Sunday 21 December 2014

Resolutions Before the New Year



I am not a fan of the ‘New Year Resolution’, I just never saw the point in it. If you are going to resolve to do something then do it, here and now, don’t wait for some social convention to come along once a year; that is just procrastination!

When it comes to doing things I try to get on and do them once I’ve made up my mind that way. I do agree that there is often a certain amount pf preparation involved in many undertakings. That is just common-sense. If you want a successful outcome to what you are going to do then you have to pay attention to the not so interesting stuff, like organization, research, logistics, etc. This part of any activity is not my favourite but I console myself with the reminder that it is not going to last, that it will pass and that it will lead to me doing the thing that I’ve set my mind to do; the enjoyable bit in other words.

Where is all this leading? It is leading me to resolving to getting my writing back on track. I have had a major interval of not being able to do very much at all. It is not just the writing either, although that is the most important aspect to me, there is also the social side of making your presence felt as an author through the internet.

It takes time to get your name known, and your face if you care to put it out there, but all that work can be undone by an unplanned absence. Personally I found it very frustrating to be forced into a kind of hiatus caused by building work and the subsequent redecoration that followed, but I am not complaining. It happened, it was necessary and my wife is very happy with the end result, which makes me happy too. My working environment is still not perfect because the Christmas holidays have arrived but I love Christmas so I am going to embrace all the work, I am responsible for the Christmas decorations and I cook as well, the interruptions of family visits and getting together with friends, the lack of a routine, and all that is best in the festive season.

Most of all I am resolved at this time of year to get my writing career back on track!

I will be doing this in as positive a way as I can, simply because I am a very positive kind of person. I made a resolution once to write a book and I did it…twice! I resolved to fly an aeroplane and I did that as well. I did not wait for New Year to come round to make these resolutions, I committed myself when they occurred to me and I the very idea of them excited me.

The point is that life can pass you by in the waiting. Two weeks ago I said good bye to someone and did not see them again for four days. At the end of that interval I discovered that this person had died suddenly and unexpectedly. This is not the first time that something like this has happened to someone I have known but it reinforces the realisation of how fragile life is all the more powerfully. I love life and I love living it, even when it hurts.

I may never write an international bestseller or see one my books turned into a movie or be lauded by the intelligentsia but I don’t do anything for those kind of reasons. I write because I love telling a story, using words to craft a tale, entertaining people. I draw and paint because I love losing myself in the creation of an image. I cook because it brings pleasure to my wife. I socialise because it gives pleasure to me to spend time with family and friends, including those I never really get to see across the internet. I live life because it is all we ever have, this very moment, right here and right now, and we can lose it in a split second. I wear an ankh to remind me of this fact.

Next year there are many things that I am resolved to do but I am not going to wait until one minute into January 2015 to commit myself to doing them; I’ve already made that decision. I choose to live life now and pass through the mundane to reach those highpoints that become our memories tomorrow.

Monday 15 December 2014

Can I Get Back to Writing Now?!

Up to the end of August everything was going swimmingly. I was putting the finishing touches to the manuscript for Rapture for Ravens and feeling very good about it. Also, I had started work on my third novel Eugenica, which has nothing to do with Saxons or Vikings whatsoever. The writing was flowing, I was feeling all creative, everything looked good, and then September arrived!

The thing about September was that we had to have some building work done by a company called Bricks and Mortar, local builders. Our house was built in 1910 and needed some serious maintenance and these guys came in and did a fantastic job, absolutely no complaints there. They were totally professional but the thing about building work is that it causes disruption by its very nature.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not looking for sympathy here, I knew what we were getting into when we started, I just didn’t realise that the work would go on for so long and have such a massive impact on my writing!

The same week that Bricks and Mortar finished work on the exterior of the house the carpenter arrived to rip up the floorboards in three downstairs rooms and replace them with something more structurally sound and do the job properly. He only finished last week! Again, that is not a complaint. Les the carpenter is a very skilled craftsman and a very amiable gent, he took his time because he cares about what he does and he does it to a high standard. Also my wife kept finding him extra little jobs to do, which delayed him somewhat.

As Les was finishing the woodwork Jim the painter arrived. He’s also a great guy who takes pride in his work even though it is not what he wants to spend the rest of his life doing. Jim is still here working on the hallway, the last room to require his attention.

Since September we have lived in a house that had furniture moving around as if beset by hyperactive poltergeists! We spent a lot of time living in the bedroom because there was no room downstairs! It was by accident that we disappeared to Barcelona for a break in the middle of all this, but a happy one at that.

During all this time my writing simply dried up. There was not a lot of time to begin with but when I did get the odd hour here and there I found everything covered in dust, the rooms felt cold and cramped; I lacked inspiration! I also started to feel disillusioned because I hardly wrote anything; sort of a Catch-22 situation I think.

Today, however, marks a change in all this. The woodwork is mostly finished, just a few odd jobs left. The painting is also almost finished. New furniture is now arriving and we are reclaiming the rooms back in time for Christmas. Suddenly I feel like writing again and my wife understands, in fact she wants me to sit down at my keyboard and start work once more. There’s one big clean up to do before Christmas and then when I sit down to write again it’s going to be in a warm, comfortable, clean, family environment without a builder or carpenter or painter in sight!