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

I love movies, I mean I really love movies from the script to screen I love everything about the process and the final outcome.  I studied media at university and concentrated on the history of film and theatre. I've always loved movies ever since I can remember, I would spend my weekends watching old hollywood movies staring Bing Crosby, Danny Kayne, Frank Sinatra and Doris Day with my Grandparents.  I would watch 80's blockbusters with my family, horror films with my mam, and  teen slasher flicks with my brother.   I always had my favourites films I would watch over and over again and I think it's partly my love of films which influence the way I write. When I write I see movies in my mind, I have the actors picked out the locations, the camera shots the whole deal and I think it's because I grew up watching some of the most amazing movies of our time. I took a little walk down memory lane this week, I was in the mood for something good, something that would ...

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 ...

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 ...

So Thursday night was movie night, which mainly involved indulging in a Venti Starbucks English Breakfast Tea with a dash of milk and a delicacy from their muffin and biscuit range (currently the biscuit of choice is a Nutella cookie) and on this occasion some action filled adventure with the IMF Team.   Now I must admit, I’m not a huge Tom Cruise fan, I think in his career I maybe like three of his movies, namely ·        Outsiders ·        Rock of Ages ·        Top Gun Other than that I can pretty much take or leave the rest.   When it comes to the Mission Impossible series, I wasn’t overly impressed with the first 3 movies.   I didn’t like the way they made Jim Phelps a bad guy.   I was a child of the 80’s and saw the original TV series on re-run and the idea of taking that character and making him the complete opposite to how I perceived him kind of rubbed...

Follow my blog with Bloglovin So I seem to be going from weekend to weekend in these posts!  I promise I do other things but it's just the way events have unfolded! Yesterday, Saturday again, I got the chance to catch up with a couple of my girlfriends and have a nice meal and a killer desert! It's hard sometimes to see your friends when your working, they're working, your trying to fit a million and one things in to life so these moments to me are very precious.   Any way, as it was two of my friends birthdays recently we decided to have a catch up at the local pub and have a nice meal.  The meal was great, but the deserts were amazing! I had an Eton Mess Sunday - believe me you would have your calories for the whole day in this thing.  It was a tower of ice cream, raspberries, meringue and cream which took an age to get through!  my Friend went for the Chocolate Brownie Death by Chocolate and Sunday and my other friend went for Lemon Pie Sunday. ...

So if you're reading my other blog, "My Life as a Writer" you're already following the path I take when writing my novels, this blog is an attempt to illustrate what else I do and love in life. Where to start, well I might as well start off with this past weekend as I indulged in something I do love. I have always had a love of movies and theatre, so on Saturday I indulged my theatrical love and attended the Theatre to see "And Then There Were None" (Agatha Christie). Now this not only plays to my love of theatre but also my love of Christie as a writer, in this 125th Anniversary year her work is still as entertaining and edge of the seat as it was then. The show, which is touring the UK stars Paul Nicholas, Verity Rushworth, Frazer Hines, Colin Buchanan and Ben Nealon, and follows the plot of her famous novel. On a secluded island a group of strangers come together having each received a mysterious invitation.  Following the path of a children...