A post before i start my proper writing tonight

Oh noes, I think I am getting a cold. Must be my new commute, mashed in to the tube with all the other commuters.

So far the new job has been good! Am still learning the ropes (I think I am finally figuring out what my company actually *does*). The new place is more corporate so I have said goodbye to my jeans & sneakers during the week. I quite like dressing smarter though (also a good excuse to go shopping...) My new colleagues are a friendly bunch of people. Really nice offices, but no fridges, microwaves or kettles! This makes lunch quite difficult / expensive! Anyway, I look forward to getting my teeth into the role. Gnarrrr.

Writing-wise, last weekend I did none! In fact, I had a deliciously lazy weekend, I didn't even go to the gym or for a swim. I needed to zone out for a couple of days -- meeting for coffee, a touch of shopping, painting nails, watching TV shows, reading the Sunday paper. I imagine this would be a normal weekend for non-writers. I often think about how writing is like having another job -- part-time and unpaid. Like a charity. Run by the guilt monkey.


Here's some of the interesting stuff I've read recently... I tweeted a few of these if you follow me on Twitter:

NY Times article: How radiation therapy can harm as well as do good. Quite long, but a fascinating & scary & quite sad read. Highly recommended. I would be interested to know comparable accident rates for the UK and NZ -- I hope UK & NZ are better than the USA, due to the different healthcare system models.

E-Consultancy blog: An interview with the guys who set up Hungry House. Duffman & I order a lot through this website, which gathers local restaurants together and allows you to order via the site. You can see ratings from other people on every restaurant. It's a great idea -- although another site, Just-Eat, has been doing it for longer!

John Scalzi's blog: his take on "Amazonfail" (the big hoopla when Amazon threw its toys in a childlike tantrum over a conflict with Macmillan on ebook pricing, and temporarily delisted all Macmillan books from the Amazon website). Scalzi's analysis is hilarious and spot on. Righteous author anger! He also has a few other posts about it. Go read now!

My brain is full of STUFF

Writing night this week was tough! I've just started a new job and so my head is crammed full of information. Coming home at night from the new commute and sitting down and concentrating on writing was really difficult. AND I'd run out of any useful 'writing aids' such as Maltesers or Baileys!

So I didn't do much but I did so *something*, and *something* still counts. I focused on the short story again (the 'fish' and 'escaping' one). I finished up the words at the end, so now I have a complete first draft! And I tentatively titled it Piscky's Ascent.

Like always I have this immediate burst of enthusiasm when finishing a short story draft. It's brilliant! Beautiful! I must share it with the world right now! But - I am going to put Piscky's Ascent aside and get some distance before approaching it for editing. And when I do, I'd like to go in with some critical questions. What critical questions, though? That's what I need to figure out. Or Google.

I reckon there must be, like, 5 key questions you can ask as you edit, and the answers tell you what needs fixing and what needs finetuning.

Any ideas? Or maybe I'm trying to find the easy way out when there is none...

In other topics, we should say our respectful farewells to Mr Salinger. He wrote a pretty important book. I don't know much about the guy (does anyone?) except he was incredibly reclusive, so I hope he's at peace now.

I'm slowly making my way through It by Stephen King. It's a mahoosive book - practically square - that I find it difficult to hold in the tube! One of the chapters I just read is like an essay written by one of the characters, and it starts with the question: what if a whole town was haunted? I reckon it's the very question Stephen King asked himself as inspiration for writing this book.

My other reading material recently has been fashion & beauty blogs. My latest evening time-waster. I just love browsing product reviews and shopping updates. It's all quite girly and frivolous and fun. I'm a huge shopper at heart - I only just keep myself in check, to be honest - so these blogs are kind of dangerous!