Monthly Archives: May 2015

Satisfied Saturday Six

Leave a reply

The SSS celebrates six things that have gone well, or at least okay, in the past week. It is the creation of Terry Egan, who is all things wonderful.

1. Child has had a delightful time at football (soccer) coaching this week, with Charlton Athletic’s community branch.

2. I dyed my hair 🙂 I am now blue-and-green and mermaidish. Strangely, the spell check doesn’t believe ‘mermaidish’ is a word. I now desire to feature the word on my ‘Wednesday Word of the Week’.

3. I’m working on the new novel. I’ve currently written 20,000 words, which is much more than I had realised I’d written. AND I’m still early enough in the process that I think it’s a good story. By the time anything gets to publication, I’m at the point of thinking “oh gods, this is just dreadful – if I have to look through it again I think I may just delete the entire thing!” I like to think of this as authorly paranoia, rather than “Finally I See The Truth”.

4. I’ve had a while when I’ve been struggling with brain function enough that I’ve been unable to read new-to-me books. This is quite major brain dysfunction for me (I’d read upwards of 60 new books between January and the beginning of May), but thankfully appears to be fading. I’m not able to read complicated new things, but have read a couple of crime novels in the last few days.

5. I dealt (reasonably) well with a difficult phone conversation this week. Unlike reading, phones are difficult for me at the BEST of times, which this wasn’t.

6. Child found a game (in Aquila magazine, in case you’re wondering) in which you throw dice and use the outcome to draw monsters. This is far too much fun, especially with a ‘consequences’ style ‘name the monster and give details about it’ second round (which might have been my idea 😉 )

Satisfied Saturday Six

Leave a reply

The SSS celebrates six things that have gone well, or at least okay, in the past week. It is the creation of Terry Egan, who is all things wonderful.

1. Although I haven’t been feeling well this week, I’ve realised that there are definitely some factors which may be causing it, which is much better than having no idea what’s going on.

2. Child did very well in some assessments this week. I’m very proud of him.

3. I’m so lucky to have supportive family and friends to rant and/or angst to when things aren’t going well, and to share in my happiness when they are.

4. I’m still feeling very pleased about the review my novel got. Writing is terrifying to let out on an unsuspecting public, and I always worry that whatever it is I wrote is absolutely dire. But apparently not 🙂

5. We’re moving towards painting our bedroom. It is a shade of pale pink that I do not like at all, and I shall be delighted when at last it goes.

6. I’m glad to say that Lovely Partner did not (as I thought) have a nightmare the night before last. Nor (as he thought) did I. It was an earthquake. Well, of course. Earthquakes in deepest Kent – obvious answer really.

Review

Leave a reply

Wow, my book Petticoats and Promises has got a really lovely review.

“Told in the refreshingly simple yet eloquent voice of the deeply passionate and emotive Serena, this tale quickly becomes a surprising page-turner. It’s a tale that will keep the reader’s interest from beginning to end, engaging him/her in the period and the personalities of the times.”

Satisfied Saturday Six

Leave a reply

The SSS celebrates six things that have gone well, or at least okay, in the past week. It is the creation of Terry Egan, who is all things wonderful.

1. I got to choir this week and passed my audition, so I’m an official tenor now. It’s also good to have my feeling that I do have a low voice for a woman confirmed.

2. I’m signed up to write three articles for Jane Austen’s Regency World over the next 6 months or so. Look out for information on ‘incredible cures and quacks’, toilet habits, and kept men…

3. I faced the fact that my weight is really not what I want it to be, and went to my first Slimming World session on Tuesday. I’m hoping that having to be weighed once a week in a sort of ‘official’ setting will make me more inclined to stick to a decent diet.

4. I went book shopping yesterday. I frequent charity shops and the like, to try and prevent myself bankrupting the household. Anyway, I ended up with 19 books (though three of them were for Child) so it’s very exciting having them lined up for myself.

5. I am an unashamed Manchester United fan, and my team have now basically been confirmed as being in the Champion’s League next season. (The next thing is to get us playing well, but one step at a time…)

6. Oh! I think I might finish the first three chapters of the new novel (working title The Sisterhood, and again a lesbian Regency romance) in the next week.  This feels like a Success as I set myself a secret target to finish them before the end of May. (I’ve also written another 12,000 words of other bits of the book, as I don’t work in a linear fashion, but it’s nice to see the beginning coming together a bit.)

Friday Fiction (Article Snippet)

Leave a reply

So, I have recently been writing about mistresses in the Regency Period for Jane Austen’s Regency World magazine, and I thought I’d share a little bit of it with you for  today’s Friday Fiction. (I continue apparently not to know what ‘fiction’ means.) Here am I wombling on about the difference between mistresses and prostitutes

In the Regency Period (and indeed in other eras) there was a definite difference between a ‘mistress’ and a ‘prostitute’. A mistress belonged to, or was ‘kept’ by, one specific man, whereas a prostitute would have sex with any man for money. Mistresses might be taken up by one man after another, and perhaps have the role of courtesan in between gentleman lovers; however, a mistress was by definition not a prostitute. Whilst it was expected that she would have sex with her lover whenever he required it, she would also be likely to have a social or emotional relationship with the man as well. For the mistress, it was not necessarily a bad choice, though it could have problematic outcomes not only for the lady herself but for her family. For a start, it would be considerably more difficult to marry after having been a mistress: if Darcy hadn’t forced Wickham to marry Lydia Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, it is very unlikely that anyone else would have married her – and the ill reputation would also have fallen upon her sisters.  It also left a woman reliant on the gentleman in question: in Sense and Sensibility, we are shown the downward spiral of Eliza Brandon’s life after her first affair.

Satisfied Saturday Six

1 Reply

The SSS celebrates six things that have gone well, or at least okay, in the past week. It is the creation of Terry Egan, who is all things wonderful.

Well. This has not been my best week ever. So it’s even more important than usual to focus on the positives.

1. I successfully(ish) managed to paint a small section of wall which had been a dreary concrete colour. It improves our kitchen immensely.

2. The election results, whilst not (at all) what I wanted, have given me a distinct idea of the sort of world I want to live in, and some ways of moving forward personally and with like-minded folk to try and move our country in that direction.

3. I’m also really appreciating the friends and family I have. They are most excellent people.

4. Child has been agitating to join a local football club, and I just heard this morning that he can start next Saturday, which will please him.

5. My cats are gorgeous and cuddly.

6. It is still mostly sunny and we are making the most of it, spending hours at the park.

Satisfied Saturday Six

Leave a reply

The SSS celebrates six things that have gone well, or at least okay, in the past week. It is the creation of Terry Egan, who is all things wonderful.

1. It has continued to be mostly dry and even sunny this week. Which means that Child is playing happily outside, and my solar panels are making a happy-sounding humming.

2. I wrote another piece for the Huff Post, this time a political satire on Ukip.

3. Met up with an excellent friend whom I hadn’t seen for ages on Wednesday. We have to make sure it isn’t that long again!

4. Two more medical appointments successfully navigated, and I have a new medication which is supposed to help my pain levels become lower, so it will be lovely if it does.

5. Child and I read together again this week. We were doing it regularly, and then we got out of the habit. We’ll have to make an effort to get back IN to the habit, because it’s fun. (We do voices and everything!)

6. I keep thinking it’s September because I was in Cornwall a couple of weeks back, and usually that happens in August. Then I remember I have the summer ahead of me still, and it’s very pleasing!