Blogs, books and busyness

I know I have neglected this blog a bit recently but also know that it happens and hey the world hasn't ended!  And if you're reading this dear reader, you are still with me and I thank you for that!

I've been cracking on with my book on Machu Picchu - now getting to the exciting stage where I can talk about it and show people and ask for feedback (while only slightly feeling panicked/ hiding under blanket/ screaming eeeek). More about that in good time...

I have also been busy setting up something I have been thinking about for a while - a blog focused on being mostly vegan. I decided to try being vegan last year and have stuck to it although not always 100%!
I've been wanting to write about it more and was spurred on by taking part in a recipe swap in March thanks to Twitter (see I don't waste my time on there - it is valuable research and contact building!) I'll be trying out recipes, reviewing restaurants and other things, charting the ups and downs and musings on being, wel,l as the name suggests, virtually vegan!

Like most other people who write, I don't just write. I have a full time job, which is temporary so I need to try to keep my hand in with freelance work too as that's what I'll be likely returning to doing when the contract ends.  I have my little family of teenage son, cat and dog to look after, sort out and have fun with. Oh and the fish - I can't forget the fish. I am single so solely responsible for things like doing the hoovering, shopping, putting the bins out and, this weekend's surprise task, sorting out a workman to fix the garage roof. I have friends I would like to see more of and do more with. I haven't seen my brother since Christmas and he only lives in Yorkshire. Then there's social media...

I have never had and always thought I should have a routine, a definite time, schedule or window in the diary for writing. I still think I should have. But do I need to? I'm not sure.
Does it help to have a fixed routine or is it just more stressful if you can't stick to it or find you don't always feel at your writing best in your scheduled time slot?
I am still working out what's best for me.  I know I am a night own and could happily start about 8pm and write all through the night. But realistically I can't do this and carry on with the rest of my life. I thought I should try getting up an hour earlier to at least write something - but I also find that about 30-45 minutes into writing I am flowing and don't want to stop. Plus it means setting the alarm for 5am...

Have you found anything that works well for you?

A never ending story

So - here we are then April already - doesn't time fly! I knew I had neglected my blogging a bit but was shocked when I logged on to see the whole month of March didn't exist in my blogging universe! Thought I was going mad as I distinctly recall logging on at least 2 or 3 times and writing posts - but I have just found them saved as drafts - so only going slightly mad, having written but not actually published them.

I have had a busy month, head down, getting on with my e-book on my trip to Machu Picchu (still playing about with possible titles). I decided my first draft needed a lot of work so I just started again pretty much from scratch!  This is now turning into a readable draft (I think) so I'm sending it off to a couple of other people to look at. This is scary because 1) I haven't yet shared it with anyone else and 2) having read it again I can still see a lot that I want to change.

I'm not sure if/ when I will ever be able to take off my editing goggles. It is the bit I enjoy more than the first part of just getting some words out and down on paper - I find that that's hard because I still can't stop myself editing as I go along, so it all becomes quite time consuming!

I am looking forward to getting other people's feedback on it - and I know the people I am sending it to are both honest and constructive. It is like seeing your baby suddenly being judged by others though and I have had to do some stern talking to myself to even get it sent off in the first place!

So - even while the others are looking at it I know I won't be able to resist working on it again - but hopefully when I get their feedback it will give me some direction, focus and reassurance that no, I really don't need to start all over again...!

My pics of the week

Only one member if the family was excited to see the snow return...

Putting it out there- Sunday Snippet

I had a whizzy idea to enter the Northern Writer's Awards just two weeks before the deadline. Actually I had hummed and haaa'd about it for ages -  I took til then to make my mind up. I had two potential pieces I thought would just need some editing work on that I could put forward. So I got distracted from my main WIP, the Machu Picchu trek book, and spent time on two possible submissions, doing more editing than writing, which also threw out my 100K challenge word count.

Then I decided the day before the deadline I couldn't possibly enter the submissions, that they needed much more work, I didn't feel they were worthy of being read by others. Dear Reader, I bottled it. 

Still, I do now have two pretty much ready to go pieces to submit next year - or to put forward as entries into something else or possibly as a pitch. If I just dare...

In the meantime, here's a snippet from my Duff Guide to Prague, Budpest and Vienna - maybe by posting snippets I'll get over my coyness...!   

I peered at the grubby window which had just closed, incredulous. "They can't have closed it. It's lunchtime, we're in an ariport, there's a queue, there are lost tourists all around. How on earth can the tourist information booth just close?" I peered at it again. Maybe they were just swapping over staff or something. But no, behind the fading postcards stuck to the glass and pens and maps that nobody could buy now even if they wanted to, there was no sign of life.

I sighed. This wasn't in the plan, the guide book or the app.

Visual Dare: Third Eye

Oooh I haven't joined in for ages - love the photo as always and thanks to Angela as ever for her fab, fun visual dare challenge!

“What? You’ll have to speak up.”
“I said…”
“Shhhh, not so loud, you’ll give the game away.”
“I said… why can’t we just hide in a bush?”
“Don’t be silly, there aren’t any bushes. We have to use a bit of imagination. We’re private investigators now. Just think Tom Selleck in Magnum PI.”
“I feel more like Frank Spencer in Some Mother’s Do ‘Ave ‘Em.  What’s that? I can hear someone laughing. Is someone laughing at us?”
“No. Well… it’s just that gatekeeper. He’s not really laughing at us. Well he is a bit. I’ll give him a Magnum PI stare. He’ll draw attention to...”
Clang, clunk, thwack.
“YEOWWWWCH!”
“Ooops sorry.”

Five fab things

Five fab things in my week this week were:

• Milestone reached - My currently pregnant friend previously had a miscarriage - this week she safely passed that same point in this pregnancy - still a long way to go but so pleased for her that she's beyond that particular milestones.
• Becoming a socialite! - There are pros and cons of going from being self employed to working full time but plenty of invites to do things, go places (all part of the job!) and socialise are a definite plus.
• Ice skating - one of these opportunities this week was a chance to go ice skating as well as a meal and drink afterwards. I have been on the ice only twice before in my life but gave it a good shot, fell over, got up again and had an absolute hoot. Ice skating - my new fave thing that I think I'd like to learn how to do properly and probably never will.
• Snow! Not a fan of winter or being cold at all but after the weeks/ months of rain, mud, brownness, wet swampy walks the bright, clean (for now) blanket of the white stuff has made the scenery brighten up and unlike in the rain, people come out to enjoy it and have fun. And I do love a snowman...
• My log fire - it's particularly this time of year when I just love love love having a real fire. Coming in from the snow there is nothing cosier or more welcoming. Best thing I've ever bought!

Snow fun...

My Three Eeks Challenge

I mentioned in my first post of the year about my aims-but-not really-resolutions that I'd be setting some goals - and here they are.. Ta-da! All signed, sealed and no getting out of no matter how crazy I may think I must've been when I agreed to do them!

This year I'm fundraising for Maggie's North East Centre, a much needed space for people with cancer and their families to get friendly help and support.  Maggie Keswich Jencks and her husband set the charity up when she had cancer and realised there was a need for somewhere relaxed, informal and non-institutional where people could go to get more information, support, help or just have a cuppa and a chat. There is now a Maggie's Centre being built in my area and it's the type of place I think will be such a massive help to anyone with cancer, or who knows someone with cancer. The NHS is great at what it does - but there is such a lot more provided by charities like Maggie's that wouldn't be there otherwise. You can find out more here

So, I've committed to raising £2,500 by the end of this year and to do this I'll be tackling three things that make me go 'eek' when I think about them (hence the title...see what I did?!)
No.1 Eek - The Long One - a first for me in terms of distance I'll be doing the Marathon of the North on April 28th - it's •only• 26 miles...
No.2 Eek - The Speedy One - I'm aiming to do the GNR on 16th Sept faster than, ahem, ever before! Definitely under 2 hours, yes very quick indeed - a 'proper' target will be set nearer the time..
No.3 Eek - The Hot, High One - following my errr 'success' mountain climbing in Peru (ie hospitalised with altitude sickness) I'll be tackling the jungle clad snake infested Escambray Mountains in Cuba on 15 November.

Eeeeek!
I have that sickly feeling in my stomach that I had when I was raising money for Breast Cancer Care - I hate asking people for money (even though it's such a fantastic cause!), it's even harder in the current climate, it seems like a huge amount, and I am already panicking that I won't be able to do it.  And that's just the fundraising.

They physical challenges - well, that's a whole other challenge..!

And if anyone can spare any pennies, the all important Just Giving link is here...! http://www.justgiving.com/SharonMcKee3Eeks