Fact Stranger Than Fiction

The pouffe was smoking; no I don’t mean literally sitting there with a cigarette in its (non- existent) mouth or on fire type smoking; but that you could smell smoke and that the smell was coming from the pouffe.

The pouffe had belonged to my Nan, a heavy smoker for as long as I could remember; and yes it did cause her demise in the end. The only time she refrained from smoking was when I took my newborn baby daughter to visit her (then she told me granddad off as he was about to light his cigarette!)

The pouffe became a significant part of the visits made by myself and my family. We had moved away so were only able to visit a few times a year but whenever we were in the area, even if we weren’t actually meant to be visiting her, we would call in and see my Nan. The kids would charge into the front room, which usually earned them a scowl or those often heard words “Oh for goodness sake” or “What a racket” my Nan being the ‘seen and not heard’ generation, as they raced to see who could retrieve the pouffe from its resting place behind the sofa and therefore gain a seat. When my Nan passed away my daughter asked if she could have the pouffe. My mum and my aunt did their best to clean the pouffe and it arrived at our house smelling and looking a lot fresher than it had left my Nan’s.

The first time I smelt smoke coming from the pouffe I laughingly told my mum that her mother was haunting me and then I set to spraying fabric freshener  assuming the straw filling must have let out the aroma of smoke. The next couple of times the aroma of smoke arrived we paid more attention, especially as they coincided with something going on in our lives, and asked my Nan (the pouffe) what it was she was trying to say.

Pure fantasy and imagination you may say and I would agree with you if not for the fact that one incident happened first thing in the morning. I opened the lounge door, drew back the curtains and went into the kitchen. Half an hour later when I returned to the lounge the aroma of smoke hit me straight away; it certainly hadn’t been there the first time and nobody had been in the room; let alone, touched the pouffe.

So what’s the truth? Why does my pouffe smell of smoke despite numerous squirts of fabric freshener? Is it because the straw filling releases its scent? Or is it a sign that my Nan is still watching over me? All I know is that sometimes there’s no reason for the lounge to be filled with a pungent stale cigarette smell, yet it is and at those times I usually say ‘hello’ to my Nan and wait to see if anything is about to change in my life.

Importance of Names

When I had my son I (we) couldn't decide between two names we liked, so I decided to wait for my daughter and ask her what she thought. My 3yr old turned up and I asked her which of the two names she liked.One of the options was Sean but she said no.Later she told me this was because she was worried that if we named him Sean he would turn into Shaun the Sheep (obviously been watching too much Wallace and Gromit) I did point out it was a different spelling but that didn't matter.

Whilst I was working in school, I overheard a teacher talking about names for her baby and she said they were struggling because they needed a new name - that was one that had never been given to a child she had taught in all her years of teaching. I could see her point.

In my writing I find that a lot of my research time is spent on finding the right name. I often find names I like but they don't fit my vision for my character. For the short story I have just completed I found a name I liked but it didn't fit my kick butt female warrior - I used it for a healer instead! I like to find names that have the meaning for what the person is eg a healer, even if I don't tell the readers the meaning, I know they're there.

All this got me thinking about the importance of names. Have you ever had a preconcieved idea of what someone is like purely based on their name? or thought that someone's name didn't suit them?

Now you know why I spend so long reasearching names for my characters.

#http://www.behindthename.com/

Into Fire - Brittany Westerberg

Into Fire is Brittany's first novel and it is an engaging read - I read it in one day.

"The fifteen year old Leora had always planned her entire life around working with her brother and father in their gemsmithing shop. She enjoyed it, she was good at it, and she wanted nothing more than to do it. But fate had other plans for Leora.
On a day like any other, Leora's life was turned upside-down when two strangers visited her and informed her family that she had the power of a Mage—abilities she had always been raised to fear. As they seek to whisk her away and train her in her abilities, Leora must decide whether to remain in the family business, or explore these amazing abilities, and, a potential link to her mother.
Deciding to embrace the adventure, Leora learns that there is a lot more in the world outside her home than she thought. With new allies, challenges, experiences, and problems she never knew even existed, Leora must accept the person she was meant to become or lose everything that ever meant anything to her."

Leora is a feisty character from the start (which is a nice surprise) and most of the other mage's who come into contact with her agree she is likely to get into trouble-which she does!

The book had all the right ingredients, trainee magic, love intreest,bad guys and intresting characters. If you like an easy read with magic and fantasy thrown in I would definitely try this book. I hope there may be a sequel in the future.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004K1EX7G The book is available in kindle and paperback form. The link will take you to Amazon.co .uk but is it available on Amazon.com too.

Tools for Teaching

When I was at school our teacher used to write on a huge blackboard, that rolled round the frame, so that it was in effect 3 blackboards.

Fast forward to 2005 when my second child started school and his classroom had an interactive white board. The teacher used a special pen to write on it or select one of the tools that were intergrated into it.

Possibly cleaner than chalk but there is the absence of the wooden block eraser to launch across the classroom at the kids who aren't paying attention - but then teachers aren't allowed to do that these days!

And homework. I remember having to go to the library to find books.Read the passage I needed then try to recreate it a few sentances at a time in my own words, so it usually ended up longer than the piece in the book or I read it all then tried to write about it only to find I'd forgotten some vital piece of information (Oh wait, was that just me?) Nowadays the kids go onto the web and either print the information off and write it up, or more likely, cut, paste and edit. But at least they can insert pictures instead of trying to draw them (I'm not sure my drawing ever inhanced my homework).

Today teachers boards are somehow magically synched to their laptops so presentations appear on the wall and a favourite tool seems to be Youtube clips and why not if it makes the learning more fun.

Whether you are a teacher or one of the growing number of home teaching parents, (or a parent who wants to entertain their child on a wet day) then a great resource for you is The Literacy Shed. The website is full of ideas and videos that will enhance your teaching.
www.literacyshed.com

Thank Crunchie it's Friday

Those of you over a certain age and living in Britain may well remember the title line from an advert for chocolate, appropriate as chocolate has helped me get through this strange week - as well as numerous cups of tea. This week has been as varied as the weather. Let's start with the weather, lots of cloud, some sun (quite warm, although thankfully about 10 degrees less tha some were enduring)rain and strong winds; def think it has forgotten it's June. The rain Wednesday night brought with it Saharan sand which it deposited all over my black car - I know it was from the Sahara and not from the beach a couple of miles away because the lady showed me a graphic whilst giving me the weather forecast - How nice of her! Perhaps today's rain will wash it away again.
Kids - 12yr old is same as ever, either very vocal or shut in his room like a hermit,eagerly waiting for me to finish my musings so he can use the laptop to revise for a science test - sorry mate just a bit longer! Teenager has finished her exams for this year(except science practicals which she is doing during lesson time)Yesterday she had a world of work day at school which consisited of the army coming in and doing a team building exercise with the kids.You know get from point to point using amo box and planks of wood without touching the ground.This she loved, what she didn't like was the sales pitch the pompous old dude (her words) gave them afterwards. Hey wait a minute I signed a form saying she could take part, not that you could try and recruit my 15yr old - Hands off! The afternoon consisted of a mock interview with a local company.(This we knew was happening so we spent last Saturday looking for a suitable top to team with her school trousers to turn them into an interview outfit,this we accomlpished and with the addition of my jacket she looked very smart and grown up-so much so that her maths teacher of 4yrs almost didn't recognise her)In the feedback session the woman told teenager that a) there was nothing she needed to work on b) if it had been a real interview she'd have got the job. Way to go offspring!
My week has consisited of decorating,tidying,paperwork and yesterday - joy the carpet finally being fitted, cause for celebration - except the heavy rain Wed night showed we still had a leak somewhere and the floor under the stairs was wet - count to 10.Solution was to ask the nice man to leave that area,his solution was to fit carpet and roll it back for me - yay him. We're hoping we may have discovered where the prob lay, now we have to try and fix it, sooner rather tha later as we've discovered the skirting board is rotten too.
Now it's Friday, the kids have an inset day so we're all tucked up inside, away from the nasty weather and I'm hoping things improve next week.

What Next

The hardest part about writing a book, apart from actually putting the words down on paper of course, is the waiting once you send it out to agents. How long will it be before they get back to you? probably about two or more months and that is a long time when you want to know if they will accept you and your work. So usually you start to write something new in between. Which is fine but I'm finding that I'm still itching to do something to help my work that I have just sent out into the cold world. Luckily I have found a competition to enter which should keep me busy, if only I can get my book characters out of my head long enough for me to concentrate on the brief. Okay time to start!

Janalya

I've just sent my YA novel, Janalya out to some agents.It is always an exciting time, the possiblity that someone will like your book enough to take it on. Sadly it takes a while before you hear back from agents because of the amount of manuscripts that get sent to them. However I am hopeful, this time, that my work is strong, as are the letter and synopsis that are required. Fingers crossed and I'll update you as I hear any news.