My blog is on fire! (Now I have that Kings of Leon song stuck in my head)

The lovely Hart Johnson Gave me the Blog on Fire Award. I'm super happy, because Hart's blog inspired me to start my own after I met her on the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award forum. I got this award a few months ago, but this time it comes with a new meme, which is pretty cool. So here we go!

1)  Are you a rutabaga? I had to Google this to find out what it was. To be honest, if I'm going to be a root vegetable I'd rather be a carrot. Doesn't sound very fancy, but makes great soup.

2) Who is your current crush? I'm holding on to James McAvoy, even though he kind of reminded me of a bumbling David Cameron in the X-Men prequel. Hopefully that was a one time blip, because David Cameron does not a leading man make.

3) Upload a heartwarming picture that makes you smile.

These pictures are of my Labrador Roxie when she was just twelve weeks old. When she was this size I carried her to other peoples houses in my handbag because she wasn't completely vaccinated, and couldn't touch ground that other non-vaccinated dogs could have walked on. She's now seventeen months old, sixty pounds, and carrying her anywhere would involve a wheelie suitcase and a back injury. I love her to bits, and these pictures makes me smile in that goofy way that parents do when they're looking at pictures of their newborn. Yes, I'm one of those dog owners. 

4) When was the last time you ate a vine-ripened tomato?

Probably the last time I ate in my mother in law's house. She buys vine ripened cherry tomatoes because they're the only kind her tortoise will eat. True story.

5) Name one habit that causes other people to plot your demise?

Probably my absent-mindedness. I can tell you the names of prominent nineteenth century physicians, but will forget where I put vital things and to do things you specifically asked me to do. Despite frequent reminders. I have a planner, post it notes, flash cards, Google reminders, and to-do lists but I still manage to forget almost everything important.

6) What is the weirdest, most-disgusting job you've ever had to do?  

I haven't had any weird, disgusting jobs (yet), but the worst job I've had was as a telephone market researcher. I had to ring people and ask them lots of questions on behalf of big companies. My worst day was when I was ringing on behalf of an Irish bank, I rang a woman and asked to speak to her husband. She told me that he had passed away a few weeks ago. I apologised, and said it was nothing important, just a customer satisfaction survey about his account with said bank. She said that he hadn't had an account with that bank, and got quite upset. I felt awful after the call. I'd just informed a grieving woman that her husband had a secret bank account. She didn't need to hear that, especially not then. Other bad days involved ringing people at 10am on Saturday mornings, and a woman who was convinced that I wasn't ringing from a call-centre, but was in fact her husband's mistress. Fun times.

8) What author introduced you to your genre?

Young adult urban fantasy: Richelle Mead. I love all her books. Women's contemporary fiction: Marian Keyes and Sophie Kinsella.

9) Describe yourself using obscure Latin words.

Sorry, I'm not going to even attempt this. My father and husband both learned Latin, and will pull me up if my declensions are wrong. 

That's it! Hope everyone is having a more productive writing day than me, I have a cold that is making my life (and that of my husband) miserable. Hope it passes quickly.

Netiquette

Just where is the line when it comes to self-promotion?

Since I’ve started using social media to reach members of the writing community I’ve met a lot of great people. Most of the people that I’ve met are aspiring writers like me, but some of them are published writers. There’s both indie and traditionally published authors in the mix.

Now, I have no problem with someone using their blog, Facebook page or Twitter feed to promote their books. Marketing is part of the writer’s job these days, whether you have the backing of one of the big six or not. If I’m following your blog or your Twitter account it’s kind of assumed that I have an interest in what you write, and that information on how to purchase your book could be useful to me. I love reading about new titles, book covers, and all that jazz. What I don’t like is when a writer crosses the line from informing to spamming.

I follow an author on Twitter who is self-published, and she is a lovely person. She was very welcoming to me when I was a newbie tweeter and I like her. I don’t want to have to stop following her. But the writer in question regularly tweets message after message with slogans about her books. When I say regular, I’m talking about multiple times an hour.

So where is the line? What is an acceptable amount of promotion for authors to do for their book? I find the hard sell off-putting, and if someone engages properly with me and tweets interesting things and occasionally mentions their book, then I’m much more likely to purchase.

What do you think?  

In which someone entrusts me with a living thing...

The title is a bit disingenuous, because obviously I can be trusted with a living thing. I am an approved foster carer. I have a one year old chocolate Labrador who is happy and healthy. My parents are going away this weekend and are leaving not one but six children in my care ranging from eighteen months to fourteen years old. So obviously, I can be trusted with multiple species of from the animal kingdom.

Plants though...plants are a very different story.

My husband gave me a rose plant when we first started going out. She is no more. I have had half a dozen plants given to me by well-meaning family members over the years and none of them have survived. My mother in law gave me a tub of geraniums, which I put outside and entrusted to mother nature. These alone have survived, without any input from me.

It's not that I don't like plants. I love them. I love the idea of looking after them. I always start off watering them regularly, giving them plant food, doing everything that is required to care for them properly. And then...I sort of forget.

I'm absent minded, and not the most organised of people. If I forget to feed my dog, she lies beside her bowl to remind me. She's clever, so sometimes she 'reminds' me after my husband has already fed her so she gets two dinners. We have to watch her, she's half dog half Wile E. Coyote. But plants don't remind me to do anything. So they eventually die, and I feel terrible because these are living things and I am a terrible person to let this happen.

I looked after a little girl on respite last week, while her regular foster mother was on holiday. Said foster mother bought me a bonsai tree to say thank you, which was a lovely thought. But knowing my track record, I kind of wish it was plastic. How do you look after a bonsai tree? Is it difficult? Maybe I should look for a good adoptive home for it.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Liebster Love

I was the lucky recipient of the Liebster Blog award a few days ago, and now I find out that I've been given it by three more people! How great is that?

What makes it even better is that the three people who gave it to me have brilliant blogs, so the fact that they even pop on by here occasionally is amazing in itself. You should definitely check them out.

Julie Fedderson is a physician, blogger and romance writer. Her blog is laugh out loud funny, and definitely one of my favourites. When I grow up I want to be Julie.

Caitlin Vincent is a nanny and novelist. Her blog deals with the technical aspect of writing, and she explores language and new words regularly.

Krista M is a prolific writer who blogs about writing, life, and her pending move to New Zealand. Well worth stopping by.

Have a happy Thursday everyone! :)

The London Riots

The London riots have now gone on for three days. What started out as a reaction to one man getting shot has escalated into full blown violent protest against the Tory government and the economic situation in the United Kingdom.

I'm not saying that they don't have a right to be angry, or that they don't have a right to peaceful protest. But there is something disturbingly ironic about a group of people protesting over unemployment by burning down businesses. Some of these businesses were barely hanging on in the current economic climate, and many will not be able to reopen. This causes yet more unemployment, exacerbating the initial problem.

I'm angry. I'm angry that the leaders of my country made stupid decisions, and that the European Union requires Ireland to repay bondholders at a high level of interest rather than let them take the hit of their bad investment. I'm angry that because of stupid decisions Ireland is losing her frontline services. We have a smaller police force and less doctors. Our teacher to pupil ratio is climbing to among the highest in Europe. Services for rape victims have been scaled back. Special Needs Assistants for children with learning difficulties have been dispensed with in all but the most extreme cases. Rising oil prices are affecting the prices of food, heat and transport while welfare to the unemployed and elderly is being cut back. Most of the people who graduated with me are unemployed or have emigrated. I'm very angry. But how is going to my local shopping centre and setting fire to small businesses the answer?

I don't know what the answer is, but the scenes that we're seeing across London is certainly not it.

A new way of writing

So last week I had my first foster placement, a three year old with a huge amount of energy and a love of chatter. We had her for a week, and I loved it. When she went at the end of the week I missed her, the house seems unbelievably quiet. But the week made me realise something that all of you who are parents already realise: writing with children is tough.

It shouldn't have been too difficult, after all I have a month off from my journalism job which frees up around two hours in the working day for me. My plan was to look after the girlie in the day, and do a couple of hours writing in the evening. This did not happen. I looked after girlie, put her to bed, and was exhausted. It was all I could do to slump in front of the television in the evening, and even this required propping myself up with a double shot Americano. Twelve hours of complete responsibility for a three year old left my brain unable to process anything much more complicated than the plot of a Peppa Pig episode.

Yet I know that it's possible. I follow many blogs of writers who juggle not just parenthood and writing, but full-time jobs,  part-time jobs, volunteer work, academic study, etc. And, if I'd had time, I could have gone to their blogs and picked up a few tips. But my commitment to blogs, both my own and those of others, also suffered a knock last week.

Next time I'll hopefully be more prepared. My new plan is to make notes on scenes and characters as they occur to me throughout the day and then write them up in the evening. That way I have a framework which will hopefully stop me staring blankly at the flashing i-bar ready to fall asleep.

What about you all? Have you any special tips for juggling busy lives with consistent word count? Any and all help gratefully received.

Oh yeah, and sorry for being so flaky for the past week.

Why You Should Never Compare Your Manuscript to a Published Book

Ok, well maybe never is a bit strong, but there are several good reasons why you should try not to compare your polished manuscript to a traditionally published novel. Most importantly: It. Will. Drive. You. Crazy.

Of course you should read widely, and reading in your genre can make you aware of certain tropes and issues such as pacing and tone. Reading books by good authors is inspiring, and can fire you up with enthusiasm for your current work in progress. But it can also make you want to throw it in the bin/set fire to it/use it to line your cat's litter tray. Why? Because most books have a team of people behind them, rather than just the author. Unless you have hired a multitude of publishing professionals to go over your manuscript with a fine tooth comb, it's not going to be in the same stratosphere.

Publishing companies hire commissioning editors, copy editors, fact checkers and it's not because they're trenchant socialists eager to give everyone a job. They hire just enough people to ensure that they can produce a quality product that will make consumers part with their cash. These people are necessary, and any self-publishing guide worth its salt will tell you that if you're going to forgo the traditional route you're going to need to hire at least some professional freelancers in to help polish your manuscript.

A team of professionals will point out weak points, repetition, inconsistencies, and points where the plot needs improvement. There's a reason why authors usually thank their editors in the acknowledgements section.That doesn't mean that you don't need to edit, though. Your book should be as polished as possible before you start querying. But if you're plagued with self doubt every time you pick up a good book, you should remember that you're just one person. And maybe you should cut yourself some slack.