Eternal Press

Hi everyone.

Just wanted to tell you about the exciting new Publishing Company I've become involved with.

Eternal Press

I'll soon have my poetry anthology "Whisperings of the Soul" coming out with them, and I've also joined the ranks of their editors.

Wow!

I'm having great fun.

Surf on over to Eternal Press and check us out.

We've also just started an official Eternal Press Blog, so... go ahead, take a look at what's on the minds of the editors at Eternal Press.

Love and light as always....

Brittany

Two of My All-Time Favourite Singers Together

John Denver & Mama Cass Elliot

[via FoxyTunes / John Denver]

The Dreaded Whymeees

Yes, the other day I caught myself out in a dreaded attack of the whymeees.

We all have those days:- why me? what did I do to deserve this...? You know how it goes.

I used to feel really guilty about having the odd whymeee attack. Now, of course, I recognise it for what it is, acknowledge it, accept it, then move on.

We don't need to torture ourselves over being human.

We all have days when we're up and days when we're down. We are what we are after all.

The trick is not to dwell in the land of the whymeees, for there lives envy, jealousy, self pity, bitterness and all those other nasties that can take a hold of you and turn your view of life sour.

On the other hand, it's rather unhealthy to feel totally positive and up all the time. We are allowed to feel negative emotions, you know. In fact we are supposed to feel them.

Negative emotions are our counter-weights. They are our early warning systems and our alert to the possibility that we may in fact be learning something.

Having negative emotions to balance out our wholeness is a healthy thing.

However, if you tip too far the other way, you can become negative yourself and start generating negative energy that can actually follow you around and cause negative things to happen in your life.

None of us want that to happen, and yet, from time to time, we all do it. Congratulations everyone, we're human!

So, folks, take a step back, take a deep breath and take a really deep look into yourself.

Are you harbouring a grudge deep down inside? Are you jealous of a friend's success?

Ask youself, why?

Why am I jealous of my friend? I love that he/she is successful. Why does it make me feel negative when I should feel happy for him/her?

Your answer may be as simple as: Because I wish that could have happened to me. I wish I had what he/she has.

If it is, then own your feeling. Say it out loud. Banish it to the 'dealt-with' basket. That's not to say that you should make light of your own feelings, even such negative ones.

We are allowed to be disappointed, even envious of something we wanted that was given to someone else. But instead of dwelling on that feeling and allow it to gain power over us, look into why that success, or whatever, came to your friend and not to you. And just because it did happen to your friend instead of you, it doesn't mean that you were not worthy, or that you didn't deserve it. It simply means that you travel a different pathway and your own success lies in another direction.

Accept that and move on - hopefully towards your successes.

Look to the sunshine and rainbows of the good times in your lives, my friends, but be really grateful for the dark clouds of learning and enrichment. Cherish all your emotions. Embrace them, feel them, be them, live them. Don't be afraid of them. Be joyful that you can experience them all in their wonderous glory.

Cheers for now.

Brittany

Exciting Stuff

Drawing towards the end of a novel is exciting stuff.

But the end isn't necessarily "the end" of the work.

After you've finished the final chapter - for about the 6th - 10th time - and you're happy with your rewrites, the next step is to get it read by someone who will represent your "reading public".

Hand your manuscript over to someone who is familiar with that genre and enjoys that type of novel.

Then...

Get to work on your next baby.

Don't sit around biting your nails and phoning the reader every day to see how far they've read. You want them to take their time and read it properly.

If possible, get that reader to critique your novel for you.

Some of the things a reader can look for, as opposed to an editor or assessment service, are:

Are the characters likable?
Can a reader identify with them and empathise with them?
Does the book "hook" the reader in from the very beginning?
Is the plot easy to follow?
Are there any inconsistencies in the plot?
Did you leave out any explanations or put too many in?
Do you waffle in places?
Do you repeat yourself?
Does the book have good pace?
Does the climax build satisfactorily towards the end.
Is the ending satisfying and exciting.
If there is a sequel, does the ending make you want to read the second book?

Also ask them, if they see any glaring grammar or spelling mistakes to point those out for you, if they wouldn't mind.

As authors, we know what should be in our novels, and so we read them with our eyes and our minds half closed to some things.

A fresh set of eyes is invaluable.

Once your wonderful reader has written all over your manuscript for you, get to work on the rewrites. Fix up any mistakes, no matter how tiny they may be.

After all, you want that manuscript to be as close to perfect as you can get it.

A manuscript assessment service is a good next step.

A glowing critique from a reputable assessment service can go a long way towards pitching your novel to a publisher.

So, people, go ahead. Give it a go... Write, write and then write some more!

Cheers

New Art Site

Hi everyone.

If you've checked out my photo gallery and art gallery and liked what you saw, head on over to Zazzle and buy one of my greeting cards or postcards.

Just follow the link to the left of the blog.

On the writing front:- Shaddow Runners is almost finished. I completed what I thought was the last chapter only to find that I needed another chapter to conclude everything. I'm really looking forward to writing that. The sequal, Mark of the Condemned, is also off to a good start.

On the home front:- GST time again. Yuk! And... it's no surprise to any of you that it's very, very dry out here. No more water for gardens. I'm going to be busy collecting every drop of water I can from the washing machine, where we wash our hands, the kitchen sink, the shower - everywhere - just to keep my garden alive. Bring on the rain!! Anyone know any good rain dances? I think I'll give a few of them a try.

Don't forget to surf on over to Zazzle and check out my personally designed products for sale.

Catch ya next time!

New Year

Well, here we are again. Another year is zeroing in on us at light speed.

I haven't been blogging for a long while. I guess things have been a bit hectic around here.

We're ending the year as we started it - on fire!

Yes, it's fire season again and the hills are alive with the sound of... roaring flames. For some people, there was no Christmas and there'll be no new year celebrations either. It's going to be a long haul. The fires will be burning for months, and this drought is not helping at all.

For me it's been a strange year.

I've gotten lots done with my art work and branched out into new areas of creativity. My writing has also progressed, although, not as fast as I'd hoped.

The Shadow Runners is almost finished. I was making a huge effort to get it finished by Xmas, but I'm not far off now. The end is nigh. The sequal, Mark of the Condemned has gotten off to a good start as well. I've also managed to get a few articles published. So... I'm happy with my writing. I'm looking forward to getting more achieved in 2007.

On the home front: I've been laid up for a few days with another kidney "flare up". I'm not alone, apparently. I visited my Yahoo IgAN group and discovered that many other IgAN sufferers are also experiencing flare ups at the moment. Maybe it's just this time of the year. Who knows? All I know for sure is that I've been feeling awful and I'm looking forward to feeling well again. Oh how we take our health for granted - until it's gone!

Here's a picture of my Xmas present.


Mickey

3 months old.

What Mickey is exactly is a mystery. His mother is a Maltese X Jack Russell. Was his father a Whippet or a Daschund gone wrong? Whatever he is, Mickey is cute.


So we now have a new family member. Mickey. The new year is looking brighter already.

Have a great day, everyone. Don't celebrate too hard.

Happy New Year.

Don't Drink Dishwashing Liquid

Yes, that's what I said... don't drink dishwashing liquid.

I had one of life's little moments a short while ago. I accidentally guzzled down about 300mls of dishwashing liquid.

How on earth could this be possible? you ask.

Well... for many years I've kept my dish washing liquid in a bottle next to the taps so I could grab it and squirt a small amount into the sink whenever I needed to.

It just so happens that I've been drinking cordial out of a similar bottle.

Ahh, yes. Now the penny drops.

For whatever reason, this morning I just grabbed the wrong bottle and had drunk quite a bit before my brain kicked in and said: "Hey dude, do you know you're drinking soap?"

Ugh! Not at all pleasant. In fact, bloody revolting!

I grabbed the water and drank and drank and drank. I then grabbed the cordial [in the correct bottle this time] and drank and drank and drank. Then I drank a cup of tea. Then I ate bread. Then I had lunch. Then I drank some more.

I think I'm all "drinked" out!

Apart from the fact that it burned my throat a little, I couldn't get rid of the taste!

Now I have a headache - probably from drinking too much water - but I'm not brave enough to try taking anything for it in case it fizzes or something. Well... you never know, do you.

My throat is still a little scratchy and my voice is husky, but so far I haven't encountered too many ill effects. I'm still waiting to see if it makes me sick or something.

I simply cannot believe I did that.

For the rest of the day I plan to just sit around. I don't want to jump up and down too much - I might begin to bubble.

Moral of the story: DON'T STORE DISH WASHING LIQUID IN DRINK BOTTLES!!!

Pippin

Pippin
January 2000 - September 2006
Little dog with a great big heart

It's a very sad day today.

My little Pippi died at 2.00 p.m.

He and I were just walking around to the front of the house and came upon a tiger snake laying on the path. It was in a very nasty mood and decided to get us before we could get it. Of course, Pip had to have a go at it.

I didn't see it bite him but I did find a tiny mark above his left eye. Pip was paralysed and died not long afterwards.

I stayed with him right until the end. My poor little Pippi.

I'm going to miss my little mate. He was always happy, always had a big doggy grin on his little foxy face and his tail was perpetually wagging.

Goodbye for now, little Pip Squeak. Go find your little mate Blue and wait for me with the others.

We'll walk this place together again some day. I'll look forward to that.

RAMBO

Rambo had to take a little trip to the vet on Wednesday. You can't imagine how much fun that was - for him or me.

Firstly, Rambo is a BIG cat. He weighs 10kgs and is almost one metre long from nose to tail tip when stretched out. He's big.

I have a reasonably large picnic basket that I squashed him into - and I do mean "squashed" him into and locked the lid down. I didn't dare carry it by the handles. I was afraid they'd fall off.

Tiger the dog was due for his 12 month vaccination, heart worm injection, etc. So I booked them both in at the same time.

Please remind me not to do that again.

Although they were very well behaved, it was quite a saga for me.

You see, Rambo has a voice to match his size. And he really objects to being taken anywhere in a car. And object he did. Very loudly all the way to the vet and all the way back. Luckily we only live a short distance away. I'd hate to have to listen to that for longer than 5 minutes. Even with the car windows rolled up, people on the streets were turning to see what was going on.

So... Tiger had his injections and went back out to the car like a good boy. No trouble at all for him.

Then it was Rambo's turn.

I bet you think I'm going to launch into a tale of how difficult it was to handle him. Well, I'm not. Rambo is probably one of the most gentle, most easy going cats you'd ever meet. He's an absolute dream when it comes to being handled or given medication of any kind.

He was poked, prodded, had needles stuck in him, his mouth forced open... You name it.

He took it all in is stride and didn't utter a single sound of protest. [The car is the only thing that makes him go off like a fire siren.]

The sad news is, that poor old Rambo is now a diabetic.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that the cats' water bowl was always near empty. Having two cats, it's sometimes difficult to judge whether it's one or both who are eating or drinking everything.

I also noticed that the bottom of the litter tray was unusually more soaked in urine than it should have been.

Our other cat, Dixi, is only 6 years old and we've had her since she was 7 weeks old. I knew it was unlikely to be her. She's never had a weight problem in her life and apart from one nasty road accident, her health has always been excellent.

I watched Rambo more closely and noticed that he was at the drink bowl more often than what I thought was normal for a cat. Then, every time I heard someone in the litter tray I raced in to see who it was - and earned many a concerned look from Rambo. I think I managed to convince him that I had developed some sort of weird litter tray fettish.

Anything out of the ordinary when it comes to animals, is often an indication of something wrong, so I booked an appointment for him with the vet as soon as I could.

Finding out he was a diabetic wasn't really a surprise for me. I brought Rambo home about three years ago and at that stage he weighed over 13 kgs. I was afraid he'd literally eat himself to death.

I wasn't all that successful at reducing his weight either, but I did try. He lost three kgs. For his size, an ideal weight for him would be around 8 kgs.

It was his age that surprised me the most. I had him pegged as being around 8 years old, possibly 9.

The vet laughed.

"So how old do you think he is?" I asked. "10? 11? 12?"

Try about 17 years old.

Wow! I had no idea. He neither looked nor acted like a really old cat. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

Not that it makes any difference. I still love him just the same. It makes me all the more aware that our time together is going to be a lot shorter than I expected. But then, you never know these things - do you?

So now I have to give Rambo insulin injections twice a day for the rest of his life and feed him special Diabetic Cat Food.

There's no question about it, no issue, no trouble at all. I'll do anything I have to do to keep him as fit and healthy as he can be for as long as his life holds out.

The vet showed me how to give him an injectin and off we went back home - Tiger sitting happily in the back of the car, Rambo wailing like a siren in the front seat and me grimacing at the strange looks I was getting from people on the streets.

Three days into his routine, Rambo seems much brighter and more alert. He doesn't seem to mind his needles. He takes them without comment, without a flinch and absolutely no protest. He's a wonderful old boy.

He may be 17 years old - or even older - but I aim to keep him alive for a lot longer.

Good luck to you Rambo. You deserve to enjoy your retirement.