Eeek.
I just commited myself to the novel_in_90 community. I’m going to be writing a novel over the next three months- I start tomorrow, and I end on April 29th. It’ll be a subversive teen spy adventure called Flipside, and whatever happens, it’s going to be interesting trying to keep up the challenge. I will maintain a wordcount update, and maybe this might just keep me sane over the next few weeks…
It may be late, the debate may be over, nobody may care anymore- but I’ve finally watched the entirety of Torchwood, meaning that- for the final part of this unexpected series- I’ve got six episodes to get through. Time to torch some wood. Beware the spoilers…
Vote Saxon! You know it makes sense- and so does Russell T. Davies…
Two more days in London. I’m staying over at a friends place, sleeping on their comfy sofa, and subbbing at TV Times. I also took the chance to get to the BSFA meeting last night, which featured an interview with Who novelist and writer Paul Cornell which was hugely entertaining. It was especially delightful hearing his first memories of bravely making it through the Who story Brain of Morbius, plus the conceptual shift he experienced on reading the prologue of Target novelisation Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters. Fun, erudite, and plenty to think about. I also got to tell him how much I enjoyed the recent Big Finish audio he’d co-written, and ended up asking his very lovely wife if I could pick her brains at some point about the ins and outs of becoming a vicar. (She’s training to be one, and I’ve got a story idea that involves a vicar and really needs a bit more detail than “he wears a dog collar and quotes from the Bible!”) Also ended up drinking far too much red wine thanks to the prescence of Macmillan sci-fi editor supremo Peter Lavery, and it was a lovely time. Wish I could have stayed longer, but time and money restrictions meant having to say no.
Woke up this morning at 7, was out of Kim and Richard’s flat in Surrey Quays by 7.30- and then, I got the walking bug. Instead of taking the bus to the nearest tube station (which I can never do- too much standing around), I set off to walk it- but ended up distracted by one of the nearby Quays, and the distant towers of Canary Wharf. I had 2 1/2 hours before I needed to get to work- so I ended up going on a mammoth walk, exploring a side of the Thames that I’d never got to see before. I took a couple of wrong turns, but went up into Rotherhite, and then ended up saying “Why the hell not?” and walked all the way into work, which is just by Blackfriars. Took just under two hours, and the weather was fresh and bracing without being insanely cold. There’s something about random exploration that I find very beguiling- I never want to be in a situation where I can’t just fix my eyes on the horizon, say “I wonder what’s over there?”, and then go and find out.
Exploration is a good thing.
Tomorrow I may also be paying a visit to the offices of SMD Publishing, in order to discuss the matter of the £876 they still owe me. I’ve heard a couple of rumours that are a little more positive than what I’ve been mostly aware of, but it’s going to take money in my bank before I’ll regard this problem as sorted.
I opened the door today, to be greeted by my brother-in-law, my mother-in-law, and a key to a Rover 300 that was sitting in the parking area just next to our house.
We have a car.
Gulp.
It’s been ten years since I’ve driven properly- but now, I’ve got the opportunity to get some experience back. Plus, I’m in exactly the right place, as once you get off the busy road that’s in front of our house, there’s miles and miles of quiet country lanes, which will be perfect for getting back my driving mojo. The possibilities this opens up are boggling- most particularly, it’s going to mean fairly soon I’ll be able to go to London completely under my own steam. Insurance will be sorted on Monday, and there’ll be other things in place soon to make sure the driving experience should be pretty smooth.
It’s good news at the end of a tough week. After having gone back to work for Hotdog last year, it looks like I’m about to be shafted again- SMD Publishing are about to go out of business, and I’m probably going to lose £876 as a result, and this is at a point when we really can’t afford to lose any money at all. Financially, things are really, really difficult at the moment, but we’re going to be doing things to get them back under control. Finding out from the Landlord (of the flat) whether he’s been able to book the builders for the refurbishment would be a massive help- we’re not going to be able to make progress until the monthly £715 drain on our finances goes away, and I’m praying that it’ll be sooner rather than later. We’ve had a couple of other setbacks, but we’re going to keep going. No matter how hard this gets… I’m glad we’re here. It’ll be worth it in the end.
And now, I’m off to stop my new car from making pithy comments and engaging Turbo Boost when I expressly tell it not to. A hefty spanner should do the trick…
Progress on the book has been going slowly- and I realised today that one reason behind this is that there’s a whole selection of sequences that just aren’t good enough. Even polishing them up isn’t really going to help- so I’ve made myself a list of eleven major segments that I need to heavily revise, and I’m going to start from scratch on them. It’s very important that I get this done- but it’s not going to be worth it unless I’m confidant in what I’ve done. With various transport issues affecting my life at the moment, the novel is one of the main things I can concentrate on- and I don’t want to get a month down the line only to realise that I wasted a chance. Once I get these eleven segments sorted, it’ll still need a MAJOR polish- but at least I’ll be a lot closer to my goal. I just want to make sure that it’s fun, and I don’t care what I have to do to get it that way. I don’t want another person to read it and not make it through to the end- they may dislike it, but they’re damn well going to make it to the end!
Free! Free! I’m free at last!
No- a month of either no internet whatsoever or dial-up only didn’t exactly do me much good. However, I’m here-battered but not bowed, and back in the world of Broadband! It may be a little slower than our London connection- but it’s here, and it’s a damn sight better than anything else we’ve had in the last couple of weeks. George was bouncing around with joy earlier this evening- as a dedicated World of Warcraft gamer, she’s been feeling the pain of dial-up, so there were many gleeful yelps of “Broadband! Broadband! Broadband!” tonight. I should also explain- our ‘activation date’ was scheduled to be this Thursday- I was only trying the modem in order to get the passwords and access software logged on, I wasn’t expecting to get actual Net. As a result, I’ll hopefully be a little more of a presence here than for the last month- not that there isn’t an awful lot for me to be doing in order to catch up with the rotating wheels of life…
More details soon. Must go and tidy a few things up.
We have broadband. Life is good.
I’m just coming to the end of the second day of subbing, and while there’s a whole selection of paperwork to sort out fairly soon, it’s just possible that I may be able to have a relatively quiet weekend at home. George has been working like a trooper in order to get various things like housing benefit sorted, and hopefully we’ll have most of the relevant details together soon. Our finances are still resembling a smoking crater, but things are looking a little more hopeful- and having a few days when nothing too goddammed dramatic is happening will be something of a relief.
Once I get the major stuff out of the way, it’s going to be time to recommence with the novel- and this time, there can’t be any messing around. I’ve got a much better idea of where it needs to be, so I’ve just got to bite the bullet and actually make it happen. I want to get this sorted, so I can finally stop worrying about The Hypernova Gambit and start worrying about something new.
A brief note on my Christmas experience- possibly the most fun I had was thanks to the PS2 Karaoke ‘Singstar’ game that one of Meryl’s kids received, which cued a whole series of tortuous battles and duets. The strangest moment was ending up singing ‘Wind of Change’ by The Scorpions with my brother-in-law Alec, while I also discovered that ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ by Queen is phenomenally difficult to sing without passing out from oxygen starvation. Freddy Mercury was a force of nature, never let it be denied…
….Hello? Is this thing on?
It’s been a little while- and Christmas and New Year has felt rather like being flatenned by a Steam Train, and then dragged along in its wake. It’s been fun, but there’s been barely an opportunity to catch my breath- added to which, it’s now looking like our financial situation is going to be as difficult as it’s possible to get for the next few months. Life is going to be very, very hard- but despite my pessimistic nature trying to assert itself, I’m determined that we’re going to get through this.
The week away in Wales was both great fun and very hard work- I’m the sort of person who instinctively wants to tuck himself in a corner at Christmas and watch movies, so being in a house with 14 of my in-laws was educational, to say the least. Good times were had, I think it was mainly just the timing- I really needed a couple of days to catch my breath before had, rather than being pitched straight into it. It was a very impromptu arrangement, and if it happens again next year, the organisation will definitely be better- which will help immeasurably.
I’m currently subbing at IPC, bouncing back and forth between London and Hampshire- but the plan for next week is to stay at home and work on the book. George is working hard at getting the house sorted- and I’m not always good at telling her exactly how much it means to me, but I know that this is all going to be worth it in the end. We’re still having to sort out £715 per month for the rent on the previous flat, but hopefully we’ll soon be able to at least get it sorted when the ‘ultimate cut-off point’ actually is. Even if it’s June, there’s only five more to go- so if it can be moved forward at all, it’ll be a benefit.
We’re also currently stuck with dial-up for the immediate future- so not only will my updates here be a little fleeting, but my TV Eye looks at the recent downloaded American TV are going to have to wait. Hopefully, I’ll soon be able to raise the tone out of bleak despondency- I’m at least going to be taking the weekend off in order to get my head together, so hopefully I’ll be better able to handle things better soon.
Normal service will be resumed soon…
Just a quick note to wish anyone reading a Merry Christmas, as I’ll soon be returning home to Hampshire, and then tomorrow morning we voyage to Wales for the start of the Holiday. I feel like my feet have barely touched the ground for the past few days, and once I return from the Holidays, I’ll hope to have some news, and more detailed round-ups. For the moment, have fun- and try not to eat too much…
Saxon Bullock 