freda_writes

Deer Walk Pics

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:10:24 GMT

Bradgate Park deer sanctuary

Mike, bless him!

Summer so far

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:55:07 GMT

It has to be said, I’ve had a pretty good summer so far. Mum and I have just made our annual pilgrimage to Ragdale Hall, where we had three days of total relaxation. I’ve yet to persuade Mike to come with us, as he insists he would be ‘bored’. Well! I’ve tried to persuade him that there’s no need to be bored since, if he reached saturation point with massages and other pampering treatments, exercise classes and gym, walks around the lovely gardens and countryside, the incredible swimming pool and spa – not forgetting the yummy food, no starvation diets here – he could sit in any one of umpteen lovely places and read a book. Which is exactly what he does at home anyway! Ah well. One day. The only slight problem was the weather, which was just TOO hot – our bedroom, although lovely, was impossible to get cool – but we survived. Although I was happy to come home after 3 days, I look forward to going back. Such a lovely, soothing atmosphere there.

Oh, one other small problem. Broke a tooth eating a Ryvita. B****cks! Have to phone dentist and get it repaired – but it doesn’t hurt, so didn’t spoil the stay.

My dear friend Stephanie, on her LJ, wrote a fabulous list of ten ways to beat writer’s block. Here’s an eleventh – a visit to Ragdale! With my mind completely empty as I sipped a coffee and stared at the sky, I suddenly saw a direction for this vampire short story I’m meant to be writing. Later I sat out in the gardens in a swing seat, with birds chirping and ducks quacking all around me, and scribbled seven pages of notes. Result!

So, we came home on Friday, and on the Saturday (yesterday), Mike and I went on a guided ‘Deer Walk’ in Bradgate Park (my special and favourite place in the world). I mainly wanted to do this in order to visit the ‘deer sanctuary’, an area not normally accessible to the public. We were lucky with the weather as the threatening rain held off, and it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL – a wild, unspoiled area of hills and rocks, covered in oak trees and bracken. The head ranger took us around – only 4 of us; apparently they had 22 people last week so I can only assume everyone was watching Wimbledon – and gave us the benefit of many years’ experience managing herds of fallow and red deer. We even glimpsed a few, including some youngsters, but my main interest was in seeing a part of the Park I’d never set foot in before. The ranger certainly gave us our money’s worth as we were walking for at least two and a half hours. I took masses of photos which have come out wonderfully. Everything was so green and lush – in fact, the ranger told us that this part of the Park, because it’s so well-preserved, still appears as it would have done five hundred years ago! Five hundred years. We were walking through an authentic medieval landscape.

Busy

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:44:11 GMT

Busy, busy, busy. Once Midsummer Night was sent off, I started tackling the ‘things to do’ list. It’s daunting and endless, full of items like, ‘do garden,’ ‘accounts’, ‘update web site’, ‘start three new novels,’ etc, none of which are tasks that can be finished in five minutes and therefore never quite get crossed off the list which is growing longer and longer. To make myself feel I’ve accomplished something, I also write down tiny little tasks, which at least means I can at least cross something off. For example, there’s an item called, ‘~~Mum’s thing~~.’ I have absolutely no idea what that was, but yee-hah! Whatever it was, I did it and crossed it out!

Oh – some good news. My novel Dracula the Undead, first published in 1997, is going to be republished, in hardback for the first time, by Severn House. It will come out later in the year, in September I think.

Excitingly, I’ve now got myself set up with two monitors – treated myself to a lovely, matte 22” flat screen which gives a nice big, easy to use picture, and I have my previous monitor working alongside it. I was most impressed with myself for managing to set it all up on my own, without Mike’s help! It is so handy being able to spread documents over two screens – particularly while I was working on my Midsummer Night edit. Or to have different websites on the go, and so on. I’m wondering how I ever managed with just one monitor!

Meanwhile, I’m aiming to do the following: rewrite the synopses for Midsummer Night and my third ‘Aetherial Tale’, which is called The Grail of the Summer Stars for the time being. Write a synopsis for a Young Adult novel. Write a vampire short story. Start the new Blackbird book that I always meant to write. And, oh yeah, start the new novel for Tor, (ie, Grail). I seem to spend my life either doing chores to avoid writing, or writing to avoid doing chores!

Eastercon Part II

Wed, 27 May 2009 15:20:00 GMT

YEE-HAH! My novel Midsummer Night is finished!

I’ve been pushing myself like mad to get it done. I was getting very frustrated at the length of time it was taking. It was turning into a sort of nightmare novel that refused to be over. I got there, but only after long sessions at the PC that have left me completely square-eyed and stressed out. I know the text will need more work once my editor’s seen it… but at least I got it into a fit state for him to read, so I can forget about it for the time being. Hurrah!

Unfortunately I’ve just sat down and made myself a list of “things to do” now that MS is out of the way. This was a mistake as the list is ENDLESS!

Meanwhile, how was Eastercon? Well, we had a great time – the only disadvantages really were that a) we’d left booking too late and had to stay in a separate hotel and b) the con hotel (the Cedar Court in Bradford) wasn’t in walking distance of the town centre – we like to get away from the con and have a wander around the shops, but it wasn’t really feasible this time. It’s also a bit of a pain not being able to nip up to the room for a break. That aside, it was a nice con hotel with plenty of space and a pleasant ambience.

Rather than describe a blow by blow account of the con, let me just mention the highlights, which included: J Enjoying a lovely meal out with Justina and her fella, plus our friends Stephanie and Patrick and Aliette, and also spending lots of time with Justina over the con, after not having seen her for ages. J Meeting my agent’s new business partner John Berlyne – effectively, all their clients now have two agents or should I say, joint agents – and discovering that John B has written a MASSIVE tome about Tim Powers’ work. J Meeting Tim Powers himself, who was lovely – very funny and self-deprecating. Also very good at doodling, I noticed while next to him on a panel. J Spending time with Anne Sudworth and Warren, and various other friends old and new – Sam Stone, Dave Howe, Fred Gambino, Jim Burns, Lisa Konrad, Sue Mason, Kari, Chaz, lots more. J Watching Dr Who (the one with the double decker bus and Michelle Ryan) ‘en masse’ in the main con hall. J Last but not least, Ricardo Pinto’s launch party (see below).

As for low points, I don’t think there were any, but there were two SCARY points where I was on panels. The first panel, which included Sam Stone, Maura McHugh and Kev McVeigh and me rambling about Gothic fiction, was actually rather fun. The second – Tim Powers, Suzanne McLeod and Liam Sharp discussing urban fantasy – was terrifying, as I had to moderate it! The room was packed and there was John Clute sitting eye-to-eye with us in the front row which led me to wonder why he wasn’t on the panel in my place! My carefully-structured discussion went all to pot as people answered questions before I’d even asked them, but it was okay – the room was packed, the audience chimed in lots, and we survived. Don’t ask me what was said, my mind is blank! It was an Experience… I’m really not sure I’d moderate again though, as it was disproportionately stressful…

Eastercon Part I

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 09:11:10 GMT

At least nine years ago, a fantasy novel called The Chosen by Ricardo Pinto came highly recommended to me by a friend. It was rather different to most fantasy around at the time and it gripped me so much that I did two things I almost never do – a) went straight back to the beginning and read it again and b) ordered it in hardback. I even had dreams about the strange and disturbing characters! It’s a book that has a special place in my affections because I read it at a time when my father was ill and dying and it helped me through those difficult months – the bizarre world of the ‘Chosen’ was somewhere I could escape to and take my mind off things. It’s one of those rare books that haunts the reader.

Ricardo kept us waiting a looong time for book 2, The Standing Dead, and a very, very long time for the final volume. Ten years between book one and book three! (The whole project – The Stone Dance of the Chameleon - was twelve years in the writing, apparently). In the meantime, as I’d got the first two hardbacks signed by him, I was determined that when the third novel came out, it too must be signed by the author. This weekend at Eastercon the long wait finally bore fruit. Ricardo launched book three, The Third God!

I mention this before talking about the rest of Eastercon because I’m still excited. It was a big highlight of the convention for me. I pounced on the hardback in the dealers’ room, then kept a close lookout for Ricardo – Mike was urging me to get it signed asap so that we could put the enormous tome in the car and not carry it around all day! Finally we spotted him and I physically chased him across the bar area to catch him before he vanished from sight. As a result, Mike and I ended up having supper with Ricardo and a lovely chat and catch-up.

I think the reason I feel so thrilled about all this is not just the end of a long wait, but Ricardo’s own enthusiasm and passion for his work. The trilogy took twelve years, not only because he suffered personal setbacks (a house fire) but mainly because it was a labour of love, one that he poured heart and soul into. It had to be just right. All that passion – not to mention relief that it’s finished at last! - came across in the talk and Q&A session he did at his book launch, which took place at 7pm on the Sunday, just before we came home. It was a perfect way to round off the con and I wish him every success with the book – Ricardo is a lovely, charming man and he deserves it.

Bid Time Rewind!

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 09:54:30 GMT

It’s a wonderfully atmospheric morning, quite misty with lots of birdsong – I’ve just walked past the castle ruins on my way to yoga and they looked very mysterious and gothic. Passed a bloke in a rucksack and I thought, how lovely just to be hiking, just passing through on this lovely atmospheric morning! Alas, when I arrived at yoga, the place was locked up and no sign of teacher… one other lady arrived too, also unaware that the class had been cancelled. We are both worried about the yoga teacher now, as her husband had a stroke and is in poor health. Oh dear… disappointed at the lack of yoga but just hoping the teacher is okay!

At least it gives me a couple of extra hours to get a chapter finished. Well, I’ve predictably slipped behind schedule. I’ve wrestled with chapter 14 for a week and only now realised how I can put it right – but that means rewriting it yet again! So I’ve resigned myself to not finishing the novel before Eastercon. Woke up this morning to realise with a start that the con is less than a week away! How did that happen? Can I rewind to March please?

As well as the book, there are a few things I need to do before the con… finishing off a few items for the art show, thinking about a panel on urban fantasy, deciding what books to take… I’ll have copies of A Blackbird in Amber Twilight with me and here is the yummy cover –

Mike and I really looking forward to the con now. It will be lovely to catch up with friends. Hope to see many of you there?

Motoring

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:02:35 GMT

H’m. It’s not that I’ve had nothing to blog about, more that by the time I get round to it, the moment has passed! Midsummer Night is motoring – I’ve set myself a goal to get it finished by Easter, and I know I can do it, as long as I don’t slip behind with the schedule. This means I’m sitting at the PC quite late most evenings, but that’s okay. Second draft is the stage I actually enjoy. Still a few plot knots to untangle, though, especially in the later chapters…

Despite being tired, Mike and I managed to drag ourselves out last Saturday night to go to ‘Pitch Black’, the monthly Goth event at the Appleby pub in Burton on Trent. We are a bit rubbish at going out in the evenings these days, but it was well worth it once we got there. Two bands were playing, Projekt and Abigail’s Mercy, both highly entertaining in a whirl of multi-coloured lights and dry ice. It was an excellent night and good to see so many people there. Our dear friends Michelle and Kev run the pub and the ‘Pitch Black’ events. They work with great dedication to make the Appleby a fantastic alternative/goth/gay-friendly venue and it’s great to see them doing so well. We like the atmosphere – how pleasant to walk into a pub with a friendly, safe, almost homely feel (in spite of its many rumoured ghosts…) In fact it's worth visiting the Appleby just to see the amazing artwork on the walls. This is a shameless but unsolicited plug! Yay Michelle and Kev, you deserve it.

I am no party animal. I only had two drinks and still woke up with a rotten headache! Took Mike to a nearby farm shop, where we had a coffee, watched sparrows and tits on their bird feeders, bought some local produce, admired the views. It was a beautiful day. Then did little but veg out for the rest of Sunday, while making a couple of small items for the art show at Eastercon. Nothing too taxing.

A Blackbird in Amber Twilight is about to go to press, and my agent has a new website… I’ll put the link up next time but I’m falling asleep here!

White stuff

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 21:23:50 GMT

Another big dump-down of snow – Mike got to work all right, but I’m very glad I can sit at home and huddle in my study, looking out at a white garden, the ponies in the neighbouring paddock all blanketed and snuggled up together. All day we’ve had a crowd of blackbirds, begging incessantly for food – the garden is covered in their claw prints.

Judging by the excitement in the media over this weather, you’d think it had never, ever snowed before.

Excitingly, I’ve discovered a wonderful review that Charles de Lint has written of ELFLAND. I’ll try to post a link to it next time, when I’m not in a rush. And it was thrilling too to discover he’s ‘friended’ me on Facebook. Yes, I finally gave up the struggle and signed up for Facebook. (I only went on there to check out some gossip and had to sign up to view it and even then still couldn’t view it cos I’m not in the right network…) Anyway, I must admit it’s easier to use than MySpace. You don’t have to faff about picking fancy designs for the page, and seems easier to find people – just more user-friendly all round, really. I need to get more organised with all these different pages and sites that need to be updated all the time. My website is still embryonic but I don’t have time to spend on it until I get Midsummer Night finished. However, I’ve made a start on the rewrites today, and I actually feel like I’m getting somewhere with it at last!

The Immanion Press website was down last week but it’s back up again. Hurrah!

At last

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:23:03 GMT

It's with an enormous sense of relief that I wake up this morning to realise that GW Bush has left the building...

Home Again

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:15:30 GMT

Well, so much for my good intentions to keep up my LJ entries while we were away! Mike and I flew to Toronto mid-December to stay with our good friends for 4 weeks. Also, we sneaked a 5-day trip to Florida with the aforementioned Canadian friends, which was lovely. It was so good to wander around in t-shirts in the warm sun for a few days. This was the view from our hotel room in Sarasota:

This was the view when we got back to Canada:

As we were confronted by Ernie, our friends’ big fallolopy Old English Sheepdog. Although I am not a ‘dog person’, Ernie grew on me, despite his unnerving habit of charging straight at your legs while you were going up or down stairs, or going frantic when he smelled cheese. A nicer-natured dog you couldn’t hope to meet. I rather miss him! Oh, and it also snowed. A lot. It’s hard to believe that only a week ago, we were skiing! That makes me sound more athletic than I actually feel – I always get nervous, and at the time would much have preferred to stay in bed than head out to the ski club – but once there, I was fine and really enjoyed it. Video footage taken by our friend reveals that I ski like a knock-kneed monkey but what the heck! At least I got down the hills in one piece, and I even tried a harder slope that I’d never dared try before, and we had a great time. It helped that the weather was perfect – a lovely bright, crisp day with fluffy fresh snow. In between two days’ skiing, we went to the Royal Ontario Museum in TO and saw the most amazing exhibit of minerals and gems, including the largest tanzanite ever faceted. If you do a search on Royal Ontario Museum and click ‘current exhibitions’ you can see a picture of it. Yum!

After staying with our friends in Canada for what seemed a very long month, it feels strange to be home again. Strange in a good way, though. We arrived home about midnight to the sight of a world covered in frost and shining under a bright moon – which made for a white and magical homecoming. Needless to say, I did no writing while we were away – there was too much stuff to do. However, I did make some notes for the two novels I’m working on. And I visited some bookstores with a view to publicizing ELFLAND when it comes out, so I achieved something useful at least. On arriving home I found, not only the proofs of Elfland waiting for me, but also a fantastic big print of the cover art, sent by the artist KY Craft. Wow. It took my breath away when I unrolled it. Wonderful!

Belatedly, Happy New Year…

A nice cup of tea

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:59:50 GMT

Ordering a cup of tea in the UK:

You: Tea, please.
Server: One pound fifty, please.
You: Thank you.

Ordering a cup of tea in Canada:

You: Tea, please.
Server: Hot or iced?
You: Hot, please.
S: To drink in or to go?
Y: Drink in.
S: We have English breakfast, Earl Grey, orange pekoe, ginger and peach, white blueberry, peppermint, lemongrass and antelope, red bush, chai, Christmas blend...
Y: English breakfast, please.
S: Small, medium or large?
Y: Medium.
S: Paper cup or china mug?
Y: China mug.
S: Bag in or bag out?
Y: [Huh?] Bag in, please.
S: A dollar twelve, please.
Y: Thank you... Oh, er, and I could I have some milk with it, please?
S: [Looking startled]. Milk? Sure.

You get the picture...

Here it comes again...

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:45:29 GMT

I’m very thrilled indeed with the covers both for ELFLAND and A BLACKBIRD IN AMBER TWILIGHT. I will try to post images. Both books are due out in the new year. Must pop the images on my website, too, but all that is on hold while I try to get the first draft of MIDSUMMER NIGHT finished. I have nearly done so, although it is full of holes and ‘insert scene here’ type notes!

Okay, just one image for now - I need to edit the other before I post it.

The reason for the rush is that Mike and I are heading to Canada next week to stay with friends. We do this most years and it’s always lovely to see them and to have a nice break. I’ll try to keep up with LJ while I’m away!

Happy festive season, everyone. Or ‘Stressmas’ as a friend of mine so aptly calls it!

The Blustery Day

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:19:48 GMT

I meant to write about this before my web problems cropped up.

The other day, Mike and I made a fascinating trip to Birmingham. H’m, not too often you see those two words in juxtaposition, ‘fascinating’ and ‘Birmingham’ – but it’s true. Mike took me to the Jewellery Quarter in Hockley. I had never been there before. It's living history. Apparently there are 260 jewellery businesses in that one small area – it was absolutely bizarre seeing one jewellery shop after another all down both sides of every street we walked along. Quite, quite surreal. It was a very blustery autumn day and there was a cemetery right in the middle of the area… presumably for people who’d had seizures on seeing some of the diamond prices…? The whole day was really rather strange and wonderful. We walked our feet off and my head was spinning from seeing so many gems. Talk about jewellery porn! We lunch in a little ‘greasy spoon’ style café which was fun – a cheese and onion sandwich, crisps and a huge mug of tea. Perfect. I hadn’t intended to buy anything but I was tempted and succumbed to an unusual rose gold ring with amethysts which had been designed and made on the premises. It’s sort of contemporary yet art nouveau-looking. The chap even resized it for me while we had lunch. And Mike was happy because we found a huge watch shop which weirdly had a pool full of massive koi carp inside. Koi carp in a watch shop? Strange but delightful, like the whole day.

Sitting on the train on the way home, I had one of those rare, extraordinary moments of perfect happiness. It was a beautiful golden autumn day and there I was sitting with my dear hubby after a lovely day out. And I realized that, at that moment, I was completely content and happy.

Meanwhile, writing-wise, I’ve made decent progress with my various projects. The text of A Blackbird in Amber Twilight is ready to go to press, just as soon as the cover is finalised. The copy-edited manuscript of Elfland arrived last week and I’ve finished working through it and sent it back. I’d had some anxiety that the copy editor might try to excise all my English-isms and Americanize it so completely that it wasn’t recognisable as my style any more – but my fears were unfounded. The person who did the work did so thoroughly but with great sensitivity. Spellings had to be changed for the American market, obviously, along with the occasional turn of phrase, but my characters’ British quirks were fully respected, to my relief. Phew. Happy again!

Web progress

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:07:32 GMT

Well, I’ve made a little progress with moving my website and got the first three pages up. The whole thing really needs a style revamp, but my website skills are too basic to attempt anything fancy at the moment. Please, it’s taken me all afternoon to work out how to make the images appear! I’m pretty euphoric about that so I need a lie down before I attempt anything more ambitious!

It may not be fancy, but it’s simple and straight to the point!

www.fredawarrington.com

Web Woe, continued

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:37:15 GMT

Oh, that looks lovely. The content of my site sandwiched between two horrible banners! I really need to get this sorted out!

Web Woe!

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:23:18 GMT

Graaargh! Flaming AOL! My simple website has sat happily in their free members’ webspace for longer than I care to think, and now they announce that they are discontinuing their free ftp space. And I only found out on Sunday night that my website will be disappearing on Friday 31^st October.

Happy Halloween, AOL. Thanks for nothing!

So meanwhile I have found a new home for my website, but it will take a few days for me to get it up and running again. My domain name www.fredawarrington.com will link to it, hopefully within the next couple of weeks. At least I found out before it vanished, and not after!

This is hassle no one needs but, oh well, all I can say is AAARRRGH!

Newcon

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:36:06 GMT

Today has been beautiful – October at its best is the loveliest month with so many gorgeous colours, warm blue skies and the sun glowing through the gold and red and russet tinges of the trees. An ideal day for doing not very much – the necessary housework and sort-out of paperwork, chatting to a friend on the phone, then enjoying the sauna-like warmth of the conservatory. I also made a little progress with the small teddy bear I’m making that should have been finished weeks ago, made some notes for my book in progress, and glanced at the Sunday papers. (Trying not to think too much about the financial crisis because what’s the point of fretting about it? I still can’t get my head around the fact that supposed financial experts could not predict what should have been obvious to a three-year-old, but what do I know? Here’s an idea, I’ll lend a shed-load of money to A, who hasn’t a hope in hell of paying it back. Ah, but then I’ll persuade B to pay me back instead, with a vague promise that A will pay back B instead… eventually. But B doesn’t care because he’s passed the debt on to C… At least, that is my ‘finance for dummies’ take on what went wrong and no one heard the cries of ‘behind you!’ as the great big snowball came hurtling down the hill? There have been so many novels about acts of heroism… will this palaver now spawn a new genre of novels examining humankind’s propensity of sheer monumental stupidity on a global scale? Graagh, and I wasn’t even going to mention it…) Anyway – that rant aside, it’s been a really nice relaxed day, topped off by a splendid curry.

Where could we have been instead? Newcon 4 in Northampton, that’s where. In fact, Mike and I were there yesterday. It was held in a venue glorying in the no-nonsense name of The Fishmarket, which afforded all the splendid amenities you would expect of, er, a fishmarket. J It was our first Newcon and really, it was the strangest venue for a con that I’ve ever seen, an ex-market building now dedicated to the arts. On the plus side, it was a large, light L-shaped space with everything in one place – dealers’ space and panel items in one arm, a small art show and bar/café in the other. The biggest problem was acoustics – sound was lost in the large echoey vault of the roof which meant that, unless you sat in the very front row of the panel, it was incredibly hard to hear what the speakers were saying. This problem was resolved later by the panel table and audience chairs being turned through 90 degrees to face a wall, which made all the difference. It was an enjoyable event – it was good to see many familiar faces such as Storm Constantine, Iain Banks, Ian Watson, Chaz Brenchley, Ian Whates, Debbie Miller, John Jarrold and many others. I was surprised to see such a high turnout of ‘professionals’ for a comparatively small convention – it gave the event a nice dynamic energy. I particularly enjoyed Storm’s guest-of-honour talk, and readings in a side room by her and Ally Bird and Sam Stone. Dealers’ area was small and yet I found two books I’d been looking for, so that was pleasing. Even had time for a quick zoom around Northampton town centre – and a quite amazing ‘Wensleydale and carrot chutney’ sandwich from M+S! – tho I’m kicking myself for missing out on looking round the Charles Rennie Mackintosh house. Next time.

I always feel a bit strange after a convention, a bit low, yet strangely optimistic. Part of it is a sense of anti-climax and just sheer tiredness once all the socialising is over. Also partly a feeling that everyone else has been so much busier and creative with their time than me. But there’s also a feeling of excitement, as if other people’s enthusiasm for their writing is literally contagious – I pick up a renewed sense that yes! I can do this after all and it is worthwhile! And as I sat in the conservatory mulling over ideas I suddenly got the plot for a new novel so YAY! Thank you, Newcon 4.

By about 6 or so we were tired and ready to leave. Unusually, there was no gathering of folk to head out for a meal – probably because the con itself was hosting a BBQ & party later – so Mike and I headed home for soup & toast, a large glass of wine, and bed.

Happy, mostly

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:44:16 GMT

The other day, after we’d watched a pleasing array of blue tits, robins and greenfinches on our bird feeders, Mike expressed the opinion that our garden birds eat better than we do! So I asked him if he really wants to hang upside down eating lard through a wire mesh? No, thought not.

Fabulously, my American editor has sent me the cover artwork for ELFLAND, a stunning painting by the renowned fantasy artist KY Craft. (What I mean of course is that he sent me a jpeg of it, not the actual painting itself… sadly!) Oh, it’s absolutely gorgeous. If this doesn’t convince readers to buy the book, nothing will! The artist has obviously read it – the more I look at the image, the more references I can see to characters and events in the story. It’s beautiful, enchanted and mystical. Wow. Happy happy.

Expensively, I’ve had to buy a new PC monitor as my existing one gave up the ghost (almost literally… lots of white blurriness was involved). Well, the new monitor’s fine but I have to say, I preferred my old one and didn’t realise how good it was until it packed up. Now I’m wondering if it’s worth getting it repaired after all. I think I know what’s wrong with it and an electronics bod should sort it out quite easily. I really hate the idea of filling landfill sites with perfectly good and repairable equipment!

Technochondria

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 12:25:35 GMT

YAY! Our broadband service is up and running at last! The ’10 to 14 days’ delivery of the router turned out to be five weeks, but it turned up finally. We had a few teething troubles with installation, of course – apparently we couldn’t install the wireless adapter until we’d installed the router, but equally we couldn’t finish installing the router until we’d installed the wireless adapter, a situation that had me close to banging my head on the desk in frustration, crying, ‘WHAT DOES IT WANT ME TO DO???’ Eventually what I did was go downstairs and serve supper, leaving it to Mike to figure out. And he came down two minutes later with a smug grin and said, ‘All we had to do was enter the password we’d just created. Like I was trying to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen.’ Of course. Duh! Even then, for no apparent reason, it wouldn’t connect, but a little box popped up and offered to ‘repair connectivity’ and hey presto, it worked! Don’t ask me why or how, it’s enough that it’s working and we have entered the 21^st century. Yee-hah!

Truly, wireless broadband is like magic. I wouldn’t say I was computer-phobic, exactly, but what I think I am is a techno-chondriac. You know how, if you’ve got hypochondriac tendencies, you look up a symptom on the internet and quickly convince yourself you must have one of several terminal diseases? I do that with technology. If we’re doing something *scary* like buying a new bit of kit or upgrading something, I try to be prepared by looking up every possible scenario of what could go wrong. As a result, I’m soon convinced that what I’m trying to do hasn’t a hope in hell of working! So I’m stunned and jubilant and ridiculously over-excited when the product actually delivers what was promised. I’m sure ‘normal’ people don’t do this… do they???

Last night we went to Immanion Press’s summer party – despite a deluge of rain turning us into drowned rats as we scurried from car park to venue - and it was great to catch up with Storm and the crowd (hi Donna if you happen to read this!). On the way home, I think we ran over a frog – it just leapt into the headlights in front of us – so I can only hope it leapt safely out of the way. It would’ve been too dangerous to stop and look, but oh dear, oh dear. I hope it hopped away. Last weekend, a friend of mine came to stay and we were joined on the Saturday by a handful of other authors for one of our regular writers’ group meeting. For that, the weather was perfect and we spend a couple of very magical evenings sitting and chatting in the garden. (Just my friend and me, not all of us!) And next weekend, we’re travelling to the latest Anne Sudworth exhibition, so that’s something else to look forward to. It’s a busy time – have to keep reminding myself I’ve got two books to be getting on with…

Grumpy old gits!

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:03:45 GMT

Here’s a tip: if you’re feeling a bit down, sad, depressed or fed up in any way, DO NOT under any circumstances watch Brokeback Mountain!

Sometimes Mike and I talk about emigrating to Canada. This often happens when the Government comes out with yet another truck-load of monumental stupidity, incompetence, interference or whatever (in this instance, a brilliant plan to keep tabs on every single person in the country’s emails, texts and phone calls, no less. That’s going to be popular, isn’t it? Can they not manage to open and photocopy all our post, while they’re at it?). We go into grumpy old git mode and decide that the UK is completely down the pan and things can only get worse. We have dear friends in Canada and stay with them most years. Mike’s quite enthusiastic about the idea of living over there, and I can see the advantages of their more sensible house prices and fine quality of life, and the chance to spend winters in Florida or California (as opposed to freezing your bits off in Ontario)… but my problem is that I can’t bear the thought of leaving England. Good grief, I was even homesick for Leicestershire until I moved back here! The idea of living in Canada is fine, but the thought of leaving England most definitely isn’t. It’s my HOME, darn it, with all its flaws. Nowhere else could ever be as green and familiar and ordinary and magical and just… English. Okay, it’s only talk, but to me, even thinking about leaving sometime in the far future is heartbreaking.

So still feeling a little upset from that conversation, the next morning I decided to watch Brokeback Mountain while eating my breakfast, in order to delete it from the general clutter of films on our digi recorder. What a mistake! I think it was mid-day before the tears finally cleared enough for me to see my PC screen!

On a less maudlin note, I’ve finally uploaded an avatar. This represents a nice memory. It was taken by a friend of mine when she came to stay in May just gone, and we went for a gorgeous walk in lovely, lovely bluebell woods.

Technophobia!

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:29:31 GMT

Everything happens at once – just as I’m trying to make some serious headway with my novel (Midsummer Night, is the provisional title), a reminder comes that I need to edit the text of A Blackbird in Amber Twilight ready for publication (by Immanion Press) in the autumn. In theory, I can manage this by allocating my time better, so that when I’m feeling alert (it happens occasionally) I can write new stuff and when the creative energy runs out, I can edit instead. Easy! However, you can guarantee that this master plan will be disrupted, most likely by the heavy THUD of the Elfland manuscript arriving from Tor for copy editing. Oh, and then there’s the matter of the third Blackbird book I’m meant to be writing. It’s good to be busy but there is a limit!

It's a beautiful day, and the garden is full of birds. Talking of blackbirds, I should explain about Mr Criss-Cross. Every blackbird apparently has its own signature tune, a sort of jingle that it repeats while singing as if to identify itself. For example, our much-missed Blackie used to preface his song with car alarm noises, and his predecessor used to sing up and down two notes, ‘Da-doo-da-doo, da-doo-da-doo.’ The dominant male now residing in our garden has a favourite refrain which goes, ‘Oo-ee toot-ta-toot WHEE-WHAY!’ The final ‘whee-whay’ reminds me of someone drawing a flourishing letter X in the air… so I call him Mr Criss-Cross. H’m, that sounds barking mad, doesn’t it? Maybe I’m spending too much time alone in my study…

As for technophobia, this morning I dragged myself out of the stone age at long last by applying to upgrade from dial-up to broadband. I’m terrified! To my mind, all new technology is bound to go Horribly Wrong. The cables won’t be long enough. The software will crash my PC. The connection won’t work. I’ll waste endless hours on the helpline from hell. And so on. This is what’s known in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as ‘catastrophising’. I believe I learned this unhelpful habit from my mum, who can read the *end of civilisation as we know it* into the most benign situation... So armed with that self-knowledge, I’ll try to stop imagining the worst and instead look forward eagerly to my ‘easy install’ pack. Wish me luck! I’ll post how I get on… if I still have an internet connection, ha ha.

Those inverted commas around ‘easy install’ weren’t meant to seem sarcastic, but I think they did, a bit…

Ruby Sunday

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:26:24 GMT

My birthday last Sunday was lovely. Just a nice relaxed day – okay, I did spend part of it cleaning floors and filing paperwork, but after those chores were done I felt I’d ‘earned’ a relaxing afternoon. So in the afternoon, I started making a teddy bear. It’s been too long since I did any craftwork and my birthday seemed a good time for a new start. When I’m not writing, I like to make stuff! Mike took me out for a meal in the evening to our ‘special occasion’ Thai restaurant. Yum. And my mum gave me a ruby ring. Not for any special reason, just that I like gemstones and jewellery, especially rings, yet I have never in my life owned a ruby ring before. A few weeks ago, I felt a deep need for rubies – red symbolises energy (besides passion) and I definitely need some energy! So, after trawling through 100s of ruby rings on the net, generally being disappointed by the boring designs and/or horrified by the prices, I finally found a little beauty, a Victorian-style design of five large rubies set in rose gold. I ordered it, mum kindly reimbursed me. It’s so gorgeous I’ve barely taken it off since. It’s incredibly comfortable, too. Thanks, mum!

The night before, we were watching Dr Who (‘Turn Left’). I can’t help being impressed by the way the writers create a sense of the vast and epic, with sweeping storylines that make the viewer feel caught up in something really Big and Important. Part of the technique is using highly recognisable and emotive images (refugees on lorries, people being billeted in terraced streets) evoking war-time evacuation. We’ve all seen war films, we all recognise those situations, and they are a highly effective short-cut to emotional effects. Very clever button-pushing. And because it was my birthday the next day, it set me thinking that I have been watching Dr Who for almost my entire life! I may have forgotten a lot from my early childhood but I distinctly remember seeing the very first episode in its ghostly greys, the somewhat mad-looking elderly white-haired doctor, the ‘normal’ young couple discovering the police box for the first time. Some of those early stories (anybody remember the Celestial Toymaker?) gave me a thrilling sense of shivering weirdness that stayed with me and no doubt influenced my own imagination – there was just something about those black and white days! The Quatermass dramas had the same effect, and some episodes of the Avengers. It was never quite the same when they went into colour. And despite the lean years where there were a lot of duff episodes, and then no Dr Who at all, it feels wonderful to have the continuity of an SF drama that’s ‘always been there’, that’s grown up with us, as it were. Okay, it’s only a TV programme, but it feels bigger than that. Dr Who makes me feel (especially after a glass of wine) part of something big and strange and thrilling. Can’t wait for the finale. Won’t those Daleks ever give up? Is it me, or are Billie’s teeth getting bigger and bigger?

I wonder if they would ever dare cast such a ‘mature’ actor as William Hartnell in the role again. Somehow, I doubt it. But if they ever had the guts to cast a mature and female doctor, my nomination would go to Judi Dench.

Escapism!

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:55:23 GMT

So now I’m trying to get back into the writing spirit after three days of total vegetation at Ragdale Hall (a splendid health spa near Melton Mowbray). My mum came with me – we’ve been several times in the past, so going there now feels rather like coming home. We had the world’s noisiest thrush outside our bedroom window which sang from dawn until dusk like a cross between a wolf-whistling builder and a Dalek. Noisy, but strangely delightful! The wildlife in the gardens was wonderful. We even saw a hare running along the border between the gardens and the adjoining farmland – it was so close it almost ran straight into us. (Mainly, I’m glad my mum was fit enough to fully enjoy and participate in everything, after a protracted bout of sciatica last year.)

Here’s an interesting bit of info if you spend hours on the PC and have neck and shoulder problems, as I do. I had an amazing sports/remedial massage from a strong young man who clearly knew his stuff. He found pains in places where I didn’t even know I had places! He said that if you habitually work in front of yourself (it’s a little difficult to work behind yourself, I would’ve thought...) on computers as many people do, it can make the muscles at the FRONT of the neck and chest contract. He found that mine were very tight indeed. He said that although you feel the pain at the back, the problems are really coming from the front. If you don’t correct it, the muscles continue to pull forward and eventually the spine will follow, becoming curved – what a horrible thought. So he’s given me some stretches to practise every day to counteract it. Funny, I’ve had a few back massages in my time but I have never been told this vital information before.

Our favourite area at Ragdale now is their brand new thermal spa, which has a variety of unusual steam rooms, including a couple that are just warm rather than uncomfortably hot, where you can sit and inhale herbal scents, or gaze at gentle scenes from nature drifting across the ceiling. Even the showers are fun – offering ‘tropical thunderstorms’ or a blast of cold menthol mist. Then there’s the Waterfall Pool; a sort of extraordinary Jacuzzi that meanders right out into the gardens, offering various massage stations and waterfalls – absolutely delightful. For my absolute favourite experience, it was a tie between that and the Candle Pool, a magical underwater cavern lit by candles and coloured lights, full of intimate rounded ‘cells’ where you can lie and relax in the warm water. All very sensuous. Oh my goodness, I could have stayed in there all day. Water is definitely my element! Strangely all this sensory stimulation and determined RELAXATION is exhausting – it took us a couple of days to get over it and readjust to the real world! Now this whole entry reads like an advert for Ragdale Hall but honestly, they are not paying me. If only!

So now I’ve reached Chapter Nine of my current novel and I’m stuck. I know what is going to happen but I don’t know how to get there. However I’ve got bits of Chapter Ten written, and also a load of scenes that tell the part of the story that happened in the past… Flashback scenes, of a sort… and I haven’t yet worked out how they will fit into the story. Opinions on weaving in flashbacks, anyone?

Reviews

Tue, 27 May 2008 21:37:29 GMT

I found the following, extracted from two reviews of A TASTE OF BLOOD WINE on Amazon…

‘I'm so glad to see that this excellent trilogy is back in print, even if it is just as an import for now - hopefully whoever has the UK rights will realise what they are sitting on and make these great books available to a wider readership. Freda Warrington is one of the best and most unjustly neglected horror and fantasy writers today - surely we should be nurturing homegrown (UK) talent of this calibre?’ … ‘Make no mistake, this trilogy rates as the best within the vampire genre. I don't say this lightly either, especially when you consider how this sphere of fiction has been milked for all it's worth… Freda is an exception and must, at some stage, consider dipping her pen into the arena again, to show the rest how it is done so perfectly....so 'believably'. I must admit to being ignorant of Warrington's fantasy writings, and was beginning to think she was either dead or had bowed out gracefully. Time for a resurrection!’

Well, not quite dead yet, not the last time I looked, anyway. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, I suppose the only thing worse than being Unjustly Neglected is being JUSTLY Neglected!

I’ve just read The Amethyst Child by Sarah Singleton, which I picked up at her Eastercon signing. I had no idea what to expect of this young adult novel and it turned out to be a terrific read. It’s not fantasy as such, although it does have a distinctly magical atmosphere. Amber is a teenager with whom it’s easy to empathise – she feels an outsider, too sensitive and uncool to fit in, sometimes embarrassed by her conventional parents, tending to keep her head down and say what people what to hear, rather than speak her mind. She torments herself over universal concerns such as global warming, war and terrorism. Then she meets Dowdie, who is everything Amber would like to be – outspoken, fearless, flamboyant. An enchanted friendship begins as Dowdie takes her to the Community, a cult which is making ready to survive the end of the world. According to their leader, a higher power has informed him that special ‘Amethyst Children’ are being born who will shape the future with unusual and psychic powers. Dowdie convinces Amber that she is an Amethyst Child. The Community have an easy-going, welcoming, self-sufficient lifestyle that appears idyllic on the surface. However, Amber also meets a lonely, artistic, depressed boy, who tries to warn her that the leader of the cult is not all he seems. Her loyalty is torn and she doesn’t know who to believe.

There is so much to this book, about growing up and families and relationships, it’s hard to know where to begin praising it. It’s beautifully written, self-aware and full of wisdom, reaffirming my opinion that YA fiction is so often more intelligent and insightful than much ‘adult’ fantasy. The denouement, where matters at the cult go inevitably, horribly wrong, was so shocking and powerful that it haunted me for days. Highly recommended.

Spring Energy

Tue, 13 May 2008 08:17:48 GMT

At this time of year, the world feels as if it's absolutely bursting with energy. Vegetation exploding into life, birds singing, days of warm sun and, today, an exhilarating mix of sunshine and refreshing breeze. All this activity is, to be honest, making me feel a bit tired!

Had a lovely few days with my friend - on the Saturday we went shopping, and on the Sunday we went down to an art exhibition by Anne Sudworth, held at Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham. It's a remarkable 'little Gothic castle' which is about to close for complete renovation. On the Monday we went to a craft fair at Calke Abbey, Derbyshire, where it was so sauna-like inside the marquees that I don't know how the poor stall-holders could bear it. Bought some lovely pictures of hares, exotic-scented soap, and a ceramic frog of immense personality. Tuesday, we went walking in fabulous bluebell woods, had a pub lunch, then did more walking and discovered a hill with amazing views from the top. I'll try to post images, once I work out how to do it!

Most importantly, we had some in-depth talks about our respective novels-in-progress. I can't emphasise enough how helpful it can be to share writing ideas and problems with like-minded writers. Thanks to some no-nonsense input from my friend, I sorted out all the tangles with the outline I'm writing for my agent!

Writing outlines is such a pain. If the book is already finished, it's easier, but also kind of pointless because, er, the book is finished. If the book is in progress, or even not yet started, it can be hard unless you already know every nuance of your plot - and also still pointless, because you know how very much the book may change during the actual writing. And yet, it has to be done because editors need to see outlines! Even thought it might not yet be fully formed in your own mind, you have to put something together that sounds like a cohesive, convincing story. So input from a friend that suddenly turns the little lightbulb on is priceless!

Now it's time for breakfast, and finishing synopsis number three...