Hallowe'en, Samhain and NaNoNoNoNo

Today, I have been tripping over a mini version of Vlad the Impaler whilst preparing my delectable fright night basket of trouble for those brave enough to bare their souls on entering the Tenacious Towers Gateway.  I adore Hallowe'en as I love scaring the sh*t out of the little sh*ts who try to scare me! Foiled again, you darn pesky kids!  I get the feeling The Kid loves Hallowe'en too - he looks super cool running around with his swishy, black cape on.  

On a less witchcraft-like and more craft-like note, I have decided to take up the challenge of NaNoWriMo after checking up on the dates for the Digital Shorts scheme. I really didn't want them to clash because if I do get onto DigiBytes/Digital Nation, I need to keep my head crystal clear and full of screenwriter and directorial info for the process, but luckily nothing solid will happen until 1st December or thereabouts.  So that leaves me a month.  A big gaping 30 days in which I have nothing to do except complete the submission for CBeebies, outline and finalise a Docudrama format, have a few of meetings here and there for research purposes, run around after The Kid, oh, and write a load of tosh which will be lovingly referred to as a novel.  And it'll probably end up like a 50,000 word blog post.  

However, I have a slight problem - now I have made the decision to actually take part in NaNoWriMo I can't get onto the website to register.  Ain't that just Sod's Law?  I guess the whole world (?) is logging on and registering but I'll keep trying.  If I succeed I hope to stick up some of their pretty stat counter thingies so you can see how bad my word count is by the day/week!  Ha!

In addition to Hallowe'en, after sundown today, it is also Samhain - marking the end of the Summer, the last Harvest and the beginning of the dark half of the year.  It's a time to take stock, develop and make tacit moves towards new, fresh goals - a good time to start making sketchy plans more solid. Onwards ever onwards and all that, so, I do hope I get to register for NaNoWriMo as it would be an appropriate start to my Celtic New Year.  

Happy Hallowe'en/Samhain!

Just a Couple of Things

We are now back to normal at Tenacious Towers. Having basked in the tawny sunshine for most of today, the snow drifts which had accumulated in the shaded areas of the grounds have now melted, adding quite a lovely water feature to the heather embankments. There are still a few icicles here and there in the North Wing, and although I found myself fighting through a blanket of my own breath whilst bringing the hounds in for the evening,  all in all, the log burner and Aga are doing a sterling job indoors.

Now where was I? Oh yes. Novels.

I have been toying with the idea of entering NaNoWriMo because like my Naughty Nun colleague, I don't really have much to do. Basic deduction tells me if I worked at an average of 5.8 pages a day I could reach the target of 50,000 words - but do I really have that time? I am not one to commit if I don't think I can give 100% and life is too short to beat oneself up for falling short. 

I have precisely one day left to decide and so I shall ponder the situation in my slumber.  

On a completely different note, if you are a lizard expert get yourself over to Sir Arnopp's place and have a nose around THERE while he's away - he's got a strange specimen 'pickled' in a bottle in the second last photo and if you can correctly name what it is then you'll win the fantastic prize of...a Tenacious North Wing Icicle.  Oh, come on what more do you want? Blood? A novel? Tsk.

Ta-ra for now.

It's Snowing...

As I watch the fluttering snowflakes falling outside, this seems a very appropriate moment to carry out the tag order served by Elinor...

List the top five ways you distract yourself when you should be writing and then procrastinate some more by sending it to all those other writers who should really procrastinate more often (so we can all catch-up!).

Here they are:

1. Watching snow falling/drifting (if not outside my window then via Alpine webcams) - a creative, visual release
2. TV - could be seen as indirect research
3. Gardening - it does actually help me rationalise plot holes/issues
4. FaceAche - doesn't help anything
5. Doing these memes/tags - ditto
   

Anyone who is reading this, hasn't completed the task and wishes to procrastinate - consider yourself tagged.

As for me - having been gardening most of the day and now in front of the TV completing this tag, I'm just going to check into FaceBook and then watch the snow fall again. :0)

One 2 Go!

That's what The Kid says at the top of the stairs before launching himself into my (thankfully) outstretched arms.  But it also lends itself beautifully to this weekend...I seemed to be waiting for "three" and then suddenly - the weekend was gone.  Although my geeky iPhone application reliably informs me I only have 60 sleeps until Christmas I am still smarting over the fact I got an extra hour in bed but feel no better for it. Ho ho ho. Sparkly baubles with bells on to you, sleep deprivation fairy.

I have not managed to complete any work over the weekend as my hands have been rather full with The Kid and his headstrong ways, (not really sure where he gets that from...) but I have been toying with a new idea, which - if I can rationalise in my nonce - would be jolly good fun for all those taking part. But perhaps more on this another time. 

Whilst lazily floating around the Scribosphere today, I noticed quite a few peeps have been partaking in a Drawing Personality Test.  I thought: well it's Sunday night, all's quiet on the western front, so let's have a go.  Scary.  Not sure who it is describing but it couldn't possibly be me.  Here's my titchy doodle:

And the analysis:

You are driven and ambitious and tend to make radical moves to reach your goals.
You are a thoughtful and cautious person. You like to think about your method, seeking to pursue your goal in the most effective way.
You are creative, mentally active and industrious.
You have a sunny, cheerful disposition.

So off you go...what does your drawing say about YOU?

Blogging is Good For You

I don't know if any of you listen to Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 5 Live but I generally like to try and catch up most days with who is promoting their recently released book/film/album etc.

This Wednesday, RTD and Benjamin Cook were talking about "Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale" - which I haven't yet read, but I think I may grab a copy (or ask Santa nicely) - but I digress, and that's really unusual for me on a Friday (Thursday, Wednesday, Tuesday, Monday...). Anyway, if you listen to the interview, about half way through RTD not only recommends the BBC Writers Room for getting your stuff read, but also checking out the Blogosphere and the writer/bloggers online who are all in touch with each other - better known to us lot as the Scribosphere. So you see,  this blog malarkey is not that bad a procrastination tool. Honest.

If you want to listen to the interview (or others from this week) there is a listen again facility for the past week's programmes and also podcasts of the main 'arts' interviews (which I think are available to download for a week after the tx?).  The RTD/Benjamin Cook podcast can be found on this page.

I bid you all a good weekend - personally, I'm going to get on with the Kiddie TV Project interspersed with autumn garden tidying, so catch up soon.