My Life as a writer - When I'm not scribbling

So, there are times in  life when things happen that disappoint you for whatever reason.  As human beings and individuals we all have ways of reacting to those things.  This week for me has been one of those weeks where I've had to deal with a Work Life disappointment. I'm a novelist, first and foremost, but to pay the bills I also have a full time job in a 'professional' environment.  It's in this job that I've found myself disappointed this week.  It's been building for a while, with the current economic climate all business are looking at how to save money and stay profitable.  The industry I work in is no different and they have been making plans, changing things and consulting with personnel on how/why they should do things. This week they made their announcement of change and parts of how this was managed was disappointing to me.  The detail isn't important for this post, the point is how I deal with that issue. 1. Be Professional You have

I was catching up on my Face book groups the other day and someone had asked the question, if you blog and work how do you fit it all in and it got me thinking how do I fit it all in and am I achieving what I set out to? Well as the old saying goes - "When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade" 1. Day Job As an independent author I still need a 'day job' to earn a living, I'm not in a position yet where the money I earn as a novelist is enough to cover my expenses,  I am working towards that but for now I need to support my writing by working. I'm a Personal Assistant in the Fire Service, I'm lucky in terms of my job is flexible.  A lot of writers and bloggers starting out are in jobs where the time they are in the office is set and unchangeable.  I'm lucky that mine is flexible.  Having this flexibility allows me to plan my days effectively. Most days I'm at my desk by 7.30,  depending on what the day holds which being an emergency servic

Everyone has a story, some sound like a best selling novel, others seem a little more middle of the road.  But the art of the story is what you learn from it, the moral that stays with you, the changes it makes to you as a person.   Everyone lives a story, life is the biggest and best book you'll ever write, so you have to write the best one you are able.   Learn from your past but don't be bogged down by it, use it  to make your future the best and biggest it can be.  You can also learn from the stories around you, from the people you love, the chapters of the lives of the people who build your family.   There are a lot of stories in the chapters lived before I was born  There are so many I'll never know, so many I know pieces of and some like a good mystery I'll never really know the end to, but each one teaches me something about who I am and who I want to be.   This weekend it seems very apt to tell the story of something that happened on

Okay I admit it I am a little late to the Hunger Games Party.  I haven't read the books although they are currently working their way to the top of my TBR (To Be Read) pile and I've kind of seen all the films but not in the right order. There are reasons for my tardiness but that's another story.    Anyway, the other weekend I was having a movie night with a girlfriend and the movie we plumed for was Mockingly part 2.  As we took our seats with our favourite Starbucks tea and a selection of goodies from their desert range we admitted to each other that neither one of us had seen Mockingjay part 1.  Oh dear!  The last Hunger Games I'd seen was Catching Fire, which was actually the first I'd seen of the series!  However my friend has read the novels so she gave me a quick update on what I'd missed.   So the movie started and I have to say I was impressed.  I did feel a little lost on the Peeta/Katniss relationship as last I'd seen he was giving her a pea

This week’s movie from the limited choice of the lull between popular release weeks and holiday period was the Reece Witherspoon/Sophia Vigara road movie Hot Pursuit.   Now I went in not expecting much from this movie and well that’s pretty much what I got.   The story is nothing new it’s a typical point A to point B movie with standard roadblocks along the way.         Bad Cops / Good ‘Overachiever’ Cop no one takes seriously            Revenge plot            Cinderella sub plot I’ve seen Reece Witherspoon do a number of great movies (Cruel Intentions, The Man in the Moon, Walk the Line, Legally Blonde)   and some not so great ones (Vanity Fair, Four Christmases) this one goes in to the “Not so Great” Category.   I usually like Witherspoon, she has great comic timing and can pull off a whole range of characters who at their core are all inherently likeable (Sweet Home Alabama) only this one was just well bland.   The accent she used was harsh and cold and did

When I was younger, probably around ten years old I started using make up as a daily part of my beauty regime.   For me the use of makeup was more about creating a mask rather than enhancing beauty back then, but over time and as I grew up make up became more refined less mask like but still providing me with a sense of comfort and some confidence.   Like most teens I generally used drugstore brands, they are affordable and some are excellent.   However, like most teen girls I had issues with my skin and as I grew and my skin changed, it became apparent that I was sensitive to ingredients in some brands.    Lancome Make Up  By my late teens I moved on to more up-market brands, I became an exclusive user of Lancôme.    I used their full range of skin care and makeup.   I chatted with the makeup artists at the counters and often had make overs and skin care routines updated.   My only break in using these products was a six month period during my University Course where I