Wednesday

 

I've decorated my website and now my blog!

I went out in the car at around 9pm last night and had to sit in it with the engine running in order to defrost it. I really do dislike this cold weather. I'm still recovering from having the titanium rods and screws inserted in my legs. I can only take short, slow, steady steps and am terrified of slipping.

14:55 I thought I'd lost some documents and I've spent the last hour or so trying to find them. Phew! Panic over! They were lurking in the deepest, darkest corners of my laptop. Saved to two clouds now!

Tuesday

I'm feeling not at all well this morning and am working on my laptop in bed. I've been researching online material for my friend Patrick Manning who is developing his article on writing. He read it out at the writers group last night and it was well received, especially as it was his first attempt at writing.

16:10 - I'm still not feeling very well. I'm in bed, working on my laptop, researching the work of the Scottish charity 'BRAVEHOUND'. It's a fascinating organisation that provides assistance dogs for veterans with PTSD etc.

20:55 'Peace of Mind'- The Cinnamon Trust - In Print http://richardhill.co.uk/cinnamon.pdf

Monday Musings

I've been asked to write a feature on 'BRAVEHOUND,' a charity that provides military veterans with assistance dogs in central Scotland.

Sunday Sounds

I'm listening to a podcast from the National Centre for Writing (part of the University of East Anglia). 

The podcast I'm listening to, 'Structuring non-fiction with Ed Parnell (above)' has links to many more podcasts for writing. Click here.

"Ed Parnell is on the pod to talk about his first non-fiction book, Ghostland. He discusses his obsession with structure, how to pitch a non-fiction book and how he switched from fiction to non-fiction."

Other podcasts on non-fiction:

• Structuring non-fiction with Nick Acheson.In this podcast, NCW Programme Officer Ellie is joined by author and presenter Nick Acheson to discuss structuring non-fiction, and how to create rhythm with your writing.
• Writing narrative non-fiction with Dan Richards & Edward Parnell. In this episode of The Writing Life, we’re joined by writers and NCW Academy tutors Dan Richards and Edward Parnell to discuss the process of researching, writing, and publishing narrative non-fiction books.

The whole list of 'The Writing Life' podcasts from the 'National Centre for Writing' is here.

I've been editing the 'ABOUT' page on my website. (The lack of capitalization is deliberate!).

Saturday Study

 

It's a sleepy Saturday and I'm not doing too much today. The only real 'work' that I'm doing this afternoon is practicing reading out loud my original manuscript of 'The Cinnamon Trust' which I'm reading out to the writers' group on Monday evening. It's difficult to 'vocalise' something that is meant to be read from the printed page! 

I've also uploaded my draft copy of 'Peace of Mind' which is about 'The Cinnamon Trust' and is here.

I'm studying the 'Interviewing skills' section of my course 'Article Writing and Freelance Journalism' (run by 'Writing Magazine'.)

Apart from that - not much to report!

Freaky Friday

 

I've been researching material for my article 'Ghosts on the Waterways' and have been pointed to a couple of books; 'Sleep No More' (above) by L.T.C. Rolt and  'We Are for the Dark' by Robert Aickman.

I've placed a request for them from Langley Library. I've never used their service before,so we'll see what happens.

Also today, I've researched, written, edited and submitted Assignment Four.

Watch this space!

Kaira

Kaira has developed a bad 'hacky' cough. We took her to the vet (Medivet) this morning who gave her a thorough investigation and found nothing really wrong but suggested that it was 'Kennel Cough' but saw no need for any immediate treatment as it would probably only last a week or so. In the meantime, we were advised not to walk her out in public.

Around lunchtime, I edited my article 'An actors life afloat', about the actor Timothy West,who passed away yesterday,and his wife Prunella Scales. I submitted it to 'Waterways World' and 'Canals Online'.

This afternoon/evening, I spent a few hours working on Assignment Four of my course 'Article Writing and Freelance Journalism'. I submitted it around 21:15 and packed in 'working' (apart from this).