Toy Memories

Since starting on Twitter I have learned lots - first thing I've learned is you need to be disciplined about your time on it, otherwise your whole writing/working/living day could disappear!

I will post some handy tips soon about the pitfalls to avoid, however this post is about something more endearing, wonderful, engaging and hopefully will receive back as many darn good memories as 'what you dreamt about being as a little person,' proved to receive.

Anyhow, another gem idea from Ethel Rohan (if you are not follwoing her on twitter, then do) was asking about your favourite childhood toy, and seeing as how I noticed other Tweeters (not sure if that is the proper term) also talking about this yesterday, I took it as a 'sign' for a blog post, as signs are always good, and for the most part should be followed.

So here it is - Question- When you think of childhood, what toy comes to mind?

Mine was a yellow duck on wheels that I could pull along -  it went missing in the way that toys mysteriously do, and my little girl brain has held on to it ever since.  Whether it was the toy itself, the whole moving, following you part of it, or whether is was because it went missing. that caused it to shoot  to number one spot in my memory, I will never know, but sure isn't that the mystery of life.

So here's your chance - get that memory out, share it, I know I am looking forward to reading it.

Also just to add here, I've spent 20 minutes trying to get as close an image to my yellow duck as possible, the connection is still strong - I didn't find the right one, but this is the closest with the extra little ducks for family - put away the hankies, I will recover soon, honest!

Happy Sunny Tuesday!

Rainy Day Writing Thought

Bucketing down where we live, time to light a fire, curl up with good book, gain writing inspiration, and so on and so forth.  Here' a nice one to consider on rainy days!

"Whenever it poured like this, Max felt as if time was pausing. It was like a cease-fire during which you could stop whatever you were doing and just stand by a window for hours, watching the performance, an endless curtain of tears falling from heaven."

 Carlos Ruiz Zafón (The Prince of Mist)

What does being a novelist mean? A - K Guide

This post is a couple of months old but I figured maybe now is a good time to revisit it again seeing as how I have entered the role of editing, editing and yes you've guessed it editing!

As I am now 100% through writing a novel, albeit a first draft, I got to thinking about what being a novelist could mean.

Could it mean someone who has been published, someone who has achieved acclaim and recognition for being able to write a story long enough to fill 300 plus pages which people want to spend their well earned money on?  You having created a fictional world for another person's pleasure?

It sounds good, in fact it would be almost perfect except for a few things.  Firstly no one writes primarily for another person's pleasure, it is solely because they want to write, and I have heard it is also because some people don't feel they have any choice but to write.  Mad but true certainly in my case.  Secondly, the fact that a novel is published should not discriminate against all the novels of merit which have been created but for whom publication for whatever number of reasons did not happen.  And thirdly, and by far the most important reason, it is because after spending nearly five months of writing my little socks off (all 120 of them) and spending more time with my fictional characters than my friends and family, it has to be a description that I can now use having finished the blasted thing even if it is only first draft!

So I got to defining what I think being a novelist really means.

A. It means you are someone who is capable of living in a parallel universe of your own starting with a single letter on a page and ending up with around 100,000 words.

B. It means you are someone who is prepared to write even when it is the last thing you want to do.

C. It means you are someone who despite asking yourself the question, 'is this all worth it?' you keep writing anyway.

D. That you stop being afraid that whatever you create isn't worthwhile and concentrate on just doing it.

E. That you create characters which you believe in to the extent that you spend hours working out what they are thinking.

F. That you ignore the fact that the possibility of being published is so remote that it is never going to happen to you.

G. That you invest an amazing amount of time in something that once it is finished and edited to the equivalent of a size 14 becoming a size 'zero', that it will more than likely be rejected by many, including all the publishers you send it away to.

H. That in the event you surpass the extreme odds against being published, that you will probably never make enough money to live on your own income, unless of course you enter the 'one in a million lottery type zone,' like JK Rowling or the like.

I. And that despite everything you are prepared to cross that line of 'your dream becoming a reality', by finishing the thing and not languish in the surreal wonderful bliss, of planning to do it someday!

J. And more importantly that at the end of writing the first draft of a novel you can call yourself a novelist become you have done it,

Irrespective of anyone wanting to publish it

Irrespective of anyone wanting to read it

Irrespective of it being a work of literary genius
& finally because,

K. You have been capable of fighting off all the doubts, fears, boredom, laziness and general excuses for not doing it, and have a 400 page yoke by, yes you guessed it, a 'NOVELIST.'

It's official, I am now completely nuts!

  But then again so are most of my best friends!

Thought for the Weekend - Double Trouble

'My first advice to an aspiring writer is to talk yourself out of it if you can, because you'll probably fail and make yourself miserable doing it.'

- Richard Ford -

(But if you are like me, and end up doing it anyhow,here's a good piece of advice from J K Rowling)

'Be RUTHLESS about protecting your writing days.'

- J K Rowling -


Have a happy writing weekend!

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter @120Socks

Top Ten Father's Day Presents - How Times Have Changed

Always keen to explore new ideas, I've decided to run some blog posts looking at advertisement campaigns from way back, under the heading:- 

How Times Have Changed!

So seeing as how Father's Day will be soon upon us, I figured it might be good to link the theme with that difficult question which consumes us at this time of year - WHAT DOES DAD WANT?'

With this in mind, and being a very helpful kind of sock/girl, I decided to check out the top 10 in the list of pressies for good old Dad, and here's what I came up with.

1.  Accessories - Hankies/Socks/Gloves/Shirts & JUMPERS!
2.  Food/Drink - Chocolates/Wine/Beer.
3.  Tools - What man can resist?
4.  Hobby Supplies - Golf/Fishing etc.
5.  Sports Stuff - Kit bags, tennis rackets, blah, blah, blah.
6.  Electronics -  A Satellite Navigationw which he can ignore.
7.  Motor add-ons - You know, mini vacuum cleaners & the like!
8.  Media - Books, Music, DVD's.
9.  Outdoors or Summer Items - Hammocks, BBQ, Lawnmower!
10.Time - Doesn't cost anything but itself, but he will probably expect a pressie too!

As Accessories are No.1, and with jumpers being an accessory, it

brings us neatly to the first 'How Times Have Changed' advertisement from the 1950's! 

Read and enjoy!

(For those of you who find reading the small print a chore, it goes something like this)

Indoors, women are useful, even pleasant, but on a mountain, they are something of a drag! So don't go having them up a cliff just to show off your new jumper!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

When I was Small

I saw a nice message on twitter earlier asking 'when you were little, what did you want to grow up to be.'

And I got to wondering if these early dreams ever really go away.  I tried hard to think back and remember my little girl dreams and this is what I came up with.

I remember wanting to be a glamorous famous singer.  Shocking really, the goals we set ourselves, especially seeing as how I don't have a note in my head, (no really), even Happy Birthday is a struggle for me, especially when I get to the higher notes.  Of course this sent me on another tangent, wondering if we are inclined to wish for things we can never have or be. 

Answer: Probably only those of us that have a desire to beat ourselves up over the impossible!
(I come in and out of this category depending on mood and weather.)

Anyhow, I remember wanting to be a teacher,  own my own bookshop, the latter being a really big ambition of mine as there were times that the secondhand book shop near where we lived, felt like a home away from home.  It was the love of books that set into my head a dream of being a writer some day, and perhaps seeing my book on a shelf, all new and interesting, with my name on it. 

Also, I wanted to fall in love, get married, have a family.  Luckily, very luckily for me, I was blessed on that score.

Now I don't so much mind not being a teacher, I got some practice rearing my children, nor do I mind very much not owning a bookshop because, I can still visit them and relive that excitement all over again, but seeing my book on a shelf, well that ambition will never go away, which kind of makes me believe, that little girl dreams will always live on.

Discovery Bank Holiday

Exhausting Bank Holiday Weekend, tons of stuff to catch up on, lots of gardening work to do, a family birthday party at our place yesterday, a sit down 4 course affair, a new book to start 'The hand that first held mine' by Maggie O Farrell, a short story to finish, and last but not least, editing work on the novel.  So yes, I was busy, but despite this, today took some unusual twists which led to a few discoveries, not the beer cans below, they belong to Son & Co.


Building up stocks for Oxegen - Tesco €1 Per Can Saturday!

Anyhow, first discovery was that we have about a dozen blueberry trees out back.  Now you would think that these should have been pretty obvious, but not when you consider that most of out back is a bit on the wild side! A lot of earth clearing and general let's get this outside place into some kind of shape, finally brought my attention to a number of smaller trees within the jungle, and that was when I discovered the tiny blueberries, currently green adding to their desire to be invisible.  So this bank holiday Monday morning, I was well pleased with my first discovery, I even managed to get a great recipe off the Internet for blueberry jam!


Blueberries in their June green disguise.

All this adventuring was thirsty work, so it was soon time for my caffeine fix.  The birds were feeding like mad outside the kitchen window therefore grabbing my interest, when I noticed a new bird.  By new bird, I mean a particular type of bird.  After studying the new creature, (well creatures because there were about four of them for ages) I checked my book on Garden Birds, only to discover that we now had tree sparrows!  A species found in less than one per cent of Irish Gardens.  Well, I was delighted to discover Number 45 in the range of garden birds, because between them and the blueberries, things were certainly looking up.

Thus, having sat on my rear end for a really long time, feeling rather special with my Blueberries and the discovery that the Tree Sparrow had chosen our little piece of earth, we brought our mad dog off for a drive and very long walk to the Bohernabreena Reservoir. 


Benson chilling

The day was a lot brighter than yesterday, and the walk being a long one meant Benson was getting pretty thirsty, so we headed up to a stream that he likes to bathe in.  When we got there we were surprised at how low the water was.  However, the low water meant that we could cross over on the stones where normally you would get wet up to your knees.  When we got to the other side, we found a part of the park/reservoir that we had not been in before, thereby getting our third and final discovery (well so far!), on this bank holiday Monday.


Hidden Gem.

All in all, it was a great day, I even got some writing done in between adventures and my unhealthy new interest in Twitter!

By the way, please, please join me on Twitter, I am great fun altogether!

Thought for the Weekend

Things are not always what they seem, expect the unexpected!

Brilliant short clip, embrace the unexpected!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEarLl5aRd4

Book Club - The Hand That First Held MIne by Maggie O'Farrell

This month's book club choice is the Winner of the Costa Novel Award 2010, 'The Hand That Fist Held Mine' by Maggie O'Farrell.  It sounds like an interesting read.  If you have already read this book, or would like to read along for June, send in your review via comment box, or you can tweet a short review with or without link by Twitter to @120Socks.  Happy reading.

Fresh out of university and in disgrace, Lexie Sinclair is waiting for life to begin. When the bohemian, sophisticated Innes Kent turns up by chance on her doorstep in rural Devon, she realises that she can wait no longer, and leaves for London. There, at the heart of the 1950s Soho art scene, Lexie carves out a new life for herself with Innes at her side. 
In the present day, Elina and Ted are reeling from the difficult birth of their first child. As Elina struggles to reconcile the demands of motherhood with her sense of herself as an artist, Ted is disturbed by memories of his own childhood - memories that don't tally with his parents' version of events.
As Ted begins to search for answers, so an extraordinary portrait of two women is revealed. Separated by fifty years, Lexie and Elina are connected in ways that neither of them could ever have expected?
Maggie O'Farrell is the author of four previous novels, After You'd Gone, My Lover's Lover, The Distance Between Us, which won a Somerset Maugham Award, and The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox. She lives in Edinburgh with her partner and their two children.

Quote from the Judges:

"A powerful story full of dynamic characters, crafted with panache and lyricism."

FOLLOWING!

Eight months into blogging with 77, well 78 followers (for some reason one of them is invisible).  Now, I do have a theory about the invisible one, like by being invisible it means something other than the normal google blip, and maybe I have a blogging ghost! 

Yes I know, over active imagination, but this is a good thing you must agree, especially when writing fiction.  And on the subject of fiction, I read a quote about it the other day, it went something like - fiction is good lying - which really worries me as I am hopeless at lying.

Anyhow to the point of this post.  I seem to have plateaued at my number of blog followers.  I did get a new follower over the weekend, which really gave me a boost, but being greedy, I would really like more.  So if you read 120Socks from time to time (over 15,000 hits in 8 months), visit via other wonderful and interesting blogs, or if you have just started to follow me on Twitter, then sign up, follow, I will follow back, I am that kinda girl/sock!

Let's rebel against the plateau together!

And just for fun if you are an existing follower or even if you are not, look HERE for a special, tear jerking clip about long term friendship.


3 WEEKS on and now @ 96 followers - Brilliant!  Thanks & welcome to all new friends.  Link up and follow if you want to connect & I'll link back!
Happy writing!