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| Seems to be a week of cat things... My little old girl Harry passed away in her sleep last night, she was 25 years old  Going to miss her meows, purrs, and quirky nature. |
| Been a crazy week with all kinds of things going south... But worst of all is my big black cat Ozzy collapsed, and his back legs stopped working. Ozzy has saddle thrombus (aortic thromboembolism), which is often fatal, and a 50/50 chance of survival... Crossing my fingers he is out of serious danger at this point and managed to be on the made it through side. Anyway, even if he can't walk properly again, I will get him a set of wheels and take him for walks. He knows how to do that, so with wheels I can take him to the park and see water... the cat loves water. |
| Available as of the 27th of July Book One of the Never Verse Arc "A memory of Empire." PS: I would post an image but don't have a premium account  |
| Just a little heads up for any here looking to get a professional Audiobook recording done. I am in the final stages of building a new studio space and will be offering audiobooks as a service, so keep your eyes open for website (it is under construction). As some of you know I have been a professional audio engineer for over twenty years in industry (how I made my living), I will be leaving teaching by the end of this year and returning to industry with my own local studio. We will be offering voiceover artists, editing services, and consultation on all thing's audio related for books etc. If you are interested at any stage just message me and I will be happy to talk, our rates will be very competitive (considering they will be done in NZ dollars  ). Also for our members here we will offer a discount rate on some areas of production. Anyway keep your eyes peeled and I will be posting more over the coming months. PS: My old studio looks like a construction zone, well, because it is under construction hahaha. Just spent a silly amount of money on a new voice over booth so it is acoustically isolated giving me a very controlled space. For the audio minded here the voice over microphone choices are ... Neumann TLM-102 Neumann TLM-67 AKG 414 (gold) Shure Beta 57 Shure Beta 58 and good old SM58 as they are on occasion the best fit for some voices (especially if they talk really loud). I keep a few different ones as some voices are better suited to say an old style 67 than a 102 or the 414 will work better where the others will not. |
| hmmmm I did not expect that outcome... I let a character run away on me and he turned himself into the hero and not the villain. Writing by the seat of your pants can create some lovely twists, but you do sort of have to slam the breaks on now and then and kill a character off if they get a little too out of control. |
| Writing book blurbs is not fun... I need to get one completed for the back cover as it is more or less complete and the artist is asking for it. I have been putting it off and really need to get it done. Any pointers as I have in all honesty never done one for a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novel before. I bashed this out quickly over a cup of coffee this morning, and I will do a lot more of course but I needed to get a general idea and not give all the story away. "An ancient evil stirs on the edge of reality, seeking to consume all life as it had to countless other island universes. Jessica’s only wish was to be left alone in her beloved Paris, not shuffled off like some orphan to an uncle she hardly knew and an aunt she had never met. But with agents of The Black Hand sent by the shadowy entity known as The Council seeking her, and the ghosts of a fallen empire casting a long shadow over the many worlds, what else could she do but run?" PS: Publication is June, and I can honestly say I am utterly bamboozled at getting this far. |
| From a conversation with a creative friend struggling to feel creative in her everyday life. She is a musician and a very good one, but she has always wanted to write but feels her inner self, child if you will, is lost. Creative people I think get like this from time to time... I know I certainly do. Anyway, this is what I said when she said she has lost touch with her inner child, and I honestly believe that is where my creative flow comes from. "Then you must make time and space for her. The reason you feel lost is the child inside is lost in the whirlpool that is everyday life. Throw her line and believe me she will save you from the churning water... But first of all, you need to dream and connect again, and that is the easy bit. All you have to do is write, it matters not what it is or even if it is good. None of that matters. The inner child is shy and frightened of what life has become, and just like a child if you give it room to play it will push those clouds away and show you a world better than any you could imagine on your own. I close my eyes and live in the worlds I created. I can see the carved towers of Iralia, or the dead empty world of Ellin. I know in intimate detail what a simple village in Naxia looks like or the bustling streets of Mez or Oshelila. Words are magic in a way, the purist kind of sorcery that takes us away from the drab humdrum of everyday life. All you have to do is dream then put it on paper. There is not right or wrong to that dream, and the rules and history of that world are up to you, it is yours after all. So, I do not believe for a moment you ever lost the power to dream, you just forgot to open the window for it. Just outside the walls of everyday life there is a world of pure imagination, and deep inside is a child that can still open the locks on the doors to it. All you have to do is connect with it again." Anyway, sorry for the woolly message on the board, but I think at times we need to step back and remember where our flow comes from and that deep inside it is the childlike mind that needs to create. Or maybe that is just me. |
Rainy Day Sox  - We all do and it hard to get our heads above the water. But it can't rain all the time |
| Just a question.... has anyone seen Tracker aka Vicki around of late? Not seen a post or an email reply since last year. https://www.writing.com/main/portfolio/view/tracker1948 |
| Time to kick the blog off again... honestly, I have been so far removed over the year I have actually forgotten how to link If one of you very kind people could remind me I would very appreciative. "Picking up where I left off"  PS: Steven gave me the clue |
| I am sure there are one or three cat lovers out there. Just sitting here reading through my written work from yesterday and my little old black cat scrambles up the edge of the couch and climbs into my lap. Not so strange you may wonder.... She is 24 and still running around like a kitten. She looks a little crumpled around the edges and is a little deaf, but honestly, I don't think she understands she is old. Life lesson in there some place I think |
| Non writing post but for the mechanically minded here I just finished my rebuild project of an M3 BMW. Done, and took me a few years to do. Nothing special just a 2008 model but good God she is quick So, onto the next project. eyeing an M5 to work on next. |
Dave Ryan  - Classic movie My little car is a V8 M sport hahaha. Scary quick and hard to find these days unless you are willing to rebuild one and sink stupid amounts of money into it. Well in New Zealand that is as there were never that many exported here. |
| Tap, tap, tap... sounds of blowing on a microphone... is this thing on. Well, this year has been an utter mess. Missed NaNo thanks to fighting to keep my job, but I did for now along with my faculty. If you were wondering where I was, I sadly had to focus on all of that for a while. But at last, I come to the end of the academic year and just finishing up marking so I can take a good long break from it all. Oddly enough I did manage to get some writing work done, and the cover for the coming book is almost finished. But my focus has really been on getting through the review and holding onto my income along with my fellow teachers around me. Honestly, and this may sound biased, but teachers are really undervalued in what they do. Anyway, I hope you have all been well, and I have very much missed taking time out to post in this community. So, coming tasks.... Finish edit run number eight addressing some minor editors feedback, get the format stuff finished then put this thing to bed. Get website finished and published. Send formatted draft off to get test print done.... And well, you all know the process. God, I was so naive when I started out trying to be a writer, but I have learnt so much and looking back at my first draft work improved immensely. Missed you all and glad to be back with a summer of writing in front of me. |
| You have been more productive than many of us despite leading a hectic lifestyle so that is commendable. Give yourself a pat on the back. Well-deserved. |
Elycia Lee ☮ Weekend!  - Thanks Elycia, I have missed yours and Vicki's support. There were quite a few times I wondered how you were both doing, and I should have just messaged. |
| StoneHeart - It's okay. My inbox is full all the time. I could have missed it. We are saying hello now. |
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