all sorted I'm back with a vengeance! Well, sort of ...

What I'm reading:

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. (Ha! and I bet you all thought it was going to be A Game of Thrones!)

Some buds at work and I have started another mini book club and have all put two books into a pot. The next read is pulled out of the hat by an independent adjudicator. I have a suspicion that one girl has put the new J K Rowling/Robert Galbraith book in, to which one of the others has strong opinion. When that's pulled out it could be interesting!

I'm enjoying Harold Fry at the moment, it's going along at a nice pace. It's a nice departure from A Game of Thrones.

Oh yeah, and I'm still reading that too ;-)  On page 251 now!

What I'm writing:

Ready, Set, Write! goals, week 6 and 7:

 

1. Do first draft of short story for August competition.

My first draft is complete, and I have even gone old-school and written it all by hand in my notebook. There are some benefits to having no internet!

 
     2.  Keep going with Camp NaNo.

 

Overall I managed 10,500 of my 25,000 word count. I'm not getting too upset about it, it's more words than I usually produce in a month so I'm taking away that positive. It's helped me establish ways that I prefer to do my writing, which means I'm wiser than when I started. I probably won't take on such a challenge again for a while, I know now just how much I can get done alongside everything else in my life.

 

     3.  Write and post something for the Writer Wednesday Blog Hop.

 

I have managed one out of the two blog hop prompts, which you can view here. I haven't been able to access he details of the other one in time for the link up, but I'll still be posting my contribution to it this week.

 
      4.  Try and write one page of free writing in my notebook every day.

 

This is the goal I have struggled the most with. If I'm honest (and this is going to sound ridiculous) but I'm just not sure about free writing. I know there is no set way to do it, but I just can't get my head around it. This is probably one of the daftest things to admit to, but I just can't focus on it. It's definitely on my list of things to improve.

 

 

 

 

 

Goals for week 6:

1. Edit and submit short story for August competition.
2. Keep going with planning the novel idea that has forced itself upon me this week.
3. Write and post something for the Writer Wednesday Blog Hop.

 

What else I've been up to:

I have written what was supposed to be a scene for a wonderful blog hop being run by Christine Rains and Ceclia Robert, which is entitled More Than Just a Kiss Blogfest. The idea is to write a kissing scene in no more than 250 words and post it in the designated time period.

Well, my first go at this came in at nearly 500 words, but I was so caught up in the scene and the characters that they are all I can think about at the moment. I have a story forming in my head and I was up until nearly midnight the other night writing down ideas for the story. I'm quite excited by this so I'm making it my new WIP to keep me going. Hopefully I'll have an update on my progress next week.
 

What inspires me right now:

Strangely, work is inspiring me right now. It's pretty safe to say that I don't really enjoy my day job very much, and the last couple of weeks have been particularly difficult. I'm on holiday for two weeks now which means it'll be hard to go back. It really gives me the impetus to get on with my writing, and to try my best to do it well. If only I could do it well enough to give up the day job, then I'd be the happiest person in the world!

Happy Wednesday everyone! 

 

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Space to write - 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!

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Do you have a designated place to do your writing? Is it always the same spot regardless?

I've been trying out different places to try and find where I can be the most productive. It's difficult a lot of the time, the house we live in is really quite small and our five year old seems to have a lot of things. Whichever room I go into there seems to be toys somewhere, even in our bedroom!

I'm beginning to realise that to get any proper work done I need peace and quiet, which we all know is probably the hardest thing to come by on a regular basis. I can't work in the living room as my husband usually watches something on the tv and the sound is too distracting. If I go upstairs to our bedroom I can close the door and drown out the noise, but I can't get comfortable, there is no desk or anything to get set up properly.

We have a conservatory, but there is no heating or power for lighting so I can't go in there when it's dark. I find I'm just carrying around my laptop and notes from one place to another without any proper base of operations to work from. 

I'm managing to get some things done, but it's not easy. I'm looking forward to when we move to a bigger place next spring, then I can get in there and find a spot all for myself. In fact, I think I'll probably be bearing it in mind when we're viewing places.

At the moment I'm very tempted to set up shop in my car to enjoy the quiet and solitude. I could even get a little caravan to set up on the driveway to escape to, but that's not a cheap answer and I'm not sure my husband would be keen on it.

What do you do to get away from the bustle of the house?

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PS. While I write this my daughter is noisily playing hopscotch in the living room and slurping very loudly on an ice lolly. 

Please, help me!!!

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I'm back! Express Yourself - Literary and film identities

 

I'm back!!! Have you missed me? Being without the internet for nearly a week really is hard, I feel totally out of the loop with everything.

Now I'm back though I'm doing my best to get caught up with it all, starting with my Express Yourself post for this week. Enjoy!

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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.

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This weeks topic of conversation: What book/movie characters do you relate to most?

This is quite a tricky question for me, particularly if I try and think of a book character that I relate to. I love reading but my memory isn't what it used to be and so it takes me a little while to try and recall aspects of particular books. I don't know if this says more about me or the books that I've been reading that I don't find them memorable.

At the moment I am reading A Game of Thrones, and I find Arya is a character close to my heart. Like her, I have certain duties that I have to do to get through life, mostly going to work to earn the money and keeping the house running, but I'm burning to do something more with my life. I know what I'd like to achieve and what I need to do to get there but there are always obstacles in the way.


How about you? Do you have a better memory for what you've been reading? Any tips for retaining mine?

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Currently experiencing internet failure

Unfortunately the internet is on the fritz at home so I've been totally unable to post any of my regular stuff. I'm taking advantage of my mother-in-laws internet to post this from my phone.

I apologise for not replying to any comments or catching up on all your posts, hopefully normal service will resume next week.

Have a great weekend everybody!