Racing,dancing, leaping over streams!

Well no sooner than the A-Z challenge finished then I was throwing myself into another challenge, tempted by other ROW’ers I might add.  Foolhardy, I kept berating myself – walk away – have a rest junomo is coming up in four weeks, take it easy, HAH! When do I ever? A short story a day.  Every day! There isn’t even, as in A-Z, a day off – the pressure is on – every day write a short story. Yeah. Well. Stupid. Idiotic.

 Actually I am, after the first week, of the opinion it was a good, nay great, move. I am finding it all things good.  Shaking off my research/ non fiction mode after a month of A-Z, not yet ready for the novel, junomo; I had intended to polish up the first four or five stories I had ready, for a first Vol of Purple Turtles and send them off to, friend from forever/editor and maybe work on a couple more.

Well I have, already, six fresh new sparkling stories and three more weeks to go:) and the extra bonus is, that because I am now firmly back into short story mode, I have spent the time polishing the others, and have now sent eight off to friend from forever/editor.  Second Vol. is started.

 I seem to work well with challenges, I spent most of my life never giving promises – I never do! Also, never committing to any resolve in public, because? Because I hate being seen as a failure.  If no-one knew I was going to try something, I could quit.

 Knowing this, when I decided to give up smoking, 25 years ago (really, that long?) I was a two and half pack a day girl, it was a serious ‘get a grip’ time, so I told everyone, in loud tones, then I knew I would do it.  I did.

 So with these writing challenges, starting with ROW80 last year, once I have signed up – I have to follow through, it’s a personal pride thing, I think.

 So thank you, all you tempters, my stock of short stories grows.  There will be editing and polishing still to do later but the stories are sound.  My imagination released from the non fiction bondage is racing, dancing and leaping over streams in excitement.  The only downside is the mental exhaustion at night while I try and herd new ideas back into sleep for a few hours:)

 Had a lovely time on my birthday and came back with 10 random book buys – what bliss.  And it was the first and only day it didn’t rain for four weeks, I have always found grey a colour that saps my mental sunshine and I am finding it increasingly difficult to keep depression at bay, if the real sunshine doesn’t arrive soon I shall hide under the duvet.  I kid you not.

Tomorrow, 7th May, I shall have a Red Carpet Guest Glynis Smy who was one of the first to befriend me up on cyberspace, she’s a lovely lady with an exciting new book launching. Please come and applaud her.

 So this last week:

 1)      6 new stories written eight polished and sent to friend from forever/editor

2)      Ellen’s Tale trailer, I think, is finished –wouldn’t mind some comment (haven’t worked out how to put it up here yet so it maybe Wednesday – but it is done:)

3)      An hour a day editing Blue Moons

4)      Put up an Insecure Writers blog.

5)      Been playing catch up on the network sites, nearly there.

6)      Begun plotting structure and incidents for NaNo – tis very complicated and may be asking for suggestions next week.

7)      Walking half an hour each day still, but on painkillers.  Have spent time researching my various health ills and am working out new food regime to see if I can help myself back to some semblance of health, All these pills are doing my head in:(

8)      Have read the required number of Terry Pratchett books, so one reading challenge is finished. Yay!

 For the coming week I suppose more of the same as regards short stories, editing, and planning. Catch up on network sites (well A-Z may take longer).

 There is a little more time in my day now- my sister’s second round of training is going so much better than the first.  Her confidence is almost back to pre training levels – so nice to see the sunny smiles back again.

 Hope everyone had a good week, and all the best for the next.

Writing short stories is hard

What am I feeling insecure about this month?  What we all fear. That others will not like our arrangement of words, as we do.

 Although I am feeling a trifle jet lagged after the A-Z challenge, it is not that which has prompted this, I had had some very nice comments.  No, it was in fact some good news which prompted this blog.

 When I began to write seriously, four years or so ago, I joined a local writing class, became hooked.  I was told in the class, and in everything I read about the subject, that short story writing was HARD.  I shied away.  Not for this old lady, if it was hard.  I was having trouble enough at the beginning to string coherent sentences (I have a big problem with a few basics such as spelling, grammar,  punctuation and …well you get the picture:)  Short stories were just things we played around with in class, you know the one, have a prompt write for 10 minutes,  then read it out if you dare.  I enjoyed it, I have to say –always been gabby, me.

 I was trying to get the hang of short stories during a summer break when Ellen’s Tale emerged; it was meant to be a short story, not the first in a series:(  they had warned me short story writing is HARD!

 I carried on with the prompts.  Wrote a short fairy tale of her life, for a friend of mine, on the occasion of her birthday.  Wrote more of the prompts, enlarged on a few at home.  Allowed imagination free reign.  Wrote some very strange ‘mental ones’ as my friend from forever/editor called them. She did not like my series, but for some reason did like the short stories – showed them to her friends.  Said write some more, publish them.

 My friend from forever/editor is the reason I am in print. She has slaved hard to knock this Dyspraxic writer into shape over the years,  it seemed right togive in.  Keep your editors sweet seems to be a good rule:) My friends, of course all bought them in the print version, but I have to confess I did not push them, because I was scared frankly that I would be laughed off the circuit.  They were not proper short stories.  Short stories are HARD and I had found them easy. So my friend from forever/editor was obviously wrong.  I split them up into smaller Vols. for the e-book version, but still didn’t really push them.

 I still enjoyed writing them mind, they were my therapy when I was bogged down with the novels, and because I had no faith in them, I could allow myself to experiment.  They didn’t always have a plot:( they didn’t always have hero/heroine:(. Sometimes they didn’t really have a conclusion:(     I was having fun messing around with words basically.

 My friends liked them, but we all know, don’t we, that friends and family are suspect, because they may not be telling how it is.  I tried a couple of flash fictions in a couple of groups I had joined and received some nice comments.  I began to look at my strange stories and look around at others.  I found others were writing strange stories, experimenting with form and playing around with words.  Maybe.  Just maybe friend from forever/editor wasn’t just being a friend.

 Then the week that the A-Z challenge came slithering to a halt I received an unexpected review for the first Vol of Patchwork of Perspectives.  I had barely met her – Prudence MacLeod a fellow ROW8′er but new to me.  She liked the little stories.  What? Someone liked them enough to review the book, without a request from me.  To say I was flabbergasted is to be rather British about it:)  I went to bed that night wondering if they all had it wrong about it being HARD, maybe I could write short stories.

 Maybe I should have more faith in myself, more faith in my friends.

 I have often read Indie books that I have liked but I am slow/bad at putting up reviews.  Maybe the authors suffer from the same insecurities as myself.  I am going to try harder to read Indies and put in a good word, if I enjoy them. Maybe I can send someone to bed happy. Build up another’s  confidence.  Give them a little more faith in themselves.

Thank you Prudence: alberta’s update

The A-Z madness has slid triumphantly to an end – well tomorrow actually,but  it is all done and dusted here on my machine. Relaxation beckons. Wonderful.  I have enjoyed my annual April of madness.  It is a chance to flex my writing muscles a little, an opportunity to wander (research) down paths I do not normally have time for.  Fascinating times are had.  I really enjoy visiting the other blog sites and discovering so many new and interesting people.  So many. Only managed a handful, there’s over a thousand on the list!

 I have clocked up approx. 23,800 words over the 26 days we had to post, which is a good total to keep my writing hand in trim. I have discovered so many new interests, as I did the research, which I shall now pursue further.  Also have a long list of ideas for possible blog posts as well.  Well pleased.

 I had a lovely surprise this week finding that Prudence MacLeod, ( a fellow ROW’er), had read, enjoyed and reviewed the first vol of my short stories A Patchwork of Perspectives.  Such a nice review, unexpected but making my day. Her comment on the dogs especially pleased me , as some of you know I am more a cat person, but the fact that I had caught the dogs well enough for a dog person, seemed to me a quiet validation and boosted my confidence.  So thank you  Prudence.

I am taking the day off tomorrow to have birthday lunch out and hit the charity shops to treat myself to some new books, (like I really need more:) The excitement of random buy books, and charity shops are one of the places for random buys, is the excitement of never knowing what you will find.  A treasure, a good enough read, a disaster – the unknown.  Other people’s rejects are so often one’s own pleasures.  So fingers crossed.

 I may not have been writing novels/short stories this last month but my mind has been fermenting ideas and possibilities, so I am still walking alongside all my WIPs.

 Goals for next month are really housekeeping goals, clearing the decks before the JuNoWrMo  cahallenge I have signed up for.  Then, it will be head down, fingers flying again, with a 50,000 word challenge. The good thing about this one is there is no rule about coming with completely clean page.  It is a word count challenge.

 1)     Split Ancestors into two books The City’s Tale and The Outsider’s Tale – ‘tis an idea I have – might not work – may have to join them again – will see.

2)     Polish short stories, design a cover and get edits done for 1^st Vol of Purple Turtle collection

3)     Catch up on my other blogs, book reviews, book challenge updates, world building and words.

4)     Catch up on networking, sadly neglected this last few weeks

5)     Finish Ellen trailer, and post it and Sefuty Chronicle one up on you-tube

6)     Update all the sites my publications are featured on

7)     Start writing to reviewers re – reviewing Chronicles and Patchwork

8)     Continue with walks – hit bad, painful needing pills, patch this week:(- include step, bike and rebounder into routine.

All small fiddly bits, but needing doing, will continue editing Blue Moons and making notes of where I need to enlarge and deepen in line with my new goal for it

So a good week and looking forward to this coming one.  I hope everyone has a reasonable week.  I should have more time to visit this week – all the best and keep smiling.

Chills,computers and hailstorms:ROW80

It has been an odd sort of nothing week. The day we entered into a ‘haven’t a clue how long this will last but probably all summer’ hosepipe ban’, it began to rain, and it hasn’t stopped since.  Memo to water authorities – didn’t want to use a hose pipe anyway so there:)

 Hailstorm yesterday when in the woods with the dog.  They hurt!  Spent too many hours this week, drying self and dog off for it to be considered fun.

 Lost the computer for 36 hours – so I decided I would not stress and settled down to read another Pratchett.  Was just beginning to suffer internet withdrawal symptoms when the machine was good again.  My mail box overflowed – still trying to catch up!

 Then I lost more time with a vague feeling of un-wellness, nothing specific, achy shaky kind of thing.  I thought it wise to take care of myself. Read another Pratchett:) am fine now, I think.

 So how did I do this week?

 1)       Still up to date on my A-Z blogs which was my main goal this month.  Since Last Sunday’s check in I have written approx. 6000 words on A-Z so have kept up with writing.

 2)          Been doing some more research on bacteria for NaNo in November

 Research for Ancestors Tale I hope is completed, notes drawn up.  Have put myself down for a little nano in June – keep wanting to write this Tale – cannot wait until August boot camp:)

 3)          While I have been researching for the A-Z blogs have wandered down some other paths – as one does in research, and have made a list of subjects for future blogs – so ‘tis a bonus.

 4)          Although I shouldn’t have, I’ve now read seven Terry Pratchett books in a very short period!  Time I did some real work around here: ( so that reading challenge is almost complete).

 5)         Only just hanging on by fingertips to networking targets but have, I think, managed.

 6)           I am pleased to report that I do believe my ankles are improving, have done 5 days of half hour walk and one of an hour and although they still hurt they are not hurting so much.  At least that’s my impression, I have not taken any painkillers for them all week so Yay – maybe this walking will do me good eventually.

 Am taking possession of some gadget, which will turn my bike into a stationary one.  I can’t ride it out on the roads anymore, as when my ankle goes, so do I!  Getting a wee bit dangerous.  Will put it the conservatory, open the window and watch the garden pass me by:)

 So an okay week despite chills, computer and hailstorms.  Hope everyone else has had a good week and all the best for the coming week

Books, blogs and not a bad week at all

One of those peculiar days that we get in UK – it was sunny, then grey, then sunny, then pouring with rain, chilly followed by bitingly cold wind, then hot, again chilly then hailstones and now, as evening approaches, the sun is once again shining through! One could grow befuddled and confused, if one wasn’t used to it all!

 Not much done this week, as I had visitors over Easter and they didn’t leave until Wednesday.  My friend from forever/editor and her husband came to the rescue of two weary ladies – it was so nice.  She took over the, retired, dog walking for me, allowing a couple of extremely painful joints to recover somewhat, and he built a beautiful wooden contraption to hide the cat litter tray. Well actually to keep the new guide dog out it – dogs have such depraved culinary habits:( – all painted and blending in. Between them they bucked us both up and we are now ready for the next round of training.

 He has a love of boot fairs and we always go look see, when they come up, well this one had book bargains galore – I don’t actually need any more books you understand- have thousands upstairs and my TBR pile is tall enough to join Nelson.  But who can resist a book bargain)   Apart from eight fiction I managed to find four superb reference books as well.  Well pleased.

 So goals:

1)  Felt all written out yesterday, so settled down to address my Terry Pratchet challenge.  Enjoyed a reading fest, have just finished three in a row, eyes blurry, just before coming on here.  I was late finding Prachett but so pleased I did a couple of years ago.

 2)  Kept up with A-Z on kissafrog, We are at the halfway mark now, I have 13 done and, at an average of 700 words each blog, I have, since April 1^st, managed 9,100 words (think that’s right? Maths not a strong point.) So have kept up my writing every day and, because it’s nothing to do with my WIP, have found it quite refreshing.

 3)   Been keeping up with a couple of savvy authors workshops reasonably well.

 4)   I had the two books on Bacteria, I had ordered, delivered this week and I have been through the first one. (this is research for my NaNoWrMo in November.)  Must say even more interesting than I expected.

 5)   Am still struggling to get through all the network lists on Novel Publicity and Indie Exchange, but a few visited every day will win the day.  Likewise with A-Z list and ROW80 – it takes time to read the blogs and that’s not counting those I have delivered to my mail box.  Ah well! by the end of April all will be serene again.

 6)   Still planning  Blue Moon in my head – excited by the changes I am putting in place mentally.  Making notes only.

 7)   Although the doctor said half an hour walking every day would help my ankles, I haven’t noticed any improvement over the two months I have been doing so, just the reverse.  I will have to go back to him and check.  And, disappointingly, even though I have added this extra exercise into my day and I am now in the garden every day, I have added 4lbs to my weight in that time – don’t know why I bother some days:(.  I will persevere because I’m pig headed but. . .

 Anyway not a bad week and I’m quite happy with it (quite in old UK lady speech actually means very!, not just a little)  I hope everyone else has had a good week – that those on A-Z are coping and the best of luck for coming week.

PS am looking for a tribe for my kissafrog blog and my sefuty blog – anyone else looking for a match?  Also looking for people to review my Chronicles for review on relevant sites- anyone know anyone whos relaiable? Anyone wanting aplace to visit during book tour, or guest blog or just come visit for book plug- Red Carpet is free at the moment

K is for transplant

I know, I know ’tis the wrong place but needs must and all that and typepad has thrown a hissy fit and I am determined to post this on correct day (even if it is not on the right place:(

K is for transplant

It is time for more of those powerful magic makers, those who control life and death.  Every world build ought to have them. Different from natural magic, such as waterfalls, rainbows and the like, this magic is studied and many long years go into the making.

This magic did not appear very early in the world’s existence, indeed very late. Much application through the millennium was needed, because, this is as powerful as the use of genetics.  Scientists certainly aided these magicians but doctors, surgeons have to apply the spells.

We have to try to imagine the horror- horror? I am convinced it would have been horror – when this was first broached as a fit subject to pursue. If these particular scientists and doctors would use more melodious language their novels would outsell Stephen King in no time! I am a writer and would love to have their mind set to feed my imagination.

Picture the thought – the what if?

‘Let’s take a part of a body from this corpse and sew it into someone living!!!’

I was an adult when news of the first successful heart transplant whirled around the globe.  In 1967 Christian Barnard from South Africa was the man, was the name on everyone’s lips.  Amazing, stupendous achievement!!  His patient only survived 10 days yet, yet, the deed was done and over the next 2 years another 100 operations were performed.  Survival rate was still only 60 days, but Barnard’s second attempt had the patient surviving  19 months.  For someone who was going to die soon, an extra 2 or 19 months may seem like a bonus.  By 1984 survival rates had gone up to 5 yrs or more. Before I move on – think about it – this man transplanted a heart from one being into another being and it beat!! 

Where did that first idea come from?

          There are myths from ancient Rome, Greece and China of Gods and Goddess’s performing transplants.

              It is believed that by 800 BC    Indian doctors had begun to graft skin, using the patients own skin, to help burns.

         In the 16^th century an Italian, Gasparo Tagliacozzi, had begun to reconstruct noses and ears from the patients own skin.

 The secret of these last two successes lies in the fact that nothing alien was being introduced.

 It is almost sure, many attempts had been made over the centuries.  Mankind would have found the challenge to great to resist.  However, this magic was long in the coming because, other magicians had to do their work first.  Science had to come up with the answer to some pretty stiff barriers to success. Not least of which was the body’s tremendous and formidable resistance to anything ‘not mine’.  The immune system is a magical thing in itself, think of all those bacteria and virus in the world, all the accidents and illness’s waiting to gain a toehold.  How many times did we die of them? Very few times, everything considered.  The body knows itself well, and doesn’t take kindly to having strange things being foisted on/in it.

       Until the immune system was understood, there was no chance.  Using the patients own skin was ok, the body would recognise it.

       Then, when it was understood, some means of persuading this argumentative system to accept an organ from someone else, maybe alive but usually dead.  Why would it?

       Even when that was done, there was the problem of the quality of the organ to be inserted into another; decay begins immediately death has visited. To keep an organ in a fit state to transplant, needed a great deal of thought, skill and the efforts of many.

      In 1909 a rabbit kidney was transplanted into a child, who died two weeks later

       1933 there was an attempt at a human-human kidney transplant, but they did not know about tissue/blood matching – the patient died

      The first successful kidney transplant was in 1954 – successful because it was between identical twins – so no reason for rejection.

As the 1950s wore on, drugs to suppress the immune system became more effective, the success rate slowly increased.

They never give up these ‘wise men’ of magic!

1st success

of Pancreas 1966

of  Liver 1967

Heart 1967

Heart and lung 1981

Hand 1998

Partial face 2005

Double Arm 2008

Full face 2010

Double leg 2011

At the moment, in the UK, 1000 people a year die while awaiting a transplant, of some kind or other. Kidney transplants are common-place, however the list of donors cannot keep up with the list of those wishing to have a transplant.

 Now there are more problems arising.  Because people expect this amazing life giver, because the list of those waiting transplants grows faster than donors can be found (tissue/blood have to be a match even with immunosuppressants) New ethical questions raise their heads.

Donations from the dead, you would think would not present problems; sign a donor card in life and ensure your nearest and dearest understand your wishes.  However, this business of the viability of the organ, means the fresher the organ is, the better.

What is ‘dead’? Should a person who is brain dead be kept ‘alive’ with machines, to preserve the organs, receive treatment which is of no use, except for someone else?

Should someone who has died from cardiac/ respiration failure, have the heart restarted, so that it can be transplanted in another?  These are two of the questions being asked now.

Another is that of the ‘exploitation’ of those in financial need from the richer patients, sometimes leading to a black market in organ trafficking with resultant kidnap and murder. There is money to be made – but is it moral or ethical to buy an organ?

There has been a suggestion that cloning for organs would be acceptable.  If just cloning organs. Maybe.  The fear of many is that whole people will be cloned (as you never know which organ would be needed) the stuff of nightmares – but, what if? Eventually kill your clone. Have you read ‘Never Let Me Go’ by Kazuo Ishiguro?

Is this another of those escapees from Pandora’s Box?

I’m late, I’m late for …Alberta’s check in

I’m late, I’m late for a very important date! missed the beginning of round two of ROW80 – so sorry, up to ears with A-Z and houseful of visitors:)

Well –that was a short holiday! No sooner signed off and here we are back again.  There is madness in the cyber-air with the A-Z blog challenge.  There is a short burst of spring in the real air as daffs shout welcome as I pass, there is cold air threatened I tell them – they care not, so I will not either.

 I had to slow down half way through the last round for what I thought would be for a month, however, those of you who have followed my sister’s progress with her new guide dog will know it is not going smoothly.  She has qualified for one route and I don’t know who was more nervous when she set of for the first solo run her or me, and who was the proudest when she arrived back with a smile that would dazzle.  However, the three routes originally planned for the last month are obviously going to take far longer than any of us realized.  Hopefully now the first is cracked her stress levels will not be so high, but, it is into the shopping areas next so who knows!

 Anyway that was to explain that immediate week by week plans and goals are on hold, for the immediate future.  I still have my year’s goals to aim for, but for this next round I’m not at all sure.  So my intention this round is to do whatever I can do each week from those overall goals.

 * I had already decided to take Blue Moon over to next year as during NaEdNoMo it seemed to me it could do with much richer layering , to hopefully become more along the lines of Lit.Fic genre – if I can pull it off , has the ingredients, so will give it time and see how it develops.  So that’s one off the list for this year.

 * I am hoping to do the Nano boot camp, in the summer, and get The Ancestors Tale up and running.  It could be, if the training is nearly over, a chance to catch up on my yearly goals and still bring it in this year – have to be flexible on this book. Research is almost finished.  I would like to play with the vocabulary a bit more, can do that in odd moments. Hopefully life will be freer here by then; I can’t really concentrate on the length of a novel at the moment.

 So the Goals this round will be, when, and if, I have time full of bits which can be on the whole picked up and put down again if need arises.

 1)  A-Z blogs – through April – then more normally:)  I am blogging the A-Z on kiss a frog each day

2)  Carry on reading for challenges, report on some and muse about books.

3)  Get housekeeping on all network sites up to date

4)  Network on regular basis

5)  Start looking around for sites for a possible tour in autumn

6)  Continue working on short stories

7)  Continue working on book trailers

 *  I am looking for another Tribe to join; where I can flash did you ever kiss a frog and/ or the Sefuty Chronicle site. Triberr won’t let us have two blogs in one tribe – mean things:(   Kiss a frog is of a more personal nature, don’t really blog about writing on that one – just general life stuff.  And Sefuty is all about writing/self  publishing /editing  my books as opposed to general writing; this blog has excerpts, inspirations, research and the dilemmas behind the stories. So if anyone of you is running a tribe like those, please could you look see if my blogs would fit?

  *  I am also looking for people willing to read and pass reviews/comment on my books – info on what they are about and excerpts here.  A Smashwords voucher for free e-book (smashword can be read on kindle as well). If you’re in UK I could send a print copy.

 Did everyone else have a good break, and have  you all come back inspired and refreshed?