Beautiful Blogger = Beautiful Books

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Happy Halloween by the way 🙂

I’ve been nominated by Pat Wood and by Marina at Writing is Hard Work for the Beautiful Blogger Award 🙂 Thank you both, so much! 🙂

So the rules are that I share 7 things about myself and then pass this award on…. Ok, well, you know me, I do like to break the rules, so, I’m going to recommend 7 books that I think should be on every writers book shelf 🙂

I apologise now that all these links are for the UK.

The Artists Way by Julia Cameron is the book that started me on my writing journey.

The Writers Book of Days has been brilliant. I can’t tell you how much I’ve loved this book! It’s been my bible and constant companion since the 1st January of this year. It has encouraged me to write every single day and I will feel bereft without it come the 1st January 2013

The 5 Minute Writer by Margaret Geraghty was the first ever “writing” book I used. I loved all the exercises, and the concept that you only need 5 minutes.

The Writers Treasury of Ideas by Linda Lewis is fabulous for generating story ideas. Trust me, if you have this book, you will never be stumped for a story idea, ever again!

Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg. I’m reading it now and loving it! Actually, any Natalie Goldberg you can get your hands on is a great investment.

If you’re into writing romance you can’t go far wrong with Mary Wibberly’s To Writers With Love which, unfortunately is out of print now. It’s a little bit dated, but still very valuable. I love it! We said to Mary at Swanwick in August that she should urge the publishers to republish it. We’ll work on her next year 😉

Last, but by no means least (and for all you Kindle lovers) The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi. What can I say about this book….BRILLIANT! I am almost tempted to tell you to buy a Kindle for this book alone! But it’s fine on an iPad, or PC/Laptop. An invaluable guide for all fiction writers 🙂

So there we have it. My top 7 writing books 🙂 I’m sure there are many other great books out there, but these are the ones I own and love 🙂 If you have a favourite writing book that’s not on my list please let me know, I’m always open to recommendations. *whispers* I can hear hubby grinding his teeth and thinking more books…more money he he he 😉

Now, onto the nominations! 🙂

I’m going to nominate…..
Heather James
Marina at Finding Time To Write
Bridget Whelan
Bel Anderson
Debbie at The Wicked Queens Mirror
Katherine at The Intrinsic Writer
Lanise at The Timekeepers Journal

Please check out all these lovely bloggers 🙂

Sooooo, tomorrow is the 1st of November *gulp* and the start of Nano!!!!! Good luck to everyone who’s participating! 🙂

Recommendations For Books On Writing Generally (ask.metafilter.com)
9 Writing Books that Will Inspire You to Write – Today (dailyblogtips.com)

Super Sweet Blogger!

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Yep, that’s me, or so says the lovely Patsy Collins whos nominated me for the Super Sweet Blogging Award! Thank you so much Patsy 🙂

I get to answer some nice questions (my mouth is watering) and then pass it on, so here goes:

1. Cookies or cake? Cake, definitely!

2. Chocolate or vanilla? Vanilla

3. What is your favourite sweet treat? Ooooo, Curly Wurly’s or chocolate coated peanuts lol

4. When do you crave sweet things most? In the evening after dinner 😉

5. If you had a sweet nickname what would it be? That’s a hard one….It has to be “Plum” because I use to have my hair that colour and I love Christmas Pudding. Of course, there is the Victoria Plum connection too 😉

So now I’m going to tag 5 sweet bloggers 🙂

LouAnn at On The Homefront
Sabrina at Creativity or Crazy
Bridget Straub
Ava at Journey of Jordanna East
Sara Flower

Super Sweet Blogging Award ! (andlifesmile.wordpress.com)
Nominated For The Super Sweet Blogging Award !!! (ravenswitch.wordpress.com)
The Super Sweet Blogging Award! (homedesirable.wordpress.com)

The Next Big Thing!

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I’ve been tagged by Madalyn Morgan to take part in this Blog Fest, but when i read the questions i realised that I’ve already done it under another heading. The WIP Challenge but bare with me here.

Regular readers will know I’ve just started a writing course, a novel writing course. Now, I could stick with the Mills and Boon, but, as I’ve got the opportunity to write a novel over 6 months, and have access to agents, I don’t think a Mills & Boon romance is what they’re after lol. So I’ve come up with another idea. It’s not fully formed, it’s just a germ. So perhaps answering these questions will help bring it into focus a bit more…..

what is the working title of your next book?
The View Outside 😉

where did the idea come from for the book?
Two things. Firstly the title of my blog. I spend a lot of time staring out through windows. Even as a child I spent hours at my bedroom window when it was raining. The second part of the idea came in September. The anniversary of 9/11. A sensitive subject I know, but I just couldn’t get the image out of my mind of all those windows. From that, I then started thinking about agoraphobia.

what genre does your book fall under?
Hmmmmm, that’s hard. I’m tending to think in terms of women’s contemporary fiction, but, who knows, it could possibly go down the thriller route 😉

what actors would you choose to play the part of your characters In a movie rendition? Very hard, I haven’t even got the characters formed in my own mind. There will be 2 main characters, a man and woman….I don’t know any more than that at this stage, sorry 😦

what is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
Blooming hell! I dunno lol. Ok *thinks* a woman’s struggle with agoraphobia and her journey towards recovery…..or not? You know me *evil snigger*

will your book be self published or represented by an agency?
I want to explore the traditional publishing route first, but I’m not opposed to self publishing.

how long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I haven’t even started the first draft, it’s in the ideas/notes form at the moment. I’m hoping the first draft will be complete by April, as I’ll be starting it this week!

what other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
That’s hard. I’ve never read about a woman suffering from agoraphobia before. So if you know of any, please shout 🙂

who or what inspired you to write the book?
I know you’re all gunna think I’m nuts, but an article I read about 9/11 being fictionalised, and how, as yet, there hasn’t been a really good book written that centres it’s story around those events. Is it because people don’t want to read about it? Is it too sensitive a subject? I’d be interested to hear your views.

what else about your book might pique the readers interest?
There will be romance, but I can’t promise a happy ending lol.

Would love to hear your thoughts? How do you feel about reading a book that is somehow connected to 9/11?

Have you seen the film Remember Me? I thought it was excellent, and what-a-shocker!!!! it’s connection to 9/11 is subtle, but very powerful.

So now I have to tag 5 fellow writers……hmmmmm….let me see……

Jennifer M Eaton
Josh Mosey
J Keller Ford
Paula Acton
Patsy Collins

Please let me know if you don’t want to participate so that I can tag someone else 🙂 Your post should go live next week 🙂

Please take a few minutes to visit these writers blogs….I have a feeling that what they’re working on just may be The Next Big Thing 🙂

Next Big Thing – Or so they tag me… (philippajanekeyworth.wordpress.com)
The Next Big Thing (flossiebentonrogers.wordpress.com)
The Next Big Thing (lucasmangum.wordpress.com)
The Next Big Thing-A Tag (cathysvoicenow.wordpress.com)
The Next Big Thing… (keystrokesandwordcounts.wordpress.com)

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Bonus post today…..

I’m guesting for Chris at The Kelworth Files, where he asked me a few Nano related questions 🙂

The Kelworth Files

I’m pleased to shine the spotlight on Vikki tonight!

What’s the most unusual part of your writing process?
It’s probably not unusual as such, but…..I have a practice session every day. Before I write anything else I do a writing prompt, by hand in my notebook. It’s usually first thing in the morning, that seems the best time. It gets my brain in gear, helps me to focus, and puts me in writing mode.

Where are your backup files?
I use memory sticks. I seem to collect unusual ones. I have a memory stick pen (pen one end, USB the other) and a necklace. The necklace looks like a black heart, but actually comes apart to reveal a USB.

What advice would you give to all your fellow WriMos?
Don’t give up! I’ve seen it happen too many times 😦 You get to 15,000 words (or less) and decide that…

View original post 251 more words

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)

Top Commentors Award

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I’ve been nominated by Paula Acton for the Top Commentors Award 🙂 Thank you so much honey!

I’ve noticed recently that my top commenters change on a regular basis, at the moment, this is how it stands 🙂

LouAnn at On The Homefront And Beyond (I know you no longer accept awards honey but thank you for being on my list!)
CB at C B Wentworth
Sara atSara Flower
Sam at Him, Her and Us
Patsy Collins
Dianne Gray

So you guys must be my biggest fans? Lol 😉 Does that mean you’ll all buy my book? *flutters eyelashes and adopts puppy dog look*

Who are your biggest fans? Let me know and I’ll check them out 🙂

I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I read a book entitled that once, but anyway…

Thanks to Amy at Tao Te Ching Daily who posted a comment on my Celebrating Bloggers post a couple of days ago, there will be 2 posts today 🙂

Now, I don’t normally, as you know, but, I really enjoy these Blog Hops, I love the whole idea that people all around the world are blogging about the same thing, on the same day. So if you ever hear of any others, do let me know 🙂

Today’s Blog Hop is Celebrating Womanhood and is being hosted by the Living, Learning and Loving Life Blog which I’ve never come across before. What a great title for a Blog eh? 😉 I’ll definitely be subscribing!

So the whole idea is that you can write about anything, as long as it celebrates women. So after some thought I decided to tell you about a woman who inspired me 🙂

There have been many woman who have inspired me over the years (unfortunately NOT a mother or big sister, but we wont go down that road lol). The first two who spring to mind are Julia Cameron, (it was thanks to discovering Julia’s work that I picked up a pen after, ooooo, I won’t tell you how many years lol) and Judy Reeves (who is most undoubtedly responsible for my love of writing at this present moment in time). But, one woman, who’s story truly captivated me when I first heard about it (just as i was embarking on my writing journey) was Erin Gruwell.

Name not familiar? Ok, what about The Freedom Writers Foundation or The Freedom Writers Diary ? No? Ok, my last attempt to jog your memory…. Freedom Writers the film starring Hilary Swank, with me now? Finally lol 😉

If none of the above makes any sense whatsoever please do check out the links. In the meantime, I’ll fill in the details…..

In 1994 Erin Gruwell was a new English teacher at a High School in California, assigned a class of “unteachable, at-risk” students. One day in class she discovered a note on which had been scribbled a racial insult and told her class that it was the kind of thing that led to the Holocaust (which most of the kids had never heard of!). The class then embarked on a study of Anne Franks diary, which led to the students seeing the parallels to their own lives. Gruwell gave them notebooks to use as journals, where they could record their own thoughts and feelings and they dubbed themselves “The Freedom Writers” after the civil rights activists the Freedom Riders. With funds the class raised themselves they managed to arrange for Miep Gies, the brave Dutch woman who sheltered the Frank family, to visit them in California.

Gruwell’s troubled teens turned into productive adults, some of them going into the teaching profession themselves. They now have the Freedom Writers Foundation to help share the methods Gruwell used with her students to other teachers and they have toured the world sharing the message of writing, which can lead to tolerance and empowerment.

It’s an inspiring story of “how a teacher and 150 teens used writing to change themselves and the world around them.” I was so captivated by the whole thing that I joined the web site, made a donation, and bought a handful of pens 🙂

I have one pen left now *sobs* but every time I write with it I think about those kids, inspired by one woman. Erin Gruwell, I wish I’d had a teacher like you, perhaps I would have started writing in my teens 🙂 I’m so glad there are women, teachers like Erin Gruwell out there who are encouraging kids to write, and that my friends is awesome! 🙂

Who are the women that you take inspiration from?

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?