NaNoWriMo 2019 - sickness and success

I decided to have a go at NaNoWriMo this year to work on Tilda 3, and get the first draft up on computer. Previously, I've done NaNoEdMo for myself, which meant that I had a manuscript fairly well developed already, and I worked on editing throughout the month instead of fresh work. This is the first time I've used a NaNo initiative to create relatively new material.

I'm just over half way through, and here's where I'm at:

• written for 15/17 days
• just over 22K words down to meet a target of 50K
• predicted to finish on Dec 8th

It doesn't sound bad, especially when you consider that the two days I've not written were a combination of sickness (lovely little coldy-coughy bug in the run up to Christmas) and family events (had both the Squidgelings at home with a short overlap - first time we've all been together since September, and family's sometimes more important than any goals we might set for ourselves.)

What's a little worrying at this stage is that I'm almost at the end of the story, and there simply aren't the words to make it a decent length. BUT when I looked at what I've written, I realised that I'm not actually 'writing' the scenes. They're more like notes on what's going to be happening, they're not fleshed out in any way, shape, or form. So I'm hopeful that if I hit the end of the story before the end of November, I'll be able to go back and really work on the individual scenes.

I've never been a particularly disciplined writer, but this particular NaNoWriMo has highlighted to me that I don't work well in trying to be creative under pressure. I think I need to take more time at this stage, and use the discipline of NaNoWriMo to focus on the editing. That said, I'll carry on this month, without feeling guilty about having missed the odd few days or ending up with a completely finished script at the end of it. 

Interestingly, when I did CampNaNo in June, we were able to set our own word count target, and as I'd turned mine into a 'words edited' target, perhaps I had unrealistic expectations as to what it meant to write 50K new words...I mean, Kingstone took 74 days to get the story notes down, and another 60+ to get to the point of a 46K first draft!

Do I think I'm being successful so far this NaNo? Well I've written more days than not, and my word count keeps increasing, so yes. It will be interesting to see where I'm at by the end of the month...I'll keep you posted. But right now, I'm off to get the 2,000 words down NaNoWriMo tells me I need to get back on track!

Quilting capers

Apologies to Quorn Country Crafts, but this is very late getting written up!

I went to a quilting exhibition a couple of weekends ago, organised as a charity event by QCC in East Leake. You may remember I'd been before, when the shop was still in Loughborough. This time it was held in a school hall.

To give you an idea of the size of some of the quilts

Many were for sale

It's always good to see quilts others have designed and sewn, as they give you all sorts of inspiration for future projects. This time, I think there were more 'picture' quilts than ones focusing on mixes of colours, which just goes to show how trends and fashions change. Especially when it comes to the use of machined details and applique.

Here are some of my favourites from the day...

Lovely overlapping squares in monochrome

Another optical illusion - love these colours

I loved the lime green with the aqua

Some needlefelting too...

3D butterflies and a fabulous elephant

Twelve months in applique

A thought provoking message with this one

A fleecy quilt, rather than the usual cotton

Loved how the strips framed the central panel

I've never mastered circles...

More fun applique

Lots of machine-stitched applique and embroidery in the panels

Loved these colours

Lots of machined lace as embellishment

Completely hand-stitched...

...and a lovely pattern

My absolute favourite though, was a quilt made entirely out of denim, and slow-stitched, Japanese style. It was such an obvious labour of love, with hours of work going into all the hand stitched details and decorations. It didn't have straight seams, because the denim and indigo fabrics were pieced together fairly randomly, and I loved the individuality of it.

 Afterwards, I had to stop by the shop, of course. I haven't got any fresh projects in mind (I have two quilts on my bed, one in the spare room, Squidgeling T's quilt's in Manchester, I've done two lap quilts and was very, very close to finishing Squidgeling J's quilt) that I mooched for a bit and gave in to a pack of tiny squares (might be OK for a cushion cover), some Christmas project fabric, and a charm pack in lovely pinks and aquas. Perhaps another lap quilt...?

I was inspired to go home though, and finish binding J's quilt. It is the first time I think I've ever been dressed in the colours of a quilt as I've bound the edges!

Love putting the binding on.

Colour co-ordinated quilter!

Close up of the 'squircles' quilted on the top

Mr Squidge, showing off the full size quilt.

Then I took some fabric I'd had for ages - with the aim of using it for cushion covers in the lounge - and cut it all into strips to make a kind of DIY jelly roll. I'd seen a video where you can make stripes along the length of a quilt rather than across, and the way it goes together is rather random. Now if I've learnt anything about myself and quilting, it's that I'm not very good at random. I like to lay everything out and get a balance of colours before I start, so this is a bit of a challenge. I'll keep you posted...

 

Bits and bobs of news

Been a busy few weeks with family and church 'stuff', so here's a few bits and bobs you might find interesting!

Tilda.

The launch went well - Tina was a fabulous host at the Bookshop, and even got me involved in recording a piece about Tilda for the Merton Talking News October Magazine... I pop up at around 7 minutes into the recording.

I had some lovely surprises in that folk popped into the shop I hadn't expected to see at all, and it was lovely to spend the day chatting to old friends and new about all sorts of things. Course, I sold a few copies as well...

If you read Tilda, do please consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads; word of mouth is the best form of recommendation, and there are some banging reviews up already. (Five stars!)

Family.

We've been down to Bristol to fit secondary glazing in Squidgeling J's flat, because the old sash windows were so drafty. My cardmaking skills of days gone by came in useful, especially when we had to peel the backing off the double sided sticky tape. All went well until Mr Squidge fitted some shims to prevent the plastic being ripped off when the windows were opened; when he went to test it, he realised he couldn't.

We'd forgotten that once the plastic was on and shrunk, there was nothing to hold onto to open the window! An emergency visit to Wilkos and three handles later... Voila! Opening windows.

Combined with the new boiler that's been fitted in the flat, Squidgeling J is now toasty in time for the winter.

We also went up to Manchester in the same week to see Squidgeling T - he came home with us for the weekend. As is the way of things, we didn't see too much of him as he caught up with friends at home, but it was good to hear about how his course is going. He's not developed a 'rock star' look yet, but there was passing mention of tattoos and piercings... *gulp*

Word Art.

At NIBS in September, the group worked on an 'I remember' exercise focused around people we had loved and lost, with a view to turning it into an artwork for a community project exhibition at church called 'The Art of Remembrance'. On large sheets of paper, we wrote some of the words and phrases we'd generated, often with a more artistic arrangement, and then the large sheets were chopped up.

Well, this week, I've been helping Jacqui Gallon, the artist who is facilitating the exhibition and associated workshops, to sew the paper onto fabric to create the final artwork.

A DIY MA in Creative Writing.

I've taken the decision to work on a course designed by the amazing Andrew Wille with a group of Denizen friends. It's basically everything that goes into a formal MA course, but you can work through it at your own pace. We've tried to structure it a bit, timewise, and I've attempted a couple of exercises. Only problem is that I don't seem to have much writing time... 

So, to that end, I've just bought myself an academic diary to try to plan my writing a bit better. The 'free' days I had hoped were going to be writing opportunities are getting eaten up fast by lots of different things. And yet developing writing practise is a big part of the MA - it almost feels like I'm failing before I've even started. I've been here before though, when life gets in the way and writing's always - ALWAYS - the first thing to get shoved onto a back burner. I would do NaNoEdMo again, but I'd have to set myself a very, very low word count!!

Anyway, I'll stop rattling on here, and get down to writing up an overheard dialogue exercise... If only I hadn't been so interested in eavesdropping, I might have written down more of the conversation!

See you later, Scribblers.

One-of-a-kind

For the launch of Tilda of Merjan, I thought I'd run a special competition. Anyone who comes and buys a copy of the book on the day will have a chance to win a unique, one-of-a-kind book.

I'm not a particularly good artist, but...I drew a map of Issraya on one of the front pages. And then I added sketches, mostly at the end of some chapters. Some even got coloured in. 

And then I thought, 'what the heck', and hand wrote a short extract from book 2 on the end papers at the back.

Intrigued? Here are a few pics to satisfy your curiosity.  

But remember, if you want to see all of the sketches and enter the competition, you need to pop into the Old Curiosity Bookshop and Tea Room in Hathern, sometime between 10am and 4pm on Thursday 17th October for the launch...

From bookworm to author

My lovely publisher, Bedazzled Ink, shared this on facebook today:

As I prepare to launch my third novel into the world this Thursday, I realised it's 100% true for me.

I don't remember reading as a child, pre-school. I know we had books, and Mum and Dad must've read to us, but my first memories about books are from my school days. When I started school, aged 5, my teacher called my mum in, to ask whether she'd been teaching me to read at home. When my mum denied it, the teacher told her that I was always going missing - and I'd always be found in the book corner. Somehow, I started reading.

I remember Peter and Jane books, and a whole series related to Roger Red Hat. I remember being so annoyed with the latter, as they brought out a version that was spelled phonetically; I knew how you should spell 'was' - and it wasn't 'woz'.

The primary school library was in three parts; the reference library was triangular, and sat at the junction where the corridor split to go to the infant classrooms to the left, juniors to the right. Just before the corridor split, there were two more library areas either side of the corridor - infants on the left, juniors on the right. I can still remember the giddiness I felt when I was allowed to go into the junior side, even though I was only in 'top' infants. The only book I can remember reading there was 'King of the Copper Mountain', still a favourite of mine. At home, I was devouring Enid Blyton's 'mystery' books, and climbing the Magic Faraway Tree. I also went on adventures with a couple of brothers whose sole task seemed to be capturing rare animals for zoos. Very un-pc nowadays!

At secondary school, I started branching out. I used to get the Bunty comic, but moved onto Jackie. I read James Herbert and scared myself silly with 'The Rats'. The library was mostly under ground level, with windows high up in the walls. I loved 'Sue Barton', a series about a nurse in America, and added another to my collection every year on holiday. I read Barbara Cartland, and anything else that took my fancy from the mobile library that stopped at the end of our road on a Friday evening, just before tea time. We were allowed six books at a time - I was usually back within a week, looking for more.

When we went on holiday, we children were allowed to take three books each. I'd often finished mine and ended up reading my brother's and sister's books AND bought something new at the beach shop in Whistling Sands before the end of a fortnight in Wales.

I read in my teens, but I don't remember what. 'Katherine' is a title that stands out from that time, and I think I must've read widely but without anything making much of an impression. I worked my way through a lot of Reader's Digest condensed books, which introduced me to memoir as well as fiction.

In the end, it doesn't matter what I read, or what I remember reading. The important bit is that every single book I read got me to where I am now, and I hope that, one day, someone who read one of my stories as a girl will go on to write something as a woman.

That's the kind of legacy I'd like to leave the world.

A boxful of books

On an extremely wet Tuesday, I received a delivery...

Tilda has arrived!!!

The books are a larger size than StarMark or Kingstone - they feel quite substantial. But it's not just the size or fabulous cover I am excited about. Look at this spine:

There's a number on it...indicating that this one isn't a standalone title - there are more to come! (Excuse the highly patterned knees in the pic; I had just got home from my dancing class when the parcel arrived. I'd not had time to get changed...)

And on the back, there's the beautiful dragonfeather itself, with what I've been told is now the 'series symbol' for The Chronicles of Issraya.

Squeeee!

Did I mention that Tilda's now available in paperback from Amazon, via Waterstones, and from Wordery? Kindle and mobi versions are available direct from Bedazzled Book Peddler.

Or that there is an official book launch on the 17th October at The Old Curiosity Bookshop and Tea Room? (Tilda will also be available to purchase there after the launch.)

Well, it is and there is! So you can get your hands on a copy via several different means - even avoiding the big A if you so choose. 

Please, if you read the book, do consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads, as it's often word of mouth that gets them noticed. And I would love to know what you think of the first instalment in Tilda's story.

I'm off now to sniff new book smell...!

Slow stitching a story

If you've followed the Scribbles for a while, you'll know I like being creative in ways that don't just include words. Most recently, I've quilted, although I don't tend to use old fabrics in the way that true patchwork originated.

Today, I got my chance to combine story-telling with stitchery.

My church is hosting an exhibition in November, called the Art of Remembrance; a local artist, Jacqui Gallon, has a particular interest in using art with folk who have been bereaved, and is facilitating the workshops which support the project. The idea is that anyone can remember their loved ones by creating simple artworks - artworks that will be displayed during the exhibition at church.

(I'd already enabled one piece of art at NIBS - we used the 'I remember' exercise again, thinking of people we'd loved and lost, then wrote out words and phrases with coloured pastels and chalks and felt pens onto large sheets of paper. These large sheets will be quartered and used in one of the artworks.)

Today, we did slow stitching. It's a coming together of simple stitching - if you can thread a needle and do a running stitch, you can slow stitch - and of memories.

There was a wonderful array of materials to choose from - some dyed with natural plant material foraged from our church woodland - and after a brief introduction from Jacqui, we chose our bits and pieces and set to on a 'warm-up' which developed into the real thing. It was a privilege to be privy to some of the memories that had inspired the choices of fabrics and embellishments, and I can't wait to see them all displayed.

Moira's workbasket and some sample pieces

I thought I'd share the story behind the two pieces I finished and the one I have to complete.

Green.

My grandparents both had gardens. Grandma's was long and thin and sloped up behind the house. It was a functional garden, growing gooseberries and currants and veg - the only bit of lawn was right at the far end, near the shed, and I remember the bean canes behind the shed...

Granny and Grandpa's garden was much bigger, but there was still a lot of it turned over to produce. I remember Grandpa making pea pod wine after he'd shelled his peas...and my uncles breaking into the 'wine cellar' to drink it at the wake after Grandpa's funeral. There was a much bigger lawn, and paths around the back of the borders that we used to run around. Granny was registered blind, so sound and scent was important to her in the garden, so I was delighted to find a piece of fabric with a little bird sitting in a tree.

I knew this piece had to be green. As I sewed, the straight lines reminded me of the lines of produce, and I left the ends trailing because in spite of how carefully you plan your garden, there are always some plants that can't be constrained to the lines... 

Clothes.

I also have distinct memories of some of the clothing worn by my grandparents. Grandpa was a working man, so I remember his boiler suit. I also remember him in cricket whites at a weekend during the summer. Granny loved colour, even though she struggled to see it sometimes, and I can still see her in a kaftan and large floppy sunhat on the beach in North Wales when we holidayed together. With Grandma, I think of aprons and crimpolene dresses - she believed when you got to a certain age, you should dress a certain way. She only ever used one dress shop in Leicester, because it sold those kind of dresses.

Seeing the shirt in the material stash made me think of clothing, and although it's nothing like anything my grandparents would have worn, it gave me my theme. Using a complete piece of the garment meant it was recognisable as an item of clothing rather than simply a scrap of fabric, and it provided a strong link to my memories.

Black, red and blue.

A good friend of ours died suddenly, years ago, in a motorbike accident. He was - at different times - a boat builder, a policeman, and a fireman. We only tended to see him at Christmas, at a black tie dinner a group of us have held annually for almost thirty years.

This one has got to be stitched yet, but I chose fabric for the red and blue of his professions, and I want to stitch waves instead of straight lines, for the sea. The black fabric, black sateen ribbon and a black button represent the dinner jacket he'd wear at our Christmas dinners. I'd have loved to include a piece of black leather too - mainly for the bike leathers he stripped out of (having biked all the way from Orkney) at our wedding, revealing his posh suit underneath... But also because ultimately the motorbike he loved was the reason for us losing him.

It was a real privilege to see the thought and memories that poured into these simple artworks - many of them probably no bigger than six inches square - and I am sure they will prove to be a powerful stimulus for others when they are viewed.

And if you doubted that we had fun - remember that nice neat table at the start of the session? This was it halfway through the session...!

The empty nest

Squidgeling T's about to head off to uni, so Mr Squidge and I are faced with the prospect of being on our own for the first time in 20 years.

It's a weird thing to be thinking about. On the one hand, of course we want the Squidgelings to go off and be independent and follow their chosen paths of study and career choices. It's awesome that they feel confident enough and have the ability to do that.

On the other hand, the Squidgelings have been a big part of our lives for a long time - time during which we've all changed and grown, including Mr Squidge and me.

We need to find out who we are as a couple, now. A couple with grown up kids, who can go on holiday on their own (though I can't stop feeling guilty about that one - I might have to work myself up to a real 'holiday' with weekends away first!), who don't have to worry too much about working around other people's events in the diary, and who can eat a much wider range of foods!

It'll take time. I have a sense of us needing to re-connect with each other, to re-discover what we like to do together and then actually get on and do it. We can put ourselves first without feeling selfish or guilty...

Well, up to a point.

The cat's still living at home.

Book Launch - Tilda of Merjan

The date is set...

On Thursday 17th October, I'll be in The Old Curiosity Bookshop and Tea Room, Hathern, for a Meet-the-Author-cum-Book-Launch!

The date we've picked is in half term, but as some schools in Leicestershire are not having their half term until the following week, I may have to think about a second event the following week... Depends on how things go!

The lovely Tina has agreed to host me for the entire day, and we're hoping that folk will book into one of two sessions (10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm) where I'll read from Tilda of Merjan, talk a little bit about Tilda's journey into print, answer questions, AND I'll bring along some of my favourite writing prompts for folk to have a go at if they want to. Between 12pm and 2pm, we're hoping others might be able to pop in for a sandwich and pick up a signed copy...

(You might also want to take a look at some of the other books on sale in the shop - there are lots to choose from!)

Due to space, we're asking people to book into the sessions beforehand, but everyone who pops in to see me on the day will have a chance to win a copy of Tilda that I will embellish - a bit like I did with Granny Rainbow for a previous Red Nose Day auction...

Stick the date in your diary, spread the word, and I shall look forward to seeing a few people on the day, and launching Tilda - the first book of my first series of novels - into the wild.

PS. You can buy the ebook direct from the publisher.

Tilda of Merjan

It's official - we have a cover for the first of Tilda's stories! Publication due in September, so keep your eyes peeled for pre-order buttons...

Charnwood 2019

I've been to camp again recently, with 5,500 campers from the worldwide family of Scouts and Guides. It's the ninth camp of this sort I've attended (only the eighth I've camped at.)

(You can find out about my long association with Charnwood International Scout and Guide camps here, and what I did in the 2016 camp, here. And if you want to see a more general history, check out the Charnwood website too.)

The site was HUGE - the biggest yet, as you can see from this aerial photo. Look closely - you might see the wind turbine. Not Bib Bob, I hasten to add - probably a distant relative though!

Main sub camps to the right and bottom, staff subcamp to the left,
main arena with the biggest marquees! 

Those two marquees? Breathing Space.

I was part of the Breathing Space team, who were tasked with providing a quiet and faith space for campers, run along similar lines to the Channel Your Thoughts tent of 2016. The success of CYT meant that this time round, our presence was advertised and promoted well before the camp began. We also ended up with more space; in 2016, we were in one large marquee. This time, we were spread across two marquees, both individually about three to four times the size of the 2016 one. And again, we were in the central area, available to anyone.

Our Breathing Space logo...in 3D. Provided a great photo opportunity...

...and our distinctive team neckers, complete with
Breathing Space Challenge Badge

We had three zones across our marquees: Sshhh, Haven, and Reflection. Sshhh provided quiet, mostly self-run activities such as colouring, Lego, puzzles, games, a few crafts which changed daily, a small library of books and Beano comics, and a stitched banner. It also housed our friendship postbox and the Worry Monster!

Haven was an area of the second marquee which had some similar quiet activities for campers who either needed a smaller space and fewer people to feel comfortable, or who needed someone to talk to if things got too much for them. And Reflection was the rest of the same marquee, which housed our team 'office', a large area for specific faith services, thought for the day sessions, and on site trainings, as well as a private prayer space. It worked really well to separate the areas, not least because we didn't have to reorganise the tent at any point.

Well, not until Tuesday, but I'll get to that in a moment.

We opened on the Saturday afternoon as campers were arriving on site, and were pleased to see leaders bringing the young people who they thought might need us to the tent straightaway to orient them and introduce team members so there was a familiar face when they next popped in. Our 'triage' approach worked well too - we were able to identify campers who might need a little more TLC than others and direct them to Haven rather than Sshhh.

And then it started raining. Now, rain on camp isn't usually a problem, but it came down in buckets. The campsite quickly became extremely muddy or was under water in several places, and some sub camps were left fighting to keep liquid mud from running through their sites.

Standing water...

...which turned into slurry as thousands of folk
all walked the same way to their activities

It rained on Sunday, too, and camp conditions deteriorated so much, I sent Mr Squidge to a well known camping store to buy welly boots, as it turned out that my walking boots were not in the least bit waterproof.

Not very clear, but my very muddy and wet boots,
just before I got into my sleeping bag!

(He was ready and waiting when the shop opened on Monday morning - they only had large sizes left as there'd been something of a run on wellies because some international groups had arrived without suitable footwear. Fortunately the lovely shop assistant rummaged round the back and found a pair of size 4 pink wellies so Mr Squidge snapped them up and brought them over to me. Dry feet! A luxury!)

Monday, the sun shone. It began to dry out some areas of the site, but sub camps were still pretty bad. Friends who were camping with their units were cooking while standing ankle deep in water. I saw photos of others scraping the worst of the liquid mud up with baking trays to try to keep it from entering food prep areas.

I hadn't seen camp conditions like this since Charnwood 80, which started muddy and then dried out.

That wasn't to be the case this time. It began to rain again. And it kept on raining. We didn't realise at the time that Leicestershire was having a month's worth of rain in two days. Hay had already been put down on Sunday in the worst places to try to mop up water. Now it was bark chippings in the car parks to prevent vehicles getting stuck, and trenches being dug to try to re-route running water. Some groups went home with wet gear that night to dry off and come back the next day...

And then on Tuesday night, after relentless rain all day, we got the order to strip out our marquees to provide communal dry sleeping space for campers who were flooded out of their tents. And still the rain kept coming down...

We woke on Wednesday morning to the news that camp was going to have to close early. The conditions were simply too bad. To my knowledge, it's the first time an international camp in this country has had to close in this way due to weather conditions. It was very, very sad - but the best decision under the circumstances.

The Breathing Space team were asked to stay on. We were working just in one marquee now - the other had people sleeping in it - and we couldn't provide all that we had planned to. But we kept the space open for those who needed us and what we were still able to offer under challenging circumstances. And we stayed until Friday lunchtime, one of the few tents continuing to offer activities for campers - particularly some of the international visitors - who couldn't leave on the Thursday.

In some respects, it was the hardest camp I have ever been on. Even without the weather, we were busy from the moment we opened our marquees at 8.30am to the moment we shut them up, around 10pm (later if someone still needed us.) We had a lunch hour so we could eat, and we protected our evening meal times as far as we could, but other than that we never stopped. And we waded - literally waded - through mud, in the dark, back to our sleeping tents (which stayed standing and mainly dry, despite the awful weather).

In other ways, it was the best camp I've ever been on. Everyone pulled together. The longest shift we heard about (Facilities and H&W were literally working non-stop) was 26 hours, as folk battled to keep the site working, and the spirit of Guiding and Scouting - the 'do your best, have courage in all difficulties' - was very much in evidence. The young folk still had a brilliant time. Breathing Space was enjoyed and appreciated by those who needed us. And I had the privilege of working in an amazing team who supported each other just as much as they supported anxious or tired campers.

I met some incredibly inspiring young people, and was blessed to witness several moments of deep spirituality within the services and inter faith sessions I helped to provide.

I was in the camp newspaper twice, (!) and met many international campers I probably wouldn't have met if I'd been a guider-in-charge looking after a unit.

The Taiwanese scouts were a lovely bunch

Very proud of our interfaith prayer space  - it was used several times.

Yes, I was tired, and muddy, and sad when I got home, but on balance, it was a brilliant camp. Here are a few more photos - with thanks to fellow team members for letting me share their pics, because I took so few of my own.

What camp looked like in a rare sunny moment, with all the flags flying

Our psychedelic colouring wall after it got dripped on!

Big Knit hats. You might spot my pencil, a couple of
funky chickens, and my frog's eyes...

My 'haul' of badges; now need to sew them onto my camp blanket!

And the next one? Due in 2023. We're already thinking about it...