Here are some other great blogs to check out:
http://imagineerebooks.wordpress.com/2013/10/19/blog-browser-day-19th-october-2013
Writing the books was the easy part....now the struggle to let the world know they're there....
Sunday 20 October 2013
Wednesday 16 October 2013
Etiquette
Language in the blood
is all about blending in; to live amongst humans as a vampire without being
detected. Cameron also successfully pretends to be French on occasion. I’m
doing very badly at pretending to be French; I’m too tall, too blond and too
pale to be passed off as a local. If anyone had any doubts still, they are soon
put to rights by hearing me speak.
Local etiquette can be
tricky; one of the things I dreaded most about moving here was the ‘Bisou’; the
polite peck on the cheeks that the French greet each other with. Having lived
in Scotland for many years, I’d grown quite accustomed to greeting without
physical contact, or at worst a handshake. In the Netherlands we greet friends
and family with 3 kisses, but here complete strangers plant their lips on my
face!
The custom varies from
region to region. In and around Monaco it is two kisses, but if you go north it
can be three or even four kisses. Not knowing of forgetting can lead to some awkward
moments. I have learned over time that people here are aware that the Anglo-Saxons
are uncomfortable with the ’Bisou’ and if I stick my hand out and keep my
distance, they are not insulted. If you get introduced to a colleague or mutual
acquaintance you have to be quick though in holding out your hand otherwise you
receive two kisses before you know it. (Must find dark room to rock back and
forwards in to hug myself out of that traumatic experience!)
At work, thankfully,
we have done away with any physical contact. The greeting includes a bonjour, a
privet or a ni hau and that’s it; ready to start the day in a friendly way
without making anyone feel uncomfortable. At my husband’s work however, the ‘Bisou’
has been taken to a whole other level. Once you arrive in the office, you go
around all your colleagues and either shake their hand or kiss them. A fabulous
way to waste a good portion of the workday!
I will say this for
the custom, especially with flu season approaching. Viruses are easier
transmitted by handshakes than by a kiss on the cheek, so maybe they are on to
something after all.
Wednesday 9 October 2013
Trains
I wasn’t going to moan
about the French being on strike. It is an unfair stereo type. Most people here
on the Côte d’Azur work very hard for not much money. If you are lucky enough
to work for the government, then I’m sure you don’t want to see your wages and
conditions being cut. Like Cameron I’m not very interested in politics and I’m
not going to start now so I took very little note of what the dispute was
actually about. But the second train strike in as many months is a bloody pain
in the backside!
I live in one of the
most congested stretches of land in France; the Côte d’Azur is just a small
strip of land squeezed between the hills and the sea. When I came to live here
I thought local public transport was wonderful; clean, frequent and cheap, until I got my
first job. I soon had to buy a scooter as the bus to my local place of work
stopped driving at 7.30pm and we had to work till 8pm. I was surprised everyone
has a car here as the train and the bus are just so cheap. Now I know, you do
need a plan B.
I hate taking the car
to Monaco, with toll roads and parking it works out at about 8X the price of my
rail card and as there was a strike, the roads were very congested. Mind you it
is hard to stay annoyed long on the Côte d’Azur; the sun is shining, I’m able
to sit and write my blog outside, surrounded by palm trees and tonight I won’t
have to run down that hill to catch the 20.13 train home, instead I get to
drive around the Monaco circuit like a formula one driver.
Needless to say, that
book two is going to be influenced by commuting and Cameron will at some point
take a train. A large part of the second book is being written on the train and
in Monaco station, and I hope tomorrow we will be back to normal.
Planet money, not a bad place to be writing your book:
Thursday 3 October 2013
Language
The world is becoming
a global village. No more so than on planet money where aliens of many
continents visit every day. Coming from a small country like the Netherlands
you learn very early on that people within an hour’s car drive speak a
different language. If you want to play with the other children on the French
or German camping site, you have to learn. English and German came to me easier than French though. I do struggle daily with communication
and it was a huge influence in the story line of Language in the blood.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could just bite someone like Cameron does and
absorb the language of that person perfectly?
Wishful thinking and I
don’t think I’m the only one. At work we speak combined; English, Russian,
Chinese, Arabic, German, Dutch, Italian, Japanese and some very bad French. My
French colleagues, who are in the minority, must cringe sometimes at the weird
language we concoct to communicate with each other. The other day my colleague
described a bird as an aggressive pigeon as she couldn’t think of the word for
eagle. This makes Planet money a fun place too, you have a giggle and you
absorb each others cultures and languages by struggling on together. It might
take a bit longer than Cameron’s method but slowly, very slowly, I’m absorbing.
I do now know some pleasantries in the all the above languages.
The reason it took me
so long to write my first book (I’m in my 40’s) is partly due to my teachers.
Like Cameron I wasn’t particularly academically gifted and I found it hard to
concentrate. I did like to write stories, but my humorless teachers never gave
me any feedback on my writings, I just got handed back a paper covered in red
correction marks and a concerned look; why
can’t this child spell? I just gave up on writing. I chose to go into
vocational training at 16 and everyone agreed that making jewellery was a
better outlet for my creativity.
Now with the help of a
computer with a spell checker, thicker skin and a very helpful editor, I had another
stab at writing. Feedback has been great so far and I just received a four star
review, but I know my book isn’t a work of literature; it wasn’t meant to be,
If I raise a smile I’ll be happy. Language is a way to communicate; if it
does more it’s a bonus. To teachers I would like to say: don’t get your
knickers in a twist, there is more to language than spelling and grammar and never let any one stop you from expressing yourself.
Sunday 29 September 2013
Different boat people
This week Cameron’s
acquaintances have been in town as the Monaco yacht show was on. A small
flotilla of luxury yachts have been moored outside the port, which itself was
filled to capacity. This is the week when the great and the good come to planet
money to pick their next boat. I have been enjoying my lunches overlooking the
bay, as I’m picking out my first boat. The difference is that I’m only working
on planet money and owning a yacht will probably remain a dream.
This is the problem
with this place; all of a sudden your dreams become bigger. I never imagined
having a boat, especially not anything over 30 meters. Now I’m having the
following conversations with my colleagues:
‘Mr X just got a new
yacht, he paid 5 million euro’s for it’
‘Oh, he won’t get much
for that’
The other night I was
walking to the station, when I spotted a Bugatti Veyron (it’s a very expensive
and rare car and a petrol head’s wet dream) with the obligatory group of
tourists circling around it with their cameras. I was tempted to tell them that
there was another one parked around the corner in a different colour. I was in
a hurry and I’m trying to stay nice. I do understand how Cameron got corrupted
by planet money. It is easy to get your head turned and start seeing this world
as normal. Luckily there is always the pauper train home, which now has
standing room only as I have to share it with equally tired yacht show sales
people on their way home to planet reality. My sore feet are still firmly on
the ground. The weather has not been great and the views overlooking the port are mostly prettier, but I'd thought I better take a picture of the port being filled to capacity.
Wednesday 25 September 2013
The internet
The internet, it’s a wonderful thing! To quote Cameron, after he convinced a German man
he met on line to let him drink his blood. Not quite the shenanigans I get up
to, but I do find myself online a lot. Gone are the days when you had to send
thick paper copies of your book to agents in the hope to get published. I
decided I won’t even try as I think most agents reach for the bin if they read
’Vampire.’ I do believe I have something new, quirky and lighter hearted to
bring to the genre, so I went with Amazon KDP and self-published.
So that was the easy
part over with. The last few weeks, whenever I’m not working, I’m on my
computer; promoting, writing blogs (Like now, in Monaco station with a coffee
overlooking the port!) and trailing through and replying to endless emails. KDP
is great; you can see your sales, do promotions and upload another copy of your
book if you spot any errors. (I hope all is well now a friend has done another
proof read. Some chapter headers come up in Blue, but I’m working on
understanding why that is happening)
So I know that the
free promotion went well; about 53 serious bloggers and reviewers now have a
copy of my book and I’m waiting excitedly what will be the result. One thing
I’m a bit puzzled about; the book has taken off to an extent in Germany. I
haven’t written to any German bloggers and I’m not in contact with any of my
German family. A large part of the book is set in that country, so is it
because of some random Googling that my book is being noticed over there? As I
said: the internet is a wonderful thing!
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