A pieces from "Fragments"

"I was sat, on my birthday with cockney Steve, and my Pseudo friends being eye balled by David's missus, and feeling very shit about myself.

I thought if it told him, he would feel smug, and happy that I was the dumper, but in the end I was the one who got hurt the most. He had it all now, a family who he loved; how was I to know that wasn't enough?

To my complete surprise he walked towards me and then took me by the hand. Cockney Steve's mouth dropped open. I turned my head and made some little remark, back soon, or don't worry.

He led me outside, it was a fucking freezing night and I didn't have my coat.

I asked him what he was doing, and he said he didn't know.

How quickly a year goes....

We are fast approaching the end of 2009, and I feel a lot of my literary plans have fallen by the wayside of late. I am still hard at the untitled novel - 23,000 words and counting! But plans to finish the first draft by Xmas seem a little unlikely now. Still, this is the furthest I've ever taken a novel, so I intend to stick with it.

On top of the novel I have my purse making enterprise to contemplate too.....I have 4 perfect to sell - but 96 to go before I can consider selling any!

I have had Fragments all ready to go for a year now; but a novella is so hard to sell, and most short story competitions ask for 2,000 or less - not 9,000..... But I honetly believe it's the best work I've ever done. It's honest and gritty, yet deals with the age old problem of relationships and fear. Fear of exploration, fear of the unknown. Anyway, I have in mind a trilogy - Northern Lights would have been ideal, but I think someone's already had that one.... I would post an extract next. If anyone's reading, let me know what you think!

Part of Untitled Novel

Nunthorpe was an affable chap with a dry sense of humour, and sarcastic to boot. The first time Eva laid eyes on him, in the Union bar in Newcastle in her first year, she was entranced. He was her kind of guy, the kind that would be in a band, or a writer or an artist. He just had that look. Clothes that were straight from a charity shop (before that kind of thing was the fashion) mixed with band tees and Campus trainers and messy hair.

Of course, he was far too cool for her and was in his second year of his degree (in English and Media studies). But she floated for a year on the edge of his circle, knowing his peripheral friends, and attending the same classes, but never making it obvious she was trying to get to know him. Eventually they became friends, good friends; she was his go to girl when everything seemed doomed and he needed a pick up. He never suspected her feelings, and she never told him. Though they shared a kiss in a telephone booth on his last day in Newcastle, he thought it was just drunken fooling around.

writer's blockage?

I've been quiet of late, because after making a real surge with entering short story competitions the novel I was working on has fallen to the wayside and I'm finding it difficult to get back into it. I know where the story goes but I'm struggling to write it down. On top of that I've been studying for my NVQ (ooooh - fancy!) in creative writing so that's taken up a bit time aswell (although that too has fallen by the wayside in the last few weeks. Must get motivated again! I'm not sure how the short stories are going down, but I think the main problem I'm having is not taking them seriously enough, which isn't going to win me any prizes is it?!

But I have Johnny Shankley finished and he's due for his final draft in May. This novel I'm going to finish by the end of the year, and my NVQ novel shoud be done in December too, at least to the first draft. Fragments is ready to go, but I need to do research on who publishes short storys (9,000 words). There's no point attempting to get a book published in New Zealand as they are very New Zealand focused - it's part of its charm that they are so stauchly insular!

I haven't really listened to a lot of Ryan Adams in recent weeks after the marriage funnily enough, but this has left me lots of time to re-discover music so my ipod has been working through Led Zeppelin, Gene, Blur's first 2 albums, Kate Bush, and many more. It's been quite refreshing!

Ryan Adams is coming to Auckland!

It has been a while but only really a little to report. I didn't get the internship because my work visa doesn't allow me to study over here, but if we apply for residency I should be able to apply again next year. I have a coffee meeting with a senior writer from North & South tomorrow - she's very well connected apparently, so fingers crossed I get some kind of link from that. At the very least it'll be so useful to speak to a succesful reporter / writer in New Zealand and get some ideas and make that connection. Sending free cds with reviews attached is apparently not the way to do it!

Johnny Shankley is done! Currently doing the rounds with various people for critiquing. Then I can decide what to do with it...I'm now writing something a little different - I hope intelligent & funny girl literature, but only time will tell!

The most exciting news of all for me is that Ryan Adams is coming to town in Feb!!

Johnny

I've been quiet of late, as I've been working hard as an admin bunny and we had to go back to the UK. But I am happy to say I've taken up Johnny Shankley & the Evil Monkey Farmer again and I'm nearly happy with the ending. I think it'll be done at Xmas and then I can work out what to do with it. I also have an excellent 2nd book title so I'm keen to get on with writing the next in the Johnny Shankley installment!!

I also have 2 short (ish) stories that I'm going to put forward for a couple of competitions. I've yet to hear from the Fairfax Media internship but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.......

I'm very excited that Ryan Adams has started blogging again, and also that the Cardinals have a new single out soon! Come to New Zealand.......X

A segment of my novel..

tm" Mel was fuck-ugly. This could actually be an understatement. She was 5 ft, with badly dyed hair that resembled orange wire. Her skin was awful and pimply, like a 14 year old boy's, and she unwisely choose to try and hide the giant blemish that was her face by wearing a combination of white face powder (as such a clown would wear) and bright red lipstick, which was usually applied 15 times during the day, and each time very poorly.
People of ugly dispositions generally have something in their favour. A sense of humour, or being helpful or smart; Mel had nothing going for her whatsoever. She had a huge attitude problem, which was akin to the angry black rapper types that she felt such an affinity with. (She was one of those South London girls who thought because they’d shagged a few black boys, and listened to rap that they were in fact black.) She had no sense of humour, no sense of her own personality and was extremely thick. She had a tendency to fuck security guards in the stores she worked in, and would form an attachment that was tantamount to stalking to any man who paid her attention."