In a Change To The Advertised Feature…

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

It’s all go here you know lol….well, ok, not yet perhaps, but it will be come Monday.

So that I can blog about the Faber course, I’m gunna have to shuffle things around a bit. Have a new schedule that still allows me to do my To Do List, Six Sentence Sunday and continue to blog everyday. Then of course, there’s Nano….so I’m afraid, no more prompts from a photo, no more fiction pieces on a Tuesday for a while. You’re probably all quite relieved lol

Image courtesy of Anusom P/digitalfreeimages

So this is the new schedule:

Monday To Do List
Tuesday Faber post
Wednesday ???
Thursday ???
Friday Writing Group stuff
Saturday ???
Sunday Six Sentence Sunday

That will give me a few days a week free to ramble about anything else, which in November will surely be Nano lol

The only other thing you’ll notice is a change in the time when I post. I usually do my posts the evening before and schedule them to go live at 1am UK time. I won’t be doing that all the time from now on. So you’ll find the midweek posts go out a bit later, depending on how bogged down I am with homework lol 😉

Wish me luck! 🙂

World Animal Day Bloghop

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Today is World Animal day, so I’m taking part in the Animal Blog Hop sponsored by Terri G Long and David M Brown

Writers and cats, they kind of go well together, don’t you think? 😉

My 2 writing companions are Treacle (a tortie British Shorthair) and Tigzz (a tabby and white moggy). They are my little shadows and follow me everywhere. Wherever I am, you can guarantee they are only a few feet away 🙂 I’ve always been a cat lover, at one stage we had 4! But this pair are more than enough to cope with. Its like having two naughty 3 year olds 🙂

Treacle is the little princess, very girly, a drama queen. We say that Treacle is Simons Cat, she even makes the noises! Whereas Tigzz is a real Tom cat. He likes nothing more than to sink his teeth into your hand under the pretence of play fighting. He definitely rules the roost and is constantly being told off for beating up Treacle lol.

They climb all over me in bed at night (heavens forbid i get up to go to the loo at 2am….as far as they’re concerned that means I’m up!) and sit on my notebook/laptop when I’m trying to write. They insist on helping me with the dinner and claw my legs until i give them a titbit. They commandeer any spare box or bag (including my handbag!) that they see lying about and Treacle also has a shoe fetish so any shoes that are left around become an instant bed.

But I’m in great company. Edgar Allen Poe was so devoted to his cat Catarina that when he was away he would write to her. She would often sit on his shoulder whilst he wrote (yep, my Tigzz would do that if I let him!). Then what about Raymond Chandler? He had a black Persian called Taki, who he referred to as his secretary (ok, I’m not that bonkers!). Taki would always be beside him when he wrote, often sitting on his papers (yep, I know that one!). And lastly Colette, who had dozens of cats. Ok, I’m not the mad cat lady just yet I have a husband who keeps me in check 😉

If you’re still not convinced that Cats make good writing companions check out a blog post that appeared on The Romaniacs a couple of days ago 🙂

So its fun in my house…..but I love them to bits 🙂

Now, tell me about your furry babies/writing companions if you have any, and if you don’t, what would you have if you could?

The Booker Award

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

The lovely Whitney over at A Serendipitous Happenstance and the lovely Anneli at Words From Anneli have both nominated me for The Booker Award 🙂

This is a new one I’ve only started seeing recently so I’ll give it a go 😉

The rules for the booker are to list your 5 favourite books:

1. Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard

2. Into The Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

4. Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue

5. The Writers Book of Days by Judy Reeves

And then pass it on…..

Liz at Libro Full Time
Rebecca at Novel Girl
Ali at HeavelAli
Nicky Wells
Joanne Phillips

If I didn’t tag you, but you want to take part, please feel free 🙂 Tell me in the comments, what are your favourite books?

The Booker Award #writing #blogging #authors (rebeccahartwriting.wordpress.com)
The Booker Award (maryannemistretta.wordpress.com)
The Booker Award (susandanielseden.wordpress.com)
The Booker Award (magnoliabeginnings.org)
The Booker Award (thejottersjoint.com)

Celebrating Bloggers Blog Hop

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Today I’m taking part in Terri Giuliano Long’s Blog Hop to celebrate bloggers and blogging 🙂 Check out who else is participating here 🙂

So why do I blog?

I’ve been mulling this question over for a few days now, and there is no direct answer. So, as I’m a lover of lists, a list it will have to be 😉

1. Because I love the community aspect of it. I’ve loved the friendships and connections I’ve made through my blog.

2. To develop, practice and hone my writing skills. This has been really good practice and I feel that I’ve gained so much from the comments I receive when I share my work.

3. To develop my voice. This has been incredibly useful and has boosted my confidence in myself.

4. To learn. I have learnt so much from the other writers I follow 🙂

5. To share what I’ve learnt. I love sharing tips and info. I’m very much a people person and I love to help others. If I manage to inspire just one person every so often, I’ll die a happy bunny 🙂

So now, this is my opportunity to say…..

photo courtesy of Stuart Miles/freedigitalphotos.net

Seriously, to all my followers, people who like my blog, people who comment, Tweet my posts, pass them on etc. You guys are amazing, each and every one of you. I love you loads ok, never forget that, and my life wouldn’t be the same without you, I’d probably get more writing done, but stuff that 😉

And talking about loving the whole blogging community, the winner of a PDF copy of The Emotion Thesaurus is……Mandy Eve Barnett CONGRATULATIONS honey!

So tell me…..why do you blog?

What is a Liebster Anyway?

Posted on September 8, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

No picture prompt today as next Tuesday I’m taking part in a blog hop 🙂 I’m so conscious of avoiding doing more than one post a day. I know how hard it is for most of us to keep up as it is lol 😉

I’ve been nominated by the lovely Sara Flower for The Liebster Award 🙂

Thank you soooo much honey!🙂 Please go and check out Sara’s blog, you won’t be dissapointed!

Now, I’ve seen this award floating about, can anyone actually tell me what it means? Lol

I think I’ve been nominated for it by someone else recently, so if that was you, shout so I can link back to your blog and do a thank you (I’ve been so lapse recently with keeping track of things) 😦

Anyway…..onto…

The Rules:

Answer the eleven questions your nominator posed to her/his nominees.
Pass the award on to eleven others.

Ok, ok, so I’m going to play by the rules this time 😉

photo courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti/freedigitalphotos.net

What keeps you writing when you have writer’s block?
Well, I don’t really suffer from writers block, I have the complete opposite, too many ideas floating around in my head. I can always find something to write about, always.

Most writers have a literary counterpart—a character from their stories who reflects themselves. Tell us about yours.
There is always an element of myself in all my female characters. Some, much more than others, but I don’t have a specific counterpart.

What are your passions?
Family, people (I find everyone interesting), learning, love and writing 🙂

You’ve had a fight with your significant other and you want to fix things.
Ha ha ha…..are you reading this dear? Lol….. A cuddle is a good place to start 😉

What’s one injustice you see in the world that you would fix in a story?
Wow, that’s a difficult one! I’m not sure to be honest. I tend to write about loneliness and depression a lot, so I guess it would be the injustice of life.

If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be?
Only one? Wow, that’s hard lol. Ok, I’d love to have my own writing room 🙂

What’s important to you at this point in time?
Being the best writer that I can be.

Who is your hero/heroine?
From a writing point of view, or in general? In general it would have to be Princess Diana….now don’t laugh 😉 Seriously! I think she was a fantastic woman, she wasn’t scared of hugging people with AIDS, she shook our royal family up big time and she had a huge effect on the British people. When she died, things changed, it was like a lightbulb moment for the UK.

Do you make it a habit of telling others what you thought of their work, even if your experience wasn’t good?
I try to be gentle, I hate being too critical. So, I try to give a positive to every negative if I can.

What is good will?
Hmmmmm, don’t they say “Good will to all men” or something? I guess it’s about being nice to everyone, treating others how you would wish to be treated yourself.

What would it take for you to make friends with an old enemy?
I only have a couple of people I would actually consider enemies and there is no way in this world (or the next) that I would ever make friends with them again. There are certain things that are unforgivable in my opinion. Some hurts can never heal 😦

And now, here are my nominees. Looking forward to your answers 😉

Mandy Eve Barnett
Sandra Madeira
Kitty Hietala
Bridget Straub
CC at Honesty
Brigitte at Brigittes Banter
Zoe at Ozonenut
Dianne Gray
Ms Nine at 2bnine
Robin Coyle
Amber Dane

please take a moment to go visit these great bloggers 🙂

Illuminating Blogger Award

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

The lovely Brigitte over at Brigitte Banter and the lovely Julie over at Anglers Rest have both nominated me for the Illuminating Blogger Award. Thank you soooo much ladies 🙂

Now, normally, I’m a rule breaker, but I’ll make an exception 😉

Here’s the rules…

Visit the Blog who awarded you and thank them.
Tell everyone who nominated you, thank the blogger and include a link back to their site on your blog.
Share a random thing about yourself.
Select five or more nominees — and notify them on their blogs.
Put the award on your blog somewhere.

Sooooo, my random fact: I once spent the whole night on the steps outside The Savoy Hotel in London 😉 Now you’re intrigued aren’t you? Lol

I’m nominating:

Diane at Tales From Baggins Bottom
Ms Nine at Nine Writes
Melanie at Feather Pens Tartan Dreams
Sam at Manty67
William Stadler
Wendy Steele

Please take a few minutes to visit these lovely Bloggers and their blogs 🙂

And if you want to know how comes I spent the whole night outside a posh London hotel, well, you’ll just have to take a guess. A gold star for the correct answer! 😉

Illuminating Blogger Award (floatingwiththebreeze.wordpress.com)

Feeling Loved

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I’ve now got over 270 followers. Inside I’m jumping up and down like a small child who’s just been promised a chocolate bar. Thank you thank you thank you 🙂 I am still surprised that people actually want to read my ramblings lol *blush*

But….I’m the sort of person who suffers huge guilt over the tiniest things *frowns*. So what am I feeling guilty about? Following back 😦

Ok, I follow 245 WordPress blogs and about 50 Blogspot blogs. So if the blogger has updated their blog I get an e mail every day. So some days it’s not unusual for me to get 100+ emails. Blog updates I want to read and respond to. I so value the advice, support and comments I receive on my blog posts. I know how much it means to feel that someone has read your words.

My husband said to me last week “You need to decide, are you a writer or a blogger?” I pouted, I want both *stamps foot* But he’s right, I cant really have both can I?

I love chatting to my followers, visiting their blogs, learning, growing, but I just can’t physically follow back every single person who follows me, and that makes me sad 😦

Soooo, this post it just to say sorry. To the people who follow me, who I don’t follow back. I really do appreciate your support and comments, and will always reply to any comments you leave here 🙂 I will try to visit your blogs on a regular basis, I promise.

So tell me, How do you cope? How many blogs do you follow? Are you a writer or a blogger? 😉

From Cartoon Church

Would love some advice guys 🙂

I’m A Beautiful Blogger blush

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Brigitte said so, so it must be true 😉

Thank you so much honey, for this award 🙂

The rules are:

The Beautiful Blogger Award is for those blogs that are creative, original and add to the blogging community. You’re supposed to bestow it on seven people and here’s the “rules:” I say, no worries if you’re a rule-breaker, then just put the award on your blog.

Link to the creative, beautiful genius that bestowed it upon you. (see above)
List seven random things about yourself. (see below)
Send said award to seven (or how ever many you want) other creative, beautiful geniuses. (see below after the random things).
Tell those lucky people that you’ve done this and give em’ the rules. (I’m telling you now.)

So, another 7 things about me…… (you’ll all be getting bored of this soon lol).

1. I have a reading chair in my bedroom, but I don’t use it much….the pets seem to like it though.

2. I sometimes work in the office with my husband, and when I do, this is my desk.

3. My Netbook (with all my writing on) is red with a Nano sticker on it 🙂

4. I’m a huge fan of Simons Cat

5. I use a bag covered in butterflies for my writing class

6. I’m a chess widow….my hubby plays for the County

7. My favourite colour is red 🙂

So I will nominate the following 7 beautiful ladies….sorry guys, you miss out this time, this is strictly one for the girlies in my book 😉

Virginia @ poetaofficium
Rebecca @ A Word Or More
Melanie @ Feather Pens Tartan Dreams
Kathryn @ 4am Writer
Sara @ Sara Flowers Blog
Gail @ The Writer is a Lonely Hunter
Kirsten @ Write A Book With Me

These 7 ladies are all doing beautiful things on their blogs….please go and have a peek 🙂

Pocket Novels

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Today, I will be spending a considerable amount of time reading a pocket novel 🙂

Why? Because I’ll be attending a workshop hosted by Sally Quilford all about pocket novels on Saturday. I’m hoping Sally can help me write stuff that is a bit more lighthearted….a bit more along the lines of my Flash piece I did the other day.

I uploaded my final Reflective Commentary to my Blogspot blog. It’s sad in a way. I’ve spent 11 months studying creative writing and I’ve learnt so much. This final 3000 word assignment will be to show everything I’ve learnt. I’m thinking of doing the story I wrote Tuesday, about the young guy and his boss. Should be able to drag that out for 3000 words 😉

Yesterday I attended my writing group, with my head held high….because….. I now officially have an “out there!” lol. I sent off my Swanwick competition entry, it’s gone, on it’s way to the judges via Royal Mail. It was a good night…..we have some very talented members 🙂

Two very interesting articles I stumbled upon yesterday…..Self Editing and Writers Checklist will be consumed with relish today. I need all the help I can get if I’m going to start submitting lol

Yesterday’s prompt was to write about a lovers pillow. I found it really hard. It brought up/back an old wound thats still smarting, so I only managed about 100 words before I gave up…. Onwards and upwards yeah? 😉

Today’s prompt is it was a lie and all I’m gunna say is ouch lol….not looking forward to this one either lol