tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64576242218522949702024-03-08T06:56:08.502+00:00Toyah The WriterJoin me on my journey from casual scribbler to professional writerUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-58648086131741080252016-09-26T18:02:00.003+01:002016-09-26T18:02:58.238+01:00Rising like a phoenix!You wouldn't believe how surprised I am to see that after the longest time, this blog has had over sixty views today. I haven't even posted anything! I can only assume that it's related to the fact I started a new blog and tweeted about it yesterday. Maybe you've found your way here from there?
I'll be honest with you, I'm dithering somewhat in deciding what to do for the bestUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-46885709172630582022012-12-03T21:48:00.000+00:002012-12-03T21:49:49.968+00:00WINNER!Check out the badge to the right...go on...take a peek...yes, you read it right, I'm a NaNoWriMo WINNER!
I can hardly believe it myself. I know I was better prepared this year, but even so, it surprised me how easy it was to get to the 50,000. I hate to say 'easy', because it makes it sound like I could have done it whenever I felt like - though possibly this is true - and that I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-50268317148078607902012-10-07T21:25:00.000+01:002012-10-07T21:25:33.485+01:00Scrivener - a revelationHello loyal readers - and you truly must be loyal if indeed you are reading this after such a long hiatus. After a good deal of personal turmoil, life is on the up again...and that means I can get back to writing!
In preparation for NaNoWriMo 2012 I've treated myself to Scrivener - a piece of software designed for writers (of all kinds) as a sort of word processor/corkboard/research Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-51460878646509515702011-06-19T17:27:00.000+01:002011-06-19T17:27:15.501+01:00Booklog #24I'm sure you're bored of reading apologies from me on here (assuming that anyone is still reading, of course) but again I must say sorry that it's been almost a full month since my last transmission. I've been been busy either revising for my OU exam, or being ill, or both (not fun!). But the exam has now been and gone - results due August 5th (eep!) - and the lurgy that's been Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-66256387312388406652011-05-22T15:56:00.001+01:002011-05-22T15:56:00.552+01:00Booklog #23So a fortnight has passed - apologies for that, but last weekend we were down visiting my little brother and his fiancee in their new house. I say 'little' - he's 24 and about six feet tall - but he'll always be little to me! We didn't get home till Sunday night and after a weekend of Eurovision, FA Cup watching, walking through wheat fields and dancing to the Xbox Dance Central Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-5600501137125397142011-05-08T16:26:00.000+01:002011-05-08T16:26:33.064+01:00Booklog #22I wouldn't be surprised if you were wondering who this is, it's been so long since I last posted..! I have no excuse - thanks to all those bank holidays I only had to take a couple of days of leave to get two full weeks off work (the day job), so that's what I did. After about three days I totally lost track of what day it was or even whether it was a weekend/week or a working day/Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-5236890939120162372011-04-17T23:30:00.000+01:002011-04-17T23:30:54.553+01:00Booklog #21I must begin with an apology - once again I wasn't able to post last Wednesday, but unfortunately I can't really tell you why. I'll just say that all my spare time at the moment is going towards dealing with something going on here and little writing is likely to be done on Wednesdays for an undetermined period of time. I'll still (hopefully) post my booklogs every Sunday, but don't Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-34769612450269694892011-04-10T20:22:00.000+01:002011-04-10T20:22:45.718+01:00Booklog #20Wow - the twentieth booklog! It really doesn't feel like twenty weeks (more if you count the ones I missed over Christmas) since I started doing this...time certainly is flying by...
This week I finished:
* Styx and Stones ~ Carola Dunn
Once more, my two book club buddies and I have proved to be rubbish detectives - we failed to identify the murderer...again! I really thought I had Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-55553144529476350802011-04-06T20:55:00.000+01:002011-04-06T20:55:43.349+01:00Spinning around...I promised you a post and so a post you shall have, but I can't promise what level of quality it will be. Sad face. I feel like I'm always giving you excuses, but this time it's genuine! Hubby and I went to see Kylie Minogue in Manchester last night - fabulous show, but we didn't get home till 1am so I was rather wiped out this morning. You know how some people are larks (Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-8685883486765352852011-04-03T21:16:00.000+01:002011-04-03T21:16:21.005+01:00Booklog #19Hello all - so sorry I didn't get chance to post on Wednesday, I was wrapped up in research for Hitched and the day just ran away with me. I've decided to focus on twenty key cities initially (the ones that the main UK airlines have direct flights to) to make it more manageable, so last Wednesday was Atlanta, Georgia, and surrounding area. I've learnt so much about it already!
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-22028690974848060502011-03-27T22:45:00.000+01:002011-03-27T22:45:41.343+01:00Booklog #18The clocks have turned and it's now officially Summer here, though it does feel more like Spring. Why do we only have official start dates for Summer and Winter? Why do Spring and Autumn have to miss out? Something to do with farmers and crops I presume... Anyway, we've had some wonderfully sunny blue-sky days - our book club meeting last week was a walking one because we Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-51779092865345460272011-03-23T19:29:00.000+00:002011-03-23T19:29:35.447+00:00A change of perspectiveSo it seems that every Wednesday, the sun decides to shine its little heart out just because the window my table faces is east-facing, so gets the sun in the morning. Every Wednesday I'm blinded and can hardly see the screen (even with the blinds closed), forced to retreat to the sofa with the laptop until the big shiny ball in the sky has moved across the sky to shine on the other side of Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-79850104873672050312011-03-20T21:32:00.000+00:002011-03-20T21:32:50.955+00:00Booklog # 17Currently quietly 'LOL'ing to myself, as I'm off work tomorrow so completely forgot today was Sunday and I had a booklog to write...doh.
This week I've finished:
* The Case of the Lamp That Went Out ~ Auguste Groner
Not the catchiest title in the world, but I'll forgive it as it is quite old (from somewhere around the early 1900s) and possibly translated (the author was Austrian) and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-16133630559231201502011-03-16T19:01:00.000+00:002011-03-16T19:01:25.475+00:00Today's post is brought to you by the letter......A! I bet you wondered where that title was going to lead? Today I plunged into the endless ocean that is the internet to begin some proper research for Hitched and where better to start than with 'A' for 'Alabama'. I like to be methodical so working my way through the fifty states alphabetically really appeals to me, even though it does mean I'll be jumping around the countryUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-42421360118938913922011-03-13T18:01:00.000+00:002011-03-13T18:01:17.634+00:00Booklog #16 - plus a special requestI'll be honest with you, I haven't the heart to write much this week. The earthquake/tsunami in Japan has really upset me - I love Japan (even though I haven't been there yet) and to see it being ripped apart and all those people killed or losing their homes just breaks my heart. I just feel so powerless to help. And even worse - because it's a wealthy and technologically Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-74444606396125793182011-03-09T17:46:00.000+00:002011-03-09T17:46:58.615+00:00Is this how it feels to be famous?What a strange day it's been. I was checking the stats for the blog and was amazed to see that one post had suddenly had 70+ views in the last week. What on earth?! Digging a little deeper, it appears that since I wrote about Microsoft OneNote a few weeks ago, Bill Gates & Co must have done a trawl for blogs containing 'OneNote' as I am now in a list of links on their main Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-1044667724496179462011-03-06T21:37:00.000+00:002011-03-06T21:37:00.924+00:00Booklog #15It feels like Spring is finally here to stay (fingers crossed!) - blue sky, sunshine, daffodils emerging from the ground. Will I celebrate by spending all my time outdoors? Not likely...there's too many books to be read!
This week I've finished:
* Pillars of the Earth ~ Ken Follett
After what seems like months (oh, because it is months), I have finally finished Pillars! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-24765418687876103752011-03-02T20:38:00.000+00:002011-03-02T20:38:14.277+00:00Rushing RomansPhew - I feel quite mentally drained, I can tell you...apologies that this won't be a very long and probing post. Today I've written a 1500 word essay about the Roman poets Virgil, Horace and Propertius from scratch. From scratch! Yesterday all I had was a pile of papers with bullet point notes on and right now I have exactly 1500 words (carefully edited so as to be not one wordUnknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-3164100694022178112011-02-27T22:45:00.000+00:002011-02-27T22:45:47.311+00:00Booklog #14And so another weekend has zipped by already...
This week I've finished:
* Murder on the Flying Scotsman ~ Carola Dunn
Well, let me just tell you that it's a good job my two book club buddies and I aren't actual detectives...we were hopelessly wrong with our theories as to who the murderer was in this! It's very much Agatha Christie-esque, but seems somewhat less substantial - as though Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-37743332476213343822011-02-23T16:04:00.000+00:002011-02-23T16:04:52.993+00:00Romans and ruminations<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-34951583763222084202011-02-20T20:24:00.000+00:002011-02-20T20:24:25.468+00:00Booklog #14Before I begin, I must offer the humblest of apologies for missing last Sunday's post. It feels like an eternity ago already, but to look on the positive side, I now have lots to talk about today so every cloud has a silver lining!
Since the last Booklog I've finished:
* White Fang ~ Jack London
This is one of those stories that I've always had a vague awareness of, but never knownUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-77413074650976183852011-02-16T19:53:00.000+00:002011-02-16T19:53:00.851+00:00Interview with my imaginationFirstly I must apologise to you dear readers - I wasn't able to post a Booklog on Sunday (I won't bore you as to the reasons why). On the bright side, the next one will be extra long... ;o)
Did you have a nice Valentine's Day? Or if you think it's a overly-sentimental waste of time that's favoured only by florists and card shops, did you have a nice Monday? Hubby and I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-3613649505986564412011-02-09T20:34:00.000+00:002011-02-09T20:34:22.262+00:00A lost day...Uggggggh! Sorry for uttering something so unprofessional, when the title of my blog has 'Professional' in it, but today has been a complete write-off and I've achieved nothing. I shan't go into detail as to why because I know I'll probably say something I'll regret - and what with this being the big ol' World Wide Interweb it is bound to be seen by someone it shouldn't - so I'll just Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-13138526842361726532011-02-06T21:20:00.000+00:002011-02-06T21:20:48.315+00:00Booklog #13Ooh - number 13, will this be the unluckiest Booklog..?
This week I've finished:
* The Golden Acorn ~ Catherine Cooper
This is, admittedly, a children's story, and when I say 'children's' I don't mean that Young Adult sort of group that Real Adults can just about get away with enjoying, it is properly for children (perhaps 10-12 year olds?). But it was a free (I think) Kindle Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457624221852294970.post-87642390947333768152011-02-02T21:28:00.000+00:002011-02-02T21:28:16.366+00:00OneNote after another...I spent almost all last weekend buried in the new Romans block of my course and it was totally worth it - I actually managed to get ahead of the schedule! So as a result I've enjoyed another study-free day today and decided to spend time working on Project Crunch.
Instead of writing the main story I've been doing some character profiling, building up the details behind my heroine to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0