Masters of Horror

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Cheers

Brittany K.

Plays, Stones, Lattes & Science Fiction

It's not getting any less busy around here. In fact, I think it might even be busier than before.

How does that work? I thought things would settle down and be a bit less manic after the True Blue Aussie Review play finished. But no... there's still a steady string of visitors coming and going, and there's still a heap more paintings to do for my Phoenix art exhibition. Quieter after the play? More time for writing?

Not so.

These days the only writing time I'm getting is when I go down to the Idyl Book Cafe to do my Gypsy Stone Readings. Between readings I set up my laptop and put in a little quality writing time. What can be better than that? Sipping lattes and writing science fiction. Not bad at all.

It is only one day per week, but that is one whole day per week of writing. That's more than I can manage at home at the moment. Stolen time's the best, isn't it? It's almost a guilty pleasure. An indulgence. All the sweeter for the taking.

[Insert maniacal laughter here]

Oh, that's right. Full moon tonight. I might have known. It brings out the worst in me... or perhaps the best. Who knows?

Catch up soon.

Brittany K.

The Friends That Only...

It's nice when friends call out of the blue and want to catch up for a coffee. I'm always open to that.

This morning a friend I don't see very often called and asked if I'd be home some time today for a cuppa. I said, "Of course. I'd be delighted."

Now, all I can think about is, "what does she really want?"

That's awful. I know. But...

There are some people who are like that. They only contact you when there's something in it for them.

So what do I do about it? I like this friend. We used to hang out together all the time. We shared our thoughts, hopes, dreams... all that. Now, I see her very rarely, and most of the time it's when her computer is down and she needs to check her emails, send a fax, or needs a favour.

Don't get me wrong. I'll always drop everything for a friend in genuine need. However, I don't like being taken advantage of.

I find it sad that some people consider it okay to use friends in this manner. I don't use people. I go out of my way to avoid it, in fact. If I want a favour, I ask. I'll always find a way to show my appreciation and gratitude - in the form a small gift, card, cuppa up the street, something. I prefer to think that most people are like that. I don't ask for favours very often. I tend to struggle through on my own. One of my many failings, I'm afraid.

I'm also not opposed to friends ringing me and asking me for favours. What I don't like is friends ringing me to "catch up for a cuppa" then, when the niceties are over, hit me with, "oh, while I'm here...," "can I just...". Hmmm. Wears a bit thin after a while. I'd rather people be up front from the beginning and come right out and say, "I'm ringing to see if I can ask you a favour."

[Insert sigh here]

Oh well. I guess I'll find out what she wants after she has partaken of my hospitality.

Sad when it gets to this, isn't it.

I still like this friend, and I still enjoy catching up with her, even though it's usually to her benefit. It all comes down to accepting people for who they are, really. This how this friend is. If I want to associate with her, I have to realise this and accept it.

I deal with it by either not being available for a cuppa unless it's up the street somewhere, or I invite her out with full knowledge that there will be a catch.

I wonder what it will be today?

Cheers

Brittany K.

Once Upon A Time...

Once Upon A Time

There Was You

By Maia Berens

http://www.allaboutlifecoaching.com
http://twitter.com/lifecoachmaia

I’ve been reading, as usual, and learning, as always. And… couldn’t resist the opportunity to share what I’ve discovered – about me! Not that you asked for it, but here it is anyway.

My latest revelation came in the form of an ebook written by a very inspiring woman, Maia Berens.

Maia’s book, “Once Upon A Time There Was You”, is a wonderful journey into yourself.

It starts out by telling you a story about a little girl. This story is told as you would read it to a child.

The real kicker is, YOU ARE READING IT TO YOURSELF AS A CHILD.

I couldn’t help but connect to this story. My inner self related to this child-like tale on so many levels that I even ended up crying.

Yes, I know… I’m soppy enough at the best of times. But this got me right where I live – right in the soul.

Maia made me look at my life from the time I was born as a brand new person, full of hope, love, light and possibilities. Her story took me through my dark teenage years and into adulthood. It made me really see me as I am, and, most importantly, me as I could be.

This is more than just another self-help book to discover new ways to find yourself. This is a journey to the centre of yourself and back out again. Not only does this ebook give you the key to YOU, but it also helps you to fit it into the lock and turn it.

As many of you know, I call myself a “soul healer”, for want of a better term. I deal with people’s emotions, past lives, fears and soul-deep damage. I try to help others reconnect with themselves and the universe, to accept themselves and to love all that they are.

This is not something I’ve learned to do in just one life time. This has been a very long haul of lives and experiences. One thing I can assure you is that what I do for other people, I am also constantly doing for myself.

However, healing yourself when you don’t have any help or instructions can be an extremely long, hard road to trudge along. Believe me when I say I’m still walking that path, even though I started putting one foot in front of the other several lives ago! Maybe I’m a slow learner.

I wish someone had read Maia’s book to me as a child. It would have led me to a greater understanding much sooner, and possibly without half the scars. I would have believed in myself and my own inner light much sooner. These tools would have helped me through many dark times.

I also wish I had this book to read to my two sons when they were little. What wonderful possibilities there would be for a child who grows up with this philosophy, and with the tools Maia has blessed us with.

Within the book are, as I’ve just mentioned, tools. Tools for life – keys to open the door to yourself.

There are exercises for us to do as well. Being me, I couldn’t resist the exercises. The following are some of the lessons, or realisations, that I learned. Most were no surprise for me, as soul-searching and analysing moments of my life is something I do quite often. Some realisations were quite surprising – even for someone like me who considers themselves adept at digging the positive out of the negative.

For what it’s worth, here are some things I’ve learned from the darkness:

I thought about all the many minor things that bug me about my life at the moment and what lessons I’ve learned from those.

I have learned that I’ve been given the time to reconnect with myself, and to connect with the universe again on a deeper level.

I’ve learned patience and endurance. How to live in the here and now and cope with the practical day-to-day physical plane of existence.

Most importantly:- I’ve learned how to be me and how to stay true to myself when others can’t/won’t/don’t want to see me or accept me for who I really am.

I thought about the slightly more serious negative things about my life.

I’ve learned resilience, lateral thinking and problem solving. I’ve discovered how different situations and emotions impact upon me, my life and emotions, physically, mentally and spiritually.

I’ve learned how to deal with them, how to embrace them and own them as a part of me and my journey. I’ve learned how to live through them and with them.

Now for the major problems and really negative parts of my life.

I’ve learned that my inner self is strong.

I’ve learned that my spirit and soul cannot be destroyed by despair and cruelty.

I have learned that hate cannot destroy love.

I know that the harsher and darker the world/people are, the brighter the light that shines from within me.

I have gotten to know myself. I know I’m a work in progress, but I also know that I am worth working on.

…and so the journey continues.

Please surf on over to Maia’s web site, http://www.allaboutlifecoaching.com and check out “Once Upon A Time There Was You”. This is not an ebook you’ll read once then put aside.

Thankfully it is an ebook and not a print book. I’d probably wear the print off the pages by constantly thumbing through them!

It’s never too late to work on yourself, and think what a wonderful gift this knowledge would be for any child or teenager in your life.

Thank you, Maia, for helping to spread light in the world.

Cheers

Brittany

Competition Winner

Congratulations to:

MS. PRISS

You have won a free ebook copy of
Sword of Anubis.

If you've already read that story, please feel free to choose another title from Eternal Press and I'll have that ebook sent out to you as soon as possible.

Thank you to all who entered my competition.

If you liked Sword of Anubis, keep an eye out for Shadow on the Crystal coming out next month.


Cheers

Brittany Kingston

That Nasty "P" Word Again

It's that nasty "P" word... yet again!

PROCRASTINATION.

I'm a master at it.

... and while I'm sitting here blogging on - I'm doing it again.

What I really should be doing is editing The Shadow Runners. It's sooooo close to being finished that I can practically see the book on the book shop shelf... and yet... here I sit doing everything but the editing.

I've even done all the office filing. Now that's something I always leave until it resembles the leaning tower of Pisa and becomes near life-threatening to walk past.

I've also drawn pictures of my characters, done some photo retouching for my cousin... all things that could be done after the edits.

These edits are important. This is where I pick up on all the little mistakes - like the "Ienpw" issue I mentioned last time, spelling, grammar, point of view problems - the list goes on. These edits could make or break the book. They could make a reader never want the story to end, or make a reader never want to finish it.

Super-important.

So why am I not doing it.... hmmmmm?

I've fallen into the trap we writers set for ourselves sometimes. The old "when I'm in the mood for it" trap.

Make no mistake, that's a real demon, and it creeps up on us and worms its way into our psyche. How many times have you heard a writer say: I'll finish that story when I'm in "the writing mood". Piffle!

This is where that other nasty little word WORK comes in.

The fun of getting the story down on paper - or computer screen - is over. Now the real work begins. The rewrites, the re-rewrites, the re-re-rewrites, the copy edits, the manuscript edits, the edit edits, the re-edits... It all has to happen, or the novel never gets to publishing standard.

So... here I sit blogging.

OK. Fine. I'll go do the edits. It isn't as if I don't know how. I do know how. I've even made a start. I've edited chapter one.

I even looked at chapter two. Page one of chapter two has a mistake of the "Anubis" kind on it so I ran screaming.

Yeah. I did it again. Ranger is, after all, a "ranger". He can communicate with all animals [a trait that becomes extremely important a couple of chapters later] ...and there, right on the first page of chapter two, I have Jaxxlar telling him [telling him, mind you] what a camorii is and telling him she can communicate. Oh God! Where was my mind when I wrote that paragraph?

OK. Don't panic. I can fix this. A couple of paragraphs is all it will take. Nothing too strenuous.

So.... GET ON WITH IT...

Right. No problem. I'm getting.

I'll just have my shower first, read my email, do the dishes, make a cup of coffee, make a few phone calls.... then... I promise....