Category: Five Things

Five Things I Can’t Live Without.

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So, I wrote this blog post in 2016. And I thought it would be fascinating to revisit and see if anything has changed.

I thought I’d share a few things I can’t live without in while writing.

2016 List:

  1. Random Name Generator + a baby name book.
  2. Pinterest and my corkboard that rests over my desk.
  3. My Book Bible (see photo).  It contains all my notes about characters, places, etc.  I occasionally keep them in Scrivener as well, but as that’s only useful when I’m at my desk.  I find having a notebook version of it to carry with me is most useful.
  4. Spotify.  I have playlists for each of my stories.
  5. A thumbdrive, for back ups.  It’s ALWAYS a good idea to have a manuscript saved in at least two places for security purposes.

2022 List:

1. A really good pen. (Definitely top of my list, I’ve been writing by hand more lately. I use a Pilot Kakuno fountain pen that I got from Jet Pens. A nice beginner fountain pen that I’ve found is easy to use.)

2. Book Bibles, still on the top of my list. I no longer use Scrivener but exclusively use individual notebooks for each series.

3.Pinterest is definitely something I use for every single book I write.

4. The NaNoWriMo site. They’ve changed it so you can add WIPs and goals outside of November. So it’s a perfect tool to keep track of my progress.

5. My beta readers. They make my writing better and encourage me when self-doubt rears it’s ugly head.

What can’t you live without?

Five Things Viola Can’t Resist.

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I thought I would share a few things one of the main characters – Viola ‘Vi’ St.John from All Lathered Up can’t resist.

  1. Her cat – an adorable black feline named Treacle.
  2. Her Pashley bicycle.
  3. Tweed jackets.
  4. Postcards, particularly ones with pictures of far off places coming from her old friend Geoff.
  5. Sticky Toffee Pudding.

So, what’s something you can’t live without?

Five Things Elaine Dislikes

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With the upcoming release of The Misguided Confession in early November, I thought I’d share five things Elaine absolutely loathes, in her own words.

Velvet.

Elaine: I don’t even want to sodding think about it.

Brussels Sprouts

Elaine: Who likes the little fart bombs?

Cold Tea.

Elaine: Why would anyone want cold tea? Twits.

Mice.

Elaine: I’m not a domestic pussy—I’m a cougar. I hunt large prey, not squeaky toys.

People who crush crisp bags at the shop.

Elaine: I will hunt you down and maul you to death.

What do you dislike? What are your pet peeves?

Five Things about Deus Ex.

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As I’m a massive fan of the Deus Ex series, I pre-ordered Mankind Divided the minute Amazon had it available last year. I’ve anxiously awaited the release date ever since. I’ve anxiously awaited its release date ever since.

It did not disappoint when it arrived last week.

So, here’s a few things I adored about it:

  1. Jensen. Still hot, grumpy, and amazing.
  2. The graphics were stunning.
  3. Less squirrelly controls.
  4. I thought the story as we got it so far (DLC pending, of course), was better than Human Revolution.
  5. Better weapons and augmentation handling, though I suppose this could be considered part of #3.

If I graded things, I’d gave it a 4.5 out of 5.

 

 

Five Things about Winning.

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A few lessons I’ve learned about winning from watching the Olympics this past two weeks:

  1. If you cannot lose with grace, you shouldn’t win either.  Exhibit A: Hope Solo.
  2. All the world roots for an underdog.
  3. Winners require determination, but a bit of luck is usually in the mix.
  4. If you fall down, pick yourself up. If someone falls in front of you, help them up as well. (See #5 for why).
  5. Winning isn’t always about achieving first place or receiving a medal.

Have you enjoyed the Olympics?

Five Things about the Olympics

2016_Summer_Olympics_opening_ceremony_1035310-05082016-_mg_2086_04.08.16By Agência Brasil 

The Olympics have rolled around once again. I have to admit to a bit of an obsession with them–more the winter than summer games. When I was little, maybe four or five, I would drag my blanket in front of the telly and try to mimic the tumbling of the Olympic gymnasts, without much success. It’s a miracle I didn’t knock anything over.

In celebration of the Rio Olympics, here are a few things I’ve loved so far:

  1. The lighting of the flame. I didn’t think anything could come close to the unique petal design from London 2012. The Brazilians came pretty damn close with their stunning art installation.  It was beautiful.
  2. Beach volleyball. Hot men, shorts, sun; I think this one is fairly self-explanatory.
  3. Rugby Sevens, see above.
  4. US Women’s football (soccer). The US women’s team is rather spectacular; it’s almost criminal how their pay doesn’t adequately represent how amazing they are as compared to the men’s team which didn’t even qualify.
  5. The overly emotional ads on the telly. Is it just me? I swear every Olympics, the advertisements make me all weepy.

Are you watching the Rio Olympics? What’s your favourite event so far?

 

 

Five Things I Can’t Live Without.

05192016-006sm

I thought I’d share a few things I can’t live without in while writing.

  1. Random Name Generator + a baby name book.
  2. Pinterest and my corkboard that rests over my desk.
  3. My Book Bible (see photo).  It contains all my notes about characters, places, etc.  I occasionally keep them in Scrivener as well, but as that’s only useful when I’m at my desk.  I find having a notebook version of it to carry with me is most useful.
  4. Spotify.  I have playlists for each of my stories.
  5. A thumbdrive, for back ups.  It’s ALWAYS a good idea to have a manuscript saved in at least two places for security purposes.

What can’t you live without?