The plan...

is to get Elliot and Lily completed by the end of the year and two finish off both books of shorts stories that are kicking around my desk. I'm not setting a deadline for the tale of Thomas (or whatever you want to call it...) because I think I'll have enough on my plate with those three, plus a new screenplay to start from scratch (only 19 pages in so far) called The Busker, plus university work, Plus the god-knows-what draft of The Last of the Angels screenplay.

Seriously, if you want to make a film give me a bell. I have a script waiting for you, and apparently it's the wrong time to try and sell them into the industry, pulling itself out of recession and all that.

I'll hopefully actually start to update this with literary things once again... We'll see.

In other news, I have short hai for the first time in 13 years. Check out this link for pictures.

Keep smi... well. Whatever.

BOOK..

Not one of mine, but maybe a book that will help or allow me to get published one day? If I follow the rules that it!

My aunt bought me this book for Christmas, along with a bottle of whisky. Good aunt, the best combination I could have asked for... Whisky and Words! She knows that I like writing, indeed she's volunteered to read some of my work. What she said was, amongst other nice things, this:

"Baz, if I didn't know you, I'd be scared of you"

Glad to know that I can be that powerful!

But anyway, this is the book. I've read a few books on the subject before but not one quite like this. Instead of giving rules as to how to write and what to do in order to get published it simply shows 200 excerpts of ill written prose and comments on what mistakes have been written (and exaggerated) and the possible consequences of writing in that style. In that respect I found it hugely useful.

The only drawback I could find with it was that In the last quarter or so I was beginning to feel as if I was being told not to do something that I had previously been told to do. But I never went back to check.

However it is well written, albeit in an American dialect (no such thing as 'English US'!) and so there are missing letters aplenty but I'll forgive that for its usefulness. It feels like you're reading through a text with somebody next to you, pointing things out an explaining it to you. It's written as if they were talking to you and that's an approach I like, because I'm going to need lots of help to get the editing and publishing ball rolling if I finish a first draft!

Or course, there already is a first, second, third and fourth copy of my script 'The Last of the Angels' but I'm talking about a novel. So if you're like me and want to write, get this book.

Keep smiling,
Sx

Two things to share...

Finally managed to log back in here... Don't know what it is with my blogger but likes to redirect me o the 'Start a new blog!' page whenever it gets the chance. Ah well, we persevere. Only two things really to share with you all today.

The first is a charity thing I'm doing. I have long hair, some people are paying me to cut it, other people are paying me to keep it long (so basically to do nothing... :D) and some people just want to donate to a good cause. The cause is Autism research, the charity can be found HERE.

The plan is to collect money from both sides and then CUT or KEEP my hair depending on whichever side has the most money. The loosing team don't get their money back though... :)

Anyway, this has its own dedicated website which can be found HERE and I'll also be walking around annoying people with clipboard for a month, and possibly starting a FB campaign, because I'm that cool.

You have the 28 days of February to influence my decision, go BID!

So that's PART ONE, over. Now for the next story...

Jim (my Stepdad) goes off to Sainsbury's once a month or so for our "Big Shop" for the reason that... well... read the story here at my mum's old blog. But anyway, mum asked for a handheld juicer. Her heavy, glass, juicer got broken about a year back. Nothing fancy, just something that juices.

And so Jim returned dutifully with a plastic juicer, complete with a bowl for catching the juice. All neatly wrapped in cellophane. To put it bluntly, nothing had got in or out since leaning the Sainsbury's economy range factory. But hello! What is this!

A pubic hair! Ooooh, thank you Mr Sainsbury, thank you economy range factory worker. He must have hear about my charity scheme.

Dude, talking about the hair on my head...

But I guess in a way it's good that it was there, let's face it, if there was no evidence we would have just started using it without any thought about... what those workers are doing...

Go pledge, once again, HERE
And keep smiling,
Sx

Animal treatment

I'll probably take this don as it's not creativity related but I\'ll leave it up for a while.

It's horrible.




Stop smiling,
Sx

Tools of the trade. Part Three

Very little added to the tale of Elliot and Lily so thought I'd show this:
Present from my mother this Christmas. I know officially own an ink well. I am happy. This will go well with the dip pen, I'll have to find a quill at some point. The poetry reference would probably be towards the small pile of books in my bedroom (I mean small unfortunately).


A note on the title of my NaNoWriMo novel maybe. It's called 'Elliot and Lily' for a reason. The story is oly really about one of them: Lily. It's a story about her life and experiences and what she wants for herself in the future. Elliot is more a tool to explore this than a main character in his own right. But I've tried to make him as human and as well rounded as possible... I mean, yes, he may be a device: but youve also got to read about him!

So why's the title comprised of their names? Why not call it 'Lily's adventures' or something? The answer to that would be that Ellio is a HUGE part of this story, just not the past or future bit... But most importantly I like the way it sounds.

Say it slowly El-i-ot-and-lil-ly. I think it sounds good. Just after I decided on the main character's names (because of their light similarities (The 'l's mainly)) I thought about calling it 'Lily and Elliot'. But say that fast and the words get lost together. Also, for my lking, t's a little to close to 'Billy Elliot' - and I don't want to give the wrong idea of what the story's about.

Keep Smiling,
Sx

I am a very lucky person.

I just went through an old email account that I rarely check and since has been filled up with spam emails but boy am I glad I checked!

As the title suggests I just might be the luckiest person alive! Get this, within moments of a lovely young lady called Wendy emailing me saying that she was 'single, hot and in my area' I got another two emails offering me services to enhance my confidence with women and powers of seduction AND some nice fellow (who was apparently replying to an email I had forgotten I had sent) was offering me, at a very reasonable price, something to improve my sex life.

These emails could not have come at a better time. :) But I suppose the clincher, which really pushed me to do all of this, to accept these fine gifts and offers, was the fact that a very nice gentleman is offering me a cash reward for helping him out. That certainly will come in handy!

Keep smiling - maybe I'll put you in touch with one of Wendy's friends. Apparently they are hot and single too!

What a brilliant start to 2010! Have a good year people!

Sx

It's been a while...

But after NaNoWriMo I had a bit of a writing detox. Only started again yesterday. After reaching just over 50,000 words I cut it back to about 34,000. The vast majority of those last 16,000 were useless twaddle. They discussed a garden in the middle of an argument about rape.

Not the best placed aesthetic critique ever...

Anyway, back on the horse now. Nearing the second half of the third chapter now. I'll fill you in with the plot points so far after Christmas, but right now I'll just share this:

Chapter One: 19,024 Words

Chapter Two: 13,839 Words

Chapter Three: 9,740 Words so far...

and this extract from (the re-written) chapter one:

"After that night I didn't expect to see Adam again, I couldn't have blamed him. It would be returning to the scene of the crime. Cheating on his wife, sleeping with his best friend's daughter, his god-daughter, a minor. It wasn't hard at all to understand why I would never see him again. But I was wrong and the very next Thursday he was back. I almost couldn't believe it when I opened the door and saw him, I didn't know what to say. He stepped inside and handed me the bottle that would go very well with the meal that I hadn't bothered to cook, so convinced was I that I would never see him again. I took it and stared at him in amazement as he calmly closed the door and hung his coat on my father's empty peg before he kissed me on the lips.

'Hello Lil'.

And that was that, that was the beginning of a whole new chapter of my life. I split up with Martin and became known as the school's bitch for two weeks, until everybody forgot, because I dumped him without a reason but I didn't care because every Thursday Adam would be at my door, with wine and a kiss. We rarely bothered with Dinner any more, we just drank the wine and talked until he took pity on me and led me upstairs to my own bedroom.

It went on for a very long time that routine. A very long time, well over a year. God I loved him, and he loved me too, he told me so. I was in heaven for over a year, my own private heaven. Adam was absolutely everything that I wanted. A friend, a father figure, and somebody who loved me and who I could love."

Hopefully you're intrigued...

Merry Christmas for two days time.

Keep smiling,

Sx