Panic

This Saturday I received an email from my new employer that I will be starting work on Tuesday. This was not totally unexpected as they said they wanted me to start as soon as possible, however the predicted time for the relevant paper work meant that we penciled in the 11th of March. So starting one week early had me a little panicked; there is still so much I wanted to do!

It was also a lovely sunny weekend and I should enjoy my last weekend of freedom, shouldn't I? I managed to have a swim, a walk and a well deserved beer on a terrace. I also did a few more hours of writing and I'm pleased to say the book is finished and I'm happy with it. When I wrote the first draft of my first book, I was pretty clueless. I knew I had a good character, but putting a book together was another matter. My friend and editor Penny guided me a lot during the following drafts and rewrites.

Book two is hopefully equally funny, I certainly think that the copy I now have on my computer is better written, thought out and testament to a more confident writer. I'm starting to learn what it takes and I'm not going to give up on publishing. I know my new job is going to keep me busy over the next eight months but I will try hard to keep my fingers on the keyboard.

It feels like I haven't achieved as much as I wanted, but when I take stock of my two months unemployment, well it's not bad. I have finished the book and I'm happy with the result and I've written 5 short stories. (they still need a bit of work but nothing a few hours without a cat distracting me won't fix!)
It might go a bit quieter but keep watching this space, there will be more releases!

Arguing with science

When I chose to make my character a vampire it was mainly to give total free reign to my fantasy. He is a vampire, they don’t exist therefore I can make him do whatever I want, right?

Not quite, you’re touching on a much used and much loved genre so there are certain myths you have to stick to. I’ve kind of stayed with the old school traits such as, sunlight, a wooden stake through the heart, and beheading kills. Cameron also has no reflection in the mirror and can’t have his picture taken. I’ve added my own slant by stating that garlic can gives a vampire a nasty rash and he can absorb language through the blood. (Hence the title)

With modern inventions we are getting on shaky ground and this has led to a few differences of opinion with my husband and my usual answer of:

                ‘He is a vampire, the laws of physics don’t apply to vampires,’ is not cutting the mustard.

I think a vampire can make a phone call but said conversation can’t be recorded. My husband launched into an explanation about sound waves and well you can’t argue with science, right?

I decided to consult the “experts”, because these days any argument is settled by the internet; and this is what the “experts” had to say on the subject:

Can they be heard over the phone?

According to Buffy the vampire slayer; the experts in modern vampires, a resounding yes. Angel too makes several phone calls in the spin off series Angel.

Can they be recorded?

According to:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OurVampiresAreDifferent 

Somewhat-common additional (mostly modern) rules for vampires are:

• Cannot be photographed or caught on video, often an extension of the "no reflection" rule. This may also be related to the silver rule; mirrors and photographic film are both (usually) made from silver.
• In Moonlight, Mick explains in a voiceover that he could not be photographed when silver was used in film, but digital cameras have changed all that.
• In the TV series Ultraviolet (unrelated to the film), the vampire hunters use sights that pretty much amount to video cameras strapped to their guns in order to tell vampire from non-vampire.
• In the anime Magical Pokaan, Pachira does not show up on a normal digital camera but is perfectly visible when viewed with an infrared camera.
• Cannot be heard over phone lines.

But according to this site my husband is right:

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/separating-myths-from-facts-in-vampire-the-requiem.html

Vampires don't show up like normal people on camera or in mirrors: Fact. Vampires show up with their features obscured in photographic media (including video footage) and in mirrors. They can temporarily counteract this effect, but by "default," their features are obscured. The same is not true for voice recordings; vampires' voices are captured normally on voice recorders.

Luckily I came across this site where you can take a quiz to see if you are a vampire. I think the following three questions vindicate me:

http://www.armory.com/tests/vampiric.html

·  Does your reflection seem to be missing when you look in the mirror?

·  Are you invisible in photos, videos, audio tapes, or any other recording medium?

·  Can you get past electronic surveillance equipment (cameras, microphones, laser trip wires, etc.)?

I see it as follows: Cameron only exist if there is blood involved, hence a human ear can hear him but a machine can't. I also think only natural things can harm him, ea sunlight, garlic, natural drugs and wooden stakes.

I think the moral of this exercise is that regarding vampires there are no facts, only myths. I think if I don’t stray too far from the myths I can do whatever the hell I want, it seems everyone else does!

battered laptop

Despite Clicquots best efforts, the laptop is still working and I'm laying the finishing touches to language in the blood two. I'm still looking for an interesting subtitle and it is far from published. First I have to see if my lovely editor has time to take this project on. Any suggestions for a subtitle are welcome!

Clicquot the cat loves the laptop; scrolling through emails fascinates him but results quickly in a two pawed pounce against the screen. If I ignore him he wanders over the keyboard or starts gnawing on the screen. It's a wonder the poor thing still works the amount of time it has been pounced flat against the table. Needless to say, you have to switch the laptop off when he comes along, so I mostly only get between 2pm and 5pm to get some writing done, when his majesty is enjoying his nap.

The good news is that spring has sprung here. The water is still too cold to brave it without a wetsuit but on a sunny day it is definitely beach weather here. I tried taking the laptop out on to the balcony yesterday and that seemed to work to an extend as Clicquot was busy sniffing and exploring around me. I'm glad he doesn't seem the type to jump over the railing chasing some beasty, but he is only 4 and half months old, so close supervision is still needed.

The start of my work is looming large and there is still so much I want to get done, but sometimes you just need to switch the computer off and enjoy what is all around you. Clicquot will only be a kitten for a short time, when he is a big cat that wants to sleep all day, I'll pick up speed again. Now where's that fluffy mouse!

Bookreview: Snippets by Laura Besley

I've been looking forwards to reading this selection of flash fiction because Laura Besley is like me a blogger and new author. I'm also putting together a book of short stories so I was interested to see her work. The author has lived like myself in the Netherlands and the UK, but I ended up in France and she in Hong Kong. I was disappointed not to read about Hong Kong life in the stories, but that is on a personal note and doesn't take away from a great collection of work.

The Blurb:

Murder, a drug addict, an arranged marriage, a groom on his wedding day, an old couple on a day out: this collection of flash fiction traverses twenty-one lives, giving snippets of their relationships , their highs and lows, their struggles and successes.

My opinion:
This is a great selection of very short stories or as the author calls it flash fiction. They deal with every day situations like death, love, duty and even a dinner party. All of the stories were good but I was often left wanting more from a situation or a character. It is flash fiction and therefore stories are meant to be very short but some left me dissatisfied. However here are some of my highlights:
SPAG BOL
I thought this was very original, a mundane conversation by a couple whilst preparing spaghetti Bolognese for a dinner party. During the conversation you receive the entire recipe.
DOWN THE HILL
About an elderly woman and her wheelchair bound husband, I can't say too much but it had me laughing out loud.
LETTERS FROM THE PAST
A woman sits in her bathroom looking at some letters from her past, reminiscing about someone she used to know. This was a wonderful story about regret.
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
This is about two work friends (girls) discussing the break-up of a mutual friend, the two agree that it is a terrible thing, but one friend's feelings are not sincere.

I was in two minds whether to to give this 4 or 5 out of 5. I had an issue with the genre of flash fiction, as I said it left me at times dissatisfied, but the quality of the writing was good and I would love to see some longer work by this author. So 5 it is:)

Snippets is available on amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Snippets-Laura-Besley-ebook/dp/B00I7I9FR6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1391399438&sr=1-1

You can read Laura's blog on:
www.laurabesley.blogspot.com

Optimism II

Turned out it wasn't such a bad week after all. The basement is drying out and apart from the Saturday the weather has been fine and at times sunny. I even managed to get that job after all. I'm starting the 11th of March in the duty free shop@nice airport. The airport has an unique atmosphere and I enjoyed my previous season there very much. It's at times unpredictable and you have to be willing to do overtime, but unlike my job in Monaco; the overtime is paid. I'll be working either the early morning or late evening so I should be able to keep writing and get that much needed beach time. I mean tans don't just happen!

As much as you love something and would like to write about it, sometimes it doesn't fit with the character. I have a background in jewellery and a love of gemstones, so it made sense to make Cameron a jewellery thief. I also have a love of anything airplane and one of my most amazing aviation experiences was to go up in a vintage Tiger moth. I was at the time learning to fly and not worried when the pilot suggested we do some tricks. The loop de loop was done at such slow speed that it seemed we would be stuck upside down at the top of the loop. The Tiger moth however is known for its maneuverability at low speed and made an excellent training airplane:

I would love to get Cameron to fly one of these, but to lean how to fly you would have to put in some daylight hours first. Maybe his friend Charley would've had his license and experience of night time flying. On a clear night you could've flown one of these without problems. I might consider an aviation story for book 2. Modern airports are unfortunately a no go for vampires, but maybe some of the passengers stories will inspire me.

I hope to get a lot of writing done before I start the job, but the kitten is doing it's best to stop that from happening. He sleeps between 2 and 5pm if I'm lucky, but the rest of the time he is trying to type on my laptop too.(Or biting the screen!)

To finish of the week we had the excellent ladies 1500M speed skating results. Well done the Dutch girls for getting gold, silver, bronze and chocolate. (One of the french ski team came up with that to take some comfort in coming fourth. I think that is rather sweet; so you came fourth! poor you here's a medal made of chocolate:)

So bring on the week, the sun is shining....what could could go wrong? I also would like to thank Clicquot for his input, that screen really did need to be pounced upon and knocked flat, the blog is so much the better for it!

Optimism

On Monday night I went to bed full of confidence and good cheer. I just had two job interviews which I thought had gone well and the Netherlands were heading the medals table in the winter Olympics. Tuesday morning I got up and after many days of rain, it was a glorious sunny day. I jumped out of bed and told my self: 'this week is going to be great!'
What an idiot I can hear you say, never assume the best, you're setting yourself up for a fall.

First I received a call from one of the jobs; they had picked someone else for the 1st of March start, but they may have something for me in April. Disappointing but no disaster, still in the running for the other job.

Then I looked at how my book promotion was going. Again no disaster but things could have gone better, to cheer my self up I went to Youtube to look at the videos of my kitten Clicquot. As I observed the number of hits I realised that my cat would probably be famous before me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVU8ZeqqJVc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VSMFERu0Uk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-Ddtwioj_U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IfD6H_2-YY
No problem there I still think he is adorable and I wish him well in his acting career.

Then I braved outside and enjoyed a nice walk along the beach in the sun and on the way home I stopped at a cash dispenser to get some Euro's. Transaction went as normal until the notes were due to come out. The machine made an attempt to spew out the notes but didn't succeed, it frantically dinged urging me to take my cash. It was 30€, again no disaster but the surly attitude of the bank staff who just would not believe me, really put me in a bad mood. Now I have to wait for my online transaction statement and somehow prove the BNP bank stole my money!

I just got home when a friendly neighbour informed me that some of our cellars were flooded including mine. They had done work on the heating system and now there was a layer of water in the cellars. Not too much got soaked and I wouldn't say it was a disaster, I mean, how dare I speak of disasters when Somerset  in England has been under water for 8 weeks and most of Europe had to deal with some flooding crisis or another.

Here on the mountainous côte d'Azur we had problems with the unusual weather patterns too. Rain/snow fall is 40% above normal and is creating a lot avalanches, landslides, flash floods and even a train crash;

when the rain dislodged a massive boulder which hit the train and knocked it of the rails, unfortunatly 2 people where killed and many injured.

So all in all my life is still pretty good and I have a lot to be grateful for, but I will think twice about jumping out of bed saying: 'This week is going to be great.'
This week is going to be average and that will have to do, it could be so much worse.

Free book giveaway

In order to get more reviews for my book I'm running another free book promotion from the 7th to the 11th of February. It's the last push to promote this book before I hopefully have something else to put out there. If you haven't read it, this is what it is about:

This funny story follows Scottish vampire Cameron Blair, as he comes to terms with his new ‘life’, from his first days as a hapless vampire in war-torn France to the glamorous modern day setting of the Côte d’Azur. Along the way, he develops a distinctive taste for the finer things in life: jewels, yachts, small dogs and champagne-infused human...

http://www.amazon.com/Language-blood-Angela-lockwood-ebook/dp/B00EMEN1P6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391763139&sr=8-1&keywords=language+in+the+blood+by+angela 

Time is running out as the job market is hotting up here. A lot of companies on the Côte d'Azur recruit now for the summer season, and I'm pleased to say that I have 2 interviews lined up. As much as I would like to become a full-time writer; it's not a realistic prospect just now. The seasonal contracts run from about March to October so the race is on to get as much done as possible before that. 

So time for this writer to take off those comfy lounge about the house garments, apply make-up and uncomfortable shoes. To put on that smile that says: 'No writing is just a hobby, I really, really want to work here and in 5years time I see myself in a senior role!'