Hello, Goodbye

It's New Year's Eve. In some parts of the world it's already New Year's Day. And where am I? Relaxing at home with the family? Off out at a house party or getting cold and wet at a city centre New Year celebration? Nope. I'm working. And found out that I would be working less than a week before Christmas. This pretty much sums up 2012. It's been like that.

Last year, as the last whisps of 2011 melted away and 2012 arrived, I remember feeling quite melancholy. It was a feeling that clung to me for weeks. And not without good reason. When I look back now, as I'm about to close the door on 2012 forever, I can see it's been a year dogged with ongoing issues, few resolutions and lots of goals left unachieved.

The first half of the year, Granny was very poorly. We were all very concerned for her and to that I added the weight of concern for my Dad and cousins. Steve and I made two very long trips to Canterbury to visit as her health deteriorated and finally my last surviving grandparent passed away.

The second half of the year has been plagued with work issues, as my previous employer's contract came to an end and a new (incompetent) contractor came in to take over. There has been much anxiety in the build up to the transfer, which has manifested in people generally being unkind to each other. I've had to say goodbye to some great colleagues (and one very good friend who is bringing in the New Year in Australia). The final culmination of this has been mass redundancies and some really inappropriate and unfair actions by the new employer. This has been the single most stressful thing I have been through with any employer and I hope I never have to repeat anything similar in the future.

Our house is still on the market. It still hasn't sold. It's still causing a disproportionate amount of stress with dickish estate agents and a kitchen roof that continues to leak. We've missed out on a number of opportunities, the worst of which was a house with a turret. Even with the front of the house sinking, it was a bargain and it would have been a beautiful home. I fear I might always regret that as 'the one that got away'.

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However, 2012 has a few things worth remembering it for. I have waited for most of my life to see The Phantom of the Opera and I was not disappointed when Mum and I went to see it in May. It was spectacular and if I had been able to afford to see it again, I would have. I also saw Starlight Express this year. I've wanted to see it since I was about twelve so it's been a long wait.

May was a great month this year; as well as Phantom of the Opera at the Palace Theatre, Mum and I had a trip down to the Big Smoke so I could sing at the Royal Albert Hall with Sing Live and the Night of 1000 Voices. I love the choir. I love singing. And combining that with the trip and having Mum there was a real treat.

Mum, Steve and I holidayed in Cyprus in May as well. We lounged around the hotel pool and the hotel bar and the hotel restaurant and our room and didn't leave the hotel all week. It was almost perfect. But I really must stop eating milky and creamy things: My stomach can't take it!

In August Ann and I went into Manchester for one of those makeover days where they take photos. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it and came away with a bunch of photos that I'm really pleased with. They actually make me look quite normal, and not strange or hideous. Although they do show I have a dent in my forehead. Investigations into the cause of the dent are ongoing. (I suspect Dad might've dropped me on my head as a child.)

One final highlight of the year has been Pinterest. Ah, what joy. And what agony. Pinterest inspired me to make some of my Christmas presents this year. Claire got a handmade bracelet that I was quite pleased with. My Dad received an iPad case made out of a recycled suit jacket. I gave my Mum a scrapbook of our wedding photos - it wasn't quite finished but I think she was really pleased to finally have a wedding album. Ann got a Memory Jar. And my in-laws... I made them a patchwork quilt, which I finished at 2.30am on Christmas Day. It turned out really well and I have a queue of people asking for me to make them one. So Pinterest has been a success in that it has lead me to achievements myself.

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Looking forward to 2013, I'll be graduating from the Open University, achieving my Literature degree. I'll also be going to see Wicked when it tours (another one of my favourite musicals ticked off the list) and I'm hoping to get to see a few more theatre productions this year too. I would love to see Avenue Q, although I'd be surprised if that opportunity rolls around this year. I'm really looking forward to the Les Miserables movie, and Sing Live's first concert of 2013 on the 3rd of Feb at the Bridgewater Hall.

I'm renewing my 2012 New Year's Resolution to read 12 books (I only managed 6, with 2 still on the go) but I think I might have to aim for 13 books as it's 2013.2013 will also see the first draft of the novel that I've started at least three times, and I'm determined to keep a diary. Writing has to be a focus of the year, if for no other reason than it's necessary for my degree, so I'm relaunching my writing blog tomorrow. I'm not setting a goal of blogging every day, but I want to make sure there is regular content, and if I'm writing everyday that should be easy... Should... Be... Easy. Famous last words.

I really want to spend a bit more time with friends this year; I feel like I've hardly seen Ann or Claire and I'd really like to meet up with some old friends that I haven't seen for a while. I'm already dreaming up a visit to Ally and Rich in Londonium, and maybe lunch or dinner out with Jo Jo from First Choice. And who knows what else I might manage to do.

So I'm making 2013 a year of friendship and achievement! 13 might be unlucky for some, but it's never steered me wrong. Hello 2013. Goodbye 2012.

Inspiration!

I have been inspired; not in an arty way, in a guts and glory way. This isn't a matter of The Muse knocking on the door and calling me out to play, it's inspiration in the way a person can be inspired by an Olympic Athlete to become more active, or by an X-Factor contestant inspiring a singer to think 'I can do that.'

My 'I can do that' moment has originated from an interesting source. A long-time friend, Ally, is a talented artist and I recently found her Sketchbook on Conceptart. I looked through her art work, starting last August, right up to this year and saw a remarkable improvement and this improvement has happened because she took a critical look at herself and asked 'what do I want to achieve?' She set herself goals, decided what she needed to work on and then worked on it. Tirelessly. Well, I can do that.

For years I've wanted to write: Novels, screenplays, drama, stage plays... anything really (except poetry, which I officially SUCK at!) I've been writing stories since I was in primary school and even ran a fan-fiction writing group between 1998 and 2008. I know there are characters and stories inside my head trying to claw their way to freedom, but life always gets in the way. There's always work, the house, the husband, the dog, singing, politics and god-knows-what-else to do. Well, Ally has inspired me to apply the same dedication to my writing that she's applied to her art.

This isn't the first hint that I should be more dedicated in the application of the writer's craft. Hubby has been saying for months that if I want to be a writer I need to write, and the internet is littered with advice from bloggers and writers saying that the first step to writing is to write everyday. Add to that the fact that I have seen significant improvement in my singing just purely from setting goals and applying regular practice. Ally's success on Conceptart isn't so much another hint, as a slap in the face with a wet kipper: It seems like the whole world is telling me I should write.... lots.... everyday.

So... I've started another blog... The Writer Inside. Writer and blogger, Jeff Goins says that a writer shouldn't just practice, they should practice in public. And so I shall. I still intend to use The Soup Spoon for general posting, but my intention is to post as often as I can on The Writer Inside and to post lots of snippets, short stories and character word-sketches. I'd love to get some feedback about what works and what doesn't, so come on over and have a look around.

I only hope that I can enjoy a similar improvement in my writing that Ally has in her artwork. Who knows, maybe I will actually manage to finish the novel, screenplay and TV pilot episode that I've been chewing on forever.

NaBloPoMo Day 19 - To eBook or not to eBook

Day 19 already. Nearly three weeks. Very exciting. However, for the first time since the beginning of NaBloPoMo, I found myself at a bit of a loss on what to write about, so I sought inspiration on the NaBloPoMo website in the list of prompts. I had to go back to July or August but it was the first one that captured my imagination.

Paper books or eBooks?

There is no doubt that the Sony Reader, the Kindle, the iPad and the various other tablet and e-reader devices are clever pieces of kit - I have written every one of this months blog posts on my iPad and use it for all my notes, outlines and writing. But there's something about a book.

In the same way that physically writing is different from typing, reading on a screen is a different experience to reading an actual book. There's something about holding a book, feeling it's weight and size, the smell of the pages and that sound as you turn a page; it's all part of the experience of reading. A book is warm and friendly and there's nothing quite like a dog-eared copy that has been read over and over, where you can see in every crease and worn edge, how much the reader has appreciated it. An e-reader is cold, mechanical and emotionless and can never tell it's own story the way a physical book can. A book is a doorway to another world, an e-reader is a tool to be used.

You might think this is odd coming from someone who is a self-confessed iFan, but writing is a different process for me than reading and therefore the way that I choose to engage with that process is different. Reading is all about enjoyment for me. When I read I like to become absorbed. I don't analyse, I don't examine and I don't question, I simply let the prose lead me and I obediently follow. When I'm writing, it's work. It's work I enjoy, but it's work. My mind is busy, looking for opportunities to explore, sewing seeds and weaving threads together. When I write, I'm in the driver's seat. It's a more analytical process and a more active one. As a writer, there are occasions when I want to be free of my digital chains, and that's when I put pen to paper in a leather journal I keep for the purpose. In it you will find ideas, random thoughts, snippets of songs, poetry and prose that catch my attention, and general ramblings.

For me, both reading and writing are quite romantic and artsy, but where reading is an entirely romantic experience, writing has a second facet which I think of as 'productive writing'. There's a place for e-readers; it's easier to take a loaded iPad on a two week holiday rather than a stack of 7 novels, and I acknowledge that some people will not romanticise reading as I do, but there will always be books in my house, and I will always prefer to read a printed novel over a digital copy.

NaBloPoMo Day 1 - Inspiration

Inspiration is a funny old thing. It can come from the most unlikely (or indeed, the most likely) of places. Sometimes it even seems like inspiration is ganging up on you; different sources of inspiration banding together to corner you until you submit. As is the case in this instance.

For a while now, I have been following the escapades of Erica Lucke Dean, a wonderful up-and-coming chick-lit writer from Atlanta, who posts a daily blog. To my shame, I am a little bit behind and need to catch up on the last week or so, but her posts almost always amuse me, make me think, or make me smile and it is with a measure of jealousy that I view her blogging regularity. I find it a challenge to remember to brush my teeth every day, so writing a blog every day is an achievement I have often felt envious of.

My Dad, of course, is a huge inspiration in so many aspects of my life, but recent contact with an old school friend has reunited him with his muse and for the first time since my brother died, the creative juices are flowing. My parents have been on holiday for the last couple of weeks in Vietnam (a part of the world that I would love to visit) and every day he has made time to write a thousand or so words of his 'Vietnam Diary', which he emailed to me whenever he had reliable Internet access. I have particularly enjoyed joining them for the ups (27th floor of the Royal Orchid Sheraton Towers in Bangkok) and downs (Dad falling off a bike in Saigon, or Mum nealy ending up in the Mekong) of their voyage, but the real gem has been reading the final few days in the 'Mancheater Diary' when I get to see my life and surroundings through another's eyes.

Finally, I have mentioned before about the friend of at least ten years that I have not yet met. Aaron DeLay is a Denver resident that I met digitally when he joined my role-playing / PBeM / writing group years ago. Although the group has long since disbanded, I have kept in touch with a fair few of the members, including Aaron. He is a young stroke survivor, talented writer and keen photographer. And it was he that added that final level of inspiration to join NaBloPoMo (interNational Blog Posting Month) for October.

So here endeth the first post. I wil TRY to get into a good habit, even if it is just for October, and do justice to the various writers that have inspired me over the last few weeks.