'It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...'

I'm sure I've used that title before, but somehow it seemed right again today. I can't believe it's nearly the end of NOVEMBER! I haven't posted since the beginning of the month, I'm sorry - it seems to have FLOWN by, so quickly. In fact, I can't believe that it's only two weeks until the end of term now, and under a month until Christmas itself. Where have the weeks gone?

It's noticeably winter now though, here in the UK. It's cold, and all the layers have come out. The cold just makes me miserable and grumpy, like a bear trying to hibernate, and I already miss the summer like crazy. The summer and Fowey. Of course there are high points of winter (grimaced as I typed that) - I mean sure, I love Christmas and when things are all magical and Christmassy, and I love Christmassy things, but it's the cold I hate. I miss wearing shorts and flipflops and tshirts. And suncream. I miss suncream. That's kind of weird I know.

But I suppose got to look positively at everything, and right now I'm beginning to look forward to Christmas. It's always a slightly stressful time, but ultimately enjoyable. Just a lot to do beforehand! Things have got kind of crazy recently, with lots of academic work to do, as well as other things. I've been busy working, writing, volunteering, and windsurfing among other things. Yes, still windsurfing even in this weather - I think the fact that I'm able to get out and do that (in my winter wetsuit, gloves and shoes) is helping me get through the horribleness of winter. It's nice having something outside to do regularly. I'm still swimming too, and that's helping to stop me be so miserable.

Otherwise, I've been busy writing, and trying to keep on top of several different projects. As I told you before, I haven't done NaNo this month (and it's felt very freeing. I haven't missed it at all. Not one minute. That's kind of telling I guess!), but I've been busy writing. I finished that draft I was half way through when NaNo started, and I've put it aside for now so I can come back to it with fresh eyes. It's a mess, but I think there's a story in there somewhere and I'm looking forward to editing it and teasing it out. Fingers crossed it will work, because it's a story that could be very important to me. Treading Water is still being edited, although it's taken a back seat. I'm hoping to start querying it sometime next year. I started something new too, because the story crept up on me and grabbed me, and made me want to start writing it, so I'm ten chapters into that and loving it. It's more NA I think than YA because the characters are older, but I'm just going with it and seeing where it takes me. For my course at the moment I've got to write a film treatment, so I'm also engrossed in that, trying to keep all the elements of the different stories separate - phew! Confusing at times. Luckily the stories are quite different enough. I'm also lucky enough to have been picked to be a MuggleNet Intern, writing news stories, so I've been busy with that too, and it's been tremendous fun. As I mentioned before, I've been taking part in PiBoIdMo too, so I've been scribbling down lots of ideas and it's been very productive, just for coming up with ideas. So that's me all caught up, sort of, for now!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends - I'm going to a Thanksgiving dinner tonight and I'm VERY excited about it! I was asked to make Cornbread for it, something I've never made or tasted before, so I hope I've made it right. Fingers crossed!

Well hello there.

Me again. It's been a while. In fact I didn't realise quite how long, until I realised this morning I hadn't blogged in a while. I seem to have got out of my regular routine, what with one thing or another - being home for the summer, WIMBLEDON (!), Murray WINNING (there could be a long excited ramble on that, but I will spare you all) and this somewhat amazing weather we've been having, I seem to have abandoned my computer (no bad thing AT ALL) for the great outdoors. That isn't to say that I haven't been doing lots of writing - I have been busy editing, editing, editing. Amazing myself by just focusing on this one story, although getting a little restless to just write something, anything, I don't care what, but when I try nothing really happens. Hmph. Hard to put stuff into perspective I suppose, because I am writing/editing, just getting restless for a new project. I still adore this one I'm working on however. I really do. Still adore the characters, the setting, the plot - all of it. And they're still so much in my head, which is wonderful.

Strange how things happen - the two projects I'd planned to write over the last few months have just not happened. But I'll get round to them one day. At the moment just going to focus on some editing, and you never know I might start something new. Do feel like need to make the most of the summer and the the chance just to write! Have stalled a little with books, seem to just be rereading things I have read tonnes before. I guess it's comforting. For instance in the last few days I have whizzed through Order of the Phoenix, Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows, making myself unnecessarily emotional. Silly. Nothing else seems to be gripping my attention at the moment - apart from the wonderful Laura's second draft of one of her stories, amazing - but I'll find something, I'm sure I will. What else?

Over the weekend I completed my 'Start Windsurfing' course and got a certificate (!) for it, which was awesome. The best weekend, and perfect weather! Learnt a lot, and although it was frustrating at times, it was the best fun ever. Quite a few bruises and aches and pains to show for it too! Looking forward to carrying on.

Fingers crossed too that we are off down to Fowey at the beginning of September, can't wait!

Anyway, that's enough silly nonsense from me for now. Off to edit in the sunshine!

Olympic Fever!

I don't know where the last few weeks has gone, but it seems to have absoutely flown by, and I was very surprised to see how long ago my lost blog post was! It's been a busy time though, and I have been making the most of the wonderful weather the UK has been enjoying, until now that is, because it is a rare thing here, and so I didn't relaly switch my laptop on, which was probably a good thing! But now I'm back.

Over the last few weeks I have enjoyed the brilliant weather, had my graduation (which was terrifying and stressful, but actually went very well!), had a brief trip to Cornwall, watched the Olympic opening and lots of Olympics on the TV and got very excited, and have been watching lots of tennis, swimming and diving, and trying out some other things with entertaining results (seriously some sports are just so.... well bizarre!). I was very excited to see JK Rowling in the opening ceremony, and the wonderful tribute to children's literature. Oh yes! I also had to deal with a bee swarm (terrifying, bees have been haunting me for days now) and got to enjoy some amazing weather. (I was going to post some pictures here, but I will add them later). I sat outside all day every day (mostly) in the gazebo, which I made my makeshift office, and did lots of reading, writing and bracelet making (and lots of swimming too). Very productive week I was very pleased.

I managed to do an edit of one of my stories, on paper, reading most of it out loud (very tiring!). I still need to type up the edits, and probably go through it again and do a more detailed edit, but now it's all good. I also started the first story in my new series, which I'm very excited about and so far seems to be going well. I made so many notes and things over the last few weeks however it is being a little bit of a nightmare trying to work out what I meant when I put a star by a name or something silly like that.

What else can I tell you?

I think that's all for now. Looking forward to watching some more swimming later, and lots of tennis (come on Murray!) and some windsurfing!

Tennis, Strawberries, Sunshine and Pimms!

Phew. Well I can't believe that I've been home for nearly a couple of weeks now! It's flown by, which is probably why I've only just realised I haven't blogged in a while. Which is why I'm sittting here now writing this, having just watched the Federer match on the BBC. What a tense one! I didn't really mind who won, but another upset this early on in Wimbledon would have been quite something! It's been a brilliant week already of tennis - the Wimbledon two weeks is one of my favourites of the year, and the only two weeks of the year I pay any attention to the sport pages of the newspaper! I even fill in the chart with who wins what match. Yes, I'm obsessed. Even more so this year - one of my friends is now living near Wimbledon and so I went up with another friend last weekend and we queued for the first day. It was an amazing day! I loved it so much. We didn't want to leave. We saw lots of great tennis, both live and on the big screen sitting on Henman Hill. It was great because we got to know a lot of players we wouldn't have known about otherwise and we now have many more favourites! It's a great atmosphere too, and as tennis is the one sport I enjoy playing too, I just really love it all. Of course we enjoyed a wonderful picnic, strawberries and pimms - and even amazing weather! I also downloaded the offical app for my new fancy phone which meant we were able to find out easily what was on when, get live scores and even little bios about all the players, which is fantastic when you don't know anything about the players you're watching and you want to - it really helps you to get into the match even more and understand perhaps who is meant to be the better player, and how experienced they are and all of that.

I didn't mean this post to be about tennis - sorry! I have also been enjoying the odd nice days of weather that we've had, reading and writing outside, and particuarly since finishing Camp NaNo (which I did successfully last Saturday, which was such a relief, glad to leave that story for now and focus on something else) I have tried to spend less time on the computer and outside where possible, reading, writing, swimming and playing tennis (oh I really adore the summer). I have been reading a lot as well which is great, really getting through stuff! Yay! I should be doing some editing, but yet again I'm pushing that aside in order to write a story I told myself I would write this summer. I wrote the first one of this series by hand, and so I am doing the same with the sequel because somehow it seems to work better this way for these particualar stories - odd that, but there is something so satifying abou toding it by hand, and particuarly in fountain pen, which I love writing with. I can see why Neil Gaiman writes his stories like this (I'm sure he's written stuff about this before), and particuarly in the summer it makes things so much easier! I have also been planning another series of stories which I unexpectedly have created pages and pages of white a4 sheets of notes... for me that is tonnes of brainstorming and planning, and I'm really excited to write this series, after some editing of course. These are both series aimed at younger children rather than YA fiction which I love to write - I'm going to say more on that later I think, as this has already become rather too long, and I jotted down some stuff I wanted to say and I need to dig that out....