A Novel Approach

I got a copy of The Writers Toolbox for my birthday, as a way to help my creative mind. So, as I thought I needed a bit of a break (kids, wife and dog are asleep) I'd give it a go. It's just what came out and onto "paper"! I've not edited it, tidied up or made it flow nicely.  It kind of does, but it would need work to make real sense. It's actually given me a great idea for a story! FS = First Sentence (highlighted in bold) NS = Non-sequitur (highlighted in bold) LS = Last Straw (highlighted in bold) SS = Sixth sense, supposed to bring out feelings PS. This is copyright now, so don't go getting any ideas! ;-) FS     He swore on his mother's grave, but then he swore on just about everything . Max looked intently at Karen.     "I promise! If swearing isn't enough, what else is there?" he said.     "I guess there's nothing but to take your word for it then," Karen said gritting her teeth and wincing at the tho

Film Stuff I got an email last night from Zach Braff (yeah he emailed me personally*) about the advance screening of Wish I Were Here in London. Looks like this is happening on the 12th September, but the venue has yet to be confirmed. Am looking forward to it and the Q&A with him afterwards. Book Stuff I've done another info-graphic of the word count for my manuscript. Am now just over 53 thousand words. Such a long way to go! Just worked in the first major plot twist, I hope it makes sense. Felt like the right thing to do, although I think in the first edit, it may need a little work to make it sound more plausible. I like the idea though, so it stays :) I've got a long weekend away in a few weeks to shut myself away from everything and crack on. Hopefully I can get 6,000-10,000 words done ... or I'll drink my body-weight in coffee, either way it will be a good weekend. *That bing-bing-bing you heard in the background was your bullshit detector goin

I purchased a refurbed ASUS MeMO 7" tablet to do all my Social Media stuff on. My old HTC One phone does everything I need a phone to do, but I'm not spending hundreds of pounds on a new one when this one works fine. Remember when a phone had buttons, actual real buttons? Anyway, I use WiFi where ever I am rather than data on my phone contract, and that costs me about £9 per month for the privilege (rather than £30 to £40 for a contact with new phone). If I do need to use data, I can use the WiFi hotspot on the phone for the tablet. But I digress. The tablet is actually not bad at all. Some of the reviews said that it lacked power in the higher end 3d games, but as I don't play games, it's plenty fast enough for the UI and it's nice, smooth and responsive.  I saved about £50 getting a refurbished model, although it does have some cosmetic scratches on the back (which I'll only add too), it's fine otherwise. The basic spec: 1280x800 pixel IPS Scree

Well, brushing that fact aside and a Happy coming-out-of-your-mothers-vagnina day to me, it's about time I wrote another blog entry. (That all sounded like an intro to a sitcom episode in my head) So, what's happened in the last year (a reflection?) It's been a long year, but no longer than any other (I don't think it was a leap year?). Another orbit around the sun, another 365 days of everyday-ness. The highlights of the last year though, obviously have to be the birth of baby number 2, who is a couple of weeks old now and eating like a trooper; deciding to write a novel, finding a publisher and avoiding any planet destroying comets (well we all did that one). I lost touch with a few old friends (I think "unfriend" is the word the cool kids use these days) and kept in touch with a few others. I've avoided politics, the media's persistent coverage of hacking (would we really qualify guessing PIN numbers "Hacking"?  I guess I'm j