Happy New Year (bit late...oops)

Just doing a little blog post since I haven't done for a month or ten and I didn't write a book last year. I did some painting instead which can be seen here - www.pixpa.weebly.com  I did 18 last year.
 
This year, well near the end of this year, hopefully 10 Ways to freak out an Angel will be finished and then released into the wild for all to...speaking of ebooks, Amazon have put the price of mine up from 99p to £1.10. I didn't do this, I have no idea why they've done that and I'm gonna see if I can bring the price back down again.

So yeah...I'm about 4200 words into the 3rd part of the Cupid series thing. I also want to redesign the front covers because mine are a bit shite. I did ask 4 freelance artists if they'd be interested in doing it but none of the ignorant bastards replied.

Sorry to my writer/reader friends that I've neglected over the past year. I've a few more paintings to do until February and then I'll be back in the game :D 

Wait...not on the game...in the game.

-L

Pixel Paintings and book hiatus...

These are a couple of the pixel paintings I've done this year. If anyone would like one of these or a different one doing please see - www.pixpa.weebly.com :D Thank you.

I've been spending a little too much time on these this year and I may not get a book written in time for my usual release date of around Christmas-ish.

Thanks a lot bambinos.

The Babysitting Chronicles Part One and free book promo...

For one day per week that my niece and nephew are off school for the holidays I have to look after them. Last week it was half term and this time I thought I'd record everything that happened. The results will probably bore you. Names of my niece and nephew have been shortened to their first initial.

9:30 - Babysitting on less than 4 hours sleep. B and J are currently more coherent than I am and can respond more quickly to questions than I can. Coffee has been made and Narnia 3 is on. I ask if we can stick a different film on because Narnia is shite but I get told to "Move out the way, we're watching this,".

9:51 - I'm bored. J is eating cereal straight out of the box and B is drawing in her diary without taking her eyes off the tv screen...multitasking at its finest.

10:00 - Walk into kitchen to see if there's any eggs to make buns with. No. My sister hasn't left them any dinner either. Last time this happened I got - 

Me: J, what do you want in your sandwich? Cheese? 
J: I don't like cheese. 
Me: Yeah, you do. I've seen you eat it.
J: I don't want cheese.
10 mins later. Enter Granddad.
Granddad: I'll make J's. J what do you want in your sandwich?
J: Cheese.

10:14 - Minor dispute over who's cup is whose. Over in seconds when B snaps at J. J backs down. He knows what will happened if he pursues it any further and since we're both scared of her, I remain quiet as well. 

10:29 - Second coffee. Narnia 3 is still on and is still shite. Nearly dislocate my jaw yawning. 

10:35 - The dvd has started to jump.

10:44 - B is now eating rice crispies from the box and is puzzled as to why there is already a spoon inside. I'm contemplating whether or not to introduce them to "the bowl". 

11.01 - They've both got a bow and are now looking for arrows. I blame Narnia 3...which is still jumping. Thankfully, arrows haven't been found.

11:08 - Narnia 3 has finished. Wahey. We spend the next ten mins looking for the walnut whip I left last night. It's like an Easter egg hunt but with a walnut whip. 

11:23 - I make them a ham sandwich each.

11:25 - They've both eaten the ham and left the bread. 

11:34 - Granddad has eaten walnut whip. J gives him a bollocking. Mwhahaha, my minions.

12:06 - Setting off for garage. Walking down black path or what we affectionately call "Dog shit alley". 

12:26 - Reach garage. Buy two slushes, both have red and blue slush.

12:35 - I give them a lecture on the dangers of drink driving as we walk to my cousin's house. A bit premature for a 7 + 8 year old maybe, but, oh well.

12:42 - Reach my cousin's house. 

12:50 - Watching the skiing. J repeatedly shouts "Wack it!!!" everytime a skier nears a pole. I'm then out witted by the said 7 year old when he tell us that it's the French that are skiing and I ask him how he knows they're not UK (they're wearing the same colours) when he points to bottom of the screen and says, "Look...FRA". 

1:30 - Leave cousin's house. J jumps over a "mud pud" and somebody needs the toilet, so I have to mince all the way back.

1:48 - B wants cake. J wants the star decorations off the cake and cheese. They're playing on the dining room table. B has suddenly adopted an American accent.

2:09 - They're playing Gladiators/Lord of the Rings. I daren't move for fear of getting my ears clipped by plastic swords. 

2:25 - It's oh so quiet...Spongebob is on. 

2:35 - Coffee number 3. B's on Minecraft building a house under water with blue bricks. Hmmm...

2:44 - B: I made this blue thing and I've looked everywhere but I don't know where it is.

3:09 - Just eaten two walnut whips. Feel sick. Is it home time yet?

4:07 - Spongbob is still on. I asked B and J if it's alright if I fall asleep. They said yes, of course it is. Who's looking after who here?

4:32 - I'm free.

My book 'The 4 Gs' is going to be free from 28th Feb until 2nd March or if you're not a tight-arse, you can buy it now for 77p here - UK  US

10 Ways to kill a Cupid trivia, spoilers, the old script that it came from...

It's been over two years since I stuck 10 Ways to kill a cupid onto the Kindle and a lot of very nice people have bought and read it. So, I thought I'd do a little blog post about it with a few bits of trivia and also let anyone that wants to read the old script I first wrote and used as a blueprint for the book available...for free.

If you haven't read the book then I suggest that you look away now. There will be spoilers.

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Okay, trivia...

1. Leigh's original name was Diane...and then I changed it to Niamh. And then settled on the more unisex name of Leigh...for obvious reasons :D

2. Natalie has always been Natalie, only she didn't have a surname. She was originally named after Natalie Imbruglia but then I stumbled upon Macy Gray's Wikipedia page and I saw that her real name is Natalie McIntyre so I nicked it.

3. The ten presents that Leigh gets Natalie at the end of the first book are - Halo ring, chocolate, new skirt, books, book shelf (Flat pack), diamond earrings, industrial head phones (For thunder), very dark sunglasses (For lightning), a new mobile phone and dinner reservations at a posh restaurant.

4. Natalie originally had a boyfriend in the first draft. His name was Dean. I had to cut him out.

5. I had 6 different endings planned out. These include: Natalie pregnant - baby her soulmate. Leigh wakes up from coma as a girl - Leigh is her friend soulmate. Leigh wakes up from coma as a girl - Leigh is a partner soulmate. Leigh finds Natalie a different person for soulmate.

6. I got the idea for it while watching The Princess Diaries.

7. Karen is named (only in name and not in character) after a nice customer who used to buy fruit and veg from the warehouse that I used to work at. She always used to ask me about my writing.

8. It was supposed to be a standalone. I had no intention of writing the sequel until about a week after I released it on the Kindle. And now there's going to be a third part. And maybe a forth. Maybe.

9. It took me about 10 years to write the first one and 18 months to write the sequel. Hopefully it'll take me 3 weeks to write the third part (yeah, right).

10. Natalie, believe it or not, is about 90% me. So, maybe she has some Asperger qualities too.

And here is the original script - 10 Ways to kill a Cupid 2007 script  It's only available for 7 days. Oh and it's in notepad format so you can read it on your kindle.

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Next book is The Four Gs which I'm half way through writing. I have a very brief synopsis...

After an incident involving the Chav Triplets, a canal and the police, Dominic Barrett is forced to have 12 sessions of therapy with Jo, an San Franciscan who doesn't quite seem to grasp the concept of listening. 

...which I haven't finished yet but hopefully will give you a taster of what it's about.

Again, a huge big thank you to Katie Oliver for beta reading each session for me.

Thanks for reading.

-L

The Booker Award

Hello, I have been selected by my friend and fellow writer Katie Oliver to participate in The Booker Award. Thank you Katie :D I've to choose 5 favourite books of mine. Now, I did do a Desert Island Books blogpost over at Resolution Corner a while back where I named 10 favourite books so I feel it'd be cheating to just nick them from there, so I'll do 5 different ones. I hope that's okay.

1. The Ring Trilogy (Ring, Spiral and Loop) by Koji Suzuki

I used to love horror stories/films when I was younger. Now, not so much. I can't remember the last time I watched a scary film and the last horror story I read was one of my own abominations. I read this trilogy (in order, would you believe, that usually doesn't happen to me) and I loved how original they were, how a virus could kill people through a video tape. It sounds ridiculous but it works. The film adaptations, I've seen both American and Japanese (though not the Korean) and they seem to have changed the plot somehow so it doesn't work as good. It's worth reading these if you like a good horror story but don't want to put with the gore. 

2. The Walking Man Trilogy (Ritual, Skin and Gone) by Mo Hayder

I love Mo Hayder. I once wrote to her asking for a signed book plate and she sent me one, even writing a little message on the envelope I got back. I'm not a huge fan of crime novels. I read my first one back in 2007 and after realising that they were all pretty much the same I got a bit bored with them. Except for Mo Hayder's. I will read anything that woman writes. I don't usually get emotionally attached to characters but I did with this trilogy (I've heard she's writing a 4th one even though technically 'Gone' is the 5th in the series so maybe that should be she's writing a 6th one). Full of nitty gritty and weirdness, murders and personal issues. Her other book 'Pig Island' is even weirder. 

3. Whip It - Shauna Cross

This book made me want to buy a pair of roller skates and elbow someone in the face. Brilliant novel made into a brilliant film by Drew Barrymore. Bliss Cavendar is the main protagonist that doesn't want to go along with her mother's pageant plans and instead sneaks behind her back to join a Roller Derby team. Mix a great bit of clichéd insubordination with a cool sport and you've got a high octane punky novel. I did actually contemplate signing up for our local Hull's Angels Roller Derby team after reading this book but there's a waiting list and I like my nose just the way it is, thanks. 

4. The Island of Doctor Moreau - H G Wells. 

Two words: The Sloth. 

5. The Divine Comedy - Dante Alighieri 

I haven't actually read all of this but I'm fascinated by Dante's depiction of Hell and it's 9 circles. I have a habit of flicking through it and reading parts of the version I have with Gustave Dore illustrations accompanying it. I also love the Botticelli paintings of it too. I've been lucky enough to have seen a Dante statue in Verona, Italy and would some day like to see the rest in Florence, his home town. I have an interest in Renaissance artists and writers. 

Thank you Katie. I hope that's okay.

I'd like to pass this challenge onto Ian Little  go on, I dare ya :D

Les meilleurs films Français jamais

J'aime les films français. Ce sont ceux que je possède et nous avons vu.

Marion Cotillard films -

Love me if you dare
Taxi 1
Taxi 2
Taxi 3
La Vie En Rose
A Very Long Engagement

Audrey Tautou films -

A Very Long Engagement
Amelie
Priceless
Happenstance
He loves me...he loves me not.

Daniel Auteuil films -

Jean De Florette
Manon Des Sources
The Closet
Apres Vous
36
Hidden
My Best Friend
Romuald Et Juliette

Misc films -

8 Women
La Cage Aux Folles
La Cage Aux Folles 2
Mr Hulot's Holiday
Tatie Danielle
Le Diner De Cons
The Martyrs
The Triplets of Belleville
Delicatessen
Angel-A
Switchblade Romance
The Grand Voyage
The Chorus
Tell No One
I've Loved You So Long
Micmacs
The Singer
The Orchestra
Écoute le temps
Pot Luck
Dante 01
Crimson Rivers
Crimson Rivers 2
Paris, Je T'Aime
Anything For Her
Summer Things
The Three Colours Trilogy
The Visitors

Own but haven't watched yet -

Taxi 4
Cyrano De Bergerac
Persepolis
The Illusionist
The City Of Lost Children
Beautiful lies
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec
The Man On The Train
Coco Before Chanel
French Twist
The Science of Sleep


German -

Run Lola Run
Das Experiment
The Edukators
Goodbye Lenin!

Spanish -

Fermat's Room