Dear Blog, I'm Sorry

Dear Blog:

Thank you for visiting, but I seem to be out. You see, it's the end of the year and there are 296 deadlines charging straight at me like a herd of very angry cougars (and I'm not even confident that cougars herd or charge). My Dearest Blog, and you know what makes matters worse, my one and only, Mac-Book Hard-Drive (people thought we were cruel when we named her because of the double double-barrel, but we thought it was cute) has passed away. This wouldn't be so bad if we weren't so attached. It was scary, how'd well she knew me. And her ability to recall every secret I ever told her means that she will sorely missed, indeed.

This Week's Web History (29/11 - 3/12)

I do a section on my blog that trawls through my web history, because I'm a writer, I generally end up perusing the web at some point during the day looking for information, inspiration or procrastination. The websites are random, sometimes morbid, sometimes bizarre, but always interesting.

A selection of my history this week:

Some of my friends from back home are trying to beat winter boredom and have thus embarked on the great search for Michigan's Best Burger. I look forward to eventually reaping the benefits from this epic research.

The Cold

It started like any other disgusting and unwanted cold.

Anyone else have that horrible cold that's going around? You know, for colds, I usually just say 'toughen up' and 'it's no biggie', but man this one was something fierce. Like that English grannie that rocks the turntables, this one just wasn't what you'd expect, not from a cold anyway.

Because one minute it was just sniffly and sneezy, the next it felt like you got kicked in the head and someone was stabbing you in the eyes with a screwdriver. Let me tell you, I get sinus infections occasionally, but I can't remember having one that was quite so bad before. This sinus infection is (still

I Am Number Four, Full Fathom Five and Children's Book Packaging

The ash from the fire has settled. Full Fathom Five has been well and truly burned.

I know this is a bit late for the Full Fathom Five debate, but I'm a bit distressed that the argument has been so one-sided and wonder if there's something wrong with me because, the more and more I've read about it, the more and more I want to--in some respects--defend James Frey. (Please don't kill me too.) I want to give him credit for his commercial business concepts. Put down you're weapons and hear me out! I think he has some good ideas, but the execution of these ideas is where Full Fathom Five falls apart.

Out of Coffee

I think I'm addicted to coffee.

I can't remember exactly why, but when my husband and I got married and moved into THE TINIEST little flat in Islington (because, yes, we are that swanky), my mommy got us a Nespresso machine. I do remember that one of the reasons for this gift was so that, whenever she came to visit, she would always have good coffee available. But more than that, I would argue to say that Nespresso is not only good coffee, but the best. Why is it the best? Because it's

This Week's Web History

Because I'm a writer, I generally end up perusing the web at some point during the day looking for information, inspiration or procrastination. The websites are random, sometimes morbid, sometimes bizarre, but always interesting.

A selection of my history this week:
How to Taste Coffee
Goat Wiki
BBC Food - Marshmallow Brownies Recipe
YouTube - Rhianna : Russian Roulette

How NaNoWriMo Ruined My Day

Yesterday I posted about taking a swing at the NaNoWriMo challenge. Today I sat seething at the computer. Tonight I cried to my husband, a big blubbering mess. Let me tell you why.

Yesterday I wrote a nice big chunk of prose. It was all planned out beforehand and I was even quite pleased with some parts. Yesterday was a very good day and I woke up this morning, ready to write more. But then I didn't. I'm not just an author, but a trained editor who shudders at anything less than perfection. So what did I do today? I deleted. I moved things around. I rewrote stuff. And not just a little bit.

NaNoWriMo by Numbers

It wouldn't be weird if you had no idea what NaNoWriMo was. I know about it, but I'm also one of the eccentric writing types that thrives on deadlines. You may very well not be one of those types, which should further your claim to residence in Normalville. I hear it's a nice place.

National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

For me, last week was JoNoOutWe, or Joanna's Novel Outlining Week. I had a few concepts floating

Kindle

So, I got an Amazon Kindle. I didn't buy it myself, my dad somehow got it for free and now (1) since he hadn't been using it much, (2) he knows I would use it a lot and (3) he's been drooling over the iPad like a St Bernard at a butchers... it's mine! Yeah, it's not in colour like the iPad, but I only charge my Kindle like once a month and I use is all the time. So, this post is dedicated to my Kindle and the following entries will be the books that I've read on them.
1. Lies by Michael Grant
2. Shiver and Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

I'll start with my biggest gripe. Just get it out of the way and move on to how awesome it is. My gripe: