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A-Z Blog Challenge

March has ended. Daylight saving is over. Summer was here. Yesterday was April Fools. Did any of you see that?

The A-Z Blog Challenge has started. I hardly saw that one coming too, in spite of constant reminders around the blogosphere. (Check out the link, the challenge is rewarding) Although I had considered participating, preparing for it seemed a challenge in itself. My other writing has swallowed up so much time, I just don’t have the space to add more writing projects. However, I’m looking forward to reading a few favourite blogs who have signed up. Enjoy!

This week I’m policing the second-half of my novel, watching out for bad language, bad scenes, loose characters, missing commas, and any other misguided behaviour a good pummeling should hopefully fix.

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Kindle’s Dog Ear

Last night while reading HUNTERS by David J. Daniel , a NZ police procedural, from my Kindle Touch, I discovered two new features. First, I can highlight text!

So if there’s a beautiful turn of phrase I want to steal, I press, hold and drag to select a line or two, and voila! Second, and most intriguing of all, is if I tap the right hand corner of my screen, it folds down like a dog ear, a pretty small dog ear!

Can you believe it, though? Just like the real book. My next Kindle mission is to figure out how I’m supposed to find those dog ears when I’ve finished reading the novel???? Hey, some of us are a tad doddery and slow.

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We Need To Talk About Kevin – movie review
Watching the movie brought back memories of the novel by Lionel Shriver, which I read two years ago. In hindsight, the humour in the story eludes me; perhaps because it was predominantly an intense, laborious and grim read. The book opened up with a spoiler and given the subject matter, my first impression was ‘no thanks, too hard’. But the surrounding publicity (good and bad) and following accolades, kept me hooked. I’m glad I persevered, otherwise I wouldn’t have made the effort to see the film. A brilliant film it is, too. The script sticks to the story and those who have read the book, know it’s less about the tragic event that occurs than a woman’s guilt at failing to bond with her son, and the courage and fortitude to carry on in the face of terrible adversity, the majority of us wouldn’t survive. Unlike the book, the plot unfolds in a non-linear fashion. Never fear, it’s easy to follow without the confusion and complexity often seen with similar book to film adaptations. Tilda Swinton (above), who is perfectly cast and plays Kevin’s long-suffering mother, delivers a standout performance. From the opening scenes we sympathise with her character immediately, sympathy that becomes progressively stronger and emotional as the film develops. Those first scenes pack a good punch and continue throughout. We Need To Talk About Kevin is gripping and tense, and if any film is understated, this one wins by a long stretch. Today fantasy and post apocalyptic films dominate the screen, and small films like this disappear in the deluge. I’d urge people to give this film a go; it’s an incredible story, and a stunning piece of filmmaking.

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Police dogs and that is one brave cat!

This is what I call restraint.

I was on PINTEREST (for 5 minutes, honest) trying to figure out what boards to create and images to pin. That’s how you begin (I joined yesterday), then you scroll and trawl as much as you wish – liking, admiring, repinning and following other Pinterest members. But you do have to employ a measure of restraint and not let yourself be seduced by all the colour and beauty. I remembered this image from last year and pinned it to my board this afternoon. So far it’s picked up 35 likes and 100+ repins! I think a rare photo like this one deserves the attention. Now I have to figure out how to interlink with Facebook and Twitter!

Yes, I hear you. There is no time, there are too many other things to do. Who needs another social media distraction? You’re so right. But I actually enjoy the break from writing (even for just 5 minutes) when I can relax, laugh and find fresh inspiration for my stories. In fact, this image came to mind because the Dog Squad is the subject of the short story I’m in the midst of writing. My fictional dog is chasing the bad guy, thankfully not some cat crossing its path!

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My new Kindle and Kitten.

I was meant to post this previously. But I hadn’t even strung it together before Pinterest and St Patrick’s Day first sent out an impulse. Anyway, here are a few gratuitous photos of my two new companions. Initially, I got carried away with the latter, up to a dozen photos I think, until MIML said, “That’s pushing it”.

The Kindle Touch is simple to operate, but I’ve yet to experience its full potential before I can tell you how amazing it is. It took only seconds to hook up to my Wireless network. Easy-peasy. Needless to say, easier to purchase a book (not sure if magazines or newspapers work in NZ) – just one touch on the screen and your order downloads in 60 seconds. Oh man, I can see us going bankrupt long before our planned trip overseas next year!

My first purchase was Norwegian author Jo Nesbo’s Phantom, another Harry Hole novel. If you’re an avid crime fiction reader, you’ll enjoy this gritty, excellent detective series. Nesbo was in Wellington, New Zealand recently, for the Writers & Readers week. I also purchased two self-published books by NZ authors, way too cheap in my opinion, but for the reader, very affordable. I hope their novels reach a wide audience.

As I own a Kobo too (now in the hands of MIML), in terms of physical appearance, I actually prefer the original Kobo, the more appealing white frame and blue button (you can purchase in other colours, too), and lighter weight.  Earlier, as I trawled through the Kobo website, I discovered they’re about to release their own Kobo Touch e-reader, includes WiFi, and a few other technological advances I can’t now recall. In addition, I like their website better than Amazon’s. The improved navigating methods make it simpler and quicker to ‘search and find’ without feeling swamped by endless information. But that doesn’t mean I regret purchasing my new Kindle Touch. I’m sure it has garnered more bouquets than brick-bats!

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Here’s my adorable second companion. Today, by accident, his foot got jammed in the door (westerly wind), and after all that terrible screaming, I thought we’d lost him. He was, understandably, sad and sore for a while, but now that his foot has healed, he’s back to his playful, happy self. (No, I didn’t paint on those eyebrows.)

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Pinterest

There’s an interesting blog post by literary agent Rachelle Gardner for writers/authors.  She joined the new kid on the block – Pinterest Logo, and points out 13 things we should know about it. Sounds better than any other social media for a writer/author!  In Pinterest you avoid ‘sell language’ … worth popping over for a read.

 

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There’s always an upside.

I was subjected to terrible withdrawal symptoms when our phones went off-line from early morning yesterday until late this afternoon. Someone had cut the wrong cable in town, and that’s putting it politely. I couldn’t use the landline or Internet, check my blog, twitter or Facebook, and strangely, my mobile decided to go AWOL, too. Now that’s cruel deprivation!

But there’s always an upside to power failures and broken or faulty phone lines. At night a power failure is a rare occurrence and a novelty, if not a pain. It means candles or torches, leaping shadows, and the sound of silence. But a dead phone line and mobile, well, that’s a whole other story. I mean, what if there was an emergency – someone needed hospital treatment, a house was on fire, or say a burglar was loitering around the property, peering in the windows? Imagine something more sinister? Who do you call? Need I say more.

I just found the premise (or part of) to my next crime fiction short!

And with less time online, I got to finish the last draft of one short story, and the first draft of a new one. Whoop!

I also bought two new things – one needs a battery and the other has its own (think four legs), but more on that in my next post!