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Satisfied Saturday Six

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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. Novella out today – hurray hurray hurray! My novella, Loving My Lady has been republished by eXcessica today. It’s the first long lesbian Regency story I wrote, and although it’s a few years old now, I’m still rather fond of it.
  2. I also signed a contract this week for an anthology of three stories to come out later this year with Nine Star Press, so look out for an interesting selection of gay erotica at some point. Lots of edits to do first, but I’m really pleased to be working with the company – they seem both friendly and very professional, which is an excellent combination.
  3. This week was lovely because I had a friend staying until Wednesday. I haven’t been as well as I might have been, so we didn’t exactly do a lot, but much fun was had nonetheless, and it was really excellent to spend time with her.
  4. I had a parent consultation with Splendid Son’s teacher this week, in which I was informed that he’s doing extremely well at school and on target to exceed expectations in his main subjects, which is very pleasing. Best of all, though, the teacher was very pleased about his love of learning, which I hope he will keep throughout his life.
  5. After a massive upset with my editing and computers last week (one broke, and the temporary replacements failed to allow me to edit my novel), I am back on track with a new-to-me laptop and am two thirds of the way through the first round of edits on The Sisterhood, which is excellent. (The fact that I am two thirds of the way through is excellent; I don’t speak for the quality of the novel itself, though I don’t think it’s too bad, actually.) And look – it’s being trailed on Amazon already 🙂
  6. I’ve finished the first draft of another of the novellas which have been occupying my mind since January. That’s two now completed, and I have quite a lot more writing on the subject of the characters as well. It’s a case of working out how to put it together which is occupying my mind at the moment – or those bits of my mind not taken up with everything else I’m doing, anyway!

Satisfied Saturday Six

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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’s toe is apparently NOT broken, and he seems much more himself again. Hurrah!

2. I had my photo taken for an article in Kent Life magazine where I’m being interviewed (along with three other local writers) by Rachael Hale, the History Magpie. It’s due to come out in just over a month, I think, which is quite exciting (though I do hate having my photo taken).

3. I discovered this week that the plarn mat I made is being really useful. I’ve got a couple of knitting commissions to finish, and then I shall go back to making those. I have another one half-done.

4. Someone’s emailed me about potentially getting me involved with a project they’re doing. I know this is all very vague, but I’ll let you know if there’s anything further to be said about it 🙂

5. I’m doing a bit of de-cluttering, and am selling off some of my yarn (because if I’m going to be making plarn mats most of the time, I won’t need so much) and books (because we have a slight crisis of bookshelf space). If you might be interested in the books, look here. I’ll do a proper yarn post at some point, too.

6. I’ve been spending some much needed time on my spiritual life and have created a lovely sacred space where I can just Be. It’s by no means finished but I feel happier for having it there.

Satisfied Saturday Six

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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. Right now, I am profoundly grateful to the NHS (National Health Service). I am just back from hospital, where I took Splendid Son after he damaged his foot. In fact, he stubbed his toe, but this possibly doesn’t give quite the right amount of gravitas: by stubbing his toe, he has managed to break a bone in his big toe and get a wound which needs antibiotics and could mean he loses his toenail. Our excellent free-at-the-point-of-service health system has not only got his foot diagnosed and bandaged but has also provided antibiotics and painkillers and two follow up appointments. I don’t have words for how appreciative I am.

2. I am also thanking my lucky stars in regard to a car accident I had earlier this week (yes, it truly has been one of those weeks). My car lost power to steering and brakes, which as you can imagine is quite terrifying. However, I am grateful because it happened somewhere where there were no people to injure – which as it failed on the school run could easily not have been the case – and when I had slowed down to go round a big bend in the road. Damage: one flat tyre, and nothing (and more importantly, no one) else. AND I got to school only a couple of minutes late to pick up Splendid Son.

3. Aside from Dramatic Events, I have managed to get past the 50,000 word mark in The Sisterhood. It is coming along nicely, though I need to do some more research fairly urgently.

4. I bit the bullet and took out some of my knitted rugs to local shops to see if they were interested in stocking them. They weren’t, but one place said they’d take some of my scarves if I made them in a similar fashion and in darkish colours. I’ve also had some interest shown on Facebook in the rugs – you can take a look at them here.

5. Having won a £10 Amazon voucher last month, I ordered a couple of books which came this week. Very exciting. (They were, for those who are interested, Two Joans At The Abbey, by Elsie Oxenham; and End of Term by Antonia Forest. I have a particular interest in old girls’ school stories.)

6. Okay, I have to admit I’m struggling to find a #6. It has been a fairly full-on week, as you’ve probably gathered. Oh, the Rugby World Cup started yesterday with a win for England. That’s something to be cheerful about.

Satisfied Saturday Six

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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.

^ I forgot to post this heading last week: huge apologies to Terry for that.

  1. It was my lovely son’s 10th birthday on Monday, which was quite the most important thing which happened this week. Double figures and everything – he’s getting very grown up!
  2. I met Rachael Hale, the History Magpie, this week for a chat, which was ever so pleasing! She’s writing a piece about local writers with an interest in history, and I was gabbling on at top speed about Georgian and Regency things. It’ll be amazing if she caught a single word, but it was really great to talk to her.
  3. Ooh, ooh, ooh, Thrace has been republished this week!  It’s a sci fi anthology of 3 novellas, each between 10,000 and 15,000 words and I consider it one of the best things I’ve written (as do the reviewers who have commented on Good Reads about it). Sadly it got very little sales first time around so I’m hoping for better this time. If you’re in to non-gendered aliens with tails (and if you aren’t, why on earth not?!), take a look at it. (More on this in a different post soon, I hope.)
  4. I also managed to type up a whole screed of the new novel, The Sisterhood, and write another couple of thousand words this week. I keep finding more things I need to research, but I am enjoying the story very much! I know I’m not writing for ‘me’ exactly, but it doesn’t half help confidence if I feel happy about what I’m writing.
  5. I went to the bookshops at the two universities local to me (Kent University, at which I studied many moons ago, and Christ Church University, at which I worked for more than a decade until I became too ill this year) and they’ve both agreed to stock Petticoats and Promises, which is splendid news.
  6. We’ve had a couple of days of sunny weather, which is lovely when we’re on the cusp of autumn.

Satisfied Saturday Six

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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 a request from an ME group  to allow them to translate my blog post, Five Things People With CFS/ME Would Be Happy Never to Hear Again (And What We’d Like You to Say) into Dutch. Needless to say, I’m delighted for them to do so!

2. I haven’t written as much of The Sisterhood (my new novel) this week as I’d like – ill health (having ME – see above if you don’t know much about it!) has been dogging me more than usual. However, I am getting really inspired and I keep having inspirations about different bits and how the story fits together.

(I don’t write in a linear fashion, which has both up sides and down. The ‘up’ is always having a bit of the story to get on with – if I can’t find inspiration for one scene, I just write a different one. The ‘down’ is the complication of trying to fit all the bits together in the correct order, since I don’t always know where a certain scene will go; or, if I’m not entirely organised, accidentally writing the same scene twice. NOT that I’d ever really do that, obviously…)

3. Child and I are going to Wales for the week to visit thoroughly excellent people. In fact, we’re probably in transit as you read this, as I wrote it last night and scheduled it to post today 🙂

4. Child has been on a football training course this week, and really enjoyed it. He did one at the end of May and has cheerfully been telling me that he can see the difference between then and now.

5. I am thanking my lucky stars, however, that we still have him – and a house. I bought, a short while ago, an electric fan. I find it very hard to sleep in hot weather, which is hugely problematic to my health. It only cost about £10… but now I know why. When my son was sleeping in our bedroom on his own with the fan on, at some point during the early evening, the fan jammed. When I went to go to bed myself (and throw Child into his own room), there was a strong smell of burning and when I tried to stop it, part of it fell on the floor. As it was very hot, I had a small fear that it was going to set the carpet alight. Thankfully, this story has a happy ending – the fan did not cause any havoc and disaster above terrifying me out of several years of life and a revolting smell in our room.

6. Having dyed my hair black after it was blue and green, I have noticed that it is beginning to go very dark blue, with equally dark purple and green bits. I look like a Goth Mermaid. I’m not sure I actually want to look like a Goth Mermaid, but it’s quite interesting to see it change colour every time I wash it.

Satisfied Saturday Six

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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. My sister and my nephew have been down staying locally this week. SO nice to spend time with them.

2. Also, my sister and I scandalously Went To The Pub. I think it’s the first time I’ve been out to do that for… um, at least six months. Probably a lot longer. It was splendid, even if I did drink too much (both wine and water).

3. I feel mean for being pleased that Lovely Partner’s fencing clubs have stopped for the summer, but it’s very jolly having him home a bit more.

4. I’m not the speediest writer ever, but the new novel is plodding along. Next week Child has a football club, so I will try and get a bit more done then – I’m going away next Saturday (YAY!) so it would be nice to go with the knowledge that I’m well on target (which in my terms means ‘definitely ahead of target so I don’t panic’) to get the first draft completed by the end of September so I have all of October for editing.

5. And, as above, I’m going away next Saturday with Child, to stay with incredibly excellent and splendid friends! Excuse me whilst I bounce a bit just thinking about it (*bounce*)

6. I like summer. I like light evenings. I like no school. I like the laid back feel. I like summer.

Satisfied Saturday Six

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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 had a very sociable Sunday last week, with Lovely Friend staying. We went out for a meal with her family, who are most splendid.

2. Ooh, Bella are potentially interested in the new novel. All I have to do now is write the remaining two thirds of it… Oh, and edit. And edit and edit and edit.

3. Goodness, I can’t believe it took me until point #3 to mention that Child – who is, of course, brilliant in every single way – chose to be brilliant at art and managed to be one of ten winners of a competition to have his artwork on a big banner in the local city centre.

4. A local friend of mine, whose son is one of Child’s best friends, very very kindly offered to take him to and from football practice today, and then hang on to him for a while as I had a choir rehearsal this morning. I thought I was going to have to make Child come to the rehearsal with me instead, which would not have been joyous for either of us, especially as Child informed me that the music we’re singing makes him want to cry. (I think it’s the music not my interpretation of it, as we’ve had the CDs on in the car and I haven’t been singing audibly along. Just in case you were wondering 😉 )

5. I accidentally managed to buy some books this week. A charity shop leapt out and forced me into its depths, refusing to let me out again until I’d bought five books. It’s terribly sad, but what choice did I have?

6. I’ve been working with a friend on a project for the last few days. Hopefully I will be able to tell you about it shortly 🙂 Anyway, I think it’s a Good Thing.

Satisfied Saturday Six

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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.  Article on the Regency written and submitted – for a sneak peek, click here.

2. A couple of people I’ve proof-read for are happy to give me a reference if anyone contacts them, which may  be very useful.

3. I’m so delighted for the USA that the judgement on equal marriage has gone through. I know there are plenty of other battles to fight, both here, there and elsewhere, but a step in the right direction is worth celebrating.

4. This being so, perhaps I should also celebrate the fact that my son’s school are finally beginning to acknowledge that it’s inappropriate to park their minibus in the disabled parking spot. A new teacher demanded I move from it (I am a blue badge holder, for the record!) so that they could park the bus there, but after a somewhat heated debate, I did get an apology.

5. And talking of my son, he’s taking part in a football tournament today, about which he is very excited. Some very kind friends have also volunteered to take him and bring him home, which means that when I’ve finished writing this, I’m off for a sleep!

6. I’m beginning to get plans for the summer holidays sorted. There will hopefully be a lot of things going on, including seeing lovely friends and family and spending time in my favourite place, Cornwall.

Satisfied Saturday Six

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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.

Satisfied Saturday Six

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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. Wow, I am really happy that my blog entry ‘Five Things People With CFS/ME Would Be Happy Never To Hear Again (And What We’d Like You To Say)’ has done so well. Obviously, after 22 years living with ME, it’s an area really close to my heart and I’m so glad that it resonated with so many other people. (Well, sort of glad – I’m really sorry how many people with this illness have heard the same unhelpful things I have, but I hope that maybe a few more people might understand now.)

 

2. The ‘Dark Lord Funk’ version of ‘Uptown Funk’ (a beautiful Harry Potter parody) has made me so happy.  I have no shame in saying that I’m a Harry Potter fan, and it incorporated so many parts of the original books and films into it – words, phrases, even the film’s theme music – that it was perfect. Love it.

 

3. I have a new (to me) car! After a couple of weeks without one, it is so great to have the freedom to get about. When your mobility is as limited as mine is (very), life is very curtailed without a car. I’m still getting used to its quirks, but I’m sure it will come.

 

4. On a slightly more mundane level, I managed to take my anti-migraine medicine the other day before the migraine took hold. I was still under the weather, but when I get migraines I can get frighteningly ill, and I managed to avoid that.

 

5. I had a parents’ meeting at Child’s school last week. Child is doing very well at maths (which doesn’t surprise me – he’s the sort of kid who thinks ‘mental maths problems’ is a great game to play in the car) and he seems happy at school. (That doesn’t surprise me, either – I ask him after school each day whether he’s had a good day and he always says yes. I got paranoid that maybe it was just a reflexive response, so I asked him if he’d tell me if he hadn’t had a good day, and he said “Of course!” So apparently, he really does have a good day every day!)

 

6. I’m really looking forward to going on holiday next week with my extended family. Thirteen of us! I’m expecting chaos…