yes, it's me back to wittering on about St David's Day again, and why it's important to me (brace yourself, there's a bit of lifestory thrown in too) :)
One of our worthy hereditary peers of the realm has launched an attack on nurses in the National Health Service, and went on to criticise staff in dispensaries for taking too much time to dispense drugs (he compared it unfavourable to the service he gets in his grocers, saying dispensing was a simple job).
Amazon's 'Your Store' can be a bit of a pain - if it's not the scrolling through, ticking 'own that' and 'not interested' boxes, it's the liability to spend, spend, spend. Once in a while however, it turns up something that suits you down to the ground.
I've been working on a story for the last few days (unplanned, the idea came to me on the bus home from work), but I'm a bit concerned about the setting. Originally it was to be set partly during the Great War, but I was afraid of it being too dark, so I switched it to the Second Boer War, and a lighter ending. Here's the problem...
well, not really, more mildly miffed... I've just finished putting together a flat pack coffee table, and it's HUGE - way too big for my living room... the dimensions aren't bad (the top's big enough to hold my laptop, ashtray, teapot, cup and saucer), but the legs are a massive 2.5" square.
I have written nothing this weekend, but I've some good excuses...
1. really nice weather gave me a chance to launder the pile of bed linen that's built up since the last one - everything's washed and ironed now, so that'll be OK for a few weeks.
I've only attempted writing fiction in the last year or so, but for a few years before that I wrote a fair amount of poetry (tho not hugely prolific). Perhaps strangely, I have never written a poem on a tg subject, never been inspired to really.
I thought I'd try something tonight by way of an experiment. I'm still plugging away at my Edwardian story so I thought I'd programme some appropriate music for the period, so far it's been Parry and Elgar orchestral pieces, with a chunk of Vaughan Williams ('London Symphony','Lark Ascending','Songs of Travel') - I'm not sure it's working as I intended, I seem to be listening more than typing :)
Woke up this morning to find I had no control over my left leg, no bigee really as it's happened before, and is generally a bit wonky anyway. What it did mean was a day off work, to read through what I've been writing, and to rifle through my record collection (it really is a record collection, I never said goodbye to vinyl) for songs for Firestorm's repertoire...
I had a eureka moment this afternoon, and have finally come up with the last major plot element for my first Edwardian set story (I think my little sojourn back to my eighties adolesence helped quite a bit).
As I started to look for background detail for the Edwardian set stories I've planned, I quickly realised I knew next to nothing about huge chunks of the period (as opposed to the forties setting I've used before when I could rely on books, films and personal reminiscences of family who lived through it).
So where does inspiration come from? Tonight it came from two pieces of classical music (one by Schá¶nberg, one by Ives), Klimt's 'Judith' and an assist from Oscar Wilde.
I'm 300 words in and it seems to be going swimmingly, though there's a better than fair chance that when I read it back in the morning it's just going to be pretentious b*****s.
Which are of course - reading, writing and relentless research (I never was much use at 'rithmetic).
I'd cracked on with my household chores all week to leave myself clear to write over the weekend. A story of my mother told me at Christmas gave me an idea for a neat short story plot set in wartime Wales, which I reckoned was going to be about 2000 words - so do-able over two days.
In my last blog post I was looking forward to a long productive holiday back at home in Wales, with everything I planned to write laid out ahead of me... oh dear.
I've spent the time reading... my childhood favourite Enid Blyton largely, just the school stories though, which has given me an idea for a short homage.
Sorry if anyone's waiting for the next chapter of 'Midnight Angels' but I am a slow worker... I've fallen into a rhythm of writing it where I think about the chapter for a week or so before even starting to write it.
I read a lot of Enid Blyton when I was a child (probably at the tail end of her greatest popularity). I had a bookcase full of the 'Famous Five', 'Secret Seven' and '...of Adventure' series, but my favourites were the school stories. I especially loved Mallory Towers, where all the girls were very grown up, level headed and well turned out (even the beastliest of girls came round in the end).
Bahuchara Mata is a Hindu goddess. She was a daughter of a charan. She and her sister were on journey with a caravan when a marauder named Bapiya attacked their caravan. It was common practice in charan men and women if overpowered by their enemies, not to surrender but to kill themselves. Being a reason for the shading the blood of charan was considered heinous sin. When Bapiya attacked caravan, Bahuchara and her sisters announced tragu and cut their breasts. Legends tells that Bapiya was cursed and became impotent. The curse was lifted only when he worshiped Bahuchara Mata by dressing and acting like woman. Wikipedia
Has anyone had an element of their fiction make an unexpected connection with real events?
In 'Midnight Angels' Jess paints a white rose on the tail of her aeroplane... officially it would have been red but she is from Yorkshire and a red rose would never do. When it's copied to the other aircraft it makes the squadron very easy to recognise and earns them a nickname.
That's what I am by the warm welcome and response to my first posts. I've a few friends who've been supportive (and probably exasperated by my insecurities) but it's so nice to be sure that 'views' isn't translating into 'read the first lines, no sex, moved on'. :)
Well here I am barely an hour after finding this site and sure that I'll commit some dreadful faux pas (if I haven't already).
'Scordatura' was written a few months ago and was the second story I ever completed - though I think there's enough there to expand it... though it's mostly about violins with a few frocks thrown in. It's been posted elsewhere before now, and fairly well received.
Checks can be made out & sent to:
Joyce Melton
1001 Third St.
Space 80
Calimesa, CA 92320
USA
Note: $6000 is the operating, maintenance and upgrade budget. Amounts received in excess of the $6000 will be applied to long term debt accrued over the last 19 years.
