Save a Starving Author

Flash fiction statement was provided by Andrew McCluskey (NALGames).I've woken up in a nature reserve with half a packet of breath mints in my duffel coat pocket...His eyes felt sticky. Was this what a rusty hinge felt like? He cranked open his eyes and peered around. T...his wasn’t good. His neck felt stiff. It was no wonder considering that he had spent the late November night sleeping on the hard ground. Wild flowers that had been caught in the frost brushed his cheek. He laid there and stared up at the sky, certain that nobody could see him through the long grasses and the brambles. The nature reserve hummed with peaceful life. His was not a peaceful life.He pushed his hand deep into the pocket of his duffel coat, grateful for its warmth and the anonymity it lent him. There was a half empty packet of mints. He slid these aside and reached, instead, for the needle and scissors that he always carried... just in case. The blood had managed to soak through the backing of his coat pocket. Easing himself into a sitting position, he shifted backwards into the brush, trying to obscure himself from view. It took him a few minutes to extricate his arm from the thick folds of his coat. Examining the wound didn’t take long. It wasn’t wide but it was fairly deep.  Luckily, it didn’t seem to have penetrated any vital organs. David closed his eyes and flexed his muscles. They ached with the cold. Normally, he would have changed before he settled to sleep, but this time he had let the injury get the better of him. It had already healed quite a lot since last night, but he knew that if he tried to change now it would simply tear open wider and he would be far worse than he was. He needed to flex his muscles, though. They were tired human muscles instead of tired wolf muscles. He hadn’t exerted himself so much in his human form since long before he’d been bitten. Fragmented memories of the previous night pieced themselves together. Whoever they were, they had known who he was. He was sure of that. They’d known his name and they’d known where he would be. It was like they had been waiting for him. If he didn’t know better, then he would have thought that he’d been set up. He rolled his neck and listened to the click and clatter of his bones. They were tired bones. He breathed out a cloud of hot air and then sniffed gingerly. They’d pepper sprayed him and burned one of his most acute senses. It would right itself soon enough, but the fact that they had done that worried him.He sniffed the air again but all he got was frost and singed hair.Obviously they meant to come after him again. If they were smart they would have tracked him as soon as he’d fled last night. Fleeing wasn’t his style but it was easier than a battle with a pack of them. Even in human form they were life threatening.His ears pricked up. Something deadly was moving in the brambles behind him. He tried to smell them, but his nose was too burned.Were they a friend or foe?

I'm considering writing some flash fiction on here in the future. If you're unaware as to what that entails, then listen up, please:Flash fiction is where you write a piece of fiction based on an idea or a statement that you are given. You go with whatever you think of ...when you get the statement, phrase, question or idea etc. Then, you complete a writing piece on it in either a set number of words or a set time.Because it's so quick and spontaneous (hence the name flash fiction) it's supposed to be a really good way to build up your writing skills (as well as padding those portfolios!), which is why I'm going to start writing pieces. I'm going to add them here and each piece will be titled with 'Flash Fiction No.#' so that they will be easier for you to find. Not only that, but I will be tagging them with 'flash fiction 500' and 'flash fiction 1000' according to how many words I write of each. Pieces may not end up complete as these are literally just quick writing exercises, but hopefully you will enjoy reading through them. I don't want to write just anything, though, so, if you have a suggestion for a statement that I can base a piece of flash fiction on, please comment below and I will write a piece based on it. These pieces may not be terribly long, but it will help me to improve my writing and for you to see what I can do.Your flash fiction statement will probably end up being written about, so please comment with one!Another thing to mention is my formspring account. I know that I keep going on about it, but I'd really like to hear if you have any questions. They can be about my writing or even just something you generally want help with. I'll try my best to satisfactorily answer the questions that you pose. More questions, however, mean that I get to expand more of them on here if I think I can give you more information and, let's face it, I clearly love rambling on here.IMPORTANTLY, (yes I had to caps lock to make sure I got your attention) the poll finishes tomorrow so if you want to get your vote heard then please click on your favourite title on the right.I thought I would show you the book cover for the first book in the JLM Series, Dark Side of the Moon, which has been designed by Andrew McCluskey (NALGames). This is the current design, but he's said he'd like to edit it further. I'm not sure when he'll get around to this, so you can have a look at it's current state. Personally, I really like it, which is great as Andrew is the one in charge of the graphical content of my new site. He's also going to be in charge of the flash content. Sean Buller (UnknownGamer), my lovely Canadian friend, is the one in charge of the coding. When they've finished my site and set up one of their own to promote their website building skills, I'll give you a link so that you can take a long hard look at what they can do. What they can do is brilliant, though, and they're willing to learn new skills to get you what you want. The design of the book cover below, for example, was taken from an amalgamation of ideas that I gave Andrew. None of them were very set because I wasn't quite sure what I wanted, but he's managed to come up with something I adore and, when he has a moment, he intends to edit it a little more to make it just that bit more awesome.I'm still editing Dark Side of the Moon. Nevertheless, I am getting closer to the end of that. The last scenes of Secrets/Spilling Secrets are looking good, even if I say so myself. I'm tak...

I was thinking, the other day, about how you can get to a place where you think you're doing really well and you're happy with yourself, but then something hits you and you get brought down again. That's what's happened today. I won't say quite what, because I'll deal w...ith it. It will get dealt with before I let it take me down again (reminds me of a song called Bring Me Down by Sia. If only my life had a background soundtrack like a movie does). It's days like this when I wish I had people around me that would give me a hug and just tell me that it will be alright and that I can do it.Anyway, enough of the self-deprecation. I meant to write when I got in, but I haven't gotten anything done. After my drop in self confidence, I decided to have a nap to get rid of my tiredness. The good news is that I'm not tired any more. The bad news is that I didn't get any writing done. I didn't get any editing done either, which, I suppose, would come under the category of writing except that I mean them in regards to two different areas so please bear with me. I need to continue editing Dark Side of the Moon and then I need to finish off writing the two last chapters of Secrets/Spilling Secrets. The latter has started off really well and I'm really pleased with it. I just need to finish it off, but that will get done soon enough. Part of me wants to really concentrate on getting Dark Side of the Moon edited and done so that I can send it off, but, at the same time, the part of me that spiralled down into feeling as if I am totally useless is saying something about how there's probably no point in sending it to a literary agent anyway.Don't get me wrong, I will, but sometimes everything just feels bitterly futile. Sometimes the fact that we've made our world so bleak and so hard for people to follow their dreams really gets me down. It's the same about people's concern with money. If I had my way, I'd be back in the days when we all lived in small groups in the wild and the highest esteemed people in our societies were the leader of the group and the storytellers. At least then I would seem to have some purpose. I'd really like to know what my purpose is, because part of me thinks that the whole purpose of life is to enjoy it. The rest of me knows that as a civilisation, we have mostly destroyed our chances of enjoying life. The world and all the people in it have far too many worries.I also want to include this which I wrote in response to my friend's facebook status about an essay she has to write:In relation to your anaesthetics thing, your essay should be: "Anaesthetics are weird. Checkoslovakian dentists think they're actually lost Russian princesses that they're injecting into your mouth. Other people think they are stupid devices that make you dribble and generally look like you've had a stroke*. Anaesthetics are also not something that should be used to cause hilarity... no matter how much I would like to steal some from a dentist, inject my dad in the arm before he wakes and watch him panic thinking he has had a stroke/migraine**. Anaesthetics should not be used as weapons of revenge for sufferers of severe migraines. Furthermore, no matter how much you hate needles and dentists, anaesthetic is not to be used on dentists who are trying to inject you to remove a tooth etc. Kicking the dentist in the face still does not mean you can use his/her own anaesthetic on them.The stance on doctors using anaesthetics are different. If...

It must seem like I blog a lot. I do, but it's because I either have too much going on in my head or I just like to ramble to anyone who'll listen. Kudos to you if you've put up with reading my entries so far. It's much appreciated. I'd like to think I'm not too boring.... If I am, then I sincerely apologise. I realise that nothing I have to say is of much importance in the grand scheme of things, but if it helps you to brighten a dull corner of your time then I'm sure it's worth it. How late do you think is acceptable to send a Christmas present? Is now too late? I thought so. I still haven't sent my friend her present. I'm pretty useless in that respect, as it's nearly her birthday already and I still haven't sent it. It's not that I haven't meant to, but our post office is out of my way and when I have time to get there it's usually after it's closed, which is useless when trying to send a package. She'll get it eventually, but it may still take a while. It's sitting off to one side all neatly wrapped. There were originally two like that and there still would be if the person to whom the second parcel was going to be sent hadn't visited me over New Years. I'm considering waiting to send her the present for her birthday, complete with birthday gift too, instead. I'm a poor, lowly student so I guess it would cost me less to send it as one package than to send two separate packages. I don't know if that's true, but that's what my logic says. Sometimes my logic is a bit shot, though, so I could be entirely wrong. If I am, please inform me. What would be nice to hear is how long anyone else may have delayed in sending anything they were supposed to send. It would be nice to think that I'm not the only one who is just generally rubbish at this kind of thing. And if you're not rubbish like me and actually had a good reason for postponing then please share. I'm nosey and I like to hear other people's stories - I think that's partly why I got myself a formspring account. You may have noticed that I added a list of links to my various pages and sites on the right. These are not going to be permanent. As soon as my new site is finished and this is iframed in, there will be no need for them as you will be able to use the site navbar to see everything that is described to the right. This is to help with my whole idea of integrating all of my social networking and everything else into one place. Not only does it make it easier for you to find stuff... but it makes it easier for me to show you new stuff! It will be clever and cool like that. As you can probably gather, I am extremely excited by all off this. I will be quite proud of it when it's done and moreso of the people who are sorting it for me. They really get all of the credit for how it will work out. I am simply giving directions as to what I'd like to see and what I'd like to be attempted. I'm fully aware that some of it may not be possible, but as long as they try as hard as they can (which I'm certain that they will), then I will be pleased and thoroughly grateful.  IN WRITING NEWS This is where you get excited because I have taken a break from constant edits and have started on the last two chapters of what will either be known as Secrets or Spilling Secrets (see the poll to the right and have your say!). It's a major scene that includes a battle, so I've been putting it off a little whilst I did my editing. I wasn't just putting it off due to the fact that I've never w...

I read the title of today's journal post (it's a blog, let's face it, but I prefer calling it a journal. I think it's a much nicer word if I'm honest. It rolls off the tongue instead of dropping off it like a loose tile crashing from a roof) in a book called Wannabe A W...riter? If you're starting out as a writer, I recommend it. It's funny and informative at the same time. I was reading it on the bus, shortly before I turned to look out of the window and the bus jolted, causing me to smack into the glass pane with a rather loud thud - my day has not been going overly well. [I would have continued there but my ginger cat (Baby) rather unfortunately spent about ten minutes pushing himself onto my lap and seems to have drooled all over me but not before he felt he had to move my mouse around my touchpad... and now he has left and I have been engaged in conversation with my mother - the joys of family and cats]The point I was trying to get to was what the quote was about. It's apparently in reference to your writing. What it means is that if there is a piece in your writing that you love, then you should chop it out because it will undoubtedly by superfluous. I'm in agreement with the writer of Wannabe A Writer? - I think it's absolute twaddle. In most cases, the pieces that you like are liked because of their written merits and not because you're going all fan girl about what has just happened. When I read the original statement, however, that was not what sprang to my mind. Maybe I'm particularly vicious and vindictive at heart (I wouldn't say so but I bet some people disagree), because it made me think instantly of the trials and tribulations that I force my characters through. It's very rare that I allow them to come through unscathed. And by unscathed, I mean that they are usually in either mental or physical pain or quite often both.You might ask why I'm training to be a primary school teacher when I embody such attributes, but I assure you that I leave all of my cruelty to my characters. This isn't to say that I would treat my own children in the same way that I treat them, either. So for me 'murder your darlings' would be about torturing and occasionally killing off some of my favourite characters and the fact that I love doing that to them. I'm sure (I hope) there are plenty of other people that do the same thing and enjoy it just as much (no matter how sadistic that might be).Anyway, moving on to my formspring question that you might want to take a look at and that I shall expand up on in a moment: How long have you been writing novels? Have you always just written about urban fantasy? In regards to my last sentence, I have tried to write more realistic fiction and I do have several serials on the go. The trouble is that these serials take up time that I sometimes don't have so they're very slow to reach completion. If I'm right, then I have at least two serials of realistic fiction that need finishing off. I also write collaboratively. One of these collaborative pieces is leaning more towards the action/adventure and sci-fi categories. Then, I also have a supernatural piece that needs completing, which is set further back in history. Currently, the links to them can all be found on my portfolio, but, hopefully, when my new site is up and running all of my serials and short stories will be on there. This should make it easier and more accessible to everybody. I plan to move my poetry there, too. I'm consi...

The title really has nothing to do with what I'm writing today, but everything to do with a discussion that I'm having on my SD (Sinfully Delicious) chat room. If you're really bored, then the link is here. The discussion was about how we waste time on the internet. If ...I'm honest, my amount of time wasting has gone down drastically ever since I got the twitter plug-in for chrome (the chromed bird one - it's really rather good if you're looking for a chrome plug-in). I used to spend ages with twitter and facebook open, checking to see if anybody wanted to talk to me, because, let's face it, I like social media and I like talking to people about random things whilst still being able to shut myself off in my own little world. I think that's possibly one of the best things about social media on the 'net. I don't actually have to interact half as much as I do in real life. I can withdraw and go into my own world whilst still being amazingly accessible to the people that I like. I'm naturally quite reclusive. Sometimes I just need to withdraw into my own little place. This usually means that I lock myself up in my room for hours on end either writing or hiding out on the 'net where I'm there... but I'm not there at the same time. For example, I have an awful habit of signing in as offline on msn, despite the fact that the reason I used to appear as offline is now completely void (the reason was an ex that I may or may not explore later - probably not. I've been through my phase of griping about him. I moved onto someone else and now I'm working on getting over him too. Don't you just love L.O.V.E?).My point is, I've cut down a lot of things that meant I wasted more time than I spent doing productive things. The twitter plug-in has helped me to resist keeping the page open and the fact that I've started using twitter has reduced my usage of facebook. Of course, my tweets are imported to my 'official myspace' so I don't even have to bother going on there except to approve new friends and check out any comments I have, which is limited to about twice a day as I no longer like the myspace framework. As for facebook, my formspring questions & answers are sent there & twitter automatically. The same goes for my journal entries. I have them imported by twitterfeed.com (which also tells me how many clicks I receive) to both my facebook pages and my twitter. It's a really good set up and means less faffing about for me as well as a reduction in the amount of time I have to spend going backwards and forwards. This time should be even less when my new site is completed. My friend tells me he's going to 'iframe' things in. I've been informed reliably that this is where you embed another page into your site, which will be great because I can then have this blog and my formspring all integrated into my main site. I also plan to have my tweets incorporated into it. It brings me to something else I was going to discuss (Ha ha! Yes. I actually wrote a list of things I wanted to talk about today - I got the idea from one of the writing blogs I follow which is full of helpful advice for writers trying to get a bigger web presence). I've been thinking that I might quote some of my formspring questions here and go into a little more depth about them as there seem to be some questions that I get asked where I could ramble on for hours with a lovely long answer. The problem is that formspring seems to have a pretty unreliable server. It's always crashin...

I would like to start this journal entry with something that is utterly profound and considered thorough genius... but I can't because I am neither of these things. I'm having a weird evening. The bus actually picked me up some time near when it was supposed to, for one... thing. Yesterday, it was far too early (because I was there early) and I had to wait a whole hour for the stupid thing to turn up. Standing outside in the freezing cold (at least it didn't snow on me again for the entire hour) in a godforsaken village with no means of getting home except via bus... was not what I'd had in mind for my evening. Of course, I'd had to go into town as well (instead of catching the mile earlier stop near my house). That evening got more bizarre when I decided to get something to eat from the takeaway and the guy tried to chat me up. Maybe it's just where I live, but all of the guys in the takeaways try to chat you up. It really annoys me and puts me on edge. I can't deal with being chatted up. This wall comes down and I back away. I think that's part of the reason why I keep getting so annoyed with the random guys who send messages on myspace. My picture on there may be nice... but what right does that give you to call me 'babe' and act like a total knob head whilst trying to get me to agree to speak to you? None is the correct answer. Such guys receive no reply because if I gave one it would be something snarky and I don't want to ruin any of my day by being snarky to losers who can't use standard English or figure out that I am a human being and not an object.Anyway, I got home and had to tidy around a bit because my brother is clearly useless and doesn't know what mess is. He also seems incapable of turning his music down and letting the dog out in the back garden when he gets in. It's not much to ask, is it? So I laid down on the sofa and had a nap until my mum came in - it's pointless trying to nap in my room because all I can hear is my brother's music (asking him to turn it down results in a pathetic, abusive tantrum that seventeen year olds should not be having at that age). When my mum came in, she woke me up. I'm not even sure what it was that made me as angry as I was when I woke. If I'm honest, I was probably dreaming something that irritated me. So I came upstairs after having a mini argument and went back to sleep. This means I have yet to eat my dinner and it's nearly 11pm. I'll do it soon, but yeah... Such has been my night.Something I would like to scream at my brother: The damn earphones are so we don't have to hear your goddamn music blaring above everything else! Turn the bloody volume down!Can you tell that he's doing a stellar job of winding me up? Sometimes I wonder why I even bother in regards to him. He doesn't appreciate anyone but himself. It's a case of narcissism that I don't think he'll ever get over. Shame really. I mean the only other person he sort of cared about was his ex. And I think what she did was cruel. I've been in his position and it's horrible, but the one thing that is making it worse is that her mother is getting herself involved, as thus illustrated (you may have to click the image to see it in full):Maybe I've been a bit harsh, but honestly I don't think you should get involved in your children's relationships. The girl is 15 now. She should be learning to stand on her own two feet, especially as she seems to think that she's so grown up. Anyway, I'll say no more because I'm not getting involve...

I need a man slave. Not for my personal enjoyment (I seem to go for slightly geeky but cute boys instead of muscular guys) you understand. I just need somebody to sort stuff out for me when I really haven't the time or the inclination. It would help me to spend more tim...e writing, as well. Right now there are tonnes of things I need to do and I don't think I'm going to have enough time. Oh well. I must struggle valiantly on 'knock-kneed like beggars under sacks'. I do have to get this lesson plan done, though. And if it doesn't get done, I'll be pissed off. What I need is lots of water to keep my brain going... or a man slave so that the errands I needed to run would have been done hours ago whilst I was typing up all the things I needed. And then this imaginary man slave could bring me food and drink to sustain me. Furthermore, I would have more time to sleep. Man slave could also sort out whatever he needed to sort out whilst I slept. Why am I even talking about a man slave? I'll never have one. I suppose he'd prefer to call himself my PA anyway... which isn't as much fun as 'man slave'. Quick poll update: Two of the results are tied so please keep providing your votes as there are only 3 days left.Tomorrow night, when I get in, I will sleep and then I will have a lovely shower to make me feel so much better. My mind is just wandering far too much at the moment. Must concentrate on this and then sleep.

So, as I sit here, surrounded by snoring animals and listening to both my timer ticking in the background and Today by Smashing Pumpkins, I am really tired. I've had a hectic week so far that has consisted of very little editing/writing of my Jocasta Lizzbeth Moonshadow... series but sadly plenty of ideas for it. That's the worst thing about having no time to complete it in. I've barely even annoyed people on twitter and facebook with my nonsense. I have to write up two lesson plans, as well. I'm on a block week of placement at a primary school, you see, and they're letting us teach. I say 'letting' but we have no real choice in the matter as we're getting assessed. I've already taught one lesson on my own, but that was a Science lesson. Tomorrow I'm teaching literacy. It will be a reading exercise, but I haven't taught literacy before so I'm kind of worried. I'm more worried about the numeracy lesson I'm teaching for the first time... but that's next Wednesday so I can prepare over the weekend etc and spend more time on it. I was supposed to be doing it on Friday, but now I'm not. I'm teaching Science again on Friday instead. Decided that I'm tying in the Science that we're doing with the Literacy tomorrow. I'm going to be teaching about cyclical diagrams... so they're going to be doing the life cycle of a tree/flower. I need to mock up some worksheets etc for it, but it should be good. I'm going to make sure they have some pictures to colour in, as well, in case they finish early. It will only be the second lesson I've taught on my own. For the most part, they're good children, so I'm not too worried about them. I'm more worried in case something goes wrong when I'm teaching.Rewarding but tiring.Voters in the poll has gone up to nine, but this has now tied the lead position. If you want to do me a favour and untie it then please just keep voting. You're allowed to vote for as many options as you like. Invite your friends to vote if you want. Just know that you haven't got much time left to do so unless I decide on extending the vote... which I really don't want to do... but will if if I feel pressed.Dinner is quiche that my mum made. She wrote on her note to eat it with whatever we liked... So I'm having bacon and tomato quiche with sweet and sour pork.. and rice. I don't really like rice but it's okay with sauce smothering it. And I'm hungry. It's less than five minutes until it's ready. Also, I apologise to anybody who sat through and read my long, rambling post from last time. The rambling wasn't intentional. I hadn't thought that I'd have much to write about if I'm perfectly honest.Anyway, my timer has just rung out. I must go eat things like the hungry beast I am.

The title says it all in regards to the poll currently up. Hopefully there will be a few more votes. Currently there's only eight. Two of the selections are closing in on the favourite. I've had a couple of questions about the naming of the books on my formspring accoun...t so if you want to read the answers to those or ask some of your own then please feel free.As I'm writing this, I'm trying to edit Chapter 9 of Dark Side of the Moon in the Jocasta Lizzbeth Moonshadow series (the JLM Series tag refers to this). As soon as I've finished editing it, I plan to send it to literary agents. It's an urban fiction piece of work in the older YA literature section; so I'll start doing my research on the appropriate literary agents when I'm nearing the end of my edits. You'll probably know when that is because I'll start getting excited on here. In case you were wondering about it, this is the blurb I mocked up:[Dark Side of the Moon is the first in the series of books following Jocasta Lizzbeth Moonshadow]Jocasta always wanted to be a normal witch like her sisters, but she was hunted down with her father and younger brother by the Necromancer when she was just a child. Jo managed to survive and was hidden away, but why did the Necromancer want them dead...?Now she's back home and about to start at Lark Hall High. Suddenly her eyes begin changing colour. How can she start school like this? What will people say?And then her gaze locks with Salem Sarandon...Once more, her world is turned upside down. Strange things start happening and Jo doesn't know what to do. Is the Necromancer still after her?What makes her so special...?If you want to read the starter excerpts of it, then they can be found here for the time being: Dark Side of the Moon. They hopefully won't be there too long, though, because of the imminent site change. Still, if you're wanting to read them, you can get as far as Chapter 3. I haven't released any more onto the web so there's no point in looking for it anywhere. I just hope you enjoy it, but any feedback is welcomed. The main reason for putting it there was so that if any literary agents happened to stumble across it then they might taking a liking to it. It's probably a very long shot, but as the Tesco's tagline goes: every little helps. IN OTHER NEWS...I'm thinking quite seriously of getting a mini fridge. Earlier, my delightful brother decided that he would eat the stuff I'd bought for my pack up again. It irritates me so much. Maybe it's just me, but I get overly annoyed with people who take my stuff. I think it actually goes back to when I was younger and I had a beautiful set of absolutely lovely colouring pencils. There was about a hundred of them and they shaded and blended so nicely. I was really proud of them. One day, somebody on my school table goaded me into sharing them with the rest of the table for one exercise. I ended up with less than fifty pencils left. Guess who refused point blank to share her stationary ever again?Yep. That's right. Me. I'm a stickler for stationary. I'm happier buying new pens and paper than I am when I get chocolate. Fibre tipped pens are my favourite. They write so smoothly that you want to scribe random words just so that you can use the pen. I don't think I can really describe the kick I get from new pens. It's probably the kick that most women get from a pair of shoes. Shoes don't really do it for me. Shoes are just a necessity. Maureen Johnson commented on twitter earlier about so...

There are seven votes, so far, on the poll about the renaming of book 3 (currently The Secrets Were Spilling At The Seams). Anybody is allowed to vote, but the poll will finish in seven days time. If you want to get your thoughts in then you have until the end of Sunday... to do so. There will be links to this journal on facebook (if you're a fan of my official page or SaSA) and twitter (they're posted automatically through a feed), which means you really have no excuse for missing it. The poll is on the right and you are allowed to vote for more than one if you like more than one title.If you want to become a fan of my facebook page, then please click the image on the left (one of my photos that has been beautifully, graphically altered by Andrew) and it should redirect you if I've done everything right. I have a myspace as well, but it's linked to my twitter so pretty much every update you get on there is the same as my twitter. It's easier to receive comments there, though, so please feel free to click the link. Twitter doesn't seem to be loading properly today, anyway. I'm not quite sure why that is but it's not updating everybody's tweets as it should. Maybe on the seventh day twitter also decided it was a day of rest. Who knows?Formspring won't let me ask my friend any more questions, either. My formspring is here, in case you really are so bored that you want to ask me innumerable questions. I've spent about an hour asking my friend (NALGames AKA Andrew McCluskey) desert island style questions. It's been quite fun, especially as I think you learn more about the way your friends think with those kinds of questions. You can also turn it into more of a story/adventure scenario too. Sadly, it is also another way for me to continue to procrastinate.I'm listening to one of my cats snoring at the minute. He's got his paw over his face as usual when he sleeps and is murmuring sleepy things and wiggling occasionally. One of my other cats (the pillow lover, if you've read some of my previous entries about his antics) is lying next to me upside down and purring while he has his tummy rubbed, which is an unusual past time for him. He doesn't really like his tummy touched unless it's on his terms. I was going to clear out some clothes that I don't wear, but I've run out of steam for physical activities. There are days when I really want to get on and do stuff like that and others where I simply feel like I lack enough energy to even raise my arm too far. I might have a burst of energy later on, but I sincerely doubt it. It would be rather nice if my dream did come true. It was quite a bizarre dream, but then mine always are bizarre. Last night I dreamt I had a fridge and a lovely big sofa in my room. I'd really like both, but I simply haven't the space. Of course, the room in my dream was much bigger than this. If my room was bigger then maybe I'd be able to keep things a bit tidier. I just don't have the space to put stuff and my dad simply won't help me build onto my desk to make it more suitable to my needs. He's a lazy, grumpy old man.I suppose I could attempt it myself, though I imagine that my DIY skills will not fair too well... and I need some pieces of wood.

I went out for my birthday drink last night. My aim was to consume my age in drinks (twenty). I didn't manage it. I made it to nine, so I guess I covered my mental age. It was actually eight, but I had a large cocktail that tasted like strawberry milkshake so my friends... pointed out that that would be regarded as two drinks considering the amount of alcohol that went into it. Sadly, I don't think sipping their drinks counted towards my attempt.I've included one of my photos so that you can see the cool people who went out with me. The girl at the top is Tiff, then there's Sarah and the girl whose smile you can see is Nat W. It will probably protect her identity that you can't see her whole face considering our private joke that her most likely career choice would have been an assassin. I'm the girl in the red dress.It was a really good night. We had a nice long catch up as well as being able to dance a bit and let our hair down, which I haven't done in quite a while. I've been so tired and stressed lately that finding time to wind down and relax properly just hasn't been easy to fit into my agenda. It was good to see friends, though. I haven't seen any of them since New Years Eve, which is kind of sad because I always enjoy going out with these three in particular. That's not to say that I don't enjoy going out with others, but I always have fun when I'm with these particular people. The only downside is that I know there are going to be some dreadful photos of me posted on facebook. To be honest, I don't mind that they're dreadful because I like being able to have the memories. I really don't understand it when people untag themselves from photos of them when they were younger. They might be embarrassing but it's always nice to be able to look back at things that have happened in the past and to swim in that lovely warm feeling of nostalgia.The only thing that's wrong with going out where I live is that everything closes at 3am. It's a small town so it's understandable, I suppose. There's only one nightclub and tonnes of food places, but the nightclub closes at 3am. So when you leave you go to get food but all of the food places have shut their doors. I reckon they should try to stay open half an hour later than that because they'd make such huge profits. Of course, it meant that we all had a sandwich when we got in at.. about 4? It takes a while to walk from town to my house and I don't really trust taxi drivers. Luckily, we weren't feeling the cold too much because we'd had enough to drink by then and we were keeping moving. I also wanted to mention that I've added a poll at the side so you can tell me what you think of the book name dilemma that I mentioned previously. I've also opened up commenting to anyone who wants to comment. You shouldn't have to log in with a google ID or whatever else it asks for. I hope that helps everybody.I think I'm going to get some editing under way, actually. That's if I can, anyway. My eyes are a bit sore, which is most likely because I didn't sleep too well when I got in. I was having a few agitating dreams that I weirdly can't remember. All I know is that they were making me anxious for some reason.

I'm in need of help. This is a lot less like my normal entries. I've been debating over a long period of time on whether or not I should retitle The Secrets Were Spilling At The Seams. Whilst it fits with the book, I sometimes think that the title is a bit too clunky. I...'ve considered reducing it to 'Secrets', which is what I call it when shortening the title, but I think this is a bit too short. It's in a series of books that I'm writing (though I don't have them published) so the need to remember individual titles is a little bit more important. My first is titled Dark Side of the Moon and the second is called Shadows & Ghosts.The suggestions I have so far are as follows:SecretsSpilling SecretsSecrets & LiesSpilling Secrets & LiesThe Secrets Were Spilling At The Seams [this is a vote for keeping it]I'd be interested to hear if anyone has any other suggestions and what your thoughts are on the subject. I think I'm leaning towards either the first or third on the list, but I don't know. Whilst I liked my original title, I'm just not sure on it any more. That's why I'm asking for any input that anybody has.IN OTHER NEWS...I got home last night and after dying my hair.. I fell asleep. 7.30 in the evening is not when I normally fall asleep but it seems that my lack had finally caught up with me. Still, I didn't expect that I'd sleep straight through until 12.55 in the afternoon the next day. I had some weird dreams that were something to do with super powers. I say weird, but for me odd dreams are perfectly normal events. After waking up, I have pretty much done nothing but scavenge and then return. I say scavenge because Ethel Austin has supposedly gone into liquidation and, as it's my favourite shop to nab clothes from, I thought I'd go see if there was anything suitable for me to get for tonight (late birthday drink with friends). There wasn't really anything that caught my eye. I got a nice top, though, and three shirts I thought would be suitable for placement (I'm doing Initial Teacher Training and on placement in Primary Schools so I need to be dressed appropriately but also not in a suit). They all look really good and the new top does too, so I'm really pleased.I thought I'd have a look in M & Co afterwards, though, in case they actually had something wearable. They are one of my least favourite shops but pretty much the only other fairly decent clothes shop in the small town where I live. I figured there was the slim possibility that they would have a nice top to wear out... I didn't find a top... but I did find a stunning black dress with glittery bits on it. Sadly they had no more of these in my size, which really annoyed me... until I noticed the scarlet one that was in my size and was only a tenner. Result of shopping: SCORE!So I'm probably going to wear this red dress tonight. Maybe with my sparkly silver heels.. though, I'm not sure if the heels will match so I may just wear black heels. My black heels are actually a hell of a lot comfier so I won't be too fussed, either way. I'm hoping that tonight will be a good night, though. I'm going to be with some friends who are always good to be out with and I always enjoy myself with... and I will force them to go dancing. So all should be awesome. And if it isn't, I will make it awesome. Anyway, please post your comments about the book title. They will be much appreciated. Thanks!

I haven't much to say, tonight, really. You should probably be relieved after last night's run through of stuff. The only reason I'm probably even awake is because I've been drinking water and, as we know, that stimulates the brain brilliantly. I like to have a pint of ...water when I'm writing. It seems to make the words come faster and thicker. I'd like to say that I've done some writing on my Jocasta Lizzbeth Moonshadow series, or at least some editing, but I haven't. I might do some over the weekend or even on Friday (I haven't slept yet so this is still Wednesday for me =P). I may have time on Friday. It depends, really, on how much time I have and my general mood. There's the possibility that I'll write when I get home tomorrow, but this is judging that I'm not too tired. I think I'm going to go to bed in a minute, anyway. My brain is just spacing out so it would probably be a good idea.Also, I just saw the teaser for the new Doctor Who.. I'm sorry, but Matt Smith is no David Tennant.I will only stress one thing: Please, please, please give me some comments below on what you think about the name change of Secrets.

Where does the time go, honestly? I haven't had any time to do any editing, which is really bugging me. This is partly because I fell asleep for several hours earlier... Such an act was entirely unfortunate... but necessary.I've not been sleeping properly for days, most...ly because of worries and because my brother wrecked my sleeping pattern by keeping me awake all night for two nights. Shattered is absolutely how I'd like to describe myself right now, which is why I nodded off with my laptop on top of me earlier. One of these days I will probably do that and it will set fire to my face or something as equally possible but ridiculous. In the burns unit I will only shrug and say it could only happen to me. Things like this only seem to happen to me. It's probably why I can write stupid things like that happening fairly believably. This reminds me of one of my favourite scenes in Secrets (I still haven't figured out if I'm changing the title or not - I may even put up a vote) where one of the characters is attacked and sees something that really shocks her. Instead of looking after her injuries and/or demanding answers, she announces that she's making a cup of tea and would anyone like one. I think it amuses me more because I know it's one of those things that I would do given the same situation. There are other little funny scenes written in the same vein, too, but I won't give any more away.Excuse me whilst I pause in typing to have a coughing fit.Okay. I'm good. This stupid cough still hasn't quite left me. Other things that cause the '?!' are usually just classed as my younger brother. When I got in today, despite being knackered, I had to go straight back out and get food (one of my other favourite subjects) so I have something to eat on placement tomorrow. I bought loads of ham and cooked chicken pieces and stuff - all out of my own money and all solely for my pack ups. I got a few other things I needed too (except for the paper I'd also gone for! Tesco are just rubbish here. I needed it to print off my lesson plan and everything) and some dry cat food because the boys and Poppy are out. When I got home, I put my clothes in the washer, ate my dinner and then came upstairs to sort out worksheets etc.. but fell asleep as previously mentioned.Thus far this story is really interesting, right? I don't think so.When I woke up from my accidental sleep (to a really lovely image someone sent me, but more on that in a short while), I finished sorting the worksheets and borrowed the other laptop to print my work off downstairs with some drawing paper that I'd found as a substitute for the proper stuff (no thanks to Tesco). Anyway, I remembered I needed to shove my clothes in the drier (it's about 2.30am so not ideal at all). Sorted that out and figured that, since I'd bought it, I might try the ham to see if it was worth buying. Turns out that Gannet Boy has already started chomping on my cooked chicken. I mean, I really wouldn't mind... EXCEPT...I bought all that food out of my own money for me when I'm on placement and, even if I hadn't, he eats everything in the house! I'm surprised there are any walls left. He's probably started on the plaster in his room having gnawed through the wallpaper first. There's never anything left for anybody else. He clearly hasn't even asked, either. After a while, you just get really sick of it, which brings me to the fact that I've made a decision. I'm going to get myself a mini fridge as soon as I can. I ...

Decided that I'm going to go out on Friday for a drink, because, other than needing one (I'm not an alcoholic but I seriously need to let my hair down after the pile of stress that's fallen on my head lately), it's going to be a late birthday drink. I plan on taking my ...new camera (who is called Jeremy after a character in a book that I've read) so I can snap some lovely photos of the pandemonium that will undoubtedly ensue. Besides, I rarely see people. I'm working on the recluse thing... but I guess I kind of like a bit of human contact once in a while.'I guess it's just a silly song about how I loved you and how I lost you and your brown eyes...Your brown eyes...'This song makes me think of somebody but we'll forego the usual tag as if he ever reads this it may make him feel self-important and that's not what we want, is it? I was talking to a friend earlier and she mentioned a particular date. It took a moment for me to register quite why it had made me stop. Then I realised that it was because, last year, it was the date of the first foam party I went to. It was also the day before he dumped me. It's branded on my brain, I guess. To be honest, though, I hadn't really thought about it until my friend mentioned it. When she did it felt like getting hit over the head with something. I was suddenly peculiarly dizzy. It was probably just a moment of silliness. I completed editing Chapter 7 of Dark Side of the Moon. It's improved immensely. If I had some proper free time, then I would get on and start Chapter 8. I want to get it all edited and straightened out so that I can send it off to a literary agent. It's urban fantasy, so I'll need to research some urban fantasy agents first, but it would help to have the manuscript finished off to a higher standard before I even contemplate that again. I mean, I tried before but I had no idea what I was doing. If it hadn't been for the introduction of twitter, I think I would have just blundered on regardless, so I think I owe Andrew McCluskey (NAL) a thank you, there, as he was the one who tried to get me to join and eventually succeeded... and now I have more followers than him in a shorter space of time - not that anyone is counting!Anyway, yeah... If I hadn't joined twitter I wouldn't have seen what the literary agents around the world were saying about the queries and submissions that they received. It's opened my eyes a lot more to the world of seeking publication. There are so many helpful authors on there, too. In fact, what I would suggest to anyone seeking to submit like I am is the following:Join twitterAdd authors & literary agents on there (you can usually find them by sifting through the lists of other authors & publishing houses or shops like Waterstones & WH Smith)Get involved in some of the hash tag conversations such as #litchat and read hash tags such as #queryquotes - they will give you a better understanding.Buy The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook and Writers' MarketThen buy Wannabe A Writer - all three of these books are really informative from the technique of writing to contacting agents/publishers and their contact details to do so.If you're reading this and you're trying to get an agent or a publisher then good luck and I hope that helped. It's helped me so far - but I'm not signed yet... so I may still be wrong.If you have any tips you're willing to share with me then please feel free to comment!Where: On my bedListening to: Brown Eyes - Lady GaGaTabs ope...

These are extracts from my series of books about Jocasta Lizzbeth Moonshadow. They remain unpublished works until such time as a literary agent or a publishing house sees fit to contact me.

Here is Rebecca Clare Smith's writing portfolio: * [2001 - age 11] - Poem - "Dawn" published in 2002 Poetic Voyages Yorkshire anthology. * [2001 - age 11] - Poem - "Bubble And Gloop" published in the 2002 A Passion for Poetry anthology by United Press Ltd...

Shadows & Ghosts Something terrible happened last year... Jocasta is afraid. People have died because of her. She's alone. The person she loves is gone. Somebody in the school is feeding information to the Necromancer... And the creature is after her. What's so special about her, though...

Dark Side of the Moon Jocasta always wanted to be a normal witch like her sisters, but she was hunted down with her father and younger brother by the Necromancer when she was just a child. Jo managed to survive and was hidden away, but why did the Necromancer want them dead......