Not going to talk about word count; on the writing front August has been a deeply unproductive month. Mentally, I think I have been regrouping. It should allow me to come back to the book and short stories with renewed focus ( Read more... )

I have been to the gym at lunchtime (ran 4k in 20 minutes, 10 minutes on the cross trainer, some weights) and then climbing with stevecooper tonight. Steve climbed really well, having made a cognitive leap in technique. I climbed okay; going to the gym didn't help, and it being Friday night I was tired. Did my first lead since the climbing renaissance started ( Read more... )

My hands hurt a lot!

I have been bouldering for the second time in a fortnight. I was a climber for about six years, and then stopped when children arrived. So I have been a non-climber / barely participating climber for nearly as long as I was climbing regularly. Anyway, I've been wanting to climb again for awhile, and it is good to start. But my ( Read more... )

Writing wise. The novel is at 53,000 ish words, so some progress this month.  And there were 2695 words of short story written - which is about 50% of it ( Read more... )

Hello - this is a rarity, me asking for money for a good cause. I can't remember the last time I got involved in any fundraising, but 
I have volunteered, somewhat at the last minute, to join the crew of TSYS's (that's my employer's) Dragonboat. We're "racing" on the 8th July; and, as ever, it is all in the aid of a good cause, or causes. This year ( Read more... )

Been to Ilkley today, scrambling around the Cow and Calf rocks, not real climbing this time. (It's been ages since I have been proper climbing, probably last Easter with Dad at Almscliff; but there is a glimmer of hope as K was telling me how much she was enjoying scrambling and wants some climbing lessons, and she is old enough know to wear a ( Read more... )

Still behind on the word count. At 49,000 words approx. Therefore a third of the way into June and I'm at minus one thousand words of the ten thousand words of novel I am "scheduled" to write this month. Instead of knuckling down, I have started work on a short story instead, I think we can kiss hitting 60,000 words the end of the month goodbye ( Read more... )

I think I am going to miss the word target for this month. I need to hit 50,000 words by Friday night. (There has been some other stuff happening that has made me less productive, least of all the weather) I am at 46,697 (MS Word count) ... so it is achievable. But Monday is a work day with all the random work/stress variables that it brings; and I ( Read more... )

I have been recently following M. John Harrison's blog. I particularly love this entry: http://ambientehotel.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/urban-drop-1991/#comments

Rereading Desolation Road by Ian McDonald, a novel that I love. But had one moment when I realised that as science-fiction it is starting to date and that was when one character had to find out about a news event - an atrocity caused by another character, little Arnie Tenebrae - when a newspaper was printed, The atrocity was as Mars-shattering as ( Read more... )