New Year's Resolutions 2015

After reading all the McNaught over the Christmas period which I LOVED (I read Every Breath You Take for the first time ... I now love Mitchell Wyatt. Strangely, there were three mini moments relating to my NaNoWriMo novel which I am taking as a sign that I should continue with it!)  I thought I would do a small post on my New Year's Resolutions for this brand spanking new year. I will keep this list to the appropriate 'I'm an aspiring author' and leave out the boring personal things like losing ALL the weight ... so, without further ado, here they are:

1. Keep this blog updated even if my mother is the only one reading it (Hi Mum!).
2. Work hard at whatever I am doing.
3. Finish editing my NaNoWriMo 2014 novel then self-publish it.
4. After finishing said novel, work again on the first novel I wrote over a year ago and self-publish it too.
5. Learn everything there is to know about self-publishing.

It may be strange to anyone reading this that I am not even thinking about going down the regular route and getting an agent, then keeping my fingers crossed for a book deal with one of the big publishers, but for me, this is the path I want to take and it somehow feels right. I may regret this but we all make mistakes and thankfully as we get older, we learn from them too.

I feel this to-do list of resolutions is pretty attainable and having the list up on a public space will hopefully push me to see them through ... obviously I forgot to add WIN AN OSCAR, but that's 2016 darling.  

Until next time.

Christmas Book Haul!

I hope you had a fabulous Christmas! I definitely did.

The title of this post is self-explanatory, so without further rambling words of indulgence, these are the books I got for Christmas:

THE books ... standing on standard Christmas
fare; Ferrero Rocher (all gone now *hangs head*)

TOTAL.  BOOK.  LUST!
I  want to paper my walls in these prints.

The three Anthony Trollope books were a gift from a very dear friend of mine who thought I would enjoy his writing. They are Barchester Towers (here), The Warden (here) and Doctor Thorne (here). I have never read any Trollope (behave) before and judging by the synopses, I cannot wait to get stuck in!

I just adore this cover of The Notebook
(even though you can't see it from this photo,
the red letters are actually shiny - Ooo)

The other three books I received were what I asked for specifically from my mum and couldn't be more different from Mr. Trollope (but equally as fabulous!)
They are  Nicholas Sparks' The Notebook (here), Judith McNaught's Paradise (here) and Every Breath You Take (here).

I am not really a fan of the romance genre but since I was given two of Judith McNaught's historical romances towards the end of 2013, I have become hooked on her writing and she has quickly become one of my all time favourite authors ... I am planning a full blog post on Judith - you have been warned :)


And here are the Judith McNaught books in all their glory ... You get two photos (because one isn't enough, apparently).

I didn't bother telling you the synopses of these books as the beauty of book hauls I find is just staring at the covers.

I'm half way through rereading Paradise by McNaught (marry me Matt Farrell!) and am going to finish the rest over the next few days with a side of ALL THE CHOCOLATE I CAN HANDLE! H-E-A-V-E-N ... or should I say Paradise?

Oh dear.

Until next time.

Decorative books

A subtle hint at the books I will be talking about in this post.
SPOILER: THEY ARE ALL FABULOUS!

...You know those books you buy for the sole purpose of displaying because you like/admire said person/thing/cat/shoe/food/inanimate object/country/musical theatre show (YES!)/period of history etc but you never actually read?

Well, I read them.

I don't really own that many books but it was starting to bother me that the ones I did own, I hadn't actually read ... I mean, I may have flicked through them to look at all the pretty pictures but then let them gather dust (book crime #458). This minor irritation of mine pushed me to start project READ YOUR DAMN BOOKS GIRL!

DISCLAIMER:  The photos I have taken of these books are terrible ... I tried *breaks down in a puddle of tears*

The books of musical theatre wonder

DISCLAIMER (part 2):  I love musical theatre, if you couldn't tell from the photo above ...

Contrary to my dodgy pictures, there are some
truly wonderful photos in this book

BOOK NO. 1
Memories by Elaine Paige (here)
I love Elaine Paige.
Her voice is an emotional powerhouse and over the years, she has created some of the most iconic roles in modern musical theatre.

In this book, which is part memoir, but mostly filled with fabulous photos, Elaine Paige takes us back over her whole career which she relays in a funny, interesting and inspiring way. It was a quick read but one that I will be picking up again and again.

A PERFECT gift for a fan or a musical theatre lover in general.


BOOK NO. 2
The Complete Phantom of the Opera by George Perry (here)
I have had this book for so long that it is beginning to fall apart and shamefully, not from over reading. I have looked through it quickly to gaze at the pictures and sketches but that's about it.  

Since I heard the soundtrack of Phantom when I was very young, I have been a fan and seen it countless times in the West End but I didn't know much about the history of it.

I read the novel by Gaston Leroux which I didn't actually like very much but in this book I found out all about Gaston's life which I enjoyed and also the Paris Opera house construction all the way through to the countless screen and stage adaptations, leading finally to Andrew Lloyd Webber's iconic version.

This book is crammed with pictures and photos (my personal favourites are Maria Bjornson's designs for the musical).

It appears that this book is not sold brand new anymore but for just under three pounds on Amazon, you can have a used copy and still appreciate all the fabulousness of the various aspects of this show!

Please do not take my photos as what
the pictures in this book are
actually like :-/

BOOK NO. 3
Les Miserables: From Stage to Screen by Martyn Palmer & Benedict Nightingale (here)
Like both books above, I was a massive fan to begin with and only picked up this book occasionally to look at all the pictures ...

I have had this gorgeous thing for well over a year and wish I hadn't left it so long because after finishing it, I came away a little bit more in love with Les Miserables than I already was.

An example of the envelopes that are all the way through the
book that are AMAZING!

First off, I need to say how wonderfully this book is laid out. Like the Phantom book, it starts with the history of the novel written by Victor Hugo then goes all the way through to the screen adaptation in 2012.

The pictures are jawdroppingly wonderful and sporadically placed are various envelopes crammed with tokens from the show that include programmes, set designs and posters that I spent way too long looking at.

Because I couldn't get enough of this book,
here is my arty shot

This book made me want to clutch it it dramatically to my bosom and sigh after reading it.

It's a fan's dream book (it's got a rating of 4.68 on Goodreads for a reason).


Reading these three books has made me listen to even more musical theatre than I did before and has renewed my love for the genre all over again. ONE DAY MORE!!

I have decided from now on that I MUST read every single book I buy and not use books as some kind of rectangular ornament.

Until next time.

Update: Stephen King, Revisions & STUFF

I have been away from my blog for a (VERY) long time due to the fact I have been obsessively revising my NaNoWriMo 2014 novel. Since 17th November, when I finished the first draft, I haven't stopped working on it apart from the occasional episode of Sherlock & the odd (SO, SO MANY) Hallmark Channel Christmas film.

Since you asked (mother) the revisions have been going swimmingly but I have come to the point where my brain feels a little tired of looking over the same blasted thing for over a month with no break. Don't get me wrong, I'm still enjoying it more than I have ever enjoyed anything in my life, but I think I just need a break away from it for a little while. That being said, a couple of days ago when I finished my most recent draft, I picked up Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (here).

A disclaimer: I am not a fan of biographies.  Regardless of how much I like the person or how well it is written, I could never get into them ... UNTIL NOW.

On Writing is part biography, part advice for writers blended together so beautifully that I didn't want it to end. The book is funny, absolutely fascinating and inspiring, leaving me excited for the journey I have ahead of me. Shamefully, this is the first Stephen King book I have ever read, and I suppose quite an ironic choice, but when my TBR (To Be Read) list is cleared down, I am looking forward to getting started on all the classics he has written over the years. Whether you are an aspiring author like me, or just a fan of reading, it is a fabulous read. Definitely one of my all time favourites and one I know I will be reading again and again.

I will leave it there for now and make a vow to myself to be better at updating this blog.

Until next time.

The FIRST read-through of my NaNoWriMo draft and my verdict

On Monday (after thirty minutes of procrastination because I was scared of what horrors I might find amidst the sea of words) I started reading through my NaNoWriMo first draft.

I uploaded the (much feared) draft to the kindle app on my phone to make it seem more like a book than a word document and as I read it, I made notes on my laptop of what I needed to change.

After reading the first draft, I sorted out the notes I had made into three categories. These were:

1) Easy edits.
2) Name changes and parts to go over.
3) Facts & figures.

I find when I break down problems and organise them into a list like this, my OCD brain flies through it much quicker than it would otherwise.

VERDICT ON THE FIRST DRAFT:
I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by what I read. I came away from it excited to start editing and with the realisation that there was not too much to change. With the kind of story it is, I feel less is more and too much editing would make it ... sterile?

When I read through the first book I had ever written last year, the inaugural read-through was hilarious and I wrote lines that now only resurface in my nightmares ... still, I was surprised with that one too on the whole.

From Monday night until now (Saturday night) I worked through parts 1 & 2 of the list at lightning speed while concurrently going through the entire book for general grammar and lines I wanted to change etc.

I have finished my second draft (now standing at a total of 59,308 words) and will be reading through it again in the morning on my kindle, making yet another list of changes.

I hope this post wasn't too confusing. My excuse is that ALL day, EVERY day since Monday night, I have been staring at my laptop and there is a strong likelihood that my brain has melted.

To those who might happen to come across my blog (who are not my mother) and are in the middle of NaNoWriMo, whatever you do and however far behind you are with your word count, DO NOT GIVE UP ... Because it feels great to get to the other side of 50,000.

My post NaNoWriMo 2014 revision plan

After 15 days of insanity writing my first ever NaNoWriMo draft, I have now come to terms with the fact that I will have to begin the actual hard work of revising and editing what I have just written *breaks down in corner of the room*

I have already forgotten the beginning of my book and am slightly scared of what I will find. Did I hallucinate and instead of writing sentences, I just wrote Once Upon a Time followed by jsdksjf kljkfjsdk jkfdjfksd. The End?

I know you are meant to sit on the first draft for a month or so, go off and do other things then read through it but I am leaving only a DAY before I read it through because:

a) I am impatient.

b) I need to know how bad/good it is.

c) I need to write more words because I still have the sickness.

d) I am enjoying this experience too much not to.

After finishing the draft yesterday morning, I came away from it feeling great and pretty positive with what the read-through would be like … but as the hours tick by, I am doubtful of my over-confidence. 

Fresh faced on Monday morning I plan to start, and this is my personal revision plan:

1) Read through the whole book and make a list of all the major things wrong with it and inconsistencies with the plot and characters.

2) Tackle everything on that (very long, I imagine) list.

3) Keep going through the book with a fine tooth comb until I am 100000000% satisfied.

4) Let my mum read it and tell me her honest opinion of it.

5) Tell Mum she is wrong and doesn't know what she is talking about when she tells me that there are things she would change.

6) Cry a bit after realising everything I have written is only fit for my computer's recycle bin and Mum was right.

7) Eat some chocolate and/or ice cream to make myself feel better from reading all the ludicrous characters and plot holes I have just written.

8) Go for a walk and tell myself I am a terrible writer.

9) Repeat steps 6, 7 and 8 at least ten times.

10) Start again.

I have only ever written one book in my life before this and I am happy with the way revisions turned out then so I will do the same for this one too. I know it’s a very basic plan but after looking at countless blogs and advice from a plethora of amazing writers, this is the way I enjoy and find most comfortable for me.  

(Of course the chocolate and/or ice cream means chocolate AND ice cream).

My first NaNoWriMo

This morning I finished the first draft of my NaNoWriMo 2014 novel (which shall remain nameless, for now) which is a total of 57,337 words.

I know it is only the 15th and I still have half a month left but from the 6th I went slightly insane and decided to push myself to write approximately 5,000 words a day.

I gave myself a 5,000 word a day goal because:

1) I wanted to see if I could do it.
2) I couldn't stop myself writing.
3) I wanted to finish it early.
4) I must be a borderline masochist.

At first I just wanted to stick to the 1,667 words a day because I thought it would add to the fun of it, but after a few days, I found it harder to stop writing, so in the end ... I didn't.

My daily word counts were:
Saturday 1st November - 1,696 words
Sunday 2nd November - 1,739 words
Monday 3rd November - 1,736 words
Tuesday 4th November - 1,893 words
Wednesday 5th November - 1,713 words
Thursday 6th November - 5,033 words
Friday 7th November - 6,339 words
Saturday 8th November - 6,382 words
Sunday 9th November - 3,580 words
Monday 10th November - 5,041 words
Tuesday 11th November - 4,910 words
Wednesday 12th November - 5,028 words
Thursday 13th November - 4,917 words
Friday 14th November - 5,931 words
Saturday 15th November - 1,399 words

TOTAL - 57,337 words

Honestly, now it is finished, I feel a bit bereft so to try and tackle this, I have spent the best part of the evening setting up this blog, a twitter & instagram account and all manner of other things to soothe my lonely (but aching) fingers.

What I have learnt from my first NaNoWriMo:

1) I adore writing. 

2) If I set myself a goal, I can reach it.

3) I have learnt a lot about myself.

4) If I write for long periods, I get a twitch in my right eye.

Thank you NaNoWriMo and I can't wait until next year.