Can Chris Get Published in 2009?

I'm back

2009-10-03T21:08:00.000+01:00

It's been a hard few months for me with a lot of personal issues going in my life. They are not over but it's time to start the writing game again. The nights are starting to draw in and there's a distinct nip in the air of an evening so the laptop is out, the ideas are there, now just need to get something down and written.

Thanks for your support - keep coming back.

Chris

Dark Poetry - just drops out of the 20,000 - a sad day

2009-04-04T19:16:00.002+01:00

Sadly recent sales haven't been great - I haven't done much promo I must admit. So it's now at 20,111 in Lulu chart. Never mind - must keep on with the other projects!

VRWG March Meeting

2009-03-14T08:59:00.001Z

Another packed meeting - I lost count at 24 attendees! I think the time is fast approaching for a second mid-month meetign to take off.

Marian gave us an interesting exercise. First liners from books. Aim was to continue the story from the first line. Of course there was the inevitable trying to guess what book the first line came from. I'm not sure if any of us got any of them!

Bob's started yet another book!

Anyway here's a weird picture to inspire your writing!

VRWG February meeting

2009-02-12T00:05:00.003Z

A good turn out despite the cold weather. This month's meeting was a week later than usual due to the atrocious weather last week.

Deb shared her dilemma over the free print on demand publishing of her novel. Does it really count if it's POD and not been through a publisher's editing process? A few different opinions here. Personally, I think it all counts if it's a method of getting your work out on the street! (other opinions are available!).

Congratulations to Tonia who has had a poem published in Orbis magazine. She advises that we might consider sticking to our guns when it comes to editorial input. I think she feels a little disappointed at losing some of her voice in the poem. Nevertheless congratulations again!

Polly set us an exercise with a loose Valentine's theme that involved a 60-year old photograph and started "Today....". Some great variations and some real wrist-slitting morbidity was produced in the next ten minutes!

Good mixed bag of readings tonight - Bob has finished yet another novel!

Welcome to the new members and do keep coming back!

Here's some wise words from Stephen King.....

Follow this blog more easily!

2009-02-02T21:15:00.002Z

I know (I think) that there are a few people out there who regularly take a few mins to look at this blog (please keep doing so!) - it's now even easier to do by clicking on the Follow This Blog link at the top right of this page. Keep watching and do leave comments, good or bad!

VRWG Feb meeting hit by snow!

2009-02-02T20:57:00.004Z

Yep it's been a bit snowy today so we've all decided it would be best to stay at home by the fire and do some writing there instead (oh really?).

Well I suggested that the two+ hours freed up by the flurry of the white stuff could be used for some productive output. So I put my own words into action and have continued on production of my non-fiction CW exercise book. I'm trying to do 20-30 minutes a day on it and it is starting (just) to take some sort of shape. Still expect it to be a few months yet thought before the real editing starts!

Anyway here's a picture of a bird that visited the garden this morning for some seed!

VRWG AGM

2009-01-20T19:05:00.002Z

Well last night was the first AGM of the VRWG held at the Blue Cap.

We managed to get a quorum (just) and worked our way through the agenda without there being any fights, tantrums or pen throwing.

Bob did the hard work putting it all together.

The Exec committe stood down and got re-voted back in again (funny how there weren't any other people desperate to stand - especially for Treasurer!)

After the AGM we had a Management meeting to discuss some group "stuff". We all agreed we'd had a reasonably busy year and were looking forward to the 09 events coming up.

VRWG January Meeting

2009-01-10T18:49:00.003Z

Well it was a cold one by anyone's standards and despite the emails coming thick and fast in the afternoon bowing out there were still ten brave souls who weren't put off by a bit of frost!

I gave everyone the task of creating 10 New Year "Un"Resolutions - things we won't be doing. Some were very amusing.

Welcome to two new members John and Les. Les gave a duet reading with Lorraine that certainly kept us all amused and intrigued and we hope to hear more from them next time.

Thought we might have ended early but with Paul's autobiographical exploits and Roger's reading we went the whole hog to 9:30. Here's hoping the weather is a bit better next month.

Well here's a turn up for the books - the wonders of Google search

2009-01-01T12:16:00.004Z

I did a quick search for myself today (as you do!) and amazingly my blog was quoted on a very intersting site called My Poo is not as Dark as it Usually is!

Now I don't know if that's meant as a comment about the blog in general or whether they have random blogs highlighted on their site.

In case you have the need to make a similar statement you can see the site at:

http://stanford.wellsphere.com/wellmix360/My-poo-is-not-as-dark-as-it-usually-is

it's actually quite interesting!

Another year starts - so what happened last year then?

2009-01-01T10:36:00.002Z

Well I didn't get published as such in 2008 anyway!

I did enter some competitions -which I didn't win.

I did go on some creative writing days - which were good fun and very inspiring.

I did do one stand up open mike slot at VRWG Winter Words - which was also good fun.

I did do more writing - but not enough.

I didn't finish my sitcom project - but plan to do so soon.

I did start more walking which gives good writing thinking time.

So for the coming year, a bit of a change - this blog is now going to be specifically writing related only. My walking exploits are now transferred to another blog http://chamonix2009.blogspot.com/ which will be used to follow the exploits of getting ready for the Alps walk in the summer. Please do visit it to see what I'm up to.

I toyed with the idea of changing the blog template for 2009 but I quite like the green so I'm going to leave it alone except of course for the small adjustment in the title to 2009.

Hope everyone who reads this gets something from it and please feel free to pass comment in the coming year.

Happy writing in 2009!

Writing inspiration in the Peak District

2008-12-31T19:24:00.004Z

Fantastic morning out walking today with Martin. The weather at home was cold and foggy and quite miserable. As soon as we got the other side of the Peaks to Buxton, the fog cleared and it was magnificent sunshine!

Great 3 hour walk around and up Shining Tor starting from the car park at Errwood Reservoir in the Goyt Valley.

Fabulous sunshine, some wild grouse and some fantastic icicle formations (see the pics).

Afterwards lunch at the Rose and Crown near Wincle (it was dead - only us there!).

And did the morning inspire me to write? Absolutely! Cleared the head and made me start to plan the upcoming year.

Lots of pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/gough.chris1/ShiningTorGoytValleyNrBuxton?feat=directlink

VRWG Xmas Dinner 2008

2008-12-22T16:10:00.003Z

Well the Bluecap came up with quite a decent meal and just as we were tucking in to the coffee and mince pies we found out there was a quiz in the pub! We split into three teams and pretty much all of us did rubbish - despite various efforts to cheat! Still it added to the fun atmosphere.

Despite my having had a works Xmas lunch on the same day I did manage to get through my three courses!

Hope everyone has a good holiday and Christmas - pictures of the night at http://picasaweb.google.com/gough.chris1/VRWGXmasDinner?feat=directlink

VRWG Writing Workshops 2009

2008-12-12T23:05:00.000Z

Vale Royal Writers Group – Writing Workshops 2009

With assistance from a grant from the Vale Royal Arts Council, VRWG will be running a series of writing workshops in 2009 with professional tutors covering a range of topics related to prose writing.

So whether you’re a novelist, short story writer, non-fiction writer there’s going to be something to improve and inspire your writing talent.

First workshop on Saturday morning 7th March at the Salt Museum, Northwich.

Presenter will be Stephen May, tutor at Arvon, author of “Tag” and “Teach Yourself
Creative Writing” and creator of storylines on Emmerdale.

Topic to be confirmed – expected to cover a general writing topic.

Cost to be confirmed – expected < £12.00. Places limited.

For more information or to book a place contact goughchris@hotmail.com or bob.barker@btinternet.com or http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/vrwg/

To check out Stephen’s work see his website www.stephen-may.com

VRWG Winter Words - great success!!

2008-12-10T22:42:00.002Z

Fantastic night last night. Over 50 writers enjoyed the VRWG Winter Words fest at the Blue Cap.

Many of the VRWG members shared their wise and witty winter dittys alongside the guest poets and story tellers.

Raised over £50 for GOES charity.

Won a signed copy of "Long Way Down" - Ewan MacGregor and Co. in the raffle (great TV series).

Yours Truly performed a new piece "Best Xmas Ever" and brought out one of my favourites from Dark Tales - Xmas Comes Early.

Lots of pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/8VpPKoxq46EUEPCohYTobQ

VRWG December Meeting

2008-12-06T21:53:00.002Z

Another busy meeting. Paul gave us an exercise about an inept guy named Danny who's sad story we had to either continue or chnge his luck. In my story he died!
More new people came today - 2008 has been an incredible year of growth with lots of new members joining and becoming a real part of the writing "family".

More talk of the workshops in the new year. Opportunities for he Salt Museum as a location and several potential presenters.

Also confirmation that all is ready for the Winter's Words next week - for those that don't know, we're putting on an evening of story telling and poetry next Tuesday 9th Dec at the Bluecap pub in Sandiway. Do try to get there - starts 7:30ish - bring your own story for the open mike slots.

Some good reading tonight - people working on real novels!

Xmas dinner on 18th at Bluecap again.

Next meeting is first Monday in Jan.

See more at the VRWG link on the right.

Where have you been Mr Gough?

2008-12-02T22:02:00.002Z

Yes I've even had complaints about my absence! Don't know what's been wrong with me the last month but just couldn't seem to put my fingers on the keyboard to get something down. Haven't sold anything on ebay. Haven't sold any books. Haven't got anything published- in fact had two rejections! Haven't even had any walking exploits this month.

A whole month it's pretty bad - but I'm back and there's lots of news to catch up on so check out the new exciting posts. Keep those comments coming else I won't know you're out there and I'll think I'm talking to myself (again!)

VRWG St Deniol's Writing Day - Nov 08

2008-12-02T21:49:00.004Z

T'was one of the foggiest days of the year so far this year, and one of the coldest when the brave boys and girls of the VRWG hit St Deniol's library in Hawarden for a day of writing frolics.

Fourteen souls took to the lecture room on Saturday morning not all daunted by the five sessions of writing planned out for the day.

Polly kicked us off with music,some fruity bits and a sneaky smell of a bag in a mysterious black box! An exercise designed to get us to think about using our senses in our writing, and it did!

Mark gave us inspiration by prompting us to script an apology from a politician. Bob's had us rolling in stitches and we are trying to persuade him to perform it at the upcoming Winter Words event.

Lunch gave us opportunity for a wander round the library and the grounds and to sit in peace just reading the paper.

Bob kicked off the afternoon with a slightly more formal structure letting us look at stories from the point of the protagonist's journey and then buildign out from that - very interesting, I got the plan for a ew novel down!

Bill brought us back down to earth with dialogue tennis. Working in pairs to write realistic dialogue against a scenario set by him. Fine when both parties had the same scenario - but I'm sure you can imagine the hilarity when the scenes were mixed up!

Christine finished us off (not quite literally) with inspiration from a piucture of Gladstone's bag - we had to think of six items we'd put in it. One of my favourite sessions - wrote a poem in this session which I think has legs.

Come 5pm the writing hand was aching and the brain was buzzing but a great day was had by all and we all want to go back and do it all again next year.

More pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/gough.chris1/VRWGStDeniolSDay291108#

VRWG Meeting November 2008

2008-11-08T16:42:00.003Z

A very busy meeting this month. Organisation for the upcoming poems and prose night next month and a name is still needed!

Also talk of the St Deniol writing day at the end of the month.

As usual some good reading.

Return to Ludd's Church (a long time past!)

2008-10-31T21:18:00.005Z

I remember visiting Ludd's Church when I was at school. It's an open cave in the Peak District near to the Roaches. Something to do with the Reformation and having to go to Mass in secret (history was never my strong point!). You can go to http://www.bosleyco.org.uk/Ludds(~1.htm

to read the legend of the church.

Anyway, I went there again last Saturday with Martin and the two Marks for a morning walk. Got a bit rainy half way round but that made the pub lunch taste that much better. The atmosphere in the church was damp and a bit spooky especially if you stayed there alone for a few minutes. Gave me a couple of new ideas for a short story (see there is always a link to writing!).

Also wandered by Hanging Rock and you can see the Roaches from the lower path. We parked at Wincle and had lunch at the Ship - well recommeded baguettes! (and beer).

Lots of pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/gough.chris1/WincleLuddSChurchWalking251008#

and some nice tourists have actually made a video and put it on Youtube so here it is http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JrDZM8Ar45M

I'm on Live For The Outdoors website!

2008-10-24T00:04:00.001+01:00

A few months ago you might recall I sent off a perfect moment to Country Walking magazine (prize was a pair of socks!), well I didn't win any socks but they have put my entry on the website.

Follow the link to see it:

http://www.livefortheoutdoors.com/Community-Landing/Media/Media-Gallery-Detail/?mediaItemId=11503

Dark Tales climbing high!

2008-10-19T10:50:00.000+01:00

Now up to 16,935 - thanks for all your support!

Writing Business Cards - for that professional look!

2008-10-15T21:30:00.003+01:00

I've had some business cards made as my writing calling card. I used one of these "free" services off the internet. It wasn't quite free but it was only £3.80 for 250 cards so that's not bad really. I used http://www.vistaprint.co.uk/ there are lots of templates to choose from. Makes me smile every time I hand one out!!!

Dark Poetry breaks 20,000!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-12T20:56:00.001+01:00

In fact it's broken 18,000 as well. I needed to buy a few more as Borders have taken some copies. Now looking to 15,000 as the next target. Just need to keep selling them (oh is that all Mr Gough?!)

Dark Poetry Dark Tales - now available from Borders!

2008-10-12T20:54:00.002+01:00

Yes, Borders at Cheshire Oaks have taken my book on a sale or return basis. If you're in there please buy a copy and then they will keep taking more!

Baslow walking - but where's Nigel?

2008-10-05T10:47:00.006+01:00

Yesterday I took the weary writing brain out for a windy blow in the Peak District with some of the usual suspects. Martin planned a circular walk around the Baslow area (nr Bakewell), across Curbar Edge and back again along the River Derwent.

Martin, Steve and I set off in the morning with the aim to meet Mark C at lunchtime half way round.

Of course, Nigel was supposed to be there as well, but as he looked out from his warm duvet that morning (35 miles from the walk area) he noticed two drops of rain fall within a few minutes of one another and realised that there was going to be such a torrential pour down that he'd better stay at home, so he did! Needless to say that is going to be brought up on many occasions in times to come!

Pretty decent walk and a bit Mr Kipling windy along the Edge itself. We also decided to ignore the warnings of "some excessive boggy areas there be this way" and made the pleasant discovery that my boots were in fact seriously waterproof (thankfully).

The old knees gave me some gip again but as it wasn't as far or as steep as the Lakes walk a few weeks ago, I got through the pain (ibruprofen helped also!).

We didn't really get lost either - after the Lakes there was more than a hint of caution (paranoia) in making sure the path was the right one (and if it felt wrong we checked it again - and again!). Took the satnav out of the car and although there are no walker's map on it at least we were able to check our position - and it worked!

Here's a tip - if you buy a camelback waterpack for your rucsac, make sure you wash it and rinse it through lots of times before taking it out on the hills - the plastic taste is absolutely disgusting!!!

Lots of pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/gough.chris1/BaslowWalking41008#

I've bought a satnav!

2008-09-29T21:49:00.003+01:00

I finally cracked. Last week I went to Cardiff and despite having all the route instructions and local road maps I still managed not to find the Cardiff International Arena! You'd have thought it would have been shown on those lovely brown tourist hotspot signposts, but no, it wasn't. Took me an hour of messing about ! So, on the way out I stopped in Halfords and picked up a Garmin.

Now, those of you who hav ebought my book will know that there is a short story in there about a SatNav unit. I really hope I don't end up like the poor chap in that story! Read it yourself to see why I resisted for so long.

Making the most of the sun!

2008-09-28T09:48:00.002+01:00

Caught some of the rays yesterday by sitting in the garden (first time I've actually done this in the whole of 2008!) and read some more of Stephen King's On Writing book - I'd highly recommend it for all writers as it cuts through a lot of the educational guff around writing and just encourages you to get on with it.

So I better had!

Dark Tales still climbing!

2008-09-21T00:32:00.000+01:00

Now at 21,162! So close to the 20,000!

Happy Birthday Martin - great golfing morning!

2008-09-20T16:19:00.006+01:00

It's been almost two years since I picked up a golf club (in Dublin in fact on a Boy's Weekend), so it was with some trepidation that I accepted an invite to play today to celebrate Martin's 46th birthday.

My old clubs have been wrapped up away in the loft for years now and I know when I put them away they needed cleaning and the shafts had gone rusty so who knows what they would have been like now! Anyway Argos had a sale on and I got a full set for a bargain price!

Dragged the old golf shoes out of the wardrobe (they were still in the box - worn once and the receipt said 28-8-91, before even my daughters were born!), found some balls and a glove and headed off. And a very civilised affair it was too. Coffee, cake, biscuits, cheese, pork pie, crackers, wine and port were quaffed at various stopping points around the course and I found that I played a lot better after the port!

Fantastic morning and the fleece was off after a few holes, could have done with suntan lotion really!

What was the tally? Squared it with Martin and lost 50p to Mike, got one oozle, lost three balls, found three balls, but lost my bloomin' sunglasses!

Lovely action I'm sure you will agree!

More photos (including Martin's special bunker shots!) at http://picasaweb.google.com/gough.chris1/GolfOnMartinSBirthday#5248122958096824322

Dark Poetry, Dark Tales hits new heights - literally!

2008-09-14T20:05:00.002+01:00

Dark Poetry has had it's first recital at altitude! My mate (?) Martin bought a copy a couple of weeks ago and took it with him to our Lakes weekend. At lunchtime half way up a mountain, he dragged it out of his rucsac and gave a rendition of the Xmas Comes Early poem!

Here he is with Mark clearly both enjoying the quality of the work!

Boys' weekend to the Lakes

2008-09-14T19:33:00.007+01:00

Just spent Friday, Saturday and part of today in the Lakes with my mates Mark, Martin, Dave and newboy Steve.

Got there Friday lunchtime with Mart and Steve. Checked in at hotel (http://www.crowpark.co.uk/ we all recommend this - reasonable price, decent rooms and good breakfast) and after a pub lunch and then a coffee at the coffeshop we managed to convince ourselves that we should still do a warm up walk in the afternoon! (We did waiver for a while and I thought the coffee was going to be the end of it but we managed to get out there!)

Nice little stroll down a local valley - 3 hours in all and then back to wash and meet up with Dave and Mark. Dinner at pub and a few bevvies (but not too many cos we knew Saturday was the "biggie").

Saturday morning headed for Ennerdale with Dave revved up to take us up mountain, down dale, up mountain again and then who knew where!

Sadly, half way up the first mountain it went misty and rainy and all we could see was each other. Dave guided us across the ridges until we got to the point overlooking the end of Ennerdale valley. Lunch was much welcome.

I found that my knees were shot particularly going down hill. Had serious worries that they might just stop so I decided to take the easy way back along the valley path - Steve also had a prick in his knee (phnarr, phnarr!) and decided to keep me company. I had to keep walking without stopping cos when I did my knees seriously seized up. The signposts were most useful in telling us it was a mere 6 miles back to the car park - two hours minimum and the ibuprofen was wearing off!!!

Mart, Dave and Mark went up the other side of the valley and to cut a long story short had a few issues with their positioning and took a lot (I mean a lot) longer to finish than anticipated. Finally got them off the mountain at 8:45pm in the dark. Needless to say there were some aching legs. Mind you the curry later tasted great!

Had a lazy day today (a lot to do with my legs not really wanting to take me anywhere! Typical really when the weather was fabulous today! Not too worry, did a bit bit of "gear" shopping in Keswick, had decent coffee and then came back home - big struggle to stay awake in the car (no I wasn't driving).

Lots of pictures at the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/gough.chris1/LakesKeswickEnnerdale2008#5245895479278809746

Another new high for Dark Tales

2008-09-14T15:16:00.001+01:00

Now up to 21,532. If you've been contemplating buying then please do so now - 20,000 is sooooooo close.

The scaffolding is down!

2008-09-11T19:06:00.002+01:00

Four weeks to the day and the scaffolding is down! Grass looks a bit sad but it's been very kind of the weather to test out the waterproofedness of the work before it was taken down (continuous rain does have some benefits). Of course, we all know that these things wait until it is going to cost you the most money to sort before going wrong again. Sod's Law I suppose - that should probably be "Sodden's Law" ho-ho (sometimes I make myself laugh!).

Poo pants naa naa nee nee

2008-09-11T19:01:00.002+01:00

My flash fiction "Footprints" submission dropped back through the front door today - it didn't win. Never mind, gotta keep putting stuff out there.

The cheque's in hand!

2008-09-11T18:55:00.004+01:00

Polly and I went to pick up the cheque from the Vale Royal Arts Grants Council on Monday. Seems there were quite a few grants given out to various groups around the area. All gave a bit of an overview of what they do generally and what the grant will be used for. Caught me by surprise but I got through it! Picture is of us receiving the dosh from the Mayor, Malcolm Gaskill.

Just got to spend the money now!

I really am famous now!!

2008-09-06T17:18:00.002+01:00

Typing chris gough writing into Google now puts me at position 1,2, 5 and 7 with loads of other mentions in the top 100! Even just typing chris gough gives me a top 5 ranking with other mentions further down.

Fame and fortune is coming my way!

Dark Poetry leaps again

2008-09-05T22:02:00.001+01:00

A new record position in Lulu charts. Two more books sold on line pushes it up to 22,848 - I can taste the 20,000 mark now!!!!!!!

VRWG September meeting

2008-09-05T20:44:00.003+01:00

The 1st was also the first Monday of the month so that meant VRWG meeting. Bob was away so Yours Truly was in the Chair. More new members tonight (it just keeps on growing!).

Round up of the Poets and Pints night - we all agreed it was a great success and that included the landlord who would really like us to do it again. So we are! It's been agreed that it will be on Tuesday 9th December so put it in your diaries.

St Deniol's day is also looming so everyone needs to sort out with Joyce if they want to go.

I set a bit of a writing exercise to try and get everyone's writing gland activated. This month you had to think of a piece of work you wanted to submit and write your biography associated with the work in less than 50 words. Then in another 50 words write the teaser for the piece. I got stuck ordering 2,567 hot chocolates from the bar (ok only 9 but that sort of number did merit a blimey from the staff!), so I only got as far as the biog - here it is (rough and not-so-ready),

Gough's work gets under your skin and makes it crawl. A barrage of shocks bowl you over and leave your body behind to be feasted on by carrion. And as for your mind, his use of vivid imagery will push it beyond the extreme.

When Gough writes it's from the heart; and liver; and spleen! His pen spits blood and bile and smears them across the page in words that float through your mind in the dark of a sleepless night.

You're going to need something beyond prescription strength to survive this work!

Not a submission to Mills and Boon!

We will also be picking up the cheque next week from Vale Royal for the grant to produce prose workshops so lots of ideas needed so we can start planning! Also support is going to be needed for the actual sessions themselves so do please come along and take part when they are announced.

Quite a few good bits of writing and feedback - more needed each month so don't be shy please.

Next meeting 6th October.

A sample of my writing - about time too!

2008-08-26T23:29:00.005+01:00

It dawned on me earlier that this blog is about my general efforts at writing stuff and getting it published (mmm it's almost September Mr Gough - any sign of progress?), but I've not actually put anything on the site for anyone to read.

So here's a poem I did a while back (actually it was started during an exercise at a day at St Deniols) based on another poem by some chap whose name I have forgotten (Marian if you ever read this perhaps you could put a comment as to who that was please). Anyway, this is actually one of my personal favourites and it's in the Dark Poem book as well, (and just to sex it up a bit for the blog I've added a picture!).

Enchanted Box

In my enchanted box
I’d squeeze in delights of all kinds.

Whispered words of comfort,
a hint that fairies are true,
a glimpse of tomorrow’s results.

A frozen spider’s web
Seen from a warm bed of downy quilt.

A small space reserved for the one word that makes people smile.
A slot for the walkway to the moon
And a switch for free power to the world.

My box is mahogany brown
With cracks filled with fragments of time
It jaunts on a fancy, on a whim
And knows just where I want to be.

Leave a comment please, good or bad, I'm a big fella and can take it!

On top of the world - well the roof anyway!!!

2008-08-24T20:51:00.003+01:00

I've been working with my Dad to do some repairs on the roof of the house. I live in a Victorian house which is very high and the adrenalin really flows when you get a ladder to the roof. So, we've had a scaffold put up at great expense to help with health and safety - mine!

It seemed a shame whilst up there not to take a few photos of the views as it's not very often you get to see what the pigeons do. The pictures below give an idea of the view. What's intriguing to think is that 103 years ago when the house was built (yes I know that Victoria died just before that but the house is definitely one you'd call Victorian, not Edwardian), there would have been clear views right across the Cheshire plain and into the Welsh hills as well as clear sight of the local church. Not anymore, there's just a smidgen of a proper horizon in just one of the pics and the spire just about peeps out. Ah well, progress - there must be a story in there somewhere!

Don't you just love the sexy outfit I'm wearing! It got so hot at one point I had my shirt off - proper builder-like, wolf-whistling at the lovely ladies passing by (not really!). That spire thingy now looks a lovely shiny black, as do my hands, face, neck, shirt, trousers etc.

This is the one where you can just about see the Welsh hills (with x-ray binoculars!)

Across to St John's Church on Delamere Street. Looking down Swanlow Lane south.Hopefully it won't need doing again while I still live there!!!!!!!!!!!!

VRWG Poets and Pints - a fantastic success!!!!

2008-08-20T20:29:00.006+01:00

Last night the VRWG held its first open mike night at the Bluecap pub entitled Poets and Pints (no prizes for guessing what went on there!). It turned out brilliantly. 50 people turned up with approaching half of that performing in three sessions during the evening. Six guest poets of some standing took part in each session and you could hardly move around the place for past Cheshire poet laureates!

Well done to all the first-timers, all excellent. Thanks to Karen for MCing and big thanks to Tonia for doing the detailed work in pulling it all together.

I even sold two of my Dark Poem books!!!!

We also did a presentation to GOES of the money made from the anthology and ran a raffle for some donated books.

Lots of pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/gough.chris1/VRWGPoetsAndPintsAugust2008 and I'm sure there will be more on the VRWG site and blog when the takers have chnace to put them up there. Watch this space for the next one.

Google ranking revisited

2008-08-13T23:56:00.002+01:00

This ranking thing really works - the more you get links to your site and get referred by search engines the higher your ranking. Searching chris gough writing now puts me at #3 and #6. I even have an entry at #27 if you search for just my name now. Previously it was well below 100. One day all searches will be just about me!!!!!

Good news from GOES !

2008-08-13T23:50:00.001+01:00

Check out the GOES blog http://gambiagoes.blogspot.com/ The money raised from the Cheshire Collection was put to good use helping a young boy there with medical issues. He has now been passed fit!!! More details on the GOES blog. Writing does help people - must do more!!!

Flash fiction submitted

2008-08-11T22:54:00.002+01:00

Whilst on hols I noticed a flash fiction comp in a writing mag. A 150 word submission on the subject of Footprints. Well my eyes lit up (or was that the vino?!), I'd had a weird idea in my head about footprints for years and to have the opportunity to get it down was perfect. And it didn't need many words.

Of course, it's easy to equate less words with easy. Big no-no. Less words means every one of them counts. No fillers, no waffle, just succinct word play. Not easy at all. Anyway got it down in rough on the beach (steady now) and spent some time over the weekend at home tidying and tightening it up.

I said it seemed perfect and it was but there was a small problem re the submission. I'm not going to reveal what it is yet but I will do so when I know the result. I know you're intrigued now so keep watching!!

VRWG gets the money for a second year!!!

2008-08-07T20:27:00.002+01:00

Well it's good news for the creative writers in and around our area. We got the grant we asked for from the council. This means that we can set up at least four workshops over the coming months with specialists to teach on various aspects of prose writing.

Lots of organising required so anyone wanting to volunteer just go to the VRWG yahoo group listed on the right and let us know!

New giddy heights for Dark Tales

2008-08-06T18:29:00.002+01:00

While I've been away my Lulu ranking has leapt forward to reach a new record high, 23,010. Thanks to everyone for their support. Still loooking to break the 20,000 mark!

I've been on my hols!!

2008-08-06T17:27:00.005+01:00

Yes, I know you've missed me (oh yeh), but I've been away in the South of France on holiday with the family. Was it hot? - oh yes indeed, very hot, not officially a heat wave (but apparently it is now so we got out just in time!).

Of course, having almost two weeks of no work worries and just sitting on the beach soaking up the rays is the ideal time for writing, isn't it? Well sort of. I had to fight the guilt most days but I did do some, on the sand, at the snack bar and back at the ranch.

Don't believe me? Well check out the pictures (they have been censored to protect the innocent! and I can confirm that no body-double was used in the pictures - unfortunately!).

And if you look closely you'll see I wasn't on the same page all the time!

Cool glasses dude!!

Even more places to find this blog!

2008-07-21T17:47:00.001+01:00

I've registered the blog with blogcatalog to extend the opportunities of being found. Lots of other blogs categorised here so why not have a look! You can also find the link on the right.

http://www.blogcatalog.com/

Submitted picture to Country Walking

2008-07-13T16:01:00.002+01:00

Country Walking is a mag for country walking (durrgh) and each month they feature reader pictures in "Perfect Moments". Sent off a short description and the picture of me doing Helvellyn (see earlier in the blog). Chance to win a pair of high tech socks, weyhey!

I'm listed on Author's Blogs

2008-07-12T22:15:00.002+01:00

I mentioned a few posts ago about a site which has a long list of Author's Blogs which is monitored to ensure continued activity is taking place. Well I submitted this blog to it and it's now listed! Hopefully this will extend the possibilities of readership further. To visit other blogs by authors (after you've read this one of course) go to:

http://www.authorsblogs.com/index.php

Entered a competition!

2008-07-11T18:51:00.002+01:00

Finally got around to sending off something somewhere. Spotted a competition in the Writer's News mag for a nightmares and dreams comp. Right up my street. So I've sent one of my lovely fluffy poems off there to see what happens!

If you fancy a look at the comp it's at www.winterwitch.co.uk and costs £4.00 to enter.

VRWG July meeting - what a lot of new faces!

2008-07-10T02:13:00.001+01:00

Just when we thought we were down on numbers for the night we had no less than seven new faces turn up at the Blue Cap on Monday for the Writers Group July meeting. Six newbies from Karen's creative writing classes at Sir John Deane's College and another gent who met us at the Borders event a few weeks ago. Welcome to you all (but a gentle reminder to the couple who turned up at 9pm - we start at 7!!!!!)

I set a bit of a tongue-in-cheek exercise this month (I'm sure the newbies must think I'm mad!) - we had to imagine a fantasy world where monkeys and apes could talk, where humans had the keen sense of smell of a dog and where breaking wind was socially acceptable.

A few wrinkled noses at that one!

Anyway, everyone had a go and it certainly helped to break the ice.

Tonia told us about the upcoming poetry event next month that we are hosting at the Blue Cap and Joyce set the organisation of the next St Deniol's day in motion.

Usual reading and feedback. Again welcome to the new people - we're going to have to get a bigger room at this rate!

Google top 10 revisited

2008-07-05T00:05:00.002+01:00

It's all very exciting. If you now type chris gough writing into Google I am number 3 with a second mention at number 11!

And even more exciting, if you just type chris gough I'm now mentioned at number 102! I'm almost giddy!!!!!

Last minute but fingers crossed for grant application

2008-07-04T23:23:00.002+01:00

Vale Royal Borough Council offer arts grants for projects across the area. It's not much but last year the writing group, VRWG, were successful in getting some money to produce its first anthology, The Cheshire Collection (which you've seen mentioned in other places in this blog).

Well we'd all forgotten about it until I noticed the ad in the local paper for this year's applications. Of course, the due date is very soon, Monday, so I've spent this evening putting together our official application.

This year we're going for enhancing writing skills by proposing a series of workshops to extend the prose writer's art (there are already lots of poetry things going on out there!).

So fingers crossed that we get something towards the project. Watch this space!

VRWG Summer Social - a big success!

2008-06-29T20:52:00.006+01:00

Thanks to Bob for hosting this year's writer's group social at his house yesterday (of course you know this is a permanent event location now don't you Bob!). Good turnout with a big selection of goodies to eat and drink.

Of course, the Girly Mafia (Joan, Celia and Liz) were in attendance and kept their glasses on even though it was dull! Mind you they aren't that tough cos they had to put their jackets on when the sun went in!

Bob came up with some entertainment for us in the form of a couple of quizzes. The first involved all of us writing on a slip of paper a fictional character who we admired or would like to be. Then, they were all read out anonymously and we had to guess who had put who. I was useless and only got two out of 16, one of which was me! Celia Swotpants got eight right and won a bottle of plonk!

Then we had a "guess the book and author" from famous first lines. This time I was actually on the winning team, but if we hadn't had Marian we wouldn't have got anywhere! Karen got all excited cos her team thought they knew loads of them - sadly they didn't!

A good time was had by all so thanks again to Bob and Carol for hosting.

More pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/gough.chris1/VRWGSummerSocialJune2008

Seeking Inspiration - Return to the Cloud

2008-06-25T19:21:00.003+01:00

Earlier this month I went for a walk up the Cloud near Congleton. Well last night I returned there again with a few more friends looking for writing inspiration. I was hoping the weather would have been better to improve the views but it was basically the same as last time - dull and grey. However, the gang made it to the top without issue and we hit the pub again for a late tea (I think there was a couple of pints of alcohol involved also!).

Lots of ideas from the walk, Martin and Jane want to walk across the North of England next year to celebrate 25 years married (are you sure Jane wouldn't prefer somewhere a little more romantic?), so maybe there's a story there, or at least a celebratory note for the local papers when the time comes.

More pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/gough.chris1/TheCloudRevisitedJune2008

VRWG Borders Book Shop Event

2008-06-24T01:12:00.003+01:00

Sunday was mostly spent at Borders book shop at Cheshire Oaks with the VRWG gang selling the Cheshire Collection to the unsuspecting public! Borders let us have a table top at the entrance to the store to display our wares (or ware, as there was only one book!), they even announced the event at regular intervals over the tannoy.

The upshot of it all was that we sold eight books to the public and a further three to Borders for the shelves. Of course, being writers and being surrounded by thousands of books and magazines for several hours meant that temptation was rife and I don't think any of us got out of the place without some purchase or other!

In addition to selling the book, we also had some interest from new potential writing group members so we hope to see them at the next meeting on 7th July at the Blue Cap pub in Sandiway and furthermore, interest in the GOES charity itself which the book was being sold to support. See the GOES blog in my list on the right for an update of the good work being done with the money raised so far.

If you'd like to see the Borders store go to http://www.bordersstores.com/stores/store_pg.jsp?storeID=400 where you can purchase a copy of the book.

More pictures of the event are at http://picasaweb.google.com/gough.chris1/VRWGAtBordersBookShop

There is also an alternative write up on the VRWG blog at the link on the right.

Loads of blogs on writing - Author's Blogs

2008-06-21T10:00:00.002+01:00

I've discovered an interesting site which lists a whole load of blogs about writing. They monitor the blogs to ensure they stick to writing and are active (if you don't post to the blog for a few weeks then it will be removed), this guarantees that the content is up to date.

Of course the cynical amongst you (which includes me) would suggest that this is just another distraction from real writing! How do you think I found it in the first place!!!

Link is below and in the list to the right

http://www.authorsblogs.com/index.php

Lulu still on the up!

2008-06-20T23:25:00.003+01:00

Another book sold this week and I rush up the ratings to 23,664 from 23,843. This just beats the previous high of 23,677! I've also sold some of my stock through Ebay by listing them alongside the Heavy Metal magazines I'm selling and ensuring that the price is covered by the starting price. Will need to buy some more soon so let's watch that ranking race forward. Still aiming for the 20,000 mark!

Even more walking!

2008-06-14T20:18:00.004+01:00

Went for another Friday evening short walk this week up Frodsham Hill with fellow writers. Didn't get any writing done though, although to be fair that wasn't the point.

Never been up that way before but it gives you a good view of the Mersey and Helsby Hill (commonly known as "the one that sticks out" - cos it does stick out and it's the one you always see when you're on the M56.

The hill is part of the Cheshire Sandstone Trail (and guess what - it is mostly sandstone) and a lot of it is through the woods with sandstone outcrops and lots of easy climbing bits. To see more detail about the Sandstone Trail go to http://www.cheshire.gov.uk/countryside/Walking/linear_trails/sandstone/

Some more views are available at http://picasaweb.google.com/gough.chris1/FrodshamHillJune2008

VRWG mentioned in Writers News

2008-06-12T23:33:00.007+01:00

Well it made the July edition. The picture of the David St John Thomas competition winners with yours truly, Polly and Celia standing on the stairs - yes we are there, right at the top in the darkened bit, honest! VRWG and GOES are mentioned as third prize in the Community Cup.

Double-click on the picture to open it up so that it's clear. There are also more pictures of the event in earlier posts!

Oh well I suppose that's that one laid to rest now - must do some proper writing!

Bit of a disaster

2008-06-09T21:15:00.002+01:00

Woke up at 5am this morning needing the loo - well you do at my age - to find the sink tap leaking under the sink. Dashed down he stairs to ahve the worst fear realised, it had obviously been leakign for some hours and water had seaped through onto the suite chair and the carpet. A big patch about 6 ft across! Chair will be fine but still waiting for the carpet to dry out to see if it leaves a watermark (I just know it's going to). Bit of a bugger really as the carpet is only a few month's old. Still I suppose that's what insurance is for.

More walking, more inspiration

2008-06-09T20:33:00.005+01:00

Went for a short walk last Friday around and up The Cloud near Congleton. A pleasant evening stroll with my mate Mark and his two collie dogs (who walked about 25 times farther than we did!).

Great views from top - the pictures really don't do them justice. Truly 360 degrees looking across the Cheshire plain, south through Stoke and east to Derbyshire. It was a reasonably clear evening but it must be spectacular on a really clear day (must do it again).

See the pictures for an allround panoramic view - albeit split into several photos. Popular spot for remote control gliders along with the real life birds of prey.

If you get the chance do go for this pleasant stroll - pair of boots is best as there are some rocky bits, but it only takes 60 to 90 minutes to complete so can be done in an evening easily, just like we did.

To complete the walk we went for a pleasant pub meal at the Bear's Claw in Brereton not too far away - lovely food.

Of course all this was very inspiring for the writing gland (you didn't know about the writing gland? I'll get around to that another time), and it's in full swing now (particularly as nearly half the year has gone and I haven't had a sausage published yet!!)

Link to the pictures is below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/gough.chris1/TheCloudJune2008

June 22nd - Sale of Cheshire Collection at Borders

2008-05-31T22:45:00.003+01:00

Bit of advance notice here. On Sunday 22nd June the VRWG have secured a table at the Borders superstore in Cheshire Oaks for the day in order to sell the Cheshire Collection. If you fancy a signed copy or just want to come along to give support, it starts at 11am through to 5pm. Why not do a bit of other shopping at the same time!

Dark Poetry leaps forward in Lulu!!

2008-05-31T20:36:00.002+01:00

Big jump in the rankings this week - sold 8 books in May, a record!

I'm still very poor though so please do keep buying :-)

Help, Help, Help

2008-05-27T19:37:00.004+01:00

Of course the triffids did take over and I left them to their own devices to shrink the size of the garden and to give it that wondrous jungle feeling! Did I spend that time progressing towards the publishing target? What do you think - of course not! However, I did get to go to the Manchester Science Museum. I can hear you all switching off straight away, all those spinning jennys and steam engines - well, the real reason i went was to see the Body World exhibition.

This is the show by Gunther von Hagen where all the plastinated bodies and bits of bodies are displayed. It was certainly some show and it really has to be seen to be appreciated. The fine detail of the body is incredible. And of course it all adds to the mental pictures when creating horror stories!!

Probably worth an hour or so for a tenner (£11.50 at weekends). See details at http://www.msim.org.uk/whats-on/body-worlds-4

So not much writing got done (zero) and I actually feel guilty. Must stop that now and just get down to it. Your helpful words of encouragement appreciated of course.

Good news and bad news

2008-05-23T19:05:00.002+01:00

This week has seen multiple sales of my Dark Poetry book on Lulu. Three in fact - yes three in one week, whoopee!!

The bad news is that despite a revamp the press release still didn't get in the local paper - what do they want from me?

Nothing really planned for this Bank Holiday Weekend so might try to get some writing done - unless the triffids in the garden take over of course.

Google top 10!

2008-05-23T18:58:00.003+01:00

Well if you now search Google web for chris gough writing I am number 8 ! Yes I know it's sad to search for yourself but you have to admit we've all done it (oh yes you have!). The Lulu content of my book is number 8 and to add to that this blog is actually about number 50 (I couldn't be bothered to count but it was about half way down a page of 100 entries). It just goes to show that if you put yourself out there you can get noticed.

Up until a few weeks ago I didn't even appear in the list. Aparently the trick is to access your own site through different links so if you put it in another website it's best to link to it from there instead of typing in direct.

Anyway still a long way to go before I get noticed for just "Chris Gough", there are hundreds of my namessakes out there!

Getting in the papers - how hard can it be?

2008-05-17T16:02:00.003+01:00

Well I've had no luck yet in getting my article re VRWG in the local papers -at least not the two that I get. I sent the article in two weeks ago and it hasn't been in either of the new issues.

I called one of them to ask about their preferred method of submission - they said preference was for either in the body text of an email or as a Word doc with supporting pics in jpg form.

I sent it off last time as a Word doc with an embedded image so that might have been the issue. I've resubmitted again in the body text with separate jpg file now.

Does anyone have any tips for submitting to local papers?

If anyone sees the article in any paper please let me know.

Lulu ranking takes a dip - then bounces back!!

2008-05-16T19:13:00.004+01:00

Just briefly today my Dark Poetry book fell by 1,000 in the Lulu ranks, and then this afternoon after another sale bounced back to be four up on where it was. It's hardly the Sunday chart show but it still gets me excited to see it go up! (Keep cool Mr Gough!).

Everyone's support is appreciated but I would like to break the 20,000 point so it's going to take a bit more effort yet.

http://www.lulu.com/content/523340

VRWG Creative Writing Day at St Deniol's Library

2008-05-11T17:50:00.007+01:00

Eight brave souls from the Vale Royal Writers Group took to St. Deniol's Libray in Hawarden for a full day of creative writing antics. This is at least the third such day and they remain a popular event. The group hire a room at the Library and set the contents of the five sessions themselves.

This time Bob started the day off with an exercise where we had to use just dialogue to get across the drama and tension between a couple buying a bed! Some interesting outcomes from this one.

Tom gave us an interesting exercise where he literally gave us permission to talk to ourselves. We were sent off around the grounds to spend 40 minutes jsut telling ourselves stories. This is harder than you think as in our normal lives when left to our own devices we think about anything but our writing. Everyone thought this was a great way to give ourselves the time to think about our writing.

After lunch, Liz led off with a variation on Desert Islands Discs but instead of music we had to come up with our seven favourite books to take with us.

Polly used a Scrabble board for the group to generate their own key words to drive their writing. Write about anythign so long as it includes the words. The first two words were "pox" and "void", so we all thanked Tom and Bob for those!

I finished off the day with a variation on an exercise mentioned earlier in the blog. Everyone was given a book and had to link the first and last sentences of page 123 with their own words. After 10 minutes the first line of the book had to be the starting point to take you to the previous text and finally after another 10 minutes link the whole lot to the last line of the book! It was amazing how many of the readings appeared to be seamless texts.

A rather long day and quite intensive on the old brain but from all reports enjoyed by all. It certainly gets the creative stem cells working! We all look forward to the next one.

We then took a few photos of the group with the cheques for the GOES charity. Tom, we look forward to hearing about the good works.

For those unaware, St Deniol's is a residential library and conference centre in Hawarden, Flintshire.

It was founded in 1889 by Gladstone. It offers a fabulous retreat for thought, study and relaxation.

I've put the website in my links and put scans of the brochure in the pictures.

Has Viz let me down?

2008-05-08T00:06:00.002+01:00

Well I've checked the latest edition of Viz and sadly there's no sign of my Profanisaurus entries. Boo hoo. Still who knows, maybe they only put so many in each time (yeh right, keep telling yourself that Mr Gough!). So not to worry, Ive actually thought of a couple more and I'll get them sent off in the next few days.

Can I get in the local papers?

2008-05-03T23:06:00.002+01:00

I've written up a "news" item about the VRWG award and the GOES money and sent it off to all the local papers in the area. I would say this counts as "serious" writing effort and if published in any of them would add to my writing cv.

I'll post how it goes but if anyone does see the article in any of the papers please post a comment here.

Error in GOES link corrected

2008-05-02T19:14:00.003+01:00

If you have previously tried looking for the GOES in my links list you might have found yourself looking at the site of a North American family! Sorry about that. It has now been corrected!

VRWG Cheshire Collection wins money for GOES charity

2008-05-01T17:37:00.009+01:00

Late last year the Vale Royal Writers Group (see the link in the list) finally published their anthology of poetry and prose called the Cheshire Collection (Yours Truly was a contributor). We entered a national competition ran by the David St John Thomas Charitable Trust (there is a connection between this Trust and the Writer's News magazine where some of the competitions are publicised.

Well we were amazed when we got shortlisted for the Community Cup, a competition for self-published books made for charity. The group had decided that any profits should go to a charity ran by one of its members to help in the Gambia, GOES (the link to it is also in the list).

Yesterday was the award ceremony and we came in third (yes there was a little disappointment that we didn't win but we got over it) and we got £100.00 towards the charity. When this is added to the £1,000 we have already raised through sales of

almost 300 books, that will do a lot of good for a lot of people (including many children).

There were quite a number of other competitions too and there was getting on for 100 people at the ceremony including Celia, Polly and myself. It was held in London so a bit of trek to get there (including detours to avoid lorries broken down in the roadworks on the M1, the really bad weather, the terible traffic in London, the horrendous parking fees - £18.00 for four hours - yes, the decimal point is in the right place) but worth it in the end. (And we went for a great meal after at a Lebanese restaurant!)

I'm expecting that there should be a write up in an upcoming edition of Writer's News mag so I'll give that a mention when it appears.

If anyone would like to support us and purchase a copy they are available from me for £6.95 (+ £1.95 postage if required). Just email me with your address and payment details - I can accept POs, cheques, cash or Paypal (email goughchris@hotmail.com).

There are a number of other pictures available of the event at

http://picasaweb.google.com/gough.chris1/VRWGAwardsCeremonyApril2008

The Cheshire Collection

2008-04-30T23:42:00.001+01:00

We came third in the Community Cup and won £100.00 for the GOES charity. More to follow with pics tomorrow - very tired now after long day trip to London, must pay London congestion charge in next 15 minutes!!!!!

First real disappointment of the year

2008-04-30T00:04:00.002+01:00

I got my first rejection letter of the year today (an email actually). I sent off three poems to an on-line e-zine called Illumen. This was months ago and I'd actually forgotten about it. Got the "dear John" email today - very sad. Must try harder!

Excitement builds to competition day

2008-04-28T23:26:00.002+01:00

For those of you who don't know, the Vale Royal Writers Group of which I am a member, put together an anthology of work just before Xmas - we got it published and have so far sold nearly 300 copies. We have put all the proceeds to a charity called Gambia GOES - see the link in the right hand panel - and we have so far raised about £1,000, not bad going!

Anyway, we also put it in for a national competition with the Writers News magazine and we got shortlisted for the Community Cup competition (publishing for charity). The awards ceremony is on Wednesday and a few of us are going down to London and will hopefully be coming back with the cup! Or be very depressed.

Whatever happens I'll be reporting on it here and posting a few piccies hopefully. Come back later this week to find out what happens.

I'm back ! Pain has gone and I'm well up for it!

2008-04-26T09:50:00.014+01:00

It's been well over a week now since the last entry - not good in the world of blogging I know - no excuse.

Last weekend I went to the Lake District for a gentle "amble" (not!). The map below shows the area around Helvellyn where we went. (I went with some mates and their mates, if that makes sense). The route wasn't actually as marked but if you follow the Glenridding to Helvellyn bit via Striding Edge and then instead of going up and around you go down and around over St Sunday Crag and then end up back at Glenridding, then that's the way we went. About 11 miles in length. Now considering that I haven't done any serious walking for at least 27 years (yes that was twenty-seven, it's not a typo), I think it went rather well. Legs held up, mostly - knees got a bit cranky at the end on the downslope - and the new boots and socks were really comfy (I didn't notice the blisters at all on both heels until we got back to the pub - and then in bed every night this week when they stuck to the sheets, yummy!).

The top of Helvellyn was covered in snow (as you can see- that's Striding Edge behind me) so that added greatly to the excitement (honest).

Monday was HobbleDay. Yes, a day spent hobbling around wondering what the hell was going on inside those dead bits half way down my legs and why suddenly they'd decided to stop bending. It did get a better as the day went on though, that is until the blisters stuck to the socks! I'll leave the rest to your imaginations. It got better during the week though and I'm raring to go for the next trip now - any takers?

You may well be asking what this has to do with getting published - well of course I now have this wonderous idea of sending off an article to the walking mags describing the differences and pain that a 27 year gap between Lake walks can cause. Watch this space.

To see all the pictures of the day go to http://picasaweb.google.com/gough.chris1/LakesHelvellynApr2008

I've found "Booking Through Thursday" and it's great!

2008-04-14T19:28:00.002+01:00

I was doing the usual distract yourself from anything serious stuff, when I came across a website called "Booking Through Thursday". (I was actually looking for writing related info not for hotels!). Anyway, it's a site that sets a writing challenge to the world (on a Thursday) to respond to in either their own blogs or through the comments. It's easier if you read the next bit which is copy from their site instructions:

To Participate
Copy the questions, paste them into your blog and answer them.
When you're done, come back here and post a quick comment or trackback letting everyone know so we can read your responses. Be sure to leave a link to your actual post! (Just type in the web-address--Wordpress will automatically turn it into a link for you.)
If you don't have a blog yet, then just post your answers in the Comments area for the set of questions you are responding to.
Lastly, no, you do NOT have to answer on Thursdays. Please feel free to answer any time you want, we're just glad to have you.

As an example this week's challenge is:

Pick up the nearest book. (I’m sure you must have one nearby.)
Turn to page 123.
What is the first sentence on the page?
The last sentence on the page?
Now . . . connect them together….(And no, you may not transcribe the entire page of the book–that’s cheating!)

Simple as that. The site is set up so that you can see the comments with the links under the questions.

What's even greater is that if you then go off to read the results you end up at the blog of someone else with an interest in writing.

Oh and of course it's good writing practice!

Here's the link and it'll be in my favourites in the panel on the right side of the blog also.

http://btt2.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/writing-challenge/

A wicked book - something to aspire to (IMHO)

2008-04-13T21:46:00.003+01:00

I've just finished Alexei Sayles, Barcelona Plates. A mate of mine lent it to me and I just couldn't put it down! 14 short stories with some biting twists at the end. I just had to keep reading and was highly disappointed to finish. I'll be out on eBay now trying to get some of his other tomes.

This is exactly how I'd like to be able to get my own short stories across. He takes a relatively mundane person or situation (something we can all relate to I'm sure) and pushes and pulls you in directions you just wouldn't expect. Highly recommended (but go to bed early else you'll be up til 4am!)

There's a link in my favourite lists of stuff that takes you to Amazon with all its reviews. Check it out.

Why is the world full of distraction?

2008-04-12T15:54:00.003+01:00

Of course, I should be writing now. My head is full of the wonderous ideas just waiting to flow out of my pen (mmm used that line before in previous blogs) but there are other things to do.... like sorting out my eBay listings. Very important of course, nice to keep a few pounds coming in through selling stuff. I thought I would have made my fortune after 7 years of doing the site but it's just not as easy as you think to make big bucks. You have to find the right thing to sell. Something that will actually sell and will actually return a profit is a good start. I've found Scalextric stuff to be quite a nice earner, but it's very seasonal - just after Xmas is best - no surprise there. I also flog gothic-style jewellery (rings and necklaces) but it's very slow going. I've found that it's actually the the old books and camera stuff that have given best returns but generally I've only had one item of each so it's really been a case of once-it's-gone-it's-gone!

I've discovered a new eBay complementary site that gives improved listings (called Auctiva) which I'm having a play with to see if it improves my sales. Hence the distraction and hence the lack of writing. Anybody want to buy a cheeky jigsaw of nude cartoon characters playing golf, only £1.99 plus p&p? Please do and then perhaps I can concentrate on writing!

More inspiration

2008-04-09T23:30:00.003+01:00

It was the Vale Royal Writers Group meeting on Monday. Going there always gives me inspiration - it's great to hear about what everyone is doing. We changed the format of the meeting this month to include some actual writing. A bit of an exercise writing for 10 minutes on a random picture. I love these exercises. You walk in the room and 10 minutes later you have something on paper that you hadn't even thought about. Ever. Absolutely appearing totally out of the blue. Not even thought about whilst driving there in the car. It always amazes that the piece of work just flows out of the brain, down the arm, through the pen and on to the paper. It may not be a great thing but it is something that didn't exist before you did it. Really amazing. You should try it. Just sit down with a pen and a piece of blank paper. Take any magazine and randomly open it. Take the first picture you see and write whatever comes to mind for the next ten minutes. It could be a poem, a story, a random list of words - it doesn't matter, just wrte anything. And don't stop. If you think you've come to the end after a couple of minutes, look at the picture again and just keep writing. Write anything. Absolutely anything, if you get stuck just write blah, blah, blah until you start again. You'll be amazed at what comes out.

Already feeling the strain

2008-04-03T20:54:00.002+01:00

Seems to have been a lot of distractions this week. Work being the big one as usual. Where does the time go - I must really enjoy it as the time goes so quickly! (here's hoping the boss has found the blog).

It's not that I haven't been writing, I have, but all the wrong stuff - all work sort of stuff, proposals, quotes and the like. It keeps the old fingers in trim on the keyboard and to some degree it's sort of creative-ish, but it's not fun and it's not getting me towards the target.

I have been reading up a bit on scriptwriting for TV, but sometimes I think you can read too much about the subject and not actually get on with it. The layout and stuff is important and the infamous writing wise always indicate that if you make it easy for the other person to read in the expected form and template then that's one less reason to get rejected. You still need content in the form and template though!

Another sale of Dark Poetry on Lulu (weyhay) but no sign of a pencil from Viz yet! Must keep at it.

A mention of Lulu

2008-03-29T11:00:00.002Z

If you put www.lulu.co.uk into your browser you'll get a the life history and discography of that mighty ageless midget of the pop business, Lulu (just how can she still look that good after all these years?), but of course as a writer this is probably going to offer limited opportunity for progress. No, you have to put www.lulu.com in the address bar (I bet the singling Lulu is kicking herself for not registering all the domains!) and what you get is a veritable Mecca of self-publishing, print-on-demand opportunities.

Now I'm not here to promote the Lulu site but I have used it and it's great! (no promo there then). Basically, write your stuff, upload it, Lulu fiddles about with it (don't start getting that visual again), and then it's available for you and the rest of the world to buy as a real book, yes real - lovely paperback, hardback, ISBN etc etc.

Books are only printed as ordered and you automatically get a cut of the cover price and you even decide on the cost and eveything. As I said it's great.

I've got one book up there at the moment the Dark Tales thing - you can see a preview by following the links. I thought I'd put my Lulu ranking on the right for all to see, 26,000 odd whoopee!.

Lulu is a really useful tool for seeing how your work would fit together in book form - you don't have to buy anything if you don't want to but it gives you a warm tingle inside to get that "real" book in your hand through the post without having to shell out hundreds of pounds to some vanity publisher.

I've also used it to create personalised calendars for presents which actually are really good quality for about the same price as you'd pay for a pop star calendar in the shops (I always get a Kylie one as a Xmas present from my kids!).

No, I don't have shares in Lulu but if you have any interest in writing I suspect this would also be of interest to you.

I'd be interested to hear other people's experience also.

A brainwave and actual writing effort (minimal)

2008-03-27T18:54:00.002Z

I saw the new copy of Viz magazine today and I remembered that I'd made a couple of notes somewhere about entries to Roger's Profanisaurus. For those who don't know, RP details absolutely every definition of everything to do with swearing, bodily functions and all those horrible things that people do to each other when in the dark, whilst pissed or in any major city High Street on a Saturday night. You can buy the latest edition called Magna Farta from any good discount book shop (and other non-discount stores as well apparently, but it's cheaper in the discount stores!).

Anyhow, every month in the Viz they have an update to RP and anyone can send off their suggestions for new entries. So I have - I've sent off the two entries I'd thought of a few months ago. If they get published then I'll print them here.

Of course will this count as being published? Well it'll certainly be a small victory - and you get a free pencil if your entry is accepted!

Babies start me thinking - tonight's the night!

2008-03-25T23:54:00.002Z

Of course, I've just realised that all you couples (or just ladies) that are desperately trying ensure they have a baby in 2008 must conceive tonight to pretty much guarantee it. Leave it much later than tonight and you're going to have be birthing early! Why not give it a go.

So just how long have I got to do this in then?

2008-03-25T23:39:00.003Z

I suppose this is a question I should ask - just to put things into perspective if nothing else (perhaps it will scare me into a frenzy of writing activity - oh yeh I'm sure we're all looking forward to getting blown over by the gale force generated by that activity!).
Well checkign the old trusty pocket diary it conveniently tells me how many days have gone by in the year and how many are left. taking tomorrow as the start - it is 11:45pm now so that would seem fair, there are 280 days left in 2008. Of course this being a leap year, if I'd done this last month I would have had an extra day to do it in!
Anyhow, 280 days, loads of time. Thats 40 weeks! Blimey I could get pregnant and have a baby in that time - well my appropriate female partner could anyway with the right biology and timing and everything, but heyho, I'm not after a baby, I'm after something published, a piece of writing offspring as you may have it. And 40 weeks is a ton of time (that sounds like procrastination is trying to sneak its way in there!).
Thinking about it, when I started this blog 3 days ago I had 283 days - I suppose I'd better make a start on the work. Next time I'll decide what to start writing -or at least what I am going to concentrate on first!

An update on SMART

2008-03-24T22:39:00.000Z

I previously mentioned how the target being set should be SMART, (management-speak!), and then I immediately couldn't recall what it stood for - well I've done my research (first answer in Google actually)

S.M.A.R.T. is

Specific
Do your targets say exactly what it is you need to do?
Measurable
Can you show proof that you have achieved your targets?
Achieveable
Are your targets easy enough to achieve in the time you have been given?
Realistic
Are your targets things that you can really do something about?
Time-bound
Have you decided dates for achieving your targets?

I think my target meets the above - it's specific, well the overall aim is pretty general I suppose but the breakdown of the 10 possibilities pins it down a bit more.
It's measurable - there'll be something published - that will be an obvious measurable.
It's achievable - well yes it is achievable in general, if any of the 10 items occur then the target will be achieved and there shoudl be enough time to do some of them - probably more than one of them if I get my finger out!
Realistic - well yes again, the list of 10 gives some very hard things and some relatively straightforward things to be aimed at and I can do something about them by doing some bloody writing!
Time-bound - easy, must be by the end of the year.

I feel so much better now knowing that I've managed to manage my targets using management-speak!!

mmm another one for the list

2008-03-24T22:33:00.000Z

It dawned on me that there is another option to "get published" - the local newspaper article. Does this really count as getting published though? Well it ain't gonna pay any money that's for sure but, it's certainly a stepping stone on the way to bigger and bolder things. Advice from the writing wise always suggests that any writing is good writing and any articles printed anywhere can always be used for filling out your writing cv. So, I'll add that one to the list giving me 10 items that can be classed (mostlyish) as getting published.

The target is set (crikey suddenly it becomes real!)

2008-03-23T23:51:00.000Z

Yep no point just sitting there going "One day I know I'll get a book deal or some sort of published work deal thing. Maybe a comedy script? Even a short story would bring some small bragging rights".

A target needs to be set. Ok.

[pause for effect here]

The target has to be realistic (well actually it doesn't so long as there's a target- it can be modified/moderated later)

So a target. Right a big aim which will then have to be broken down into something manageable - SMART as some "smart" person once said stands for Something? Measurable, Attainable, Rsomething?, Tsomething? - you can see how much attention I was paying that day to the Human Resource manager!

Here we go then -

Chris's target:-To get something published in 2008 TahDah

Ok that's it done then. I have a target. Something to aim for. Write something and get it published this year. Hang on "write something"? Of course thinking about it it could also be photos or a photo book. Probably best to try to create a list of things that could eb published, things that would count as having hit the target. So a list.....

1) A novel
2) A short story
3) a poem
4) a TV script (of some sort but preferably a comedy script)
5) a radio script
6) a letter to the editor (mmm not sure if that really counts but we'll leave it in for now - a fallback position perhaps for those desperate moments later in the year)
7) a photobook
8) an anthology of the stuff above, or at least some of the stuff that seems sensible to fit together
9) a creative writing exercises book

Well nine items isn't bad as a start. Of course the biggy is number 1 - pretty much a fat chance if you ask me at this time of the night (it's late and it might be better to revisit this in the cold light of day)