Who would have thought that a nice little heart warming tale like Digging Deeper would have made it into the quarter finals of the Slamdance Screenwriting Competition ... in the "Horror" section. How rude :-)

Watch this space. Further annoucements to be made next week. Over the moon to have got this far though so anything else is a bonus.
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To celebrate the launch of the new website, I've got a special offer on the books. They're taking up space under the bed quite frankly and I need to get rid of them. So why not bag yourself a holiday read or treat/torture someone else. Go on, be a devil.

In other news, the new book is still slow going I'm afraid. On the positive side though, I'm about to submit a short story to Shortbread, so I'll keep you posted on progress.

In other (other) news I'm helping a friend of mine out with a secret filming project. All under wraps at the moment but should be able to reveal more later in the year. Let's just say I'm not sure it's something that has been attempted before by amateur film makers. Watch this space.
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I was in Homebase this morning, in the decorating aisle to be precise, when I was approached by a middle-aged woman who asked me for my help.

Seeing as how she had asked so politely, I was more than happy to assist.

"I was wondering," she said, pointing to a tin of 2.5 litre paint, "would this be enough to do my decorating?"

I stared at her for a moment, hoping that she was going to follow up with more details, a punchline maybe, but she stared back at me, seemingly anticipating an answer to her question.

"Well," I started, "it depends on how much you're wanting to decorate."

"Oh, it's 2 walls," she responded.

I found myself staring at her again in amazement before stating that she'd have to give me some idea as to how big the walls were.

"Yes of course," she laughed, clearly dawning on her how rediculous her question was. "Not very big."

I explained that she was going to have to be slightly more specific which then led her to try and guess the sizes of the wall, not in measurements but in comparison to the width of the aisle, height of the shelving etc.

On the basis that Homebase were dong a special offer (buy one get 2nd half price) I suggested that she bought 2 of the 2.5 litre tubs (which worked out cheaper than the 5 litre tub) and then if one was enough, she could get a refund on the other.

She thanked me for my time and shuffled off muttering, "right, next i need turps" to herself.
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Went to an indie-pop concert last night ... to see the wonderful Darwin Deez. Who'd have thought that a bespecticled 37 year old could have so much fun in a Glasgow nightclub, but muchos fun was had.

Loved every minute of the gig. Would recommend checking them out.
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Never did get to see The King's Speech but still on my list of things to do, if only to try and satisfy the curiosity from my last blog post.

Watched Inception instead which was brilliant although I had no idea what the heck was going on at most points.

Luckily we watched it at home so at least we could pause at regular intervals and discuss what the heck we thought was going on ... something to do with Leonardo's facination for spinning tops?
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The Stutter Rap 15/01/2011
 
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Going to see The King's Speech tonight, a film where Mr Darcy plays a king and has to do a talk. Tipped for awards galore, but I'm not convinced I'm going to be taken by it. Why not? Is knowing (or thinking you know) too much about a film a bad thing?
It's very rare I go and see a film where I have no idea what it's about. Peter Jackson's District 9; aliens causing bother. Jaws; a shark causing bother. Lord of the Flies; kids picking on a fat lad. Which is fine, because although you might have an idea of the general gist, you don't know the whole storyline. Now, I don't confess to know a lot about King George VI, in fact I'd go as far to say as I know nothing. I didn't even know he had a stammer. But having seen the trailer, what else is there to know about the film? George becomes King, but bugger, he's got a stammer. People think he's a baffoon. He has therapy for the affliction but then double bugger, we go to war and people are looking to him for leadership. Has his therapy worked in time for him to address the nation? I'm guessing, probably yes. THE END. I don't go a bundle on dramas anyway so I'll report back later and probably find there is much more too it than Mr Darcy not being able to speak properly (YAWN!). 
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So, where were we? Ah yes, furthering my writing career in 2011. Well, since my list in my first blog post, I'd also like to add the following;

5. Edit the wedding video (my Mum has never seen it).
6. Make a film.

I have mostly spent this weekend fannying about with the video camera trying to upload the DV tape onto the PC. I know I can do it because I've done it before but can I do it now? NO. Much frustration. I have therefore avoided doing anything remotely constructive and have even DT'd (delaying tactics) to such an extent that I thought I'd ask myself the question, "I wonder what would be the first image to come up in google images if I typed in my full name".

The Inspector Lewis picture gives you the answer. That wasted a good 5 mins.

If you're looking to waste time (or want to help me waste time by looking at your results) why not type your full name into google images (safe mode off) and see what somes up. That's open to anyone except my good friend Fanny Parts. I've already done that one myself.
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Now, as part of my kick up the arse for 2011, I've looked into creative writing mentoring at Strathclyde University.

Sounds like a cracking idea. You get feedback on your work and guidance on how to hone your craft. I'm always slightly wary of things like this though. On the basis the mentor probably isn't going to be J K Rowling, what credentials do they have to critique my work. Furthermore, will my submission end up being morphed (even if only slightly) into the style of the mentor.

But I'm trying to make a more positive start to the New Year so I investigated further ... until I got this far;

Package 4
80,000 words in up to four submissions (to include an initial 30 minute set-up
phone call and written feedback on each submission) = £675

This is in addition to the £50 I would need to pay for the appraisal of my initial submission to see whether or not I'm worthy of a mentor. Oh, and if I write over 80,000 (which is likely, Worlds Apart was circa 110,000 before editing) I'll be charged £35/hour for any additional words of wisdom.

Needless to say, I'm not planning on signing up for package 4.
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I've been nominated in the Community Newspaper of the Year Awards 2010 for best article. For that, my friends, I'm taking the night off from "doing one thing to forward my writing career". Nighty-night.
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Resolutions 05/01/2011
 
Ah, another day, another blog post. In order not to dissolve into the shadows, I've decided I'm going to do at least one thing (however small) every day in connection with my writing and then bore everybody with it on my blog.

As Mr Mills pointed out, my resolution list should be a doddle so I'll break it down a bit ...

1. Day five ... still off the fags.
2. Website tweaked (can you see where?)
3 & 4. Writing the book sounds easy if I put it in a single sound bite (and I don't get overwhelmed if I don't break it all down). That said, I'm going to do something EVERY DAY to come a step closer to achieving 3 or 4. Today for example, I have been looking into creative writing courses at Strathclyde Uni and a Writer's group in Stirling. Might not be much but if I can get some sort of structure and get back into the habit of planning/writing, then hopefully things will begin to move at a bit more pace.  

So please feel free to nag me if there aren't any updates. Everyone needs a kicking every now and again.

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