Let's Be Spicy...

For reasons I've yet to unpack, last week I had huge nesting energy. Not one for spring cleaning or, to be fair, keeping on top of my laundry, you can imagine my bewilderment to find myself sorting out my spice shelf. To be even fairer, it was long overdue. There was a myriad of jars past their sell by. 

I've no problem with this. Unless it's starting to smell or mould, the date's just a guide, right? Using star anise that was supposed to be gone by 2021 is no issue at all. The rare occasion I use star anise (and you can insert nigella seeds, Thai seven spice, or za'atar, if you prefer) means there's no need for a new jar every time. But saffron from 2014 might be a record. And even though I binned some old jars and put everything back neatly, the saffron remains. I'm treating it like the survivor it is. It gets special status. That saffron has seen it all. Cumins have come and gone. The turmeric is forever being replaced. The ground coriander barely moves in before it's all used up. Saffron is the mainstay of the neighbourhood. I think somewhere in all that, is a metaphor. The dignified journey of ageing? Biding time for your moment even when you know not the day it'll come? Brushing off the soy sauce spillage of three years ago and persevering? I need to give it more thought. Still, I've got a clearer spice shelf now. Happy days.

Writing News

I met up with a writing friend in the week. It's always an interesting chat. He's in the middle of his first novel and I'm coming to the end of my fourth. In theory, I know more about the process than he does, and sometimes that's right. I remember being at the same stage and learning new things every day. But that doesn't make me feel proficient. Instead, I'm aware of how long-winded the indie-publishing process is. We're now two years from the month I started writing book four. It's honestly nearly over. Promise.

 

Culture

On Thursday night I watched the NT Live showing of Dear England. It's the James Graham play about the cultural change Gareth Southgate bought to the Men's England team with his appointment as manager. I loved it. It also reminded me loads of something I'd written at the end of the 2020 Euros. (Remember, the ones in 2021 because of COVID.) Look, I'm not saying James Graham was inspired to put pen to paper after reading my words, but we're clearly of a similar mind. If NT Live does a reshow, I'd definitely watch it again. 

Then, a day later, I was back in the cinema to see All Of Us Strangers. It's difficult do the film justice in a sentence or two. Gently and beautifully, it tells its story, never shying away from the pain and joy of human emotion. I watched it alone, which had upsides. I could let my thoughts fester afterwards - three days later, I'm still thinking about it. But a viewing partner would've been useful. I reckon everyone will interpret the film in a different way - there are no wrong answers. It's rich with meaning; there's all sorts of conclusions to draw. I want to know what everyone else thinks, and so far I'm the only person I know for real, to have seen it. Online, I've read some people make comments that the film is heartbreaking. And they're right, for them. Conversely, once I'd processed it all, I was uplifted and felt glad for the ending. That's correct, for me. Look, I only tend to reference stuff on here that I've enjoyed (there's no need to rubbish someone else's creative efforts online) but this film went further than mere enjoyment. It nourished me. Movies, eh. Who'd have thought?*

Apologies to Scotland
but it tasted great.

Food and Drink

Burns Night weekend saw me stomp all over  another culture by making a veggie haggis recipe I'd got from the Tesco website. I can only apologise to all concerned. It was lovely, though. And the Scottish smoked salmon starter was also fit. I'm still taking baby steps with whisky but I persevered. For Scotland!

Me, the River Mersey,
and a very cold morning.

Out and About

Two cinema visits in one week is unusually busy for me. Then there was a very cold and blustery walk by the river, a shopping trip to the Trafford Centre, and my usual Wednesday brunch. It was a good week.

So, farewell January. You've been a decent enough month. Like the soy-spattered saffron on my spice shelf, let's walk tall into February, whether our moment is coming or not. 

Have a lovely week, folks.

*STOP PRESS: Hours after writing this blog, I hadn't scratched the itch. I needed to write more. If you've seen All Of Us Strangers and want a spoiler-riddled outpouring, here's what I blurted out.

Beautiful Bleakness...

My Tuesday winter walk

What do you need for the perfect snow day? Snow of course! Plus the freedom to be able to ditch your planned day of work to have exciting winter fun. BOTH things happened for me on Tuesday. How marvellously serendipitous! 

Once I'd clocked the weather and calmed my inner giddy goat, I reshuffled my To Do list and made space. What for? Well, how about a winter walk? Tick! Layering up to resemble the Michelin man? Tick! Back home to drinks, PJs, and fluffy socks? Tick! (Can you sense my glee even now? I LOVED it.) The rest of the day left me feeling present and mindful. I might have spent it watching winter films between mugs of tea (Eddie the Eagle, Downhill, You've Got Mail, and the non-wintery but still good, Snake Eyes) but I was hyper aware of how brilliant each second felt. Snow. It really does something to me. 

Will Ferrell might be having
a breakdown in this scene,
but Downhill's snowy vibes
still make me happy. 

It lasted a day. There's still the last bit of yet-to-melt white in the corners of the garden, but the thrill has waned. For one perfect Tuesday, however, I had a ball. 

Writing News

It's nearly time to declare this manuscript DONE. Last week I bought a ruler. One of those metal ones that makes you feel architecty. (Just me?) I printed out all 349 pages, started at the top, and with the ruler under each line, read my story aloud. It's the best way to check every little thing. The ruler slows you down, and detaches you from the vibes. It forces you to spot every letter, space, and punctuation mark on the page. It's magic.

A partially obscured
opening paragraph.
But look at the
ruler of dreams! 

By this point, there are barely any typos or missing words. (I spotted two!) But what I did notice were the times I'd put the punctuation at the end of someone's speech OUTSIDE the speech marks instead of inside. It's a teeny thing but it happened a few times. Thanks to my trusty ruler, I mopped them all up.

Claudia is EXCELLENT
in The Traitors.

Culture

As I said above, Tuesday Snow Day was also Film Day. If you want me to fit loads more than usual into twenty-four hours, make it snow - I'll leap out of bed early doors, be back from a walk by nine, and do four films back to back! Apart from that, there's only one programme I've been watching. The Traitors. Oh my diddly days. If you're already on it, you'll be as obsessed as me. It's that kind of show. I don't know anyone who watches it and feels indifferent. It hooks you in, like a drug you can't get enough of. As my sister said last week, the wait from the Friday episode to the following Wednesday is way too long. We're all addicted and we need more. So when it ends on Friday, I don't know what I'll do. (Perhaps rewatch Season One? I've forgotten enough of it by now!) FYI, Julia Raeside wrote this Substack piece about how ethical it feels, compared to other reality shows. She makes lots of sense.

Oooh, the spice, the
warmth, the pungency!

Food and Drink

It's the same every January. After all the (excellent) beige food at Christmas, I crave spice and heat. For two or three meals a week since then, I've made Thai green curry. Of course this goes with all the usual caveats. I'm not Thai, this is not an authentic recipe, there are far better ones online, etc, but here's what I've been doing. 

Whizz up some spring onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, fresh coriander, spinach, cumin, turmeric, ground coriander, lime zest, lime juice, and lemongrass paste. There's your curry paste. Heat it up in a bit of olive oil, and add some protein (I usually use salmon or tuna steak cut into chunks.) Add some stock, a bit of coconut milk if you like, some cornflour to thicken if you prefer, and serve over rice.

Ta da! It's easy, full of veg and heathy stuff, and tastes fab. I've eaten it fairly consistently since New Year and not got sick of it. At some point, I guess, I'll be craving a cheese board and party food again. I'll be sure to let you know.

Out and About

On Friday I had my first cinema visit of 2024 and saw Mean Girls. It was such a laugh. Loads of callbacks to the film  great music, and regular LOL moments. I'm a fan. Then the following day was - as God intended - devoted to The Masked Singer. Like The Traitors, it's a TV format that works ridiculously well. And it's suited so perfectly to January Saturday nights. It's daft, it's overblown, it's sparkly, and it keeps you guessing week on week. But this is the Out and About section, so let's get back to that. The previous Saturday, I went out for tapas. I had a marvellous time (thank you Bar Carouse) and ate the loveliest food, (Camembert mash! Can you believe?) but I still watched The Masked Singer as soon as I got in.

The beautiful bleakness

The older I get, the more I love January. Look, I know the snow's given me a lift this week, but hear me out. I love the bleakness of everything. The dark nights, the candles on the coffee table, the need to wrap in layers. It fills my soul with actual joy. If this is not the case for you, hang in there. I believe we're getting longer days now. While I whoop at the current weather, there's always that to focus on.

Have a lovely week, folks.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

How Far Can I Take You?..

I've been thinking about suspending disbelief. Oh, morning! How are you? Let's crack on. Over recent months, I've been mulling over the concept of suspending disbelief. Why? We'll get to that in a bit. First, here's an official definition of what I'm on about.

'Suspend Ones Disbelief: To ignore or look past ones incredulity at the improbability of something that occurs within a piece of fiction in order to better the experience of the work.' 
                                                                                                              The Free Dictionary

 

We do it all the time, don't we? Suspend our disbelief. For the duration of my last cinema visit, I fully believed that Timothée Chalamet's Wonka was real. I bought into his emotional journey. I felt his pain and then his joy when he finally defeated the bad guys. That's what happens at the cinema. Despite the fact that during the film, Wonka's chocolates make people fly, Hugh Grant is an Oompa Loompa, and a giraffe is milked - yes MILKED -  I was all in. Of course, as soon as I left the Odeon, I was back to my usual self. I talked about the plot, the skill of the screenwriters, and the fab special effects. In other words, I talked about the reality of cinema. But for the duration of the film, reality was on hold. Fun!

I saw it loads when I was teaching. In my Y1 classroom, there was a building site role-play area. As soon as children spent time there, they'd take on a role. They'd be putting on a hard hat and digging foundations, never once put off by the fact they were actually in a corner of the classroom. They knew it wasn't really a building site but they'd pretend to operate a pneumatic drill as if it were. Afterwards, if I'd asked them if they were builders for real, they'd have looked at me like I was mad. Of course they weren't. They were just playing! Like we all just play when we watch TV, read a book, or play a video game. We suspend disbelief for as long as the fiction takes place. Then we carry on with our day.

Book One in the series

So why has this been on my mind lately. Well, as usual, it all comes back to my next book. A quick recap for those that need it - I'm writing the second book in the Leeza McAuliffe series. It's about an eleven year old girl, who deals with her chaotic family, daily school drama, and the angst of puberty, by writing everything down in her diary. I finished it a while ago, it's just the technical admin to do now. 

Unlike Wonka, it's very realistic. There's no fantasy element that defies logic. The life of an eleven year old girl is relatable. Even to people that aren't or weren't eleven year old girls. There are no flying chocolates, orange Hugh Grants, or milked giraffes. There's school. There are friendships. There's a first kiss and working out who you are. There's hardly any reason to suspend disbelief at all.

Except of course there is. It's just different. The fiction I've created is that Leeza has written a diary. And you, dear Reader, are reading it. No matter how realistic and relatable the events in that diary, it's still a printed book. It's in a consistent font, with no spelling mistakes, crossings out, or doodles. The readers of Leeza McAuliffe's diary have to believe that this is the book she writes in, every night before bed. It's the book she keeps under her mattress. It is not the creative output of Nicky Bond, whose name is on the cover.

And you know what? I'm fine with that. It's what readers do. When I think back to reading Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole, she had a similar problem. Except she didn't. Because when I read Adrian Mole, I never once thought, 'But this is too unbelievable. It's not handwritten. I can't carry on because I'm being duped.' Nah, I read it and loved it. I suspended disbelief. 

It was once I'd finished the manuscript that I started to ponder all this. Because there was one aspect of my novel that I wasn't sure readers would accept. Here's the context. In the story, there's a major plot point surrounding Leeza's family. And in order to deep-dive into the character of her maternal Grandma, I made Leeza's History teacher set a piece of homework. She has to interview someone older in her life, about their childhood. So, Leeza interviews her Grandma and finds out lots about her. So far, so good, right?

In my first drafts, we see the transcript of the opening of the interview. As the book progresses, Leeza includes a few more chunks of the transcribed interview, as they become relevant to the plot. Again, so far, so good, yeah? Except I had a problem. Considering how realistic the plot of the story is, it made zero sense for Leeza to spend hours transcribing an interview into her History book and then write the whole thing out again in her diary. No one would do that, let alone a girl who's sick of homework. 

So I changed it. In the next drafts, Leeza explains that she's typed up the interview on the family computer, and stuck a copy into her diary. Yeah? OK? Good. That worked for me too. It made sense she might do that. But then another thought occurred. The extract of interview in her diary was in the same font, the same ink, and the same format as the rest of her diary. It didn't look like a separate piece of paper stuck in. Would readers suspend their disbelief and gloss over that small glitch or would it ruin their acceptance of the story? Who knows?

I'll tell you who knows? My writing group. After reading them an extract that included some of Grandma's interview, they felt that it took them out of the story. Back then, I'd simply put the interview section in bold. That wasn't enough. They pointed it out immediately. It looked wrong as they saw it on the page. 

As is often the case, I wished I was more technologically minded. If I had a clue about Canva or InDesign or any of that jazz, I could've created some sort of picture. A picture of a piece of paper that's been stuck into the diary. On the paper would be Grandma's interview typed up. But how to make that happen was beyond me. In the end, I forgot about it and hoped readers would stretch their suspended disbelief a little bit further.

The thought wouldn't shift, though. I've spent two years on this novel. The last thing I want to do is knowingly make it less than perfect. (Of course it'll be less than perfect. I just won't KNOW about it.) In the end, I accepted this was an issue. I had to be proactive. Next thing you know, I'm emailing Gary, the man that designs my covers and makes the look of my books so fab. He would know what to do.

Enjoy my sketch! I had to
Google, 'How to draw a curled
corner.'

Explaining what I wanted via email was tricky. I'm not even sure I've managed to explain it here, and so far it's taken about 1200 words. Gary doesn't need a 1200 word email from me. No one does. (Hey Subscribers! This is the time I should say, 'Thanks for reading!') Eventually I managed to explain what I meant and what I needed. Check out my terrible sketch that I sent (to an actual designer who does art and ev) to try and explain. I felt proper cringe.

But now, it's sorted. Yep, we've jumped right up to the present day. Gary's played a blinder and I've got seven jPegs inserted into the manuscript. Each one depicts either a chunk of the History homework interview, or at one point, a letter that Leeza receives. They look properly good. A piece of paper, with a bit of tape across the top, inserted into her diary. Just as would happen in real life. 

It's been interesting to have to work this out. How far can I take readers with me? Do I think they'll accept that Leeza's written this diary? Yes. Do I think they'll accept she's typed up her homework and stuck it in, if it doesn't immediately look like she's done that? Not sure. Maybe not. Whatever happens in the future, my book's got some cracking illustrations of inserted pieces of paper. I might not have gone the whole hog and added doodles and crossings out, but I'm really happy how it's turned out. 

Suspending disbelief is such an interesting concept. How far do you allow yourself to be pushed towards incredulity? For me, who tends not to enjoy fantasy or sci-fi, not very far. But then something like Doctor Who or Years and Years comes along, and I love it. That's Russell T Davies for you. Get a great writer and I'll go along with anything. Likewise, one of Wonka's screenwriters was Simon Farnaby, one of the people behind the sitcom Ghosts. If you asked me if I want to watch a programme about a haunted house, I'd say no. If you asked me if I wanted to watch a comedy written by the same team as Horrible Histories, I'd say yes. 

I gotta keep striving.
Then I can take you
ANYWHERE.

All this Longer Ramble shows is that everything comes down to the writing. I don't think I realised that until now. Get the writing right and you can convince anyone of anything. That's definitely something to remember and definitely something to work towards. 

Have a lovely week, folks.

Generic Rice and Reading Resumed...

Week 1 of 2024 is done. Congratulations, you made it! New Year is now relegated to the uncapitalised, calmer-vibed, new year, and soon it won't even be that. Are we gliding through the month with ease or were there a few technical hitches along the way? You want the good news? It doesn't matter! However you're tackling January, good on you. You're tackling it, and that's all that matters. 

Writing News

I've been enjoying a decent period of non-writing. It's been nice to empty my head a bit. Meanwhile, the front cover's getting finalised, and graphics for inside are being designed. This means I'm still filling time before I can share the Official Book News of how and where to pre-order. But it's new year, I can't forever swan about, enjoying festivities. I've got to crack on. So after not having read the manuscript for approximately two months, I sat down and went from start to finish. Honestly, I love it. I mean, I have to say that, don't I. But I really do. Someone once told me that you should only write something you'd want to read yourself. And Reader, I have!

Culture

Lee Child, writer of the Jack Reacher stories, lost me as a reader a few years ago. In 2012, the Tom Cruise film, Jack Reacher , came out. It was all wrong and I wasn't impressed. Even though I'd loved every book until that point, I started to see the character differently. A seed was planted and it started to grow. Maybe Jack Reacher is a bit of a tit. Maybe I don't want to read about his exploits anymore. Maybe I'm completely done with him. Maybe Tom Cruise has ruined him for me forever. So I stopped reading that particular series. Child still wrote them, they were still published annually, and then he passed the character on to his brother who writes them to this day. And that's where we are. Except... except the second series of Amazon Prime's Reacher is being aired as we speak and it's glorious. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the actor who plays Reacher is perfect. I'm lapping up the stories and am fully buying into the character once more. All this preamble is to say, I've started reading the books again. Woohoo! The Midnight Line came out in 2017, and I'm currently devouring it. And the best bit? After that, I've got six more to catch up on. Sweet.

Food and Drink

No shade to my mum. Cooking a nightly meal for a family of nine was no mean feat. Especially as that nine included a variety of fussy eaters, a baby or toddler on the milk, and a lone vegetarian. Regardless, years later we've still got some decent family banter about how her risotto, kedgeree, and 'rice with bits' was exactly the same meal. I only mention this now because something marvellous has happened. Over Christmas I had kedgeree for the first time. (And I mean, actual kedgeree, not kedgeree that could be repackaged as risotto the next day.) I loved it. If you watched Mary Berry's Highland Christmas you'll have seen her cook it with Andy Murray. You'll be pleased to know that kedgeree is now my favourite smoked haddock dish. I could never have imagined such a statement in the 80s. Recipe here for those that want it.

Out and About

What with the schools breaking up so late -  can you even imagine being in class on December 22nd? Madness! - my teacher friends were still off last week. As such I had a lovely night in the pub with a couple of them. If OFSTED were ever to take on human form, their ears would have been on FIRE.

Right then. You know what to do. Week 2 of 2024 is yours for the taking. Do with it what you will. Regroup next week? Yes? Jolly good.

Have a lovely week, folks.

Welcome, Blank Slate...

Hello 2024! Is it true? Are you real? Do we really get a blank slate? 

That's what the New Year is. A blank slate. Whether you've been binging your arse off for the past fortnight, or been full-on at work; whether you're someone who doesn't celebrate Christmas, or someone going through a difficult time so partying isn't a priority, we've all been gifted a new start. How lucky we are! The turning of a corner, a new leaf, a clean page! The flip chart has been whipped over the stand. The Etch-A-Sketch knob has been slid to the left. The smartphone has been wiped and is back to factory settings. Now's the time to regroup, draw a line, and start afresh. Was this a desired outcome during the invention of the Gregorian calendar? Who knows? Who CARES? It's all to the good.

Now, you know me by now. I'm not a resolutions kind of woman. I've no truck with any of that. If you want further explanation, check this out from January 2021. (I'm currently LOLing at the one NY resolution I did make that year. Did I stick to it? What do you think!) But cast your mind back to January 2023. My first blog of last year was much healthier. Instead of the Weekly Update format, I used the same categories to share my hopes and dreams for the year ahead. It's here, if you want a refresher. What's lovely is that rereading it back a whole year later, so many of my dreams came true. I'm not even trying to be funny. They really did. Can you believe it? I'm not saying I manifested them. Many were simply things that were happening anyway. But reading it with the benefit of hindsight, has been rather satisfying. 

So to finish this opener to 2024, I'll briefly repeat the exercise. Here are my plans, dreams, and hopes for the year head - with Weekly Update headings. If it works again, I'll be very happy.

Writing News

Drum roll please! My next book - the second in the Leeza McAuliffe series - will be out this year. Let me be more specific... it'll be out this Spring! Title and cover to be revealed soon. I cannot WAIT to share it with you.

Deacon Blue  
Liverpool Arena 2023

Culture

I want to see more live music. I tend to favour theatre over gigs. But last year I went to three - Pet Shop Boys, Deacon Blue, and Noah Reid. Each one took me out of myself and made me feel brilliant. More please.

Food and Drink

I enjoy being a non-ideological pescatarian. But now and then - because for me it's not about the animals - I have a bite of something meaty that looks nice. (Tee hee!) I'm looking forward to continuing to discover great veggie/vegan recipes, and then, every so often, having the odd scotch egg. (There's no decent replacement. Trust me, I've searched.)

Out and About

Oh, Canada!

I want more holidays please! What with the blow-out Canada adventure last year, it'll be a calmer travel year for sure. What would be good is a couple of days away where I can practise my 879 day German Duolingo streak. Tbh, Germany springs to mind.

So there we are.  A few thoughts about my personal dreams for 2024. What are yours? What's in store? Of course, we all learnt our lesson in 2020. Making plans means bugger all when the world can literally stop. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't dream. Because to have no dreams, aspirations, or plans means you're absolutely satisfied with your life. And if that's how you feel, you're definitely lying.

Have a lovely week, folks.