My goodness, it has been a while! I did not expect the part time job to turn into something of a monster. It is all good, of course. Extra money and it does get me out of the house and I do love making a customers day (albeit in an obnoxious, loud, innuendo-packed way!) ... but OUCH do my feet hurt and my shoulder. I’ve been working all the hours I possibly can. I haven’t had a proper day off since I did my Christmas shopping (check Blog for when that was) and the days off I was supposed to have were cut short by working calling me in because they were over-run or co-workers didn’t turn up. So, yup, ouch!
I do sincerely apologise to any followers I may have or anybody that was half-heartedly following my waffling. Much love to you guys. I do hope you are all ready for Christmas!
As far as publishing news goes ... Not heard anything back about “Hugbugs.” As far as I know it is still in the folder, awaiting the spring edition magazine thingy. It still could be cancelled but no news its good news! Remaining hopeful. I also heard back from Vestal Review about “Bus-route Rain” and it was rejected. Wondering if I will ever find a home for the mega-short flash fictions I do ... which will probably be a self-published venture (which I am still considering, by the way!)
No idea what I am doing for Christmas. I haven’t even picked up a vegetarian alternative to turkey yet. The family has a massive bird in. I was thinking I might actually miss it the other day. I may be a vegetarian and I do not like the idea of killing things to survive ... but turkey and cranberry sandwiches on Boxing Day are pretty hard to beat. A friend told me about some kind of nut-loaf. Tomorrow during my hour lunch (which I usually spend putting my feet up because they are pounding/throbbing/abouttojumpoffmyanklesandrunforthehills) I might pop over to the supermarket and investigate. It’ll be one of the last chances before everything closes down.
I’ve got two more days left on my contract with the card shop. It is a bitter-sweet pill to take. My feet would appreciate not being murdered daily and there are a lot of difficulties with the staff there ... but on the other hand, I’ve really been able to stretch my customer services skills and most of the customers have been really nice! There is something really touching when you get to lead an old lady around the shop and help her choose cards for her grandchildren, or when you make somebody laugh, or chatting up the older granddad’s (Sir, you do not look a day over 21! If I was not working right now ... *wink*)
I really am a quite disturbing person, really. Reading that sentence out loud to myself. I really have been a bit innuendo packed at work. There have been several inappropriate ways I have asked a question or offered a card/teddy deal. I also seem to turn into a female “Del Boy” every time I offer a deal, which is mildly worrying.
Finished “Under The Dome” in the week that I had to read it. I would totally recommend it to absolutely everybody. There was only one let down in the entire book (two, if you really want to nit-pick but then it was true to character – what went down) and that was the explanation for the dome. I really wish King could have given a better, and more plausible, ending ... but then, the Dome wasn’t actually the focus. The focus was the people and how they reacted and what they did. It is like the judging of Zovo and my “Jill” stories: we didn’t give information on the diseases/plague because it was not the focus of the story. The focus was the human emotions and what Jill was seeing and feeling. So, yup. On the whole, I definitely enjoyed this book. I certainly fell in love with a lot of the characters. It has a bit of everything: cunning, planning, crimes, horror, love, and uncertainty ... just EVERYTHING!
Also read “American Gods” ... finally. Got to say this is also an amazing book! You would think there was too much foreshadowing (when you find out) but there really wasn’t! I never suspected once what was really going on, even though there were really huge pointers, in bright neon lights! The sexy scenes were well done (read with the view of my Alonzo – which I really need to pick up again), the deaths were not gory or over-exposed, and the confusion was rife! I loved all of the sneaky Gods slipped in there – some I knew, others I didn’t. The fact gathering mission that Gaiman went through must have been quite incredible. He earns another “Kudos!” from me. I have to admit that I am reading it again ... just so I can see what actually happened, now that I know the ending. I think it will be just as enjoyable the second time around.
On a bit of a King trip, honestly. I’ve also rented “Skeleton Crew” from the library. I read all of his short stories a while ago (teens?) and fancied a stroll down memory lane. Not read much of it lately but it is on the desk next to my laptop and it accompanies me to work most days for my break filler.
Haven’t made much progress with the two stories I am doing for this month’s challenges over at AWR. The short story has a draft being hashed together, although I expect it will be a while until the draft is finished and it might be hella long! The Seuss flash/poetry thing ... is going for a MAJOR rework. I do not like the original idea any more, or the second idea. I’m thinking the third idea might be the best yet, it’s just whether I can work it out. It won’t be using the anapaestic tetrameter any more. It’ll be something more like “Green Eggs and Ham” ... but “shoooosh, don’t tell anybody over at AWR about my plan!”
Much love. No idea what I will do once my contract runs out at the card place. I have no other jobs lined up and no plans to go anywhere else – although I will be visiting Cittaviveka again. We shall see.
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