As you all know, I finished writing my first book a few months ago and decided to go the self-publishing route using Kindle Direct Publishing. It will be published on 31st July so is only currently available for pre-order but someone (who I shall hug should I ever meet them) has bought a copy!!
As you all know, I finished writing my first book a few months ago and decided to go the self-publishing route using Kindle Direct Publishing. It will be published on 31st July so is only currently available for pre-order but someone (who I shall hug should I ever meet them) has bought a copy!! I am beyond excited!!!! Sending happy thoughts out to the entire Universe and especially my wonderfully supportive blogging friends who helped me become a writer – love and hugs to you all!
Lisa x
Well, it will be by the end of the month anyway. Yes, that’s right, my book, From His Perspective will soon be available for you to read (and I’d be incredibly grateful if some of you did ;O)).
Well, it will be by the end of the month anyway. Yes, that’s right, my book, From His Perspective will soon be available for you to read (and I’d be incredibly grateful if some of you did ;O)). After having received about 20 rejections from literary agents and because I have the patience of a gnat with ADHD I decided that I would ‘do it myself’ and publish via Amazon Direct Publishing. It doesn’t have quite the same cache as being touted by an agent as ‘the next JK Rowling’ but I am feeling pretty damned pleased with myself; if you’d have told me a year ago that I’d write a book I’d have thought you were mad!
I know I’ve been conspicuously absent just lately (I can blame that on the second book that I’m writing – this is becoming a habit!) but without the support of the blogging community I don’t think I would ever have done this. It was you guys that gave me the confidence to write and then to write from the heart and I owe all of you a huge, huge thank you for your unfailing kindness and encouragement. You’ve helped me through some very dark times and I will be eternally grateful.
As you may (or may not) have noticed, I haven’t been around too much over the last few weeks and that’s because I’ve had my nose to the grindstone (actually fingers on the keyboard but you know what I mean. Several weeks ago I felt the thrill of ‘finishing’ my book (writing not reading) and in a fit of over-exuberance immediately sent it off to a dozen literary agents
As you may (or may not) have noticed, I haven’t been around too much over the last few weeks and that’s because I’ve had my nose to the grindstone (actually fingers on the keyboard but you know what I mean. Several weeks ago I felt the thrill of ‘finishing’ my book (writing not reading) and in a fit of over-exuberance immediately sent it off to a dozen literary agents. This was followed by a nail biting wait to see if anyone would contact me and tell me I was going to be the next J K Rowling; oddly, no-one did.
However, surprisingly, what I did get was some incredibly useful advice, the most useful being that my book was far too short. As I’d only ever written short stories before I figured that 42,000 words was an epic tale – I was wrong, so now I am re-writing, improving and adding news chapters. Currently I have written 56,000 words and, somehow, they just keep on flowing and, whats more, I am still loving it!
All this means that I still won’t have much time to spend with my lovely blogging friends but I do hope that you’ll bear with me :O)
Lisa xxx
I’m just asking as I seem to have lost it. I wrote a post for Song Lyric Sunday yesterday (Forever Autumn by Justin Hayward was the tune in case you were wondering) and it just disappeared. It’s not in trash or pending – it just seems as though Wordpress has eaten it :O( Has this ever happened to anyone else?
I’m just asking as I seem to have lost it. I wrote a post for Song Lyric Sunday yesterday (Forever Autumn by Justin Hayward was the tune in case you were wondering) and it just disappeared. It’s not in trash or pending – it just seems as though WordPress has eaten it :O( Has this ever happened to anyone else?
Lisa x
Morning blogging world, how are we all today? Well, here we are again for another round of Song Lyric Sunday brought to us by the indefatigable Jim Adams; if you love music and enjoy making new blogging friends please go and check out his site and then play along. This weeks prompt is Burn/Fire/Flame and here are some rules for you:
Morning blogging world, how are we all today? Well, here we are again for another round of Song Lyric Sunday brought to us by the indefatigable Jim Adams; if you love music and enjoy making new blogging friends please go and check out his site and then play along. This weeks prompt is Burn/Fire/Flame and here are some rules for you:
I burn for you every time I hear your name
When I think I see your face, I know, it must be madness
I feel the sting striking at me like a match
Anything to bring you back – if only for a moment
I can feel your slow burn growing in me
Everywhere I go, you’re right there with me… holding on, ever long
Wish I could forget I could not remember, all I have left is the ash and embers
Permanent. Smoldering
Just like a slow burn, stay with me forever
I can’t let you ever fade away
Just like a slow burn, say you’ll never let me down and never go out
I fall apart like paper put to flame
The life we had reduced to ashes right before us
Every hurtful word, burned into my side
Much to hard to speak, scarred to deep to hide
Just like a slow burn, stay with me forever
I can’t let you ever fade away
Just like a slow burn, say you’ll never let me down
And never go out, my slow burn, burning me down
I walk the fire – I feed the flame
I’d walk the fire – I’d feel your flame
Just like a slow burn, stay with me forever
I cant let you ever fade away
Just like a slow burn, lay with me forever
Our light it shines forever, never fades away
Just like a slow burn, stay with me forever
I can’t let you ever fade away
Just like a slow burn, say you’ll never let me down
Please never go out, my slow burn, burning me down
Songwriters: Eicca Toppinen / Johnny Andrews / Frank Perez
I didn’t know Apocalyptica until I listened to one of their songs that was featured by a fellow blogger as part of Song Lyric Sunday. I downloaded that one straight away (Hole in My Soul in case you’re interested) and then started listening to some of their other tracks which I also downloaded. To say that, as a band, they are unusual is an understatement as they are rock cellists from Finland and they blend classical and metal in a way that I’ve certainly never come across before.
Many of their tracks are instrumentals and, often, stunningly beautiful but this is one of my favourites and, happily, it fits the prompt perfectly. It starts almost delicately and then introduces a dark, rock beat which then continues throughout the song. As with so many rock ballads it speaks of a break up and lost love but without the slightest hint of cheese; it’s emotional and believable. For me, the lyrics are poetic, in many ways, and I think that anyone who has suffered any kind of loss in their life will appreciate their power:
“I burn for you every time I hear your name
When I think I see your face, I know, it must be madness
I feel the sting striking at me like a match
Anything to bring you back – if only for a moment”
I hope that you enjoy it
Lisa x
an enormous metal beast; it had wheels at the rear but at the front were giant clawed arms which served to change the direction of the machine but also to clear the dense forestation. It halted before the terrified survivors, the massive throbbing engines creating an illusion of life; a black heart of block and pistons beating. In their bewildered state the passengers didn’t see an internal hatch opening, they saw a giant gaping maw that they were certain was going to swallow them whole.
I Have been tagged by the lovely Rory – from A Guy Called bloke and K9 Doodlepip to take part in Teresa’s of The Haunted Wordsmith Finish The Story.
Rules–
1. Copy the story as you receive it.
2. Add to the story in some fashion.
3. Tag another person to contribute to or finish the story.
4. Please use FTS as a tag so I can find it or link back to part 1.
5. Have Fun!
The Travelers – Teresa’s Introduction
Alexander and Alistair waited in line to check on their flight. It didn’t matter how long the line was, or how tired they were of waiting in it, they were happy to be getting away for a week. Life had not been difficult, but it was still nice to finally get away–alone.
Alexander couldn’t wait to show Alistair around Pompeii and Alistair couldn’t wait to show Alexander around his old home. They enjoyed people watching in the airport and passed time telling stories of the old days.
Finally, it was their turn to check in. Alexander sat his luggage in the bin and watched as a scrawny kid retrieved it and threw it on a conveyor belt. He cringed and crossed his fingers that his cologne didn’t break.
It wasn’t until they were standing by the large window at their gate watching their luggage be thrown around like last week’s trash that they noticed it. Something was not right.
“Hey, Alistair,” Alexander said, pointing out to the luggage cart. “Do you see that?”
Alistair followed Alexander’s finger and squinted. “Yeah. What is that?”
“I can’t be sure, but it looks like …
Part two – Paula of Light Motifs II
The luggage on one of the other carts was all black with a lightning bolt logo. And sure enough, a black stretch limo with the same logo pulled up directly to the plane and out tumbled the crazy rockers the Zappers and their entourage.
“Oh no,” Alistair moaned. “Those lunatics will be on our flight!”
Alexander sighed. “Horrible. They always get up to some ridiculous shenanigans, but surely they’ll behave themselves in the air?”
“It’s too late to change our tickets?”
“Well, yes. Our luggage is being flung into the bowels of this tin can as we speak.”
The men stared glumly out the window, their previous good mood soured. When they were called to board, they stood in line without speaking, having mutually decided to stoically bear the flight and have fun after landing, when the nutty rockers had gone.
Women chatted behind them in line. “Oh my God! Did you hear that the Zappers are on our flight? I’m totally gonna sneak into first class to see them!”
“I have such a crush on Nikki Zapper! I bet he does something wild and we have to make an emergency landing!”
Alistair and Alexander looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
But all went smoothly during takeoff, and then as one of the flight attendants was giving the safety presentation, a blond man dressed in black leather popped out of the first class section, grabbed her, and kissed her.
Part Three Li at Tao-Talk
Several people in coach lifted up their cell phones to record Nikki as he laid one on Myra, the flight attendant, ooh-ing and aah-ing as they did. Myra was torn, as she was supposed to rebuff any advances by the passengers, no matter how famous; but on the other hand, she had been a global fan of Nikki and the Zappers for years, using her bene of free flights to see them dozens of times. She even had a likeness of Nikki tattooed in her cleavage. Throwing caution to the wind, she kissed Nikki back and soon they, locked in an embrace, were stumbling towards the bathroom – where they would be the newest members of the Mile High Club.
As they often synched with each other over the years, Alistair and Alexander looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
“Well, I never!” huffed Alistair.
“Indeed!,” puffed Alexander.
“Let the shenanigans begin. Where are those sleepers you packed? Time to take a snooze until the show is over,” said Alistair.
Alexander reached for his carry-on, which was stuffed under his seat, and retrieved enough for both of them. They asked another attendant for a handful of the little booze bottles to wash them down with. Soon they were fast asleep, snoring to beat kingdom come.
Neither one knew how long they had slept, but both were awakened by the throbbing bassline of the latest Nikki and the Zappers tune, “Don’t Harsh My Buzz.” They were shocked to see….
Part Four Teleporting Weena;
…that the lights in the plane’s cabin had been turned off. Being that it was night time, they couldn’t see a thing in the dark. The bass guitar was still pounding out the beat so loud it shook their insides.
Suddenly an explosion of neon-like lights began flickering all around the plane’s interior, as the Zappers launched into their current number one song. Passengers were crowding into the narrow aisle, and even just standing at their seats, dancing and singing along to the music.
The captain came on the loudspeakers: “Welcome to the party of the year…we present the Zappers for your inflight entertainment. Free drinks for everyone!
A big cheer rocked this unusual concert venue.
“Can you believe this?” Alistair asked as he busted a move right there in his seat.
Alexander looked at Alistair. They were grinning from ear to ear but didn’t roll their eyes at this exciting turn of events.
Cocktails and cups of beer were passed around, as the party continued through the night, 32,000 feet above the ground, but a sudden lurch of the plane made everyone gasp. The plane yawed to the left, then to the right. People screamed and tumbled into each other.
This is your captain…please everyone…sit down and fasten your seat belts…
***
Part Five – Sadje of Keep it Alive
……..we have a pick of air turbulence. It took repeated announcements from the caption to quieten down the passengers who were still hyped up from all the drinking and dancing. Eventually, everyone was seated, the belts fastened and a hush descended on the plane. Suddenly there was a jerk as the plane lost a lot of height very quickly. It was an air pocket that caused the loss in the plane altitude. There were quite a few screams and shrieks from many people.
The pilot came on air again.
I am sorry ladies and gentlemen we are in the middle of a storm right now. Please keep the seat belts on. I am afraid that we have lost power in one of our engines. I am trying to make an emergency landing………..
His announcement was cut abruptly and….
Part Six – Kristian’s Addition
…the oxygen masks dropped from their concealed compartments above the passengers.
Alistair and Alexander helped each other putting them on and then they squeezed hands.
The atmosphere had gone from one of enjoyment to panic. A few people had begun to get hysterical. Myra the Stewardess was trying to comfort one particularly distressed woman who couldn’t stop crying.
Then there was a loud bang and a hiss as the cabin filled with smoke. Alistair could just see Alexanders face through the haze. His eyes were scrunched tightly together and his grip on his hand was threatening to cut the blood supply from his fingers, but they were together and that was some comfort.
It was the impact of the plane hitting the water that sent luggage pouring out of overhead compartments and a few chairs broke loose, tumbling bodies around like they were dummies.
Myra lay at an impossible angle. Her legs bent backwards and her head twisted.
A figure lay face down in a black leather jacket and the strings of a broken guitar wrapped around his neck.
After the terrific noise of the impact, everything seemed deathly quiet. Alexander’s eyes opened, tears streaming down his face but he fixed Alistair with a desperate blue stare.
They had survived the crash but so many hadn’t.
A panicked voice suddenly came from over the tannoy system.
“This is the Navigator speaking. If there are any other survivors, please come to the front of the plane and make yourselves known.”
Together Alistair and Alexander got up from their chair and slowly made their way down the plane.
They were surprised to see…..
………. that the cockpit was empty!
The navigator stood there, in a right mess, another steward was desperately trying to stem the blood flow from his left arm, well what was left of his left arm anyway! They could see by looking into the cockpit was not a good move – the Captain and the Co-pilot were missing. The navigator was mumbling about the fact that the two pilots had suddenly just disappeared into thin air and then all hell broke loose! That the aircraft lurched and then plummetted to the earth.
Alastair and Alex looked at each other in complete disbelief and utter astonishment. Behind them the screams of agony and anguish were filling the small space of the aisle .. and yet when they looked behind them, something was amiss, not quite right, it took them a few moments to comprehend that the loss was actually people. Before the crash, all the seats had been filled with passengers and yet now, if you included the dead, the dying, the subdued expressions of those in shock and the few others still, looking bewildered at them, they came to realise that, a good 50% of their part of the cabin was emptier than it had been?
“Well where, did they go?” Alex said to himself almost as much to the others?
“Which is what l have been trying to say!” mumbled the Navigator, “poof gone! Where who knows, Frank and Thomas were laughing and joking one minute and then l was disentangling myself from metal! Which is why my arm is not right. We didn’t hit the sea, we are not sinking which is good news. From what l could gather as l looked out of the windows as we were skewing across the surface, if anything we were skimming across a swamp!”
“Right!” Al said, “I think we should start to disembark, does this plane have one of those things that are like a Bouncy castle slide?”
“Yes of course.” Answered the Navigator, and with a small cursory move to the steward, he motioned towards the door. The steward after a bit of rough manoeuvring, managed to cast the door open and then aside and for the first time the four of them looked out into the world before them.
An overgrown jungled swampland greeted them, very mangrove looking Alex thought and said as much “Charming, just what we need a bloody jungle!”
“Right, well you must have a passenger list. I suggest we get everyone off the plane as best as we can, there must be other stewards throughout the aircraft? There must be first aid and medical equipment. We need to check the state of the craft itself to see if we are in any immediate danger of blowing up, and then , well then we will have to figure out where the bloody hell we are and what we do?” Alastair said officially.
Alex looked at his friend in confusion, “How do you know all of this?”
“Well l was huge fan of the disaster movies from the 70’s, l am just repeating what they said and it’s common sense surely?”
“Right, well l am very impressed Al, must be said”
“Thanks Alex, however now is not the time for praise, now is the time for action.”
At that moment in time, as the four looked out into the darkness of the surroundings they were now in, they heard something very heavy crashing through the undergrowth! If that wasn’t disturbing enough, the screech was!
“Oh my lord, what the hell is that?” The Navigator moaned.
Before any of them could answer, the undergrowth parted and crashing out towards them was ……..
And here’s my contribution:
an enormous metal beast; it had wheels at the rear but at the front were giant clawed arms which served to change the direction of the machine but also to clear the dense forestation. It halted before the terrified survivors, the massive throbbing engines creating an illusion of life; a black heart of block and pistons beating. In their bewildered state the passengers didn’t see an internal hatch opening, they saw a giant gaping maw that they were certain was going to swallow them whole.
The screaming began and quickly turned to mass hysteria as people fought each other in an effort to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the machine that had so terrified them. Alistair and Alex clung to each other; they too were afraid but their desire not to be separated in this awful moment overrode their natural flight response. Their breath came in short, sharp gasps and Alex could feel Alistair’s knees start to give way.
“Alistair!” he hissed “Come on, you can’t collapse on me now”
Alistair shook his head and tried to lock his knees, he couldn’t let Alex down, but he could still feel the violent trembling that coursed through his body; he clung tighter still and hid his face in Alex’s jacket. Alex’s eyes, meanwhile, were fixed on the hatch in the machine, it was now fully open and someone, or something, was emerging from it. The hairs on the back of his neck rose up and he was aware of being exposed; a quick glance around him confirmed that all the other passengers had fled into the forest. He and Alistair would, it seemed, face this thing alone.
“What do you want?” Even to his own ears, his voice was unsteady. At the sound of his voice, Alistair turned his face away from Alex’s shoulder and looked at the emerging figure. He fought to maintain control of his bowels as it climbed down from the machine and slowly walked towards them; the last thing he heard before his terror overwhelmed him was the voice of the creature saying……………………………………
I am passing the baton on to Billy because he’s a great story teller and I’ll be fascinated to see what he does with this – over to you Billy :O)
Lisa x
Isn’t it nice to feel appreciated, especially by fellow bloggers; there is something truly wonderful about a community that gets together to share their ups and downs and show love for each other! I don’t know about you but I feel blessed to belong to a group that hands out awards to motivate and inspire its members.
Isn’t it nice to feel appreciated, especially by fellow bloggers; there is something truly wonderful about a community that gets together to share their ups and downs and show love for each other! I don’t know about you but I feel blessed to belong to a group that hands out awards to motivate and inspire its members. For this particular award I have to give a huge thank you to Sadje who is unfailingly kind and has a super blog full of all kinds of interesting stuff. If you don’t know her please pop over and say hello I know that she’d love to see you.
These are the rules:
The Rules
1. If you are nominated, Congratulations you have been awarded the Versatile blogger award!
2. Thank the person who gave you the award and includes a link to their blog.
3. Select 10 -15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.
4. Nominate those bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award.
5. Tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.
OK, 7 things about myself…..hhmmmmm…..right, here goes:
As for rule 4, I am afraid I am going to ignore it. I think that everyone on here deserves an award be it for their openness, creativity, humour, kindness or friendliness so I hereby nominate all of you. With that in mind, can you please all share something about yourselves as I would really love to know more about you :O)
Lisa x
Have you ever been dragged along to something, kicking and screaming and 100% certain that you’re absolutely going to hate it? Well, that happened to me more years ago than I care to remember. My then boyfriend loved to go beach fishing and, for reasons which are still not clear, he especially loved to go at night
Have you ever been dragged along to something, kicking and screaming and 100% certain that you’re absolutely going to hate it? Well, that happened to me more years ago than I care to remember. My then boyfriend loved to go beach fishing and, for reasons which are still not clear, he especially loved to go at night.
Had the beach been in Hawaii I might have been more excited but it wasn’t, it was in Lowestoft, in March, and it was freezing. We were with another couple and, while the boys organised the rods and opened boxes of writhing maggots (eurrghh!) myself and the other girl bitched about being cold and wondered at the stupidity of young love. We had almost decided to dump the boys and go to the pub when we heard them call us over; apparently everything was ready.
I point blank refused to equip my hook with either maggot or worm [shudders] but decided to have a go at launching it into the black sea. After several failed attempts and an unfortunate snagging incident, I succeeded.
“What happens next?” I asked
“We wait” This response did nothing to stop my bitching; I was no warmer standing up with a fishing rod in my hand than I would have been sitting on a rock.
Just then I felt my arms being dragged forwards and I almost lost my balance.
“You’ve got one Lisa, reel it in” yelled my boyfriend in my ear.
I pulled back with all my strength and began reeling for all I was worth. Several exhausting minutes later my boyfriend held up a huge fish; apparently it was a 5 lb cod! I was so thrilled! As I woohoo’d he put it on a rock and hit it over the head. I never went fishing again.
This was written in response to Rory’s new naughty game: Spin the Keyboard Yarn. The idea is to write a believable yarn and then ask your followers to rate it, for credibility, from 1-10. So, what do you think? Believable or not?
Have a super day one and all
Lisa x
Morning fellow bloggers, how are we all today? I hope you’ve all had a really great week! My news? Well, here’s something that I never thought I’d say:
Morning fellow bloggers, how are we all today? I hope you’ve all had a really great week! My news? Well, here’s something that I never thought I’d say:
A few months ago I despaired of ever making it past 3,000 words but yesterday I hit 42,000 and the end of the story. What’s more, in the spirit of grabbing bulls by horns and striking irons while they’re hot, I sent it to two literary agents in London and I’m going to keep sending out until I can find someone to represent me.
None of this – the writing, the desire for publication, the confidence, the creativity – would have been possible without you guys. Your encouragement, kindness and support has helped me achieve something that I never thought I would be capable of. In a World where people are all too ready to bitch, moan and criticise this blogging community is an absolute haven for those of us who have lost ourselves or felt alone and it’s amazing.
I suppose what I am trying to say is
Lisa x
P.S. If you’re wondering why I used the Rocky gif – my husband’s name was Adrian; I think he’d be proud of me.
What a nice surprise for a Sunday morning; the lovely Rory has gifted me the Sunshine Bloggers Award! If you don’t know Rory, do pop over and say hello, he is so much fun and a really great guy – I just know that you’ll get along :O) So, what’s this all about?
What a nice surprise for a Sunday morning; the lovely Rory has gifted me the Sunshine Bloggers Award! If you don’t know Rory, do pop over and say hello, he is so much fun and a really great guy – I just know that you’ll get along :O) So, what’s this all about?
The Sunshine Blogger Award is an award for bloggers who are creative, positive, and inspiring – people who spread “sunshine” to the blogging world!
How nice is that!? We all need a little bit of sunshine in our lives and there is so much to be found in the Blogosphere, we can all bask in its rays :O)
Rory has posed some questions and I will attempt to answer them as truthfully as I can without getting in any trouble:
If you could do something a bit naughty every day and not get caught, what would you do?
Definitely speed, no not the drug, driving at speed. Around here the limit is 50kmph (30 mph) unless you’re on the motorway and even then, in places, it’s only 90kmph (55 mph). There’s a good reason for it – the mountain roads are very winding and downright dangerous in places but I do just long to be able to put my foot down without being flashed by a speed camera (which is there for my security apparently and not to make money for the Government).
What are the unwritten rules to blogging?
What kind of cult would you like to start?
I don’t know about starting one but I would have liked to belong to the one started by Osho, mainly because he said things like this:
“Nobody can say anything about you. Whatsoever people say is about themselves. But you become very shaky, because you are still clinging to a false center. That false center depends on others, so you are always looking to what people are saying about you. And you are always following other people, you are always trying to satisfy them. You are always trying to be respectable, you are always trying to decorate your ego. This is suicidal. Rather than being disturbed by what others say, you should start looking inside yourself…
Whenever you are self-conscious you are simply showing that you are not conscious of the self at all. You don’t know who you are. If you had known, then there would have been no problem— then you are not seeking opinions. Then you are not worried what others say about you— it is irrelevant!
When you are self-conscious you are in trouble. When you are self-conscious you are really showing symptoms that you don’t know who you are. Your very self-consciousness indicates that you have not come home yet.”
Is a HotDog a sandwich, a roll or an overheated K9?
Sausage inna bun :O) I’m not sure if it qualifies as a roll or a sandwich – it’s a bit like the debate: ‘Is a jaffa cake a cookie or a cake?’, there are arguments for both sides
What is the most creative, inventive and imaginative insult you can come up with?
None of these are actually mine but I find them to be very satisfying on the rare occasions that I feel the need to insult someone:
“May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits”
“It’s like having a battle of wits with an unarmed man”
And, when I’m really miffed:
“Fuck you and the horse you rode in on”
Right that’s it for my answers, now to come up with some questions:
I’m going to gift this award to the following bloggers but anyone is more than welcome to answer the questions either in the comments or with their own post:
Darren is one of the first bloggers I followed and still one of my favourites
Billy is the ultimate ‘cup half full’ guy and always has a sunny attitude
Brian has an amazing sense of the ridiculous and his posts always make me chuckle
Have fun guys, I really look forward to reading your answers ;O)
Lisa x
All About Life 