The little blog of conceptual nonsense

Whoops, I didn't do a June round-up. How remiss of me. Well I have been very busy trying to do things on my list, and going to Venice with my lovely hubby for our anniversary. I'll do a quick one now, though I can't remember what was last month and what was this month, so I guess it will be a June/July round-up.

1-3 & 7) The Writing Goals

I edited Chapter 1 of Cold Spell! Yay! Haven't done anything else though. Not that anyone has read it :(. I did start planning the sequel when I was in Venice and I think I've had a break through, so don't be surprised if locations in the new book have a strangely Venisian feel to them. I'm very excited to be taking those characters on another adventure. I don't think Flora is done growing yet. Don't know what that means? Read chapter one then! :P

5&6) The Drawing Goals

I did it! The Cursed Flute of History Circles has been entered into the Seventh Sanctum contest. Check it out: http://www.seventhsanctum.com/contestentry.php?Contnum=12

8) Read a fiction novel a month

No books again. Feeling very bad about it, but I'm swamped with college work. It will just have to wait.

9) Actually read all my OU books

I'm reading them, I'm reading them! I got 93% on my biological psychology assignment :). I'm working on the end of course assessment for Applying Psychology at the moment. It's due in on Tuesday so I'm cutting it pretty close, but I'm not that bothered. I've not really enjoyed the course that much. The reading is interesting but the assessment is really weird. So far I've written 2 letters to fake companies, reflective accounts of using wikis and chat, and 1000 words of a report on autism. I've still go to write a reflection on my feedback for the first assignment (urrg) AND a reflection on the course. All this rubbish is marked! Can you tell how much I hate this reflective crap. Don't you people care what I learned from the course? I would not have done it if I'd known what was involved, that's for sure. Oh well, it's nearly over now and I could use the 15 points.

That's all for now!

I finished the comic! Yay! Here it is. This is just part of the complete poster that will make up my entry to the Seventh Sanctum contest. The challenge is to advertise the item, in this case the Cursed Flute of History Circles. Obviously, the curse is not on the advert. I expect it will be in the small print at the bottom when I do that bit.

G12027

Bardandwizard

Behold! Some very Order of the Stick-esque cartoons. I've been playing around with Inkscape under the skillful tutelage of my dear hubby and I found a tutorial through the inkscape website that tells you how to make little OotS avatars: http://www.trazoi.net/tutorials/inkscape/oots/. I made these guys to go in my comic for the Seventh Sanctum contest. I've still got a fair bit to do on the comic and I've nearly finished the manga style bard for the top of the advert. There's only about a month before the deadline though, so I hope I get them finished in time! At least I've been having lots of fun :o).

Yes, here is it, for one time only, Cold Spell. The first chapter, in 'really not polished but at least all the major plot elements are there' form. After this draft I need beta readers, so I might be begging for volunteers! Anyway, chapter one is here for everyone, but because of copyright issues and first publishing rights regs all subsequent chapters will be friends and family only, so if you like what you read just add me as a friend :o).

So, without further delay, I give you my 2007 NaNo - Cold Spell:

Before the Veil, before time, before even the Spirits, there were the Forces. Four great beings, all the power of the universe within them. But they were lost, and alone. They wandered the emptiness, each unaware that there were others like themselves, until at last they found something they never dreamed existed. A new world. And there they found each other, and were joyous that their lonely journey had come to an end. The Forces settled together, and they called the new world Home.

"Before the Veil," said Mrs Tinker, smiling at the magical effect those words seemed to have on suddenly silent children, "a beautiful, enchanted kingdom sat upon the Frozen Mountains. And what was that kingdom called?"

     "Taleira," seven little voices chorused. Mrs Tinker thought this suspicious as eight children sat before her on the carpet.

    "Flora," she said sternly. Twenty years of caring for orphaned and unwanted children had taught her a few things. One was when a child snatches their hand back as quickly as the young red-head did when they hear their name they were doing something wrong. Actually seeing the crime was not always necessary. "Any monkey business from you during this story and there will be no treat for you tonight, young lady."

     Flora tightly folded her arms across her chest, sighing dramatically as she slumped heavily backwards into the child behind her. Luckily it was Bryn, and he usually took his younger sister's sulks with good spirit.

     "Yes, it was Taleira," Mrs Tinker went on. "And the people of Taleira were very happy, for they had a good and wise king and their land was prosperous. But that wasn't the only reason the people loved the king so much. The Frozen Mountains were a dangerous place to live, but the king had incredible powers over the ice, and used them to keep the kingdom safe from the constant blizzards. But though the king was kind, he grew sad. He and his wife were getting older, and they had no children of their own."

    "Aww," said a couple of the children.

    Flora simply pouted."They could have had one from here," she grumbled.

    "Sshh!" hissed Bryn. 

    "It was soon to be the queen's birthday." A quick glance at Flora didn't reveal any more interruptions brewing, but it was hard to tell with that one. "The people of the kingdom wished for her to be as happy as they were, so they each went to her and asked what gift she desired. 'A child,' was the only answer she would give. But the people loved their king and queen, so they all prayed to the spirits to bless the Queen with a baby. The spirits heard their pleas, and on the day of the Queen's celebration she discovered that she was with child.

    "That winter, the Queen gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, with hair dark as the moonless night and eyes as blue as the noon day sky, and the kingdom rejoiced. They named the child Issa, and as the young price grew the King taught him the ways of magic.

     "The years went by and Issa grew more skilled by the day, and the King and Queen were happy that he could protect the kingdom. But someone else was not so happy with the young prince's progress. The dark spirit of the north looked upon the kingdom with fury. For too long the King had flaunted his power, and now Prince Issa looked set to surpass his father in strength. The spirit would regain her reign over the mountain at any cost."

     The children stared up at her in expectation. Even Flora's best attempts to feign disinterest were let down by the way she sat perfectly still, listening carefully to each word.

    "When at last she could stand it no more the spirit sent a beast of ice and snow to destroy them all. The King heard the cries of his people and climbed to the highest turret of the royal palace, where he summoned all of his power to battle the monster.

    "The fight between man and demon went on long into the night, but the King was growing old and his strength was not what it once was. The beast dealt a fateful blow, and a shard of ice penetrated the chest of the King. He knew he was on the edge of death, so forced what was left of his life energy into a final devastating enchantment, and the ice demon crumbled. A cheer rang up from the people below as the remains of the creature fell like flakes of snow, but the Queen ran to the side of her husband. "Tell Issa that the duty is his now," he told her, before closing his eyes for the last time. Blinking away tears, she left the King and ran as fast as she could to her son's room.

     "The screams of the Queen halted the revelry of the people below the castle. The prince was gone, taken by the dark spirit while the castle was distracted. The spell of protection broken, the storms closed in on the kingdom. The Queen returned to the King's side on the highest tower and stood looking out in a vigil for her only child. She never moved from that place, even when the blizzards came and encompassed all that remained of her husband's domain. With the whole kingdom frozen, the spirit of the north returned the prince to the castle and encased him in ice in the throne room for all time."

     The children leaned forward in uneasy silence.

     "Then what happened?" Bryn finally asked.

    "Well, they say the prince is still there to this day, slumbering under the ice until the spirit has a use for him. I did warn you this was the last Taleira story before we began," Mrs Tinker reminded them on seeing the distress growing in their faces.

    "That's a stupid story," said Flora.    

    "I would have fought the spirit," said Bryn, leaping round fighting some invisible foe with a make believe sword. "Like this!"

     The general whining about the unsatisfactory conclusion to the tale quickly ebbed away when Rachel, the girl Mrs Tinker hired to help with the children, came in with the tray of warm milk and biscuits. She watched carefully as they each took their turn selecting their treat, making sure no one took extra.

     Just when they had settled down and she was sure that the rest of the evening would pass without incident, a pair of shrill cries broke the peace.

     "Flora!" The girl leapt sharply back from where Molly and Wendy stood huddled together in tears. "What did I tell you? Give me your biscuit and go straight to bed, miss," she commanded. Flora dragged herself over, purposefully crushing her treat into several pieces before dropping it back on the tray and skulking off upstairs to the girls' room.

     "What did she do this time?" Rachel asked, a half smile on her lips. Though they didn't condone them, the two ladies couldn't help but be amused by some of Flora's antics. It did keep things interesting.

    Keen to find out the answer herself, Mrs Tinker gave the girls a motherly cuddle. "Oh, there there, now. Dry those eyes. Whatever is the matter?"

     "Flora...*sniff*...gaved us invisidible bikket," Molly told her, holding out her empty hand as evidence.

     "Well that doesn't sound all that bad," Mrs Tinker told them.

     The girls shook their head. "No, she said they were magic. Traded them for our boring old biscuits," Wendy explained. "But she didn't say they had invisible flavour too."

     "Ahh," said Mrs Tinker as images of Flora gobbling up two biscuits under the covers while having a good giggle at them filled her mind. "What am I going to do with that girl?"

     "At least she's smart," said Rachel. "She'll probably grow out of the petty tricks."

     "I suppose you're right," she sighed. "The girl's bound to get tired of it sooner or later."

Twelve Years Later...

Flora gazed into the spirit sphere nestled in the silk scarf on the table. These mystical artefacts could supposedly see through the Veil into the Spirit Realm, allowing the spirits to show the seeker something important about their future. The only thing Flora could see in this one was the reflection of the candles surrounding it. Not that she'd ever seen one working before.

     "What do you see, wise one?" asked the girl sitting across the table. The thin blond looked hopefully into the glass ball, no doubt deluding herself that there were mysterious images that only a witch could see. Through the flickering candlelight and the heavy red hue of the sun shining through the coloured tent fabric the mind could easily play tricks.

     "I see love, my child," Flora said, squinting at the ball like she was trying to focus on something. "There's a man in your life." It was a fair enough guess, seeing half the population was male.

     "Well, there is someone I like," she said.

     "Of course there is, my dear," said Flora, grateful for the predictability of simpering young blonds seeking out spirit guidance. "And he can be yours, but if you do not act quickly he will slip from your grasp."

     The girl's face dropped. "But, what must I do?"

     "Fear not, little one," she said, speaking in a distant, floaty voice. "I have just what you need to win his heart." Flora drew a small vial of liquid from the folds of the black cape she wore. The woman peered at it eagerly.

     "What is it?" she asked.

     "This, my child, is a magic potion," Flora told her. "A few drops in the tea of your beloved and he'll be in your arms by the time he has finished the pot."

     The woman's eyes widened as she reached out to take the bottle. "Will it really work?"

     "Of course, my child. I guarantee it. That will be 10ems by the way," she added casually, as though the money was just an afterthought.

     Her customer nodded and handed over the coins, gazing at her purchase in wonder. "Thank you so much, oh wise one."

     Flora smiled sweetly. "Mention it not, my child. If you need me again you know where my tent is."

     Another satisfied customer left through the front flap. Flora took a moment to adjust the black hair that fell out from under her hood before called the next person looking for the guidance of a witch. She quite surprised when the next head through the flap belonged to Bryn.

     "Flora, we've got a problem," he said. "We have to leave."

     "What? Why?" she protested. "There's lots of people waiting to see the witch."

     "Yes, but the real witch is on her way back, and she's got the town guard!"

     Flora leapt to her feet and poked her head out to look. Sure enough, an irate looking middle aged woman wrapped up in a blanket practically dragged a guard down the street, animatedly waving her arms around and gesturing to the tent. She looked quite ill, and Flora suddenly realised why the tent had been empty that day. To make matters worse, some familiar faces from earlier in the day were shouting in his other ear, showing him little empty potion vials.

     "You're right, time to shut up shop!" She ran to the back of the tent, grabbing the spirit sphere and stuffing it in her bag on the way past. Bryn lifted the fabric at the back for them to get through.

     "I've moved the horses to behind the Silver Swan," Bryn told her. Flora heard yelling from inside the tent as their pursuers discovered they had come too late. It wouldn't take a genius to work out which way they had gone.

     "Quick," she said. "Down here." They ducked into the alleyway and Flora shed her cloak and black wig.

    Later, the guards would find the disguise and kick themselves. Everyone would swear blind that an elderly dark-haired woman with a hunch had impersonated a witch and sold them the dodgy love potions, and they would never be able to link the crime with the flame-haired girl that had ridden out of town with the muscular blond man at a heck of a pace earlier that day.  

The sun already hung low in the sky when they finally came to a stop. The roads twisted and turned between the hills through the valleys here, so they were shielded from the eyes of anyone on the road behind them. Bryn dismounted and got water for the horses.

     "Do you think we'll make it to the next coaching in before night?" he asked.

     "Should do," said Flora. "It's only another mile or so." She jumped off to stretch her legs for a spell. Riding always made her cramp up. "That was a close one. Worth it though. We made 70em off the potions and 13 from the readings. Witching isn't such a bad business."

     "Maybe it would be better if the potions actually worked," Bryn suggested.

     "I didn't make any false claims," Flora insisted, rubbing her face with her sleeve. "I said the potion would get their loved one in their arms and it does. Do I still have coal dust on my face, by the way?" she asked, looking at the dark streaks she'd transferred to her clothes. Normally some strategically placed dark lines wouldn't be enough to make her look older, but in the dim light of the tent it had worked a treat.

     "You forgot to tell them that their loved one would be throwing up half the time and unconscious in their arms for the rest of it," said Bryn. "And yes, you do."

     "They didn't ask," Flora said dismissively, giving her cheeks another hard rub. "How about now?"

     "You missed a spot, Flora," said a voice that definitely didn't belong to Bryn. A wall of a man stepped around the bend. He had a good foot on Bryn in height and probably another half in width. He wore a smart looking black suit, but the fabric stretched under the strain of his muscles. He stared at her impassively, but he wasn't the one that spoke. A much smaller man, that is he looked small in comparison to the Wall, emerged from behind him, waving a small flintlock pistol at Flora. She'd only seen him once before, and that had been enough.

    "You're never going to hit me from there with that little thing, Harvey," said Flora, slowly backing away. The crack from the Walls knuckles as he crunched his fist echoed down the valleys. The pistol may not fire that far, but she thought Harvey's backup could probably do a lot of damage by throwing it at her.

    "Where's the money, Flora?" asked Harvey.

    "Don't worry. Grady's going to get his money," she said, edging ever closer to Bryn. Her brother may not have gun but the sword at his belt put a lot of people off giving him any trouble. "I just need a bit more time. You know, I've got a couple of things going on and they're already paying off. I'll have the rest in a jiffy."

    "Really?" In unison both men strode towards them. "Mr Kole doesn't like to be kept waiting, Flora. I think we're going to need some assurance that your scheme is going to deliver, or we'll have to resort to alternative repayment schemes."
    Flora had heard stories of Grady Kole's 'alternative repayment schemes', but never from someone who had actually experienced them first hand. That suggested to her that the stories were probably true. "Look, I made 60ems already, just today, so if you'll just stand aside we'll hit a few more towns and Grady will have his money in a month. Six weeks tops," she said, her voice steadily getting higher as the Wall got closer, until they were both right on top of them.
    "Hand it over, Flora," Harvey said, holding the barrel of the pistol in front of her face. "Or do you think I can't hit you from here?"
    Flora heard the sliding of metal and Bryn's sword was out and in his hand. "Leave her alone," he said firmly.
    "I suggest you keep your lackey in order, Flora," said Harvey calmly, completely unfazed by the threat of Bryn's blade. This was a man used to getting what he wanted. This was Grady's man. Flora slammed the coin purse into his hand with much more force than was necessary and watched longingly as it disappeared from view into Harvey's pocket. "And the rest of it," he said.
    "Rest of what?" she asked, but he wasn't buying it. He gave the Wall some unspoken signal and before Flora could finish the sentence a pair of huge hands were running over her clothing. "Hey, don't get fresh, big guy. You're not my type," she said. The Wall smiled.
    "Are you going to get that out yourself or shall I do it for you?" Evidently the Wall did speak after all. Flora cursed loudly and pulled a smaller bag out from under her top.
    "Happy now? Or do you want blood too?"she said, throwing it at Harvey.
    "Don't tempt us, Flora," he said. "Load up the horses," he instructed the Wall.
    "Hey what are you doing?" Flora yelled.
    "Just a security deposit," said Harvey. "You can have them back when you pay Mr Kole his money." The Wall started to lead the horses away.
    "Wait, I need my bag! I can't make any more money without my supplies," she pointed out. They seemed to take this into consideration and threw the bag at her feet, which landed with a chorus of tinkles as the glass vials knocked into each other. Damn, she though. If the merchandise was broken they'd be in real trouble.
    They watched helplessly as their trusty steeds were tied to the men's horses. "You'd better get moving, said Harvey as he urged the horses into motion. "It's getting dark, and it's a long walk to the next inn. We'll be seeing you very soon, Flora."
    They disappeared around the bend long before their hoof beats echoed into nothingness.
    Now sure they were gone, Flora kicked a rock very hard, not realising it was actually attached to the hill. "Damn it!" she yelled in a hybrid of pain and frustration. "They must have been waiting her for us."

    Bryn sheathed his sword and picked up Flora's bag. "Some of them broke," he said, checking inside, "and I think the potion is trying to eat your bag. And we don't have any money now."

    "Oh, don't we?" said Flora, pulling her boot off. "You don't think I managed to keep hold of a little bit?" She tossed the boot to Bryn. It jingled. "We've still got 13ems."

    "At least we don't have to sleep outside then," said Bryn.

    "Well, if we find a place with some good games we might be able to lay a wager and get enough to replace..."

    "Don't you think gambling has got us into enough trouble already?" Bryn said.

    "All right, all right, don't panic," she said. "I know what I'm doing." Flora put her boot back on and started to walk. "So, we've still got some potions, and some cash. All we need is a really clever way to make a lot of money very quickly so we can pay Grady back."

    "Oh, if that's all we need then there's nothing to worry about," said Bryn, starting to walk down the road.

    "Have a little faith," she said, trotting along beside him. "Something will come along, you'll see."

    He tripped and fell again, exhausted from running all night. He didn't know where he was going, or even where he was running from, just that he didn't want to be there. He picked himself up again and crawled to the peak. Maybe over this one. Each time he climbed a hill he just saw another one beyond it, but it couldn't be hills all the way. It just couldn't. There had to be somewhere else. Home couldn't be far.

    He reached the top and his heart sank. Another hill. No. He sat on a rock, ready to sleep right there, when he heard a curious sound. Hoof beats. With renewed hope he searched for the source of the noise. Below him a road snaked between the hills. He saw a team of horses pulling a wheeled carriage behind them. He tried to call out for help, but his voice cracked and faltered, as though he had not used it in some time, and before long the carriage was just a dot far ahead on the road.

    He took a deep breath and picked himself up. that road had to go somewhere. He could follow it. Perhaps it went home. He began the careful climb down the hillside, not once looking back for what he ran from, so he did not see the frost trail that followed where he stepped.

Last month wasn't really a great month for my goals. I guess it was more of an exercise in keeping my head above water, but I got through it. Anyway, let's see how badly I did.

1-3 & 7) The Writing Goals

I haven't done anything! No work on Cold Spell, no more planning The Diabloist's Debt, still haven't finished Technomancer or written any short stories. I seriously think I'm going to need to take a year off study to get all these projects done! And I'll have another book to finish/edit after NaNo in November!!

5&6) The Drawing Goals

I have started work on my Seventh Sanctum contest entry. I've done some sketches and outlined a little comic thing to advertise my Cursed Flute of History Circles. I'm thinking of writing a little story about it too. Maybe 1000 words. I'll see if I have a good idea. Still not sure what the curse should be though.

8) Read a fiction novel a month

Failed!!! :(

I'm so upset about this. I just didn't have the time to read a real book last month. I've been up to my eyeballs in OU work and it just wasn't happening. I'll have to try and pick up the pace again this month. *sigh*

9) Actually read all my OU books

At least I'm doing well on this, and it is the most important goal at the moment. As much as I would rather be working on my novels it seems that at the grand age of 26 I've finally mastered the skill they tried to teach me in high school with very little success. Prioritise your time and do fun things when you've finished your work. OK, I've mastered that for most things but I still just can't bear to miss a roleplay session :o).

10) Finish Wedding Scrapbook

Ha ha ha ha. No. Just No.

My list sucks. Who's bright idea was it to have a list? I'm never going to get through this thing! Though maybe the point is in the trying rather than the succeeding. Hmm, that doesn't sound like something Yoda would agree to, but I like the sound of it. Sorry little green dude.

Markie sometimes teases me for spending more time drawing up pretty plans than actually doing the stuff I'm planning. There might be something to this, concidering my blog is mostly a list of my plans and how crap I'm doing at them! But sometimes my plans work out. So a couple of weeks ago I had a complete freak out over everything I had to do and, as I often do, I blogged my escape plan. Whaa haa haa.

I got the assignment in at the last minute, and the last minute is always better than a late minute, so I'm not going to complain. I also got 81% on it. Yay me!

I'm also on top of my OU reading and have managed to survive the week without skimping on the note taking. The new course is a little odd. We're supposed to do online group activities, which is tricky since we're supposed to be able to work in our own time, but there we go. It is the first presentation of a new course. They couldn't have known that getting a bunch of part-time students online at the same time within a 2 day time frame was going to present an issue. </sarcasm>

Now, my problem is that I haven't managed to gain any time back yet, and I'm relying on finishing the assignment early to have time for the seventh sanctum contest. I've got another chapter to read and the assignment to do. I could be cutting it close. Luckily, there's still time after the assignment deadline to work on the picture. Just hope I can find the time!

Poor old scrapbook isn't getting any love, but that was part of the plan. I didn't expect to have any time, and surprise surprise, I didn't. *sigh*. I also haven't read anything. This does mean I'm in serious danger of failing my novel challenge for the year. This seems sad :(. If I let it slip now I'll have no motivation to read anything on any other month! I do still have tonight and tomorrow. Maybe it's not too late...

Frankly, I'm feeling alittle overwhelmed at the moment. OK, I'm feeling a lot overwhelmed. I've only done 1 scrapbook page, I've barely started this months book, I've got tonnes of work to do on my contest drawing, I haven't done any work on Cold Spell for ages, I've got an assignment due in next week that I still haven't finished, I hate what I've done already, plus now I have 2 sets of reading to do this week just to keep up with the OU study calendar and the great plan I made to keep ahead has gone out of the window because of this stupid assignment! And for some reason I'm here blogging instead of doing one of those other things. I seriously need some focus and a new plan. Problem is I spend so long making plans I have no time for anything else.

OK, let's prioritise here. The most important thing on the list is the OU work. It's the only thing that won't wait, so I'll make a start on my reading now and spend this evening working on my assignment, with a quick break to watch Doctor Who. I could really do with finishing it tomorrow but I do have until Wednesday, so it's not all bad. I'll just have to stop obsessing about it and send it in even though I'm not happy. At the end of the day it's not going to make a difference to my degree.

The scrapbook will just have to go on the backburner, possibly even until August when my 2nd course finishes. Sorry scrapbook, you just don't get priority. I also need a shorter book. I really want to read Making Money, but I just don't have the time! I'm switching one of Markie's mini Doctor Who books :o).

The deadline for the Seventh Sanctum contest isn't until July, so if I concentrate on college work for a while and get ahead again I should be ok. I'll put that aside until I've done my first assignment for my new course. However many days before June 17th I get the assignment finished is the number of days I get to draw. That sounds fair.

As for Cold Spell, I really want to work on it, so I think I might take it to bed with me and do a little in the evenings when Markie is watching stuff. 

OK, that sounds like a plan! Though now we've been invited out for dinner tonight. Meh. Best laid plans...blah blah blah. Better get to work...

So, Seventh Sanctum have announced the next contest. Slightly unusual, but here it is: http://www.seventhsanctum.com/contests.php

It seems that the goal is to generate an item and then advertise it in some way. Well, I suppose I could have a go. What's the worst that could happen?

At the moment I'm rather drawn to the Cursed Flute of History Circles, though I'm not sure how I'd draw someone using it. Maybe have to do a comic strip style thing. That would give me a chance to play with Comic Life on the Mac, and Markie is abandoning me for a few days...very tempting. I shall have to have a think. Watch this space! 

Yes, as the forth month of the year draws to a close it's time to see how I'm getting on with that list. Can't believe that it has been four months already. I have no clue how I'm going to get through this whole list :o). Oh well, let's see what I have managed to do.

1-3 & 7) The writing goals

I haven't managed to work on any of my writing goals this month. I did start planning 'The Diabolist's Debt'. Not sure why. I'm pretty sure it wasn't on the list. Maybe I'm just getting a head start on NaNo. I do really want to do some more work on 'Cold Spell' though, plus I have the ideas for my short stories. Just need the time to write them!

5&6) The drawing goals

I did miss the seventh sanctum contest this time round, though they have just announced the winners so I'm sure a new contest will be up before long. Hopefully it will be something I can do with only 1 character :o). Maybe I could write a story about them and knock something off goal #7 at the same time.

8) Read at least 1 fiction novel a month

Wicked

Gregory Maguire

Yesterday I finished 'Wicked'. To say it wasn't what I expected would be an understatement. It is absolutely nothing like I imagined, plus it was a bit racey.

It is a good book but a bit heavy and not exactly uplifting so I'm taking a little break and going back to Pratchett this month before I tackle the sequel.

I am now very interested to see the musical (there's no way it can have as much sex in it, surely?) and also to actually read the Wizard of Oz to see how much of it maps, but that's going to have to wait for a while.  Next month I'll be 'Making Money'.

9) Actually read all my OU books

Read Book 3: Exploring the Brain and got sent the book for my new course. Joys. Now I have to read a chapter of the new book every week and a chapter of the other book every two weeks, plus I've got Fred's book too. So here they all are:

 Yes, that looks like a thrilling couple of months for me! And I've got an essay to write this week. See what I mean about the time?

10) Finish Wedding Scrapbook

I have finally managed to make a start on this. I've made a page and a half. OK, that doesn't sound like much, but I'm getting there. Maybe I'll take a picture of the pages and upload them. Anyway, I've done a page with the invitations and I've done most of the wedding cake page. I might get another done at the weekend. I've bought loads of stuff for it.

I guess that's all for April. *Sigh*. Hope the list goes down a bit quicker next month.

TTFN!

The deadline for the Seventh Sanctum contest went rushing past and I didn't have anything even close to being finished. Oh well. I'm hoping the next one will be more of a single character thing. It really was the panic vampires that did me in at the end.

I am loving the new generator, though. It's called a Symbolitron and it comes up with story concepts that map to something symbolic. For example, I just got "The story about monster trainers where the characters map to the Ten Plagues of Egypt." Too much fun :o). I'm looking for something like that for my demon hunters in the new book I'm planning, 'The Diabolist's Debt'. I was thinking seven deadly sins, but maybe there's something better I can use. How about this: "The love story where the main character moods map to the Ten Sephiroth of the Kabbalah." Hmm, back to the drawing board, methinks.