Strangely productive Saturday

I woke up made a mango protein smoothie hung my washing on the line and fell asleep again. I dreamed I was in a house I had rented or bought sight unseen. it was multistory and old, solid brick but I cam in at the lower level and the first three rooms were dreadful, very old. The first room I entered had a couple of pipes sticking out of the wall which was sticky yellow paint over brick and an uneven concrete floor. There was a a door at the far side which had a step down into a room with a toilet with a wooden seat and an old raised cistern with a chain. I went into the next room that was also bare except for an old stove shoved into a painted over chimney niche. I was beginning to think desperate thoughts of 'what have I done?' when I opened the door of the third room nearest the back door. The floor was made of what was left of wooden floorboards barely held together with a sticky lacework that might have been spider webbing. I put one foot on the floor and it sagged and I began to doubt we could live in such a dreadfully neglected place with a floor that would collapse if anyone so much as stepped on it. I went upstairs and found an enormous room that had multiple doors across the far wall. The windows if there were any were covered so the light was dim. I grabbed the first door handle and found that I had swung out a shoulder height wooden wall that had a row of coat hooks across the back. I put it back then slid open the next door that turned out to be a dumb waiter. Light shone down in a circle in the centre and the whole was filled with lint and dust and of course spider webs. All the doors on that wall proved to be dark and decrepit. Then I head my son call and I turned around to find corridors/hallways made of glass and rows of white cupboards that had things left behind by the previous tenants. I thought maybe a church group had had the place before me because the things were all kinds of art and craft with theology themes. My youngest son called out that he had found a kitchen and I began to feel more hopeful and optimistic. It was a weird dream and very very realisitic.

Okay so I took some photos of the last three days themes which I neglected to upload yesterday.
Today, day 7 is Pattern

one of my sons is attempting to coach me into solving a cube. I have only once in my life been able to do so with the slow and deliberate use of the instruction manual. My son finds me a very frustrating student. The stripy cup is a good pattern simply because it adorns a cup filled with tea. There are other patterns in this picture, a pattern of pop culture items, timber grain, wood panels on the little beach house, a pattern of knots in the ropes, even a pattern in the order of doctors. If I had expanded the scope I would have the pattern of a dr who scarf further along the shelf.

This was my ELEVEN picture a little past eleven o'clock is my steam punk watch hanging on my bedside chandelier.

these are my adventure pictures, one is the ocean from a travelling car near Phillip Island on my 1500 trek around Victoria to go to a writers weekend and the other is my time turner, well it helps me work out the time differences between here and the rest of the world so I can coordinate my conversations. International interactions are always an adventure even from the comfort of my very own desk chair.











Today I wrote a 3000 word short story for an anthology of ghostly tales for younger readers. I had already submitted one but some of my story was too much like another so I withdrew it. I am quite pleased with this one. I also wrote another 1500 words on my WIP and have had an altercation that ended in bloodshed between some major characters leaving my MC vulnerable and alone. All a bit worrisome. I am off to do some more as I did promise to complete it this weekend.

Oh I did some more art. I used a set of cheap oil pastels and they are horrid. They don't blend or go on smoothly and they were very frustrating to manipulate so the end result was quite BLAH however I am going to inflict my horrid piece on you so you know never to use cruddy cheap oil pastels.

On the theme of Feast of course and this time my interpretation of feast was books, music, art, stars, trees, maps and learning. Brain feast.

That is it for me for tonight I am going to write some more and then have a visual feast of dwarves and a hobbit and a deliciously scaly dragon.

Thursday and Friday blending

I received a gift in the mail yesterday. My friend Kristy-Lyn who is a mad keen cat person and horsewoman of some skill and renown, as well as a marvelous business woman and maker of exquisite shawls, made me a shawl.  She had been crocheting one in purples and thought "No this isn't right, it doesn't feel right for her(me)" and she went on the hunt for a colour more suitable to how she sees me and settled on a wool called Carnival and we both agree it was so much more suitable to my personality. I met Kristy-Lyn a long time ago. I had just started as the chef in a tiny restaurant attached to a Motel and she was the waitress. She was still in her teens then and she walked to the door unheard by me and backed out very quickly to tell our then boss "She's talking to a scallop? Is it safe?" and he replied "Don't worry she was talking to the oven earlier." We became a fabulous team and many times in the years after, when I was cooking in other venues or catering and I needed  a particularly reliable and intelligent side kick I would call her in. Everything runs smoother when she is around. As a mad keen cat lady she now manages a business established by her family called Catnip which builds and installs modular cat parks. http://www.catnip.com.au/ (in case you are curious) 

The thing about Kristy-Lyn that I admire most is her attention to detail. She can wrap a present so beautifully the recipient would be reluctant to open it because the wrapping is so gorgeous. She colour co-ordinates her decorations at special occasions and her presentation of a meal is enough to enhance the experience of the food ten fold. She is a beautiful woman on every level and I am proud to know her. 

She certainly does create things with love.

I will be very warm when I am out and about during the wintery evenings to come.







It is odd how the days fly past so quickly. On Wednesday evening at my public speaking club we had a round robin impromptu speech on 'time flies'. Each member spoke for a minute or two on how time speeds past. I spoke about time being malleable and how a minute of speech seems like an hour until the bell rings and yet a month of sunshine on a tropical beach flies by in minutes.

Yesterday I was going to take a photo of my favourite clock at 11 o'clock because my clock is a back to front clock. So will have to wait until 11pm to do that and put it up here as my 5th photo. The theme fits right in with the speeches because it was 11 o'clock. The next topic for the picture a day challenge is ADVENTURE and I wonder what would be a good representation of adventure? Hmmm I will come back and upload the photos.

 I submitted a story at 2.30am. I had sent it off to an agent who never responded so I was thinking about where next to send it when a friend said "Why not the publisher I am with?" I was a little puzzled because for some reason I had it in my head that they only produced anthologies even though my friend had said on several occasions that his novels were with them. I am making the excuse that it was because he writes horror and I wasn't writing horror so I took a look and lo and behold they don't JUST produce anthologies or publish horror. pfffft I am a silly willy walnut head as another friend would say. So at 2.30 I submitted my novel after reformatting it to their submission guidelines.
Paul Flewitt by the way is an awesome writer and I am proud to say I was one of his earliest (non family or close friends) supporters. He is currently an author with CHBB/Vamptasy  http://www.vamptasy.com/submission-guideline.html    and is writing the sequels in his story line about Poor Jeffrey. This the the tale of teenagers learning  the occult actions they take to overcome the grief and loss of their friend Jeffrey have  sinister outcomes, especially for Jeffrey. Here's a review in the UK HOrror scene  http://www.ukhorrorscene.com/poor-jeffrey-by-paul-flewitt-2013-book-review/

I attended a fabulous seminar yesterday morning at 6am. It ran for an hour and fourty minutes and had some excellent tips and ideas about my writing journey and how to become more professional in my approach to writing. The host  Jeff Goins had a very clear presentation with key points and used all the best training techniques to emphasise the suggestions he was offering. http://goinswriter.com/
Unlike many other seminars I have attended recently, Jeff gave one hour and twenty minutes of top quality training and spent ten minutes answering questions and ten hawking his courses and products. I really appreciated this and was very pleased with the wealth of information I came away with without feeling pressured to join his for fee group. If I had the where-with-all I would sign up happily because if his seminar is a taste of the greater course it would be worth every cent. 

On a crazy note. I spent fifteen frantic minutes looking for my glasses last night. I need my glasses more and more often at the computer because I am writing thousands of words a day and it puts a strain on my eyes. I gave up and went to make a cup of tea and my very tall son informed me I had hidden my glasses on top of my head and no wonder I couldn't find them.
Today I was so engrossed in my word smithing that I forgot I had put the kettle on. My computer nerdy boys finally sensed the hot metal glowing red empty kettle and turned it off then came to inform me I had burnt water.  I am building my reputation as an eccentric crazy creative. I am a writer and artist after all. 
Now I really need to go and put my main character MC through a really hideous climactic event and finish this work in progress WIP by the end of the weekend. I really don't want to finish it because I love my characters but all good things must come to the last page and I promised my beta readers I would finish this weekend.

Wednesday whipped by

but I did manage to write the next scene in my novel AND  produce some art for this weeks theme of EYES in the 52 week challenge.

 the eye of the storm which looks quite intriguing when I stand back from it. It is water colour and gouache on primed paper.

 

The eyes have it. Pencils of various sorts also on primed paper. My eye, an insect eye, spider eye, hawk eye, oscelot eye, Asian eyes, reptile eye, frog eye, cartoon eyes, manga eyes, oscelot eye, goat eye and Thorin/Richard Oakensheild/Armitage eye. I am quite pleased with teh improvements in my art over the past half year of constant practice. 

the 38 week challenge submission is a dark piece and prompted by some sad news I received today. I suggest not reading it if you wish to remain in a pleasant mood. 

week 12 Proof

Proof

I waited for weeks for the promised phone call.

When I finally received a call it was the wrong one.

Instead of spending time having a cup of tea and conversation I will go to a funeral.

 I don't want to go to a funeral, I want to spend time with a real breathing person and say all the things that were never said. I want to ask questions and get answers.

Inside my chest a small girl is screaming in pain demanding to know why she left.

Why they all left?

What poison did that monster pour in their ears?

What did the small girl do so badly that they didn’t come back?

I cannot comfort the child within. I don’t know the answers for her and now I can never ask.

 It is too late.

My anger is seething acid bubbling under a thinning crust of proper and acceptable.

I need proof of the poison.

When I find it, the crust will dissolve and I will have my own Pompei.

I make a call. I promised myself I would. I promised the child within.

I will keep that promise.

The monster will answer for the questions.

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