Long Time No Post + NaNo Questions From PaperFury

So... It's been a while. That potential dog I was talking about? 

Meet Ryazan Fingal aka 'Forest'! He is a purebred Borzoi and at the moment he's 5 and a half months old. He was born 7th May and we brought him home 12th July! It has been a whirlwind and things haven't really stopped since then. We must be mad because we're now thinking about possibly putting or names down with a couple of sighthound rescues and hope they're OK with flats and enthusiastic puppies 😆 LOL!

So now onto the main reason for this post: the yearly tradition that is National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo! I attempt most years and have yet to succeed. Last year I got to 29k words which I was pretty pleased with and that was with a fairly solid idea and lots of laptop time. This year my idea is much more vague and I'm planning on hand writing so not exactly a recipe for success... But hey I'm gonna try!

1. What inspired the idea for your novel, and how long have you had the idea? The base idea came to me as I was trying to get to sleep one night a couple of months ago.
2. Describe what your novel is about! It's about the truth behind family and heritage. There will be magic and faeries.
3. What is your book’s aesthetic? Use words or photos or whatever you like! 
   
4. Introduce us to each of your characters! Lindy is the main character, she has black curly hair, ice blue eyes, tanned skin. She is queer and trans and love goth/strega fashion. Her mum is Andrea, who is pale, blonde and petite and they look nothing alike (sets off story). Sadie is Lindy's supportive best friend who has red frizzy hair and loves research. Onyx is one of the first figures Lindy meets on her journey, she is not human and has very dark skin and white hair. Fennel is a pure white talking Borzoi (pictured above). Villains of the story are Mallick and Magda.
5. How do you prepare to write? (Outline,
   research, stocking up on chocolate, howling, etc.?) Come up with a vague plot and some characters, start writing, panic when things don't go to plan (I never properly plan because planned chapter 7 always ends up happening in chapter 2 and it's frustrating), drink copious amounts of tea and hot chocolate.
6. What are you most looking forward to about this novel? Seeing if I can actually tie this thing together into something that makes sense.
7. List 3 things about your novel’s setting. Forests that appear purple, crystal clear lagoons, British secondary school.
8. What’s your character’s goal and who (or what) stands in the way? To find out the truth about herself, her whole identity is tied up in knots. Her mother is a primary block in refusing to tell her the truth. Mallick is the other block in her accepting her future.
9. How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel? She has matured, accepted her differences and even embraced them. She willingly takes the role she's meant to.
10. What are your book’s themes? How do you want readers to feel when the story is over? "Choice not chance determines destiny". I want them to be able to accept their differences as a part of them and embrace themselves.

A Small Update Part 2

So this is the promised part 2. This is mostly about my New Year's Resolutions here.

Most of them will not get done and it's all the wardrobes fault. So January we bought the new wardrobes. They're bigger than the old ones which was fine in my room since there was nothing else in the way. But in mum's room there was a bookcase between the wardrobe and the door that would no longer fit. So that led to buying a new bookcase (it was a weird size, 30-something centimetres, so a half one was a bit small but full size wouldn't fit, eBay came up with the goods but it was white so we covered it with beech-effect sticker stuff) for there. The one that was there moved to the corner but there wasn't quite room so that led to a half size one being bought for that space (in our flat if there's a space, there's a bookcase).

With all this going on mum did some rearranging in her room and I did some tidying in mine. This somehow led to buying myself a new bed - which is shorter than average so we're going to buy me another new one and this one will replace her ancient one. Mine was getting a bit old and worn plus the new one/s are divan beds with storage which is good for thick jumpers and seasonal stuff aka Christmas jumpers. A lot of the storage in my room is made up of these plastic drawers. Two side by side in front of the window for leggings, hats, scarves etc, and two on top of each other by my wooden drawers for underwear.

As I'm getting older I'm realising they don't look brilliant so they are being replaced with wooden drawers this payday including one extra for mum. One of the plastic drawers - the colourful one - is relocating to the living room for stationery and art stuff.

So as you can gather a couple of wardrobes have snowballed into furniture in general. I've already mentioned another bed. There's also going to be a big chest of drawers for mum since here's has been crap all the years we've had it. Then there's the new sofas - the others were emergency stop-gaps 4 years ago. Plus I need a new desk and I think mum mentioned something about a sideboard. There was also going to be another bookcase but mum rescued a wardrobe our neighbour was chucking out and she's hand-making one out of that and some other wood. She collects wood. And loves DIY.

I have penciled in getting my New Rocks and a couple of other bits for September and October but otherwise for the most part each payday is taken up by furniture. I did get my new camera February or March (Sony Cybershot HX60) which is awesome. But it means things like piercings, tattoos and learning to drive are getting pushed back to next year.

As for a dog... I'll keep an eye out but who knows. We almost ended up with a puppy but we kept being given the run around about what was available between two different people so we said thanks but no thanks. One's adverts suggested that underage puppies were available straight away and the other turned out to be in an area known for puppy farming. Considering how rare Borzoi are they seem to have puppies available way too often. The decent breeders will only do a litter a year at the most, more likely every couple of years. At this stage if it happens it happens. I'm doing regular checks and I'm going to email a couple of breeders to express interest.

Also in case anyone comes by and mentions adopting. With a dog I am less experienced and unsure of one with an unknown history. Also a lot of rescue centres say no outright to flats or not having a garden whereas breeders are likely to be more willing to work with you. Plus I am supporting a rare breed, and I will know the puppies history and be able to meet possibly both parents and I really like that aspect.

However once I get a dog, rare breed or not she (or he) will be spayed or neutered. I don't support keeping dogs entire unless for very good reason. Too many dogs and breeds are being overbred (Staffies, Chihuhuas, Pugs, French Bulldogs, to name a few).

Anyway this'll do for now. I've got some posts on basic plus size Goth fashion in the works so they'll be up soon-ish.

Stef Out x

A Small Update Part 1

Long time no write. Things have happened. The biggest thing is that our cat Tigger died 30th January. He was about 10 or 11 years old (potentially older as he started life as a stray. The cause was probably heart failure since my Aunt told us he had a murmur. Mum got up and was getting ready when she noticed he hadn't moved and he was gone. We called my Aunt later and she collected his body and did whatever. These are a couple of the last photos I took of him. RIP furry buddy.

Work is alright. It's work. I just got my hours increased from 16 to 20. It means I'm now working all weekend every weekend (the new shift is Saturday evening and I was already doing Sundays) but the extra money each payday is worth it. My older, female supervisor is still a bitch but you can't have it all be good. One thing that's improved is that the young guy supervisor is now doing the schedules, hence why I was able to finally get the extra hours. I'd basically been asking since not long after starting over a year ago - 16 was never really enough.

Another good change is the actual checkout manager/main supervisor. Just before Christmas I think a woman came in claiming to be permanent and it turned out she wasn't which was a good thing since she was bringing in changes that made no sense (like we had to sweep under the tills when finishing - with what brush? And claiming we'd be off the till 5 minutes before finishing so we can clean - 10 minutes late is more normal). The main thing that pissed me off was her attitude during an absence hearing I had (oh yeah where I work you can be penalised for being off ill - verbal, written, potentially final warnings), she could (and in my opinion should) have let it go but she didn't and gave me a written warning so I was in a position to potentially lose my bit of the workplace bonus if we get it - which is unfair in my opinion, and said my attendance needed to be worked on. Oh all this is about 4 absences in a year, 2 of which were basically connected and all months apart, Jan, Feb, July, Jan. So I appealed it and it was rolled back to verbal which stays on file til mid August. So I really can't be ill again. But of course it's not like you can control being ill. Heck the July one wasn't even illness, I did something to my back and could barely move, walk, anything, even when I went back to work it was a struggle for a while and there was lingering pain for ages. Mum even had to help me dress for a doctors appointment, which I was lucky I could afford the resultant prescription since it was mid month and I rarely have money left at that stage.

So after claiming to be permanent she left in February I think and a bloke took over. He's alright. Doesn't say much but that's better than interfering too much. Originally he claimed he was going to be permanent but apparently he's changed his mind and is leaving soon. Going to a store nearer where he lives I think.

I was going to do more but I think I'll leave it here and do a Part 2 in a moment to be published tomorrow - don't want to bombard you. I actually kinda forgot about this blog for a little while but then I had the urge to do a redesign the other day with a better quality background (and some hidden CSS from Google that makes it stay still). I then adjusted the widths a bit which meant I needed a new header image and then today I managed to work out finally editing the about me bit. The old one was just a bit rubbish.

Stef Out x

New Years Resolutions 2017

Last year I had a massive list of 34 resolutions separated into 3 categories of which I achieved 7 and two of those were halves. *sigh* This year I have a more manageable list of 22.

1. Get my septum pierced.
2. Get my ear re-pierced.
3. Get at least one other piercing.
4. Get at least one tattoo - cover-up or otherwise.
5. Lose at least 2 stone.
6. Refine my personal style.
7. Learn to drive.
8. Get a dog (preferably a Borzoi - to be followed by a Shetland Sheepdog).
9. See a stage show.
10. Go to Longleat Safari Park.
11. Go out for a meal.
12. Read at least 100 books.
13. Read 'A Song of Ice and Fire'.
14. Watch at least 100 films.
15. Buy a new camera.
16. Buy an iPod Classic.
17. Buy some New Rock boots.
18. Buy new wardrobes.
19. Buy new sofas.
20. Finish the first draft of my novel.
21. Blog once a month.
22. Improve my art.

So that's my list. I haven't even bothered to categorise it like last year. I've also left off some of the less achievable things like 'go on a date' XD knowing my history that's kind of unlikely. And things like art goals tend to get forgotten. We'll just have to see what happens.

National Novel Writing Month 2016

So I'm sure a lot of people reading this (if anyone reads this that is XD) have heard of National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo as it's commonly abbreviated which is the aim to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. I've tried a few times, the site has me registered as a member for almost 7 years, but as for attempts I only have obvious evidence for 2013, 2015 and this year since they're the only ones that have been typed up.

In the past I've only owned a desktop computer so I've had to attempt to hand write my novel and then type it up to get an accurate word count. Needless to say that hasn't been an overwhelming success. In fact in 2013 I only achieved 8,365 and 2015 was even worse at 1,020. I don't think it helps that I usually 'pants' it aka flying by the seat of your pants aka writing whatever comes.

This year a few things changed. I had an unexpected tax refund. Well I say unexpected but I knew I'd paid too much tax a couple of years back and it was something I kept meaning to sort out but never got around to it and in the end the sent it before I got a chance. So I decided to spend some of it on something I'd wanted for ages to help with my writing - a laptop!
               
I got an Acer Aspire ES 15 since it was on offer at Argos (bigger hard drive than the one I'd originally picked). It can be sluggish if you have a lot of browser windows open for some reason. It doesn't bother me too much though. The first photo is it wearing it's lovely sticker from Amazon. The owl case in the second picture is also from Amazon - it has handles. :)

So back to NaNoWriMo the laptop made things much much faster and less hand crampy. I ended up having to miss a fair few days thanks to work, I just checked and it looks like I missed 7 days completely although there was also one day I only wrote 100 or so words so I'm not sure how much that counts LOL. Regarding work I have some awkward shifts like 2pm-7pm which when you get up doesn't give masses of time for writing nor when you get home. I also did about 4 or 5 Saturdays overtime over November all 2pm-6pm so again not masses of time. Really for me - a retail worker - October would be the better month for NaNoWriMo, although saying that I did do a lot of overtime in October this year including working every single day of the half-term week. Great fun.

So what was/is my novel about and how many words did I write in the end? The working title is 'Healing Hayden' but I don't know how well it fits because even though Hayden goes through the most trauma he's not the only character. The other main is his identical twin brother Jasper. Both have their secrets but while Jasper is generally happy with himself and just needs to figure out timing, Hayden is very unhappy with himself, not helped by bullying at school and later a serious assault. He does figure things out eventually but I'm not at that point yet. Currently he's in hospital following the assault. And as of last night my word count is 29,534 words. My aim was to get to the 30,000 mark but I was a little blocked and it was getting late so I called it a night.

Overall although I didn't make the 50,000 words I'm incredibly proud of myself because 29,534 is the most I've ever written for one story and I think it's a story with potential. My main worry regarding eventual publication would be the assault scene - it's pretty graphic... Eh, I'll cross that bridge if I come to it.

Stef Out xx

Mamma Mia at the Bristol Hippodrome

So last night mum and I went to see Mamma Mia at the Bristol Hippodrome. Tina, a woman at work was talking to someone about it and I overheard and she invited us along. It was tricky organising as she wanted the money for it ASAP. Luckily she was willing to wait until pay day a couple of weeks later. This was back in January or February, I can't remember now.

Originally Tina was going to give us a lift since although mum has a car she's not confident going somewhere like Bristol and she thought parking might be an issue. After a while she said she was going to have a full car and to get a lift with Jenny from work who was also going (and apparently lives near us) but when talking to her about the trip it was never brought up so we decided to get the bus since it stops right outside the Hippodrome. Eventually Jenny said she was getting the bus too and asked mum the times. Bullshit. It turned out Tina gave her a lift along with Margaret (also from work) and another woman we didn't know. A couple of other co-workers came separately (Sandra and her daughters Sherilyn and Sam and Sam's daughter).

The original plan was to meet in the pub at 7pm, mum and I got there just after (after walking down from the temporary bus stop - road works mean the bus stop right outside was unavailable) only to discover there were 2 pubs. We tried one and they weren't in there, the other it turned out was part of the Hippodrome and you can't enter without your tickets - which Tina had! Turning away from there we saw Margaret and the unknown woman, apparently they were running late and Tina was trying to find parking. Soon Sher, Sam etc turned up while Sandra parked their car. I think it was almost 20 minutes later when they finally showed and the tickets were handed out, mum and I were G13 (me) and G14 (her) which turned out to be great seats near the middle. After we had them me, mum, Jenny and Margaret nipped into the neighboring pub for a wee before we joined the queue to go in.

The layout of the Hippodrome could be a bit better, there wasn't much room between rows and the seats weren't over wide. They weren't the comfiest but they weren't the worst I've sat in either. The toilets when I went in the intermission were very awkwardly laid out too. Very narrow and the corner cubicle I was in was very small and awkward to get in. Not well-designed for the larger bodied or elderly. They could have done with more cubicles too judging by the queue - and that was with most people staying seated.

They show itself was fun. The same 2 or 3 sets gets a little boring after a while but I get that they're limited with what they can do. They did well to incorporate the scene re-arrangements into the show so that it wasn't to obtrusive. They changed some of the song orders compared to the film and added a couple in (particularly an odd scene relating to sleepwalking right after the intermission - I didn't recognise the song but Google tells me it was 'Under Attack'). There was an odd change for Bill. In the film he's Swedish Bill Anderson, on stage he's Australian Bill Austin. The guy who played Sam was very good, the one that played Harry was eerily close to Colin Firth. The guy that played Sky was a little weak in my opinion. Slightly oddly Sophie's friend Ali and Sky's friend Pepper ave done a race swap compared to the film.

Helpful links: http://www.mamma-mia.com/uk-tour/cast.php for the cast I saw and http://mrob.com/pub/music/mamma-mia.html for the basic plot and songs used and in what order.

In the intermission before going to the loo I decided to pop downstairs and check out the merchandise. The stuff was kind of pricey: posters and books £10, magnets £5, pens £3.50. I decided to buy this bag charm, it was £10 but it seemed the thing most worth the price to me. Pictured with my Charlie Bone and Last Dragon Chronicles books XD.

The show finished at about 10pm. For the last few songs after the bows, Mamma Mia, Dancing Queen and Waterloo, people were stood dancing, it was great fun and a great atmosphere. Then mum and I had to walk along to @Bristol to catch the bus home. It was about a 15 minute wait and then when we got home silly here pressed the bell a stop too early so we had further to walk home. Oops. Might be partly why my ankle hurts today. Once we got in it was about 11:30pm but as neither of us were tired mum had the mad suggestion of putting the film on XD so after all that it was about 1:40am this morning by the time we got to bed, luckily neither of us had to get up. Normally I'd be at work for 2pm (and still there now) but I had a shift change to Saturday so that's all good.

Getting To Know Me

Stolen from Natatree at XL as Life :)

Are you named after someone?

Not really but since my mum realised actress Stefanie Powers had the same spelling then she likes to say her. My middle name Marie came from her Italian school-friend Maria :)

When was the last time you cried?

When watching a TV programme on footage people have shot with their mobile phones etc and there was this really sweet video of this guy proposing to his girlfriend using all their friends dancing and miming to Bruno Mars' 'Marry You'

Do you have kids?

No. Never. Fur-babies only.

Do you have a guilty pleasure?

Cheesy pop music (Abba, Busted, S Club 7, Steps etc), shoes, bags.

Do you like handwriting?

Yes. I am a notebook obsessive! I should hand-write more, I need to work my stamina back up so my hand doesn't cramp up so much.

What is your favourite cereal?

Bran Flakes, Corn Flakes and Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. I'm also on a bit of a muesli kick right now. Had to customise it though. I bought two boxes of Dorset Cereals Nutty Muesli, removed the dates (they're icky, what were they doing there in the first place?) and added a bunch of walnuts and flaked almonds. I've also added hazelnuts but I haven't eaten any since I put them in. Hopefully I won't need to take them back out.

What is the first thing you notice about people?

Clothes, shoes and then eyes.

What colour are your eyes?

Blue grey green. They seem to change.

Scary movies or happy endings?

Both.

Favourite TV show?

Grey's Anatomy if I had to pick one but I'll refer you back to this post http://bulletproof-scarecrow.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/blogtober-day-18-favourite-tv-programmes.html for more. The broken image is Sleepy Hollow which along with Under the Dome I've since stopped watching and Witches of East End was cancelled. >.<

Summer or Winter?

I like to think Winter but actually I think I slightly prefer Summer and the clothing freedom it gives you. Not that we usually get much of a Summer in the UK though XD

Hugs or Kisses?

Hugs with permission. Kisses if you are very special.

What’s the furthest you’ve been from home?

Not very. I live in North Somerset and the furthest I've been is 89 miles down to Weymouth in Dorset.

Do you have special talents?

I can draw a bit.

Where were you born?

Bristol, England.

What are your hobbies?

Reading, writing, drawing, the internet, animals.

Do you have any pets?

I have a cat named Tigger.

Favourite movie?

Like Nat Labyrinth is a big favourite. I did a post here http://bulletproof-scarecrow.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/blogtober-day-17-late-your-favourite.html but it's expanded since then for sure. I could probably do a top 10 of Disney alone XD

What colour is your car?

My mum's car is silver. I don't know how to drive yet but hope to learn this year.

What did you want to be when you growing up?

It's always been an author consistently. Other careers I've debated have been horse riding instructor, kennel staff, medical examiner, forensic scientist, vet, vet nurse. I've discarded most of them because of studying costs. For a medical examiner for example you need to go through the full 7 years of medical school.

How are you feeling right now?

Also like Nat tired. Went to sleep too late and then a weird dream woke me up which is odd because I never dream. Or if I do I don't remember. My mum was in a hospital with a massive hernia and the doctor was going through all of the complications and risk of death stuff and it freaked me out. :(

Share 3 facts about yourself

1. I have never been on a proper date.
2. The smell of a food can instantly put me off eating it.
3. I used to be ambidextrous when I was young until a primary school teacher forced me into using my right hand.

Feel free to fill this out for yourself :)