Further ponderings

Further ponderings? What am I pondering now you wonder. Well, I've been reading a few other blogs that I've stumbled across and found them really interesting. Why? Well because they analyse a topic in depth filling me full of knowledge about a certain topic.
For example I discovered this earlier today.
http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/

This is a link to a blog by John K, the man behind Ren and Stimpy. He's a cartoon expert. It makes fascinating reading even though I can't say I'm fascinated by catroons in general. Perhaps it's meant for the obsessive cartoon maker. Anyway it's a cleverly thought out blog.


So how does this blog compare? It doesn't does it. Have you ever read anything here that's not just inane babble? If you have you're probably reading more into it than I realise. I mean have you learnt anything from this blog? Except perhaps the odd hint about my mental state/ vegetable patch? And that made me wonder a little more.
So what is it for? Why do I write this? That's what I've been asking myself.
Basically the reason behind this blog is just to keep you in the loop. I am writing, I am thinking and soon I'll have some lovely publishing news. Updating this blog is my way of telling you that. For now I have no real news so I'm just going to say;
Writing is going well, vegetables are growing. Come back soon.

Ian xx

PS. Oh and I finally finished The Wheel of Time Book 5. I really enjoyed it too

Wheel of Time... Trial

Hello there.
Blogging is really hard work. Really I should be thinking of things all day long to write here and keep you all amused but really...well either I don't think enough or nothing interesting enough happens for me to want to tell you about it.
As far as writing goes I'm just waiting until June to see how well The Whispering Sand did. At that point I'll either try and get the sequel published, or I'll have written something that I think is strong enough to offer to other publishers. To be honest if I actually finish anything I might just put a flag up. There are so many things under way at the moment that it's hard keeping track. Basically Gull Cove book 4 is the main project and it is coming along really well but then there are all sorts of other things that I'm working on, testing out and generally adding to.
I don't know if you've ever heard of Brandon Sanderson. He's the bloke (lol-talented writer)who has been tasked to complete Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Now what is interesting about this is how Brandon appears to work. He seems to sit and write all day long, completing and rewriting books as he goes. Then he fills in a little progress bar on his website. That is the complete opposite as to how I work. At the moment it's up early to a place I can write, then real work and playing about all night, then back to the writing later on. Once a story is finsihed I rewrite the lot from the start so that it all has the same style. For me it works really well as during the day I struggle to concentrate and my style changes with my mood. Plus a t the start of a book the writing tends to be better as I'm enjoying the setting and characters before they get lost in the events. It's an interesting lifestyle, and I really enjoy it...at least I do when things are going well. Anyway I doubt I could write anything of the length Brandon Sanderson writes, to be honest reading the Wheel of Time has been a massive, massive challenge- I've been fighting with bok five for two months. I've been enjoying it though. He's on my 'to read' list right after I finish the rest of this huge pile. Anyway enough random talking for now.
Come back soon.
Ian xx

Chapter For Sale

Having just spent a good few hours toiling away with a chapter from what I'm hoping will be my next book (as I've said for the last 20 things I've written) I've finally finished it...only to discover that I don't want it in the story. Yes, it's a nice piece, going into some lovely details about a disaster coupled with an even lovelier news report but it takes the story somewhere I don't want it to go. I was hoping to write a fun filled adventure and describing the disaster, what should have been a passing detail, sort of detracts from it.
So what to do with the chapter now? For the moment it's going to linger around in the rough draft but then what? I suppose the poor thing will end up living under my bed, or in that folder on my desktop with all those other spare chapters, old stories and weird bits and bobs.
Anyway bye for now
Ian xx

PS the vegetables have sprouted!

Hayfever

There's a fly in every pot of ointment, a horrible burnt bit in every packet of corn flakes, a nasty snotty bit in every bowl of blancmange...what am I on about? Summer of course. Wait, wait hang on! I'm not whinging, I love summer (or this close approximation we're having this week) but the only niggle is that there is very runny watery stuff coming out of my nose and drizzling on my keyboard. Now I'm not whinging, in fact I'm stuffing bogroll up each nostril, but it's making me wonder; Is Hayfever a new thing? Because it's extremely bad sitting here in my office, what would it be like if I was a Victorian farmer?! Just imagine standing in a field all day trying to scythe the corn when your eyes are swollen up like two life boueys and your nose is runnier than an easter egg in the arm pit? Perhaps it's one of those more common occurences that we've bred into ourselves through the use of medicines, cleaning products and the like? Hmm interesting (well I think it is, it's also irritating, my fingers keep skidding off the snotty keys).
Anyway that's the thought for today; can you sycthe with your eyes closed? I'm off to research hayfever, and possibly to find two nostril corks.

Ian xx
PS> For those of you interested in my gardening exploits there are lots of things happening! For you writing fans, I'm writing thigs too!