Closing this blog

Hello all, if you are in fact reading this blog. I've decided to close this part of the project down as it was becoming too onerous a task to write as well as support this blog site as well. I am continuing with my 'short story a day' project at The Imaginary Scrapbook (http://imaginaryscrapbook.blogspot.com/)so check it out and come follow me. Meanwhile ta ta and happy writing.

Kirsty

Day 78 - Dream and Nightmare

I was thinking about dreams today and wondering where really they came from. It's a fascinating phenomenon that we know very little about. But it got me wondering about dreams and nightmares and how we decide in our minds which we are going to have. I confess I haven't had a nightmare for some time now. I don't know why given all the demons that are lurking in my life ready to trip me up or give me the proverbial 'willies'. So from there I thought about a nightly battle between dream and nightmare and thus was born my two protagonists, or antagonists, depending on which way you look at it.

Anyhoo I wrote this one through a raging headache which I had since about lunchtime. I hate trying to write when I'm not feeling 100% as I'm never really happy with what I've written. It's as though I feel like because my body is under par that automatically means my mind is too and therefore unable to produce anything of quality. Well judge for yourself. I'm off to bed.

Enjoy

http://imaginaryscrapbook.blogspot.com/2009/11/dream-and-nightmare.html

Day 76 - Love's labour lost

I struggled all day today to come up with an idea. I don't why. I just couldn't seem to engage my brain. I know I've still not completely gotten over my bronchitis and this week at work has been particularly hectic as I've supervised the restocking of our new Physics library at the University, so I wonder whether it's simply exhaustion. Not that I want to make excuses here. So I was sat up in bed at midnight dragging this story, kicking and screaming, out of my head. It's days like this when I wonder what the hell I'm doing as is it worth it when the ideas feel so desperate. Am I compromising my talents, my imagination?

Anyway I don't know where it came from but the title of the Shakespeare play Love's Labour's Lost popped into my head just as I was looking at the Fisher Price Treehouse sitting on the floor at the foot of my bed (I spent the night at my parents house and was sleeping the room usually used by my nephew, Cameron). That was when the idea of a girl that builds (or doesn't) a treehouse that is so poorly constructed it comes down in a storm. Given that I always seem to write characters that readers can empathise with I decided to write a character that you wanted to loathe, and in turn fail in her quest. I think I finished it at about 2am in the morning.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 75 - Sersi's cookies

I was in the kitchen this evening, making dinner and wondering what I could write about when my eyeline fell upon a box of cookie recipe cards an American friend of mine had given me before she returned to the States (Yes, Elissa, they were yours, if your reading this). I instantly thought of a girl that wants to get people to like her by making enchanted cookies only they do more than make people like her.

I suppose this is in some way a story about compromising your morals, beliefs, customs in order to achieve a goal and the realisation that you really don't need to, its all about angles. Subconsciously I've realised that this is very much related to my crazy project in that I feel, or am feeling that I'm compromising a very large part of my life to go down this path. But do I need to compromise it all or is it just about angles, or in my case structure. I'm lacking structure to my life at the moment, upset by my recent illness getting back on track is proving frustrating and I think its wearing me down. Oh, god enough of my soporific ranting.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 74 - The Moon in Star's room

I'm rather hoping my sister isn't reading this blog as I'm about to reveal something that I'd like her not to know, at least not until after Christmas. Anyhoo the idea for this story came from a present I intend on buying my 4 year old nephew. It's called 'The Moon in my Room' and it's basically a light you can fix to the wall that's of the moon and shines through the various lunar phases. I liked the rhyme so much I couldn't get it out of my head 'moon in my room'. Don't ask where the explosion came in to it. I guess I just wanted to blow it up and see what would happen. As my research turned up some quite significant things can happen if we don't have the moon: disastrous things. No I haven't written the next 'Day after Tomorrow' or what's the other one that's due out, '2012' the next odyssey or something. No but there is an element of environmental awareness in the story that I hadn't anticipated appearing, which was kind of unexpected but which I think makes the story a more cosily heartwarming.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 73 - The Countess's teacups

My grandmother had a teaset, 'Ascot Princess 22ct', that I've loved ever since I was a child. My mum has it at the moment but will bequeath it to me one day owing to my love of it. It's a beautiful bone china set that's a delicate pink with 22ct gold trimming and floral detailing. I just adore this set, but sadly one or two of the pieces are missing (I think a cake plate and a cup). I've tried looking online to see if I can find replacements without success. I thought about it again tonight and that was what got me onto the idea of a demanding princess or some sort of stately person that has ten of everything and when her precious tea set is broken a quest to complete the set begins.

This story came right out of my head and onto the page when I began writing it, and in a formal tone, which is what I seem to be more comfortable with. However getting the twist at the end was a little harder to come by. I wanted it to be a smart resolution to the problem not simply making two new cups. So for about an hour and a half I puzzled over different scenarios and it was only when I temporarily gave up trying, so I could go and dry my hair, that I came up with the answer. I won't spoil it for those that haven't read it but I think it works quite neatly.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 72 - The four lives of Jammy

I listened to a news piece today about a kitten that had fallen into a storm drain beside a freeway somewhere in the US. It was a really heart warming tale about the efforts humankind go to to save the life of an animal. The UK is a nation of animal lovers. I myself have a geriatric nutcase of a dog that has a phobia of pigeons and an appetite for anything remotely edible. The story got me thinking about the lengths we go to to help animals. The more my warped mind started to think about animals and death I came across a kind of 'final destination' idea, but instead of humans its an animal that cheats death. Don't ask me how I came to the idea to use a hamster, it just popped in there. I suppose I always thought they were both cute and stupid at the same time and therefore likely to be brazen in the face of risk.

I particularly wanted to make the brushes with death comical, given that I'm dealing with the prospect of death and the many ways it can come upon you. Black comedy is something I love. If you can't laugh about death you just worry about it and life's too short to do that (movie must: The Trouble with Harry. Watch this Hitchcock movie. It's so incredibly british. We do black comedy so damn well). Similarly I didn't want it to end with Jammy 'biting the dust', so left it with an open ended scene, where the reader can fill in the blank. They can decide, if they're so inclined, to have Jammy meet a grisly death, or they can once again have him reprieved at the eleventh hour. The choice is up to the reader.

Enjoy!

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 71 - One too many

So there I was, sat on my sofa with sopping hair at 8.45pm with no idea what I was going to write. Does this happen to you? Well it happens to me a lot, particularly at the moment. It was my first day back at work today after a week off with Bronchitis and I felt like I'd gone from 0 to 60 in a millisecond. I came home with a raging headache, feeling dizzy from rushing about all day having had little to eat for most of last week and was suddenly braced with the thought that I had to write something today. So as I stared out into the cosmos, as a barren writer is apt to do when her muse has buggered off for the evening, hoping for a flickering bulb of inspiration when TADA! an idea popped into my head. No it didn't get in there by pure chance, I was actually looking at the mound of rocks I have in a bowl on my coffee table.

This was where my idea came. I have a collection of rocks, albeit not as extensive as my protagonist Constance,to commemorate various holidays I've been on both in the UK and abroad. It's a pretty collection of quartzite, alabaster, sandstone and other striated stones whose geological names escape me, but gave me the idea of a girl that collects so many her house tips over.

I do love writing these quick quip stories. I'm wondering if I should concentrate more on doing these kinds of stories. What do you think?

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 68 - Red Kindel's gift (part 2)

Here's the second part of my flamable fable!

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 67 - Red Kindel's gift

Guy Fawkes night deserves a Guy Fawkesy story.

Originally I was going to write about a boy that builds the world's largest firework rocket, but decided against it as I figured it might be viewed as promoting pyromania amongst kids. So I went with another kind of story, a more fable based story about a traveller bringing the gift of fire to a village that has never seen it. Bedazzled by the magic of the flames my two protagonists willing provide shelter to the traveller in exchange for the power of fire, but despite the warnings one succumbs to the flames.

Naturally I didn't want to be too didactic in the story-telling so didn't focus too much on the 'don't play with fire' mantra although I do mention it. I wanted to play on how kids are easily bedazzled by it and for them to realise that it's more than just magical, it can be dangerous. I hope it worked.

Enjoy.

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 65 - An eye for a guy

This story really came to be rather organically rather than instantly. I thought about writing a story about building a guy, something I never really did as a kid as I spent most of my childhood in Scotland where traditional guising isn't really done. However I didn't want it to be just a conversation between a child and parent I wanted there to be some underlying meaning to the story, something I could thread within the context of building a guy. I liked the idea of the guy representing a journey undertaken, a hurdle jumped or a summit reached and that it's destruction would be the pinnacle. I knew the journey would have to be a difficult one and couldn't think of a better theme than a child battling and recovering from Leukaemia given 85% of ALL cases are children. I don't allude to my protagonist having battled cancer because the story isn't about the journey it's about the destination.

Anyway, I hope you like this one as I did. A happy eve of Guy Fawkes story.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 64 - no story today

So it turns out I have some sort of bronchial virus infection which is why I'm completely wiped out. I'm frustrated now, partly because I hate being ill and partly because I'm struggling to meet my deadlines. My head is so foggy at the moment I found the Vicks Inhaler I lost on the weekend in a packet of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. Don't ask!

I will make it up. I have to.

Day 63 - Shooting the moon

I was thinking about this story whilst I took my dog out one evening and noticed just how bright and low the moon was in the sky and it occured to me that finding a huge stash of Saxon gold in the middle of a ploughed field was about as likely as being able to shoot the moon. Although I had only just started writing the story I knew I now had my title. Oh well, three words down, a thousand or so more to go!

This project is funny in the way that is eeks out your strengths and weaknesses. I guess I'm not that hot on contemporary adventure. Or maybe it's not that. Maybe I just haven't found the right adventure story to showcase my talents at writing it. Whatever the reason, I wasn't totally convinced by this story. I was finding the structure and plot a little clunky. Yes I am now going to be brutally honest with you and everyone else who cares enough to read this blog. I feel I owe it to myself and to other aspiring writers like me to tell it like it is, or in the immortal words of Ali G 'keepin it real'.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 62 - no story today

So it turns out I have some sort of bronchial virus infection which is why I'm completely wiped out. I'm frustrated now, partly because I hate being ill and partly because I'm struggling to meet my deadlines. My head is so foggy at the moment I found the Vicks Inhaler I lost on the weekend in a packet of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. Don't ask!

I will make it up. I have to.

Day 61- The vampire's costume

Given its Halloween I thought I would write a spooky tale to get the pulses racing. The inspiration for this came from my love of Hammer Horror movies. Some may not be familiar with them but in the 60s and 70s they were extremely popular and responsible for launching the careers of Peter Cushing and Sir Christopher Lee (who is like a god to me!).

The one problem I had with this story was getting the plot line to work and be credible. I had to be a little creative with the myth of vampires and their origins but given the element of 'suspension of disbelief' that comes with any fantastical story I felt I could get away with it as long as all the loose ends are neatly tied up in a bow. With any luck I have achieved that and have delivered a joosy spooky tale!

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 60 - The brief encounter

This is the final part, so to speak, of my multiple narrative story where my intrepid and lovesick teenagers finally meet if only briefly. They both come to immediate conclusions about each other that have a dramatic effect on their lives, both for the positive and the negative.

I really loved this story I think because of its complexity, the interweaving of lives and the misconceptions that happen all too often in life. It doesn't have the happy ending you want but then life rarely does.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 58 - 30 seconds and Day 59 - 30 hours

When I wrote this story I had it down right until the moment Izzy left the bookstore with her signed copy of her idol's autobiography. But, and pardon the crudity, when I was sitting on the loo thinking about the next story (yes I think about writing anywhere and everywhere!) I decided that I didn't want to leave this one alone. I felt that there was another tale to tell from the perspective of the popstar. We sadly live in a world where first impressions are all too often how we judge others. We have no time to investigate the whys or wherefores or wonder why people act the way they do and whether that is their true self or not. This is especially true when it comes to those in the public eye as we tend to believe a lot of what we read in the papers. We know it's sensationalist most of the time yet the images and perspectives of the journalists are how we view those people.

I wanted to do a kind of JLo style story here. Remember her video of, I can't remember the song, but it was when she was going out with Ben Affleck and she made that video of random situations that could be totally misconstrued, well this is how I wanted my story to be. I wanted my dreamy eyed groupie to tell her passion and desire to encounter the love of her life, pop star Marc Donovan. I then wanted to explain the hectic and exhausting life of that same pop star.

Day 60 will be The Brief Encounter. Wait and see!

Enjoy both tales

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 57 - The house of leaves

I had the title of this story before I had the premise or the plot. There is a book called The House of Leaves, which my sister has read and which I gather is rather complicated and involves decipher codes or notes or something. Unless I have the time I really can't be doing with such books. I'm not a detective and I have no patience any more. Anyhoo, I loved the title and for this story decided to take it literally to mean a house of leaves, or more specifically a naturally occuring hut that forms every autumn when leaves fall onto the carcass of a dead tree. I liked the idea of a battle between two rival gangs over ownership of the hut every year but wanted this story to be about them both being faced with the ultimate foe and how they have to band together to evict the unlikely and fearsome resident to reclaim what they feel is theirs. Ultimately it means though that the race for ownership is in fact a draw and that sharing it will be the only way forward. At least until next year.

This is kind of my home ground really, writing quirky off the wall stories that have elements of current issues in them. The current issue here being the existence of Big Cats. It is loosely modelled on my own home village which has a sizeable forest that borders two villages and has (apparently) a Big Cat of its own, although only a couple of people have claimed to have seen it.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 56 - Jasper

I don't have a story today because I'm feeling pretty down. I've had to give up my dog to my parents because his arthritis has progressed to the point where he can't manage the stairs to my flat. So instead of a fictional story I'm going to tell you about my dog.

I have a Golden Retriever. His name is Jasper. He was born on 15th November 1997 on a farm in Wales. He's a registered pedigree dog with the most ridiculous Kennel Club name ever thought of: Moany Mondeo. For a start the adjective 'moany' couldn't be a more inaccurate descriptor. He's the happiest dog ever known to man. I know I'm his owner and I'm bound to say that but it is the truth. He's never been a great lover of other dogs; he tends to give them just a cursory glance when out for a walk, but people-oh my god!. Jasper loves people. He's a little unsure about young children but he loves older kids and adults. He makes a beeline for them whenever he sees them. He'll bound up to them wagging his tail, panting and staring up at them with his big eyes. Once he's been petted by them he's happy and will leave them alone, but he has to greet them. It's always a bit of a talking point as everyone I encounter comments on what a lovely dog he is. And it's true (although I am biased naturally). This trait comes as a bit of a surprise to me, especially given what Jasper and I have been through over the years.

Jasper was given to me at the age of twelve weeks by an ex-boyfriend as a valentine gift. I remember the very first time I saw him. I was sat in the living room of the house I shared with my boyfriend one day, watching TV. I heard the front door shut but then heard nothing. So I poked my head round the lounge door and there sat bolt upright in the hallway, bold as brass, was this little, fluffy orange-blonde blob. He had huge dark eyes, a rosy pink nose, fluffy, saucer-shaped paws. Being a huge dog lover I scooped him up in to my arms and sat him on my lap. I grabbed the phone and instantly called my mother.
"So what are you going to call him?" she asked.
"I've got no idea," I replied. "But he's funny and orange."
My mum pondered my bizarre description and said, "What about Jasper?"
Although she never explained why she came to that conclusion I always assumed it was an homage to Jasper Carrott (a famous british comedian from the 80s).
"Perfect!" I said.
That first night my boyfriend made him sleep downstairs. He baracaded the stairs so Jasper couldn't get up. It broke my heart as I wanted to have him in the bed with me. I knew that wasn't practical but as the night wore on and Jasper's whimpering didn't subside I gave in to temptation. I went downstairs, picked Jasper up and plopped him down on a rug beside me.
Our early life together wasn't rosy. When my relationship fell apart I found myself in a quandry. Jasper was mine, there was no disputing that, but I had to find somewhere for us to now live. As luck would have it, I managed to find a house share that allowed a dog. I moved out that day and moved, in about ten miles down the road, with a guy that had a large semi. But that situation didn't last. I came home one day and received a letter from my landlord asking me to leave. No explanation. I was panic-stricken. I scoured the papers looking for alternative accommodation hoping that there would be somewhere else we could go, but my search was fruitless. I found I had to do the unthinkable; I rang my ex. He agreed to take Jasper in until I found a more suitable arrangement. Had I known then what was about to happen I would never have taken him there, but I was desperate. I dropped Jasper off and moved myself out of the house share and into a bed-sit. I wasn't there very long before the flat above me flooded and I came home to devastation. My belongings were ruined and I had no insurance. I found somewhere else to live, luckily, but it wasn't the most ideal of situations. That, however, was the least of my problems. When I went to visit Jasper one day I was horrified with what I saw. My boyfriend had kept him locked in a back bedroom. The room was stripped bare: no carpets, no curtains. Jasper was living amongst a ladder and various other decorating equipment, paint pots, rollers, brushes and general domestic rubble. Jasper was so desperate to get out he'd been scratching the door. I screamed at my ex, demanding to know why he was treating Jasper this way. He offered no explanation but I was sure it was just to get back at me. With no plan in place I scooped my eighteen month old dog up and put him in my car. The only option I had was to call my parents.
I drove through the evening, two hundred miles up the M6 to Scotland, and tearfully dropped Jasper off with people I knew I could trust and rely on to care for Jasper. After my failed relationship and my disillusionment at living in Manchester I had already begun searching for work in Scotland (my intention being to return) and a few months after I left Jasper under the care of my parents I was reunited with him. I couldn't have been happier.

Ever since then Jasper has lived the life of a king. He's had a lovely house to roam about in, a nice garden to pee all over, woods and fields to gambol through, friendly villagers to pet and coddle him, mounds of soft toys to shred, numerous holidays that have taken him to Cornwall, where he was admired by an Italian woman who called him 'a little angel' in Italian (I had to laugh!), Wales, Skye, Loch Ness, Aviemore and the Lake District.

He has his dislikes: polished floors, long walks, pigeons. And his passions: my sofa, gouging out the eyes of his teddies, food, food and more food. Now I know that food is an obvious one. All dogs love food. But Jasper goes the extra mile in order to fulfil his craving and has gotten me into trouble on numerous occasions as a result of it.
For example my dad took Jasper for a walk one day and stopped to talk to a villager as he exited his home. Little did my dad know that Jasper meanwhile had snuck into the villager's kitchen, pulled out a shrink wrapped packet of raw chicken from his shopping bags and begun to chew on it. My dad was contrite and luckily the villager was a friend and found the incident rather amusing. But that's not the only ocassion Jasper has had his nose where he shouldn't. I found him on the road munching on a bread roll one morning. After a little detective work I found my neighbour had left her shopping bags by the steps to her garden. Jasper again had dug his nose into the plastic bag and pulled it out.
On another occasion my mum had taken some chicken thighs out of the freezer to defrost which Jasper had pulled down off the kitchen worksurface and gnawed on. Before my mum found out and had a hairy fit I rushed to the supermarket to replace the contaminated chicken but could only find chicken legs on sale. My friend was bent double in hysterics as she watched me hack chicken legs with a cook's knife to make them look like thighs. Luckily I did an excellent job (perhaps I should have been a butcher not a writer) as mum never suspected a thing (although if she reads this I'm sure she'll have something to say about it).

But Jasper hadn't always eaten edible things. I've sadly had him at the vets a few times after he'd eaten my mother's spectacles, and then on a separate occasion a pile of pig pellets which resulted in him undergoing an x-ray and a lengthy operation to remove the 'fibrous mass' from his intestine. The problem is he is a complete scavenger. In fact when I take him for a walk its a battle of wits as to whether I can keep him from vacuuming up scraps off the ground before he can find them.

For all his faults though I have put him through some trying times. Not least dressing him up for my sister's 30th birthday. The photographic evidence says more than I can ever say about that day.

So although he will only be five miles down the road from me. I'm going to miss him laying by my feet as I write my stories and farting indiscrimately!

Day 55 - The shamen's curse

I read an article today about a man in the states that has created the world's smallest model railway. This thing is literally the size of you thumb and is carved out of moulded plastic and is powered by a motor that is seemingly available from model stores. His idea was to have a model railway within a model railway. A neat idea, which gave me a neat idea for a bit of a gothic story.

This one centres around Wiley who has just bought a curse model of the village he lives in. But as Wiley starts to act out fictious stories surrounding the village and its residents whilst playing with it, those stories begin to come true. At first the stories are innocent but as the curse of the model village takes control of Wiley they become increasingly sinister and violent.

There is no blood and gore in this as I really wanted to do a gothic middle grade story as I know when I was aged 8 - 12 I loved gothic stories, and still do (read The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, widely known as the first true gothic story published).

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 54 - Paw prints

Did you know that there is a dog that paints? His abstract art works sell for £1000 and are displayed in New York galleries. Who would have thought it. I told my friend this on the weekend and she promptly told me to shove a brush in Jasper's paws and get him to earn his keep(Jasper is my geriatric Retriever). Naturally I didn't, I'm too nice to turn Jasper into a money spinner. Besides he's more liable to eat the brush than paint with it. What I did do is come up with a story about a dog that revives the fortunes of a seaside town on the verge of bankruptcy because of declining tourism. At first the guerilla artist canine (modelled on Banksy but I recinded from calling the dog Pawsy)paints for pleasure, then for profit, then rebels and starts to paint the town-red!

I actually wrote this one in about an hour and a half. I'd just come back from visiting a friend's art exhibit at a local festival (we had lunch afterwards at a bakery. Fisher and Donaldson fudge donuts can't be beaten in my opinion!) and wanted to participate in the Quiz night at my parent's village hall. It's a hotly contest annual event with the prize being a six inch high cup (I did say it was hotly contested, didn't I?). I managed the quiz, although my team lost, sadly. Never mind, there's always next year.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 53 - Soaring

There was a major accident at a crossroads near where my parents live, yesterday. It's a terrible accident black spot as people using both the roads that intersect each other as though they're formula one tracks. The occasions I've been past it and seen fresh bunches of flowers tied to the fence, I've always felt very melancholy. Such a senseless waste.

Anyhow I was feeling pretty somber about it as although it was a bad accident I don't think there were any fatalities (or at least that's what I'm hoping). But with that in mind I couldn't help but filter it into a story. And so I created 'Soaring'. The tale of a girl (who's sex is only revealed by her bike), that has been in an accident and is between worlds.

I always find writing emotional drama a bit challenging. I'm never sure if I'm emotive enough without being overpowering. Well I'll leave it for you to decide.

Enjoy!

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 51 - The ugly truth

After my recent wine tasting I was sat in my friends garden munching on cheese and french bread (ah that's the life!) and out of the blue said 'Why are spiders ugly?'. Was it alcohol fuelled ramblings or true philosophical musings? Who knows. What it did do though was give me an idea for a story.

It's just a little one with a daughter and grandfather pondering that very question. I was conscious of this one becoming too didactic so tried to tone down the explanations as to why the spider has evolved to become a hairy, leggy, eight eyed horror (yes I hate spiders, even though they serve a very useful purpose).

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 50 - Lost and found

The idea for this one was planted by my father. He writes too, although mostly stage and screen plays, and had an idea of a homeless boy befriending a stray dog. Naturally I took the idea and swivelled it around on its head and came up with an unorthodox search and rescue mission conducted by a dog who senses that all is not well in his house.

Initially I just used the name Rover as a substitute until I came up with a name that was less cliche, but as I wrote the story I realised that it actually said a lot about his character and his purpose in the story, so I decided to keep it.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 49 - Hot and Cold

A bit of humour to start the week off. I always enjoy writing stories with a bit of bite to them and this one I particularly love, especially the sharp tongue of my protagonist, Libby. She has the quick wit I always wished I had so I enjoyed living vicariously through her, if not for just a few hundred words.

I think the only challenge was trying to maintain the pace and wit, but with a bit of perseverence and forethought I think I pulled it off.

What do you think?

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 48 - Tales from Grimwold:Gilivan the Gryphon

Lets hope I getting back on track.

I've been toying with the idea of creating a mythical world with which I can craft a few stories. I have an idea for a ghost related one which I'm investigating and hope to have something in the pipeline for the future. But Grimwold is more of a mythical place. I suspect this one is more likely to be a serial than a series, but we'll see. I have an idea for a continuation or two so you may see the intrepid Macadam Snore again. Incidentally his name is an anagram of my nephew's name!

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 47 - The purple pirates

Its funny how you react when life throws you a curve ball isn't it?

I admit that I'm completely not happy with this story. I'm not going to make excuses but given this is a blog about writing and how life impacts on writing I feel I should divulge why I'm not happy.

My dog is not well at the moment. He's not been well for sometime and today it came to a head, of sorts. I'll back up a bit here. My dog is 12 years old. He's been with me since he was 12 weeks old. Both of us have been through the mill over the years but we have a pretty comfortable life now. However, my dog has severe arthritis. He was diagnosed when he was 6 years old and although I was told it was going to get worse as he got older, inspite of taking medication to ease the condition, I secretly was in denial that that was going to happen. The last few weeks he's shown signs of deterioration-inability to climb the stairs to my flat, general sluggishness when out for a walk. Yesterday I had to physically coax him down the stairs to go for a walk with choc drops. To see him standing at the top of the stairs, trembling because he wanted to come down but couldn't work out how to do it was heartbreaking. After a trip to the vet it became a reality that I was going to have to give him up at some point to my parents (who live in a cottage with no stairs). He's with them at the moment whilst he goes through a new course of medication. So I'm feeling blue and it's causing a mental block in my brain.

Anyway there it is.

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 46 - The envelope

A snap shot in time story. That's what this is. It's a moment that every person on the planet over the age of 16 can relate to. That dreaded moment when the exam results come through your door. I remember it well. Three times at the age of 15, then 16 and my final certificate came at 17. The anguish and torment and being so close to having your life change irreparably.

So I wanted to capture that moment in a story. But I didn't want it to be too introspective, too serious so I decided to put a slightly humorous spin on it by having the neurotic mother bleating in the background.

I probably would have drawn it out a bit further but to be honest, towards the end I came down with serious stomach cramps (which I'm still feeling as I type this blog). So I curtailed it. Perhaps that was the nature order of the story, perhaps fate took a hand and made me keep it short and sweet. You decide. Anyway I'm off to lay down and watch Matrix Reloaded.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 45 - Blaze

details to come

Day 44 - Forty winks in forty words

When I was washing up tonight the number forty popped into my mind. Not sure why. It may have been down to the fact that I had just been counting how many spiders were dangling outside my kitchen window (luckily there were not 40, just 8, otherwise I would be writing this blog from the other side of the planet!). I knew I wanted to write a really short story and so when this number landed in my head I immediately thought forty winks. It was the first thing that came to me. From there the idea of writing a dream in forty words that had a beginning a middle and an end. A tall order.

The more I thought about the dream state the more I realised that when we all go to bed, even as a child, we have the weight of the world upon our shoulders. Granted the types of problems kids worry about are different to those adults worry about but the prinicipal is the same. Then when we awake we are refreshed. The problems of the day before diminish, to make way for new ones. Inbetween that time is dream time. The idea of traversing your childhood in a night, picking out the elements of it that evoke the most happiness seemed like the perfect way to go from troubled to calm.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 43 - Unearthing Harry Sands

Last year there was a local news report about a man that had thrown a message in a bottle into the north sea off the coast of Orkney when he was eleven years old. Twenty five years later the bottle washed up on the West Sands of St Andrews (the town the now 33 year old, lives in). He was reunited with his bottle to much amazement.

That story had been sitting in my head waiting for me to turn it into something else. And then on Monday an idea was born for 'Unearthing Harry Sands'. This one was quite a complicated one to construct in my limited time frame and to be honest I finished it just after midnight (talk about knackered!). But despite the pressure I put on myself I really enjoyed crafting this story. The one real challenge, given that I wasn't tell the story from the very beginning, was filtering in all the elements of Holly's research. I hope I succeeded. But judge for yourself.

I should also add that I complicated matters for myself considerably by making an apple pie as well. Whilst I was peeling the apples I had my netbook beside me, making notes about the plot as they occurred to me. I think I must have a slightly sadistic streak in me to make my life needlessly complex!

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 42 - Alter egos

Would you believe I got the idea for this one from a car wash!

I kid you not. I was walking my dog, searching my brain for today's story and as I rounded the corner to the car wash at the petrol station there was a large cloud of white mist emanating from it that gusted across the street. From the time it took to walk from the station to my flat (approximately 100 yards) I had an idea of mist turning a kid's parents into kids, but in reality it was all a dream.

I instantly felt a real buzz and was itching to get to my laptop to write it up. So after dining on beans on toast (my meal planner at the moment consists of meals that can be prepared in five minutes or less - that is the criteria when I browse the aisles at Morrisons!), I got to it. I did have a rather cheeky glass of wine though, to take off the edge. It's only the start of the week and it's gonna get crazy.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 41 - Walter the dead genius

I'm wrestling with the 'show don't tell' issue at the moment. I'm finding that in order to keep the stories to a minimum in terms of length I'm having to put some element of telling into the story as a background, otherwise the stories would be ridiculously long. I noticed it particularly with this story. When I felt there was too much telling I went back over it and injected some dialogue to break it up. Being conscious of pace etc I'm feeling its necessary to get some kind of balance between the two. What do you think?

Also I'm realising that I could not live without the internet. I mean my everyday life would suffer but my writing and this project would be seriously compromised. Having any information at your finger tips is incredibly valuable. For example, take this story. How much time would it have taken me to find a picture of a 19th century school boy that I could use for one line in the story? With the net I got it in 60 seconds. I know you know that but did you really stop and think?

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 40 - TIDI

So I came up with this one as I was lying in bed this morning. My alarm went off at 8am and I realised 'I have to write a story before noon'. The reason for the urgency, as readers may remember from yesterday's post, was the wine tasting afternoon. Two hundred reds, whites, roses and champagnes. It was a really enjoyable day, and I felt vindicated when I managed to guess an expensive wine against a cheap wine. Although the event was from noon until 4pm my friend and I only lasted until 2. By then we were feeling a little woozy (not enough spitoons), so, with a touch of the munchies, we continued our refined afternoon with a visit to the local cheese shop, I M Mellis(I love this place even though it smells of feet), and spent what felt like a months salary on cheese. Then after a trip to the bakers for a french stick and, what I can only describe as heaven in a bun, the famous Fisher and Donaldson fudge donuts (ah mahoney!), we were set for picnicing in the sunshine.

As for the story. I was pleased with how quickly this one came out. It was proof really that I can commit and produce something with little time on my hands. I also think that when my deadline for production is tight my writing is much more succinct. What do you think?
Anyway the idea came from a kid's drawing of a robot, which got me thinking what if a boy invented a robot that did his chores, and what would happen if he overworked it. And thus TIDI was born: the Technological Initiator of Direct Instructions.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 39 - Not enough nuts!

This is a cute little fable I put together. It's just a short one, but to be honest it's good to scatter a few briefer stories in amongst some meatier stories, especially when you've just written a gothic horror. Who would have thought that squirrels would have succeeded that one!

I was a little concerned that this one may come across as being a bit patronising as i know kids can sniff out a story they feel is talking down to them, which was why I played up the character of Nuts and made him a bit of a loveable lazy squirrel. I'm sure even adults can relate to having the odd lazy, day of procrastination. Although the bottle of wine I had with my pizza might have had something to do with that. I recommend Hardy's Chardonnay. Really nice wine.

For those interested I should be able to give you some more vinery recommendations as I'm at a four hour wine tasting tomorrow. As I said to my friend I better get tomorrow's story written before I go otherwise it'll probably be a story about flying goblins or skateboarding clouds.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 38 - The last pawn

I honestly don't know where the idea for this one came from. I think my warped, sadistic mind was on overdrive as the notion of having a human chessboard crept in.

Fortunately I came up with this one yesterday so I had some time to think about it. I had a few ideas as to how I wanted to put it together, but they all seemed unnecessarily complicated and would have meant the story was twice as long as it actually was. So I basically divided it up into three key scenes. That's the formula I'm trying to use for all my stories to keep them as brief as possible. Sometimes it doesn't work but then that's life.

As turned out the story took longer for me to write than I expected. At 11.30pm I gave up trying to finish it on the day so posted what I could and finished the rest on Friday. I can safely say that this week has been really difficult. But I'm soldiering on. No pain no gain, right?

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 37 - Critter Twister

'Raining cats and dogs' was the inspiration for this story, perpetrated by a freak storm that sucked up anything with legs and a heart (humans excluded). I do actually really like writing animal stories, which is no surprise really given my novel is about a dog.

So despite the fact that I had to create another story today to make up for yesterday's lapse I managed to put another together as well as come up with a premise for tomorrows story. Watch out now for a bit of a gothic horror tale...

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 36 - Making bluebirds

I've faltered.For the first time. Today I had no premise. Only a bare idea which I couldn't get to work. Or perhaps not so much get to work I just couldn't get my head in gear. Today I got some bad news which is playing on my mind. There is no excuse for delayed production. I know it is going to sting me tomorrow when I have to finish a story and write another one. And what's more I have to produce a newsletter for the university library. Where am I going to get the time?

Please, everyone, collectively give me some strength. This week I need it.

So I finally posted a story, albeit a little late. This was a quickie that I put together at lunchtime. Though it means I now have no premise for today's story. Gonna have to get my thinking cap on again!

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 35 - The jester and the frog

I had no plan with this story. To be perfectly honest. I actually let it come out as I wrote it. I knew I wanted to write a story about a boy who tells lies, but that was all that I had. Then as I sat down in front of my laptop I pondered the idea of a boy that tells lies he thinks are true. That then led me on to a boy who tells the life of someone else that he thinks is his own. Naturally such a connection, I felt, could happen between twins.

Immediately the story started to take shape in my mind. Given the fanciful idea I thought a fantasy land would be the best back drop and one which I could really play up the flamboyant stories the main character Leasere weaves. For anyone interested the names in the story are all derived from Old English. Leasere means jester and Gebroor means brother. I have a love for old english words and felt that they complemented the fantasy element to the story nicely.

Anyway, enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 34 - The leopard and the mouse

This is going to be another of my favourite stories. It turned out rather differently from what I at first envisaged. I got the idea from a photograph in a newspaper of an audacious little mouse feasting on a leopard's food whilst the leopard, a female called Sheena, looked on. I knew there was a story there but originally had the leopard as a depressed recluse rather than just a shy one. The more I thought about the story the more I thought Sheena being shy and seemingly without a talent in comparison to the other animals the more I thought the mouse could play a role in bringing her character out and giving her purpose.

I tried to keep the dialogue deliberately simple and snappy and kept the involvement of the crowd to a minimum as I didn't want to draw away from the conversation between the mouse and the leopard too much. I thought it would make the story too jerky. You make think differently. I'll leave it up to you.

Anyway I hope you enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 33 - For the love of the game (part 2 - final part)

For those that live in the Fife area, you'll know that there was no golf today owing to the fact that the wind was so strong today it blew me across Morrisons carpark (with my trolley).

But in spite of that I am posting the rest of my golf story, as promised. I did enjoy writing this one. Golf, as a St Andrean, is integral to my life. Most of my family are involved in some way or other in the golf industry so it was only a matter of time that I'd write a story about it.

The only problem I really had with this one was when I wrote the beginning reflective scene where Mackenzie looks back on a discussion he had with his grandfather. Initially I wrote it as a dialogue but then realised that that wouldn't work and actually jerked the reader from present to past then back to present. So I phrased most of it in prose which I think makes the writing and the reading flow better.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 32 - For the love of the game (part 1)

So its Dunhill Cup weekend this weekend here in windy St Andrews and I thought I'd write a golf themed story. I started this story last weekend but, and I'm going to be honest, I'm am absolutely exhausted this week. For the first time I feel expired. Though having to produce stories when I've been speaking at events or helping the family does impact on energy levels. So don't shoot me when I've only produced half a story. I will post the rest tomorrow, promise!

Enjoy, what's there

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 31 - The Black Band

I got the idea for this story this morning after reading about a quite disturbing trend in the school yard. Kids, mostly pre teens, are wearing coloured plastic bangles that denote various sexual acts, either that they are willing to participate in or have already done. I couldn't believe it myself that kids as young as eight were saying they were expecting to have sex if one of their bangles were snapped. I don't quite know how this started up but I felt obligated to write a piece on it.

I did have in my mind to write a much darker story today and did struggle with whether I should make the story more graphic but opted to make it a 'rape that almost happens'. I thought that would get the essence of the story across without terrifying kids.

I will say though that I did draw on a personal experience that happened to me when I was 11 for this particular story. I don't know whether that helped the writing or not. Certainly I found some parts easier to write than others, but it did help me get into Kayleigh's shoes more realistically.

Enjoy, if I can really say that for this story,

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 30 - The day my dad drowned the school!

Day 30 now. Woo hoo!

So there is some truth to this story. When I was about six my mother came to my primary school and made sugar mice with us. It's one of my most enduring memories from my childhood. Mostly I think because I was so proud that my mum was doing something at school. It felt like she was really important, not just to me but to others as well. It felt like she was a rock star. Though unlike my story the sugar mice we made never came alive. Mores the pity. So that is where the idea of the story came from I just injected a bit of fantasy to make it more exciting. Plus I liked the idea of it being Florence's hapless, but well meaning father being responsible for trying to make sugar mice.

Anyway this is a short post as its 11.15, my hair is wet and I need to get up at 6am tomorrow. The next four days are going to be a real test of my endurance, speed, creativity, stamina and sanity. Can I get through it? Come back on Monday and find out.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 29 - The Tuesday effect

I had to dig deep to get into this one. I've never had an imaginary friend so can't speak from experience but I do know what it's like to move from place to place as a child and have to connect with new kids, who have already formed friendships and cliques, and get to know a new place, new country and new accents. It was that and my own sense of hard-nosed independence that allowed me to get into the heads of both Bobby and her mother. I guess there's a part of me in both of them.

Originally my idea was to have the mother and daughter reminisce over memorabilia from the daughter's life and that moving home wouldn't change who she was or that she wouldn't loose a part of her life, her identity but as I started to write it a much darker element crept in that I hadn't anticipated and the story took a completely different route. Sometimes I like that but when it's unexpected and when another story has already been fleshed out a story it makes the writing process that much more challenging. But then if writing wasn't challenging why would we bother to do it.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 28 - The 49ers

So this one was a little evolutionary. The premise didn't come immediately but it did come strongly and I've come to realise that when they do that is when I have a solid story to tell.

I thought about a story where a girl catches a thief and when I started to research juvenile crime I found an interesting statistic that 'shoplifters get caught about once every 49 times they steal'. The story and the two characters Catherine and Lloyd evolved from there.

I knew I wanted to base the story on denial of identity as it's a subject I can in some way relate to so decided to have a character who struggles with the idea of being different whilst the other is desperate to be different. Really its all about acceptance of who you are but when you're a kid you don't accept yourself. You always want to be the other girl in the class, the prettier one, the more popular one, the more intelligent one, the sportier one. We're never truly happy with ourselves until we accept who we are.

Anyway its up and ready to read. Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 27 - The Clockmaker's apprentice

This story popped into my head as I was staring into space wondering what to write. It wasn't fully fleshed out, but I had the idea of a boy that turns back time by making a watch tick backwards.

I kept seeing the story set in Victorian times but I didn't want it to become a cliche Dickensian style fantasy so I opted to let the reader decide where and what time period they want to set it in. I thinks it enhances the readers own experience if they can inject a little imagination of their own into the story.

I did find the structure of this story a little challenging particularly as I had to try and map the reversal of Mr Chivers's life whilst the rest of the world continued to turn with time. And also I had to reverse Mr Chivers's speech as well. At first I hoped there would be a program on the web that would do that for me, as there always seems to be, but in the end had to type the speech out the right way round and then retype it backwards.

Another tip I have, which I have used for stories before, is soap crayons. Every writer should have a packet of soap crayons. I couldn't function without them as I'm aways coming up with ideas or ways to resolve issues when I'm in the shower, and being able to write on my tiles is ideal, especially as my memory is short.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 26 - Dodgers

The idea for this story came to me on my way to Starbucks this morning. I had no idea what I was going to write and as I drove from my parents house to St Andrews I passed a familiar sight (which will come as no surprise to any country-dweller): a dead rabbit on the road side. All I could see what its fluffy, white behind stick up off the road. That's when I got to thinking about a daredevil bunny, an adrenalin junkie (or bunkie perhaps). I thought though that the idea of a brash character getting its comeuppance was a little trite so the idea of a sibling coming to its rescue and realising it had something within him that could bring him out of the stalemate of his life was really appealing. It's funny though as whilst I'm writing this post I've realised that that is exactly what this whole project is doing for me. It's bringing me out of the stalemate of my life. A case of art imitating life, me thinks!

Anyway the writing of this one was a little harder as I had to keep reminding myself that I was writing it from the perspective of an animal that doesn't know what he's observing, like the 'beasts with eyes'. So as a consequence I did more editing to this one than with the others. But I'm happy with it now. I hope you are too!

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 25 - A slice of Sky

Interestingly the plot for this story came from the title. It doesn't usually work that way round as normally you come up with your title after you've written, or at least that is how it is with me. However, on this ocassion, whilst I was walking the dog yesterday through a fine mist of rain, I noticed a faint rainbow in the sky. As I walked through the trees the line 'a slice of sky' jumped into my head. I liked it but instantly saw the word 'sky' not as a noun but as a name, a person. That got me then thinking about a slice of a person and what that would be. Skin perhaps? Yes, and from there I thought about skin grafts and the whole idea of a gothic horror about a skin graft gone wrong crystalised. I think that premise took me approx sixty seconds to come up with. Maybe my fastest yet, or maybe not actually. I think Rebel with a cause took all of ten seconds. Anyway I liked getting into the nitty gritty of this story and was particularly keen to tell it from the point of view of his friend rather than him. I thought it was a more uncommon angle for story telling and I'm all for doing things outside of the box.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 24 - The peril of pop

I had this idea a while ago. I honestly don't know where the premise came from, it just appeared in my head 'a girl who drinks so much pop she explodes'. Of course as its a kids book I couldn't have her completely explode as she'd died, but pop like a balloon I figured would be doable. I don't always intend these to come out in a moralistic way but sometimes short stories lend themselves to morals/fables.

Anyway this was just a quicky as two stories were produced today. I'm at a graduation ceremony for a family member today so to keep me on schedule I've up the production for today to two stories. My bum has never been so sore from sitting in one place for so long. It's just as well I have an attention seeking dog to get me off my butt every now and again.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 23 - The life and times of Bob the duck

So this story has been germinating in my mind for about a week. I read on BBC's website about a record breaking duck race on the Thames recently and liked the idea of a story about a rubber duck but I couldn't think of a suitable premise that I wanted to explore. Then I came across an article in the Daily Mail from a couple of years ago about a shipment of ducks that fell of a ship near China that have been floating on the open sea for 15 years and how some were finally expected to wash up on the english riviera. That was when the idea crystalised in my head, the journey of a rubber duck, the life of a rubber duck, what had he seen, where had he been. So I combined that seafaring story with a few elements of where we commonly see rubber ducks (baths, fairgrounds, etc) and the story was complete. Of course the name of my protagonist was perhaps a little cliche but I loved the simplicity of it and it suited my character-carefree and easy.

So I really love this story. Not just the message at the end, which was entirely accidental, but how synchronised the elements of Bob's life are to the ducks he meets in the race. I would say it's a perfect story, but feel free to disagree with me.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 22 - Caspian the Merboy

So the idea for this little story came about whilst I was in Los Angeles. There was a news report of mermaid sightings off the coast of Greece (believe that if you will). That of course started to germinate in my mind and I thought about a story surrounding a competition to get the first photograph of a mermaid.

Naturally I didn't want the story to be typically cliche so I chose a male character rather than a female one and of course made him a boy. The idea of him being lost seemed to be a natural plot line for the story and allowed me to weave the setting nicely into the story. Those that know me or the area will recognise the place names and the shameful plug of the Anstruther Fish Bar, for which I should be getting commission, or at least a reciprocal link!

Anyway enjoy this self styled cross between 'Splash' and 'ET' (any 80s children out there will understand this!)

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 21 - The Biggleswich Wars

I started writing this one late today as I couldn't get up this morning early enough to begin the premise before my paid work starts. Yes I have a normal job as well as my dream job. Anyhoo I had the idea some time ago as I briefly mention a war between brownies and scouts in my canine fantasy novel. I liked the concept of these normally placid, friendly, helpful, law abiding packs sinking to the depths of anarchy because of their hatred of each other. I like that dynamic and thought it would work well from a comic perspective. I particularly like the revision of the brownie guide song. It illustrates how vitriolic the relationship is between the two.

Anyway I hope you enjoy this one as I enjoyed writing it.

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 20 - Rubber boy

Here's the next one. Back on track now.

Day 19 - From beyond

Frustrated. Frustrated. Angry and frustrated. I missed my deadline on this one. I almost had it finished but at 12.30am I started to flag. My mind was fogging and I couldn't follow the story in the way I wanted. I figured that rather than compromise it I would have to admit defeat and finish it on sunday. But why did it take me that long when I had all day?

This is where real life kicks in. I'm a little preoccupied at the moment with some options that I'm trying to evaluate. Rather than bore you with the details I will say that as with most choices there are pros and cons, benefit and pitfalls, costs and savings. So I've been pondering and chatting over these pretty much all day. That distracted me from my project. But I guess these things are going to happen. Life gets in the way and sometimes you just have to deal with it. But I was pretty mad with myself at setting my project back. However its up now for all to read and hopefully enjoy. This one was inspired by my fascination with ouija boards. I remember playing with one my friends and I made once with cardboard and a felt tip pen. It didn't work, naturally, although some of us did do our best to make it look like the glass moved. So the idea of someone communicating not just a message but a warning had the certain gothic element that I wanted.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 18 - Games and Gargoyles

This story was a lesson in speed research. I read on the BBC website this morning about the new gargoyles that had been carved for the Bodleian Library, because the existing ones had weathered away, and instantly my mind set to work. The fact that the gargoyles had been designed by kids and that many depicted characters from popular children's literature I couldn't help but think that a story was within it.

Almost immediately I imagined them coming to life after dark. But rather than have them battle against each other, which wouldn't have worked as the personality of each of the gargoyles created is somewhat placid) I decided to make them play. And this worked quite nicely. However I have never visited Oxford University so there in lay my research. And also I wasn't familiar with a few of the characters, namely Sir Thomas and the General so I had to find out who they were so I could sculpt their character for the story. I wanted there to be an element of truth and recognisability to within the story and to have there characteristics inform the plot (like the two brothers quarrelling and being pursued by a crow, or the hypochondria of the writer of 'Three men in a boat').

Anyway as a result I knew I had to do that research quickly and speed read through some information, including a wonderful document on the Bodleian's website which details the history of the library (which helped me develop Sir Thomas's character). I hope I've done them justice in the short period of time I've had to get this story down. And I hope you enjoy my story.

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 17 - Hope in the dark

I guess my lesson for today is 'connection'. In did struggle to connect with this story. I don't know whether it's because I don't know enough about the war or what it was like to live through The Blitz, or whether my roots are inherently scottish (in spite of the fact that's its been my home for the last 30 years). But I had to dig really deep to try and feel what it would be like. Both physically and mentally. That sense of lack of control over what is happening to you, especially when your movement is restricted. I had thought about tying myself up and perhaps lying on the floor but then my dog already thinks I'm weird and this may just have tipped him over the edge. He'd have been on the phone to my folks begging them to take him away from the crazy woman. But I really loved the idea. It actually came to me yesterday when I was reading online about parachute bombs. There was a few lines about a supposedly true story about a boy called 'Stanley Ewing' who survived for 3 days, after his house was bombed, on sugar and water from fire hoses. I thought it was an inspiring and miraculous story and wanted to explore just what it took for that boy to get through his ordeal.

Anyway, as a result of my problems it took longer for me to get this story finished than most of the others I've written. Maybe that is because I do funny and fantasy better than hardnosed drama. I guess only time will answer that question more fully as I progress with my mad idea.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 16 - Houdini (Part 4 - final part)

Here's the final part of Houdini.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 15 - Heroes for hire

I had such a laugh writing this story. I really got into it and although in the planning stages I was struggling to come up with humourous resolutions to the various events when I got to writing it I found the ideas came with ease.

Now, if anyone from the University Library reads this I appologise in advance. You never know when, where or how ideas are going to come to you and the idea for this one came during the staff training session. I promise I was paying attention to the speeches but sadly Superman popped into my mind for a brief visit, or so he said, and the bugger wouldn't leave. So at the end of the training session, at lunchtime, I set to work planning out how I would create this story with superheros and naturally a competition between the most well known was the first thing that came to mind. But I didn't want just any typical, cliche contes. I thought the idea of superheroes competing in challenges that we have at some point in our lives done was a good way of bringing some reality to the story. Of course school sports day was the best canvas on which to work and instantly I had some ideas on how some of those events would pan out. The high jump and long jump ideas though didn't come until I wrote the story, but I'm glad they did because I was getting a little worried my story would end with a bit fat flat climax. I hope it didn't go that way. I certainly liked the ending.

Anyway enjoy!

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 14 - The day of reckoning

This one was a hard one to write and I did end up editing it quite a bit. I think the main reason was because this is actually a true story, only the names have changed to protect the...guilty!

This actually happened to me when my family moved from London. We were living in what I can only describe as being a socially deprived town/village that had a number of undesirable kids living in it. They had nothing better to do than exert their authority over any one they could. I'm convinced I was not their first victim.

Of course this all happened about thirty years ago and i'm sure the make up of how schools handle bullying has now changed but for me my school could give a rats ass about what was happening to me. I was being verbally and physically tortured to the point where I was going home with torn clothes and open wounds.

In the end my sister was the one who saved me from a becoming their plaything. I found it ironic that it took a five year old to fix something the adults couldn't (or wouldn't).

It did happen a long time ago and its all pretty much water under the bridge, or at least that was what I thought until I came to write this. I struggled and the only I can think of why was because on some level I think I had blocked the entire incident from my mind so I struggled to feel it again. In the end it took me an entire evening to back track my past and remember that feeling of helpless terror that comes when you don't know literally what is lurking around the corner. But I can still see that final fight as clear as day in my mind. I can even tell you it was an overcast day.

They say writing about your experiences is therapy. I can see why. This is the first time I have written about it fully since it happened. I'm glad I did.

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 13 - The Great Fairy Robbery

This idea came about after a chat I had with my mother. She's playing the fairy godmother in her home village's production of Cinderella (if anyone is in the vicinity of a quaint village called Blebocraigs in Fife I strongly urge you to come and see it. The villagers' productions are usually riotous. It's called 'Cinderella of Blebo'.)Anyway, shameless plug aside, that's when I started thinking of fairies and what they meant to me as a child. I confess wasn't really into fairy stories when I wa younger. I found them all a little too...wimpy. I was more into Grimm's fairy tales which were altogether much more sinister. The only fairies, though, that really intrigued me as a child were tooth fairies, and that was mostly because they gave me hard cash. So the idea of girl wanting to rob the tooth fairies because she is unhappy with the coins she's receiving was a really interesting idea. Of course I had to come up with a plausible reason why the fairies are being a little stingy which was naturally answered by the present recession (a topic that most kids are aware of to some degree). I liked the idea of the tooth fairy world suffering from the effects of the global recession and then suffering from the lack of interest in fairy stories.

I also liked the idea of taking kids' perception of fairies and flipping it on its head. What if they weren't the ethereal, glowing, sparkly beings we traditionally believe them to be? What if they were a bit rough and tattered and didn't speak with soft, floaty voices? I thought it would be an interesting change and I'm all for the surreal!

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 12 - Houdini (Part 3)

Here's part 3 of Houdini,

Enjoy!

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 11 - Lucy's Monsterpiece

This story was born out of a news article on CBBC about James May's (of Top Gear fame) entry in this year's Chelsea Flower Show. He created a garden made entirely out of plasticine and his reason for doing so was because it would never have to be weeded. This got me thinking. I loved the idea of having a plasticine garden as I fondly remember making lots of indescribable and unidentifable things with the stuff as a child, and pondered the idea of a plasticine garden that grew voraciously.

I knew it had to be the idea of a child so I made Lucy my artist and sculptor and set about creating the consequences of what she had created. Of course anything slightly anarchic or fantastic always has to have a bit of a comic spin on it, which I think I achieved subtly. I particularly liked the way she resolved the problem she had created, and those that know me will notice the subtle reference to 'Balamory' at the end.

Enjoy!

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 10 - Ghost Writer

So I've made it into double figures. Ten down three hundred and fifty five to go! Phew.

Actually this one I really enjoyed writing. I do love a good ghost story. I came up with the idea this morning as I was thinking about my premise and whilst I was reading an article on the web there was an advert for a 'ghostwriter'. I wanted to write a ghost story with a bit of a twist and when I read that word literally as a ghost who writes I decided that a story about a ghost that wanted to write but couldn't because he couldn't grip a pen was an intriging idea. That coupled with the fact that I've been doing research recently into the second world war for another novel idea I have, I naturally felt my ghost should have died in the war.

Again as per my previous post, because I had a simple premise I was able to write this one quite fluidly, although because of its length I didn't actually finish it until 9pm. Just as well I only have a dog to look after. Although having said that I'm sure he thinks I've as good as abandoned him.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 9 - Wag the puss

My tip for today, based on my experience over the last two days is that the secret to a good story is a simple premise. I had problems yesterday with a story I was writing which I have shelved for now for the plain reason that there was no clear premise. I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the story and that is why I was sat staring at my pc at 10pm with dripping wet hair wondering why I was bothering to try this crazy project. But as I lay in bed pondering my problem I realised that previous stories I wrote had a clear premise and that premise was made up of three elements: protagonist, action and reaction. With those in place the stories always flowed. Take 'Rebel with a cause' as an example. The premise of that was 'a tree that resisted attempts to be cut down, dies from something unseen', or this story the premise of which was 'a dog that thinks it's a cat wants to climb trees but can't'.

So I have learned my lesson and hopefully this will help all you budding writers out there too. WORK OUT THAT PREMISE!

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 8 - Houdini (Part 2)

This is part two of my nautical fantasy story.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 7 - Rebel with a cause

This story was inspired by a real tree that is growing, or I should say dying, outside my local university library. I walk past this tree everyday. It's a really beautiful tree which has been much discussed as part of the university's plans to redevelop our library. However it was only when I returned from my gaunt to Starbucks (readers will begin to see a pattern here when it comes to me and Starbucks. This coffee establishment features heavily in my process) that the idea of a tree that wouldn't die could be a cool story.

When I developed the idea I thought the writing would actually come off in a comical manner, especially because of the ways the developer tries to fell the tree, but as the words came out, a more poetic voice seemed to appear on the page, entirely involuntarily. I'm starting to realise that if voice and idea come naturally I can really feel the story. The only problem is that given this project has its own deadlines I'm hoping that both of those things come naturally to me more often.

Happy reading.

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 6 - Houdini (part 1)

This is the first of a four part story, given that it's fairly long. This was written a few years ago but its one of my favourite stories. I've always had a passion for writing fantasy, although it's difficult to cultivate in a short story framework owing to the need to provide the reader with a foundation to the fantasy element. However given the fantasy element to this story is a pirate ship, which most children are able to visualise, I was able to get round adding too much exposition.

I actually visualised this story as the first of a series of fantasies that my protagonist dreams up for herself. I may well write more, I don't know, I'll just have to wait and see.

Enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 5 - Dan's worst weekend!

Just made it in time today. I didn't start writing this until 8pm tonight. I had a loose idea that I wanted to explore about a boy accidentally selling his own toys instead of his sister's but hadn't actually thrashed it out.But here it is now.

This story is kind of loosely based on the relationship that I had with my sister when we were siblings. We used to bicker like hell over the stupidest of things. Come to think of it, we still do! But I knew to make the story readable and more enjoyable I had to take that acerbity to the nth degree. And having been past or seen advertisements for numerous yard sales whilst I was in Los Angeles I knew I found a vehicle where I could make my protagonist swallow a bitter pill.

Anyway it's up so happy reading.

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 4 - The Yellow House

Okay, so I didn't actually write this story today owing to the fact that jetlag has kicked in and i didn't actually get up until 3pm. A total of 16 hours sleep.

This story was written last year as part of a writer's group I have with a few friends that I graduated with. It was the result of one of the group members coming up with a theme for our next short story. The theme had to be surrounding an old, delapidated house that sits behind an old primary school. The house used to belong to a public school in my local town but has been unoccupied for years. The house is amazing to look and is the perfect subject matter for a story.

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 3 - Sammie's Slayers

Bit of a delay in posting this one, but that's because I wrote whilst flying over the US, Canada and the Atlantic.

I'm now on terra firma and able to post the next story. I have to admit it was a little challenging to keep on track whilst flying home from the US. There was one point were the entire plane (or maybe not everyone and I hope not the pilot) was asleep and there was me with my little light on typing away.

I finally finished it with my dog at my feet (who I'm surprised recognises me given I've been away for a month) and it's now online.

This one was inspired by a film made here in the UK (I think in the 70s, I may be wrong) called 'One of our dinosaurs is missing'. It's a great kids movie, very british. I have no idea but it was in my head one day and I instantly changed the name of the movie in my head to 'One of my ghosts is missing'. That was the working title for this story until I got to the second last paragraph and decided to call Sammie's army 'Sammie's slayers' so decided on that instead.

I love writing ghost stories. I always wrote them as a kid but didn't want to write a trite scary ghost story so opted for one with a bit of a quirk to it. I have to admit I had fun on the plane thinking of all the weird and stupid things that Horace did. I particularly loved the idea of him rearranging and moving buildings.

Anyway, enjoy

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 2 - Seven days

This story was inspired by a real event that happened to me when I was a kid. An unscrupulous boy from my school found a bag of cash and proceeded to spend it. It's something I've never forgotten largely I think because I never found out where the money came from.

When I decided to write this the idea of my character pondering its origin over seven days seemed natural, breaking each day down to investigate different options. From there structuring it in a diary format was obvious, as was the decision to write it in the first person.

I actually found this story really easy to write. I'm wondering if that is in part due to the fact that its in a diary format and so I felt a bit freer with the tone, basically allowing myself to write directly from the thoughts onto the page: a world away from the way I usually write, with my internal movie playing in my head. Either that or it could be related to a chat I had with a friend over dinner last night. We were discussing how if a story comes freely to you, without effort, those are the ones with truth and resonance.

The Imaginary Scrapbook

Day 1 - Lucky Lady

Even writing the summary for this story had me in floods. I'm such a sap when it comes to animal stories particularly when the ending isn't quite what you wanted. The idea came to me just as I was going to bed. I have absolutely no idea what the catalyst was, it just popped into my head. A story about a boy and a greyhound. I knew it had to be sad but wanted it to have a relatively happy, non-cliche, ending.

It was tough to write, possibly because I have a dog of my own and imagining his passing was a little difficult emotionally. It also ended up a bit longer than I had anticipated but I felt I needed to establish some depth to Tommy and Lucky Lady so readers could empathise with both.

And a word to the wise. Never write a sad story in the middle of Starbucks. I'm sure some people thought I was either sad or mad when I started weeping as I typed.

Boo hoo! Enjoy

The Imaginery Scrapbook

The Imaginery Scrapbook

Well, the conference was a great success. The speakers were, as always, exceptional and very entertaining. However, it has left me wondering how on earth am I going to get myself noticed amongst the sea of other writers desperate to be published. Then I went to see 'Julie and Julie' and I struck on an idea.

It's somewhat crazy and will either make or break me as a writer but in this climate a little stupidity might go in my favour.

My plan of attack is to write a new, original short story for children every day for a year. I have created a blog site on which to post the stories (imagineryscrapbook.blogspot.com) and will use this blog as a complimentary site on which to write about the experience, process, idea generation and anything else that is directly related to the story of the day.

I intend to start this mammoth project on the 1st September (which will be challenging as I'm flying back from LA on the 2nd). So if you're out there, please show your support and interest and follow me!

For all those bibliophiles out there (and possibly even the bibliophobes!)

As a matter of course, whilst going about my everyday library work, I was directed to the 'Awful Library Books' blog site (http://awfullibrarybooks.wordpress.com/). Contrary to what the name suggests, the books it lists are not particularly awful. At the time they were published they were probably considered helpful if not revolutionary, but now in our culture of moral and political correctness they seem very dated or even dangerous. It's a lesson on developing and maintaining effective collections management policies. Having said that though they do have a unique nostalgic value to them. I particularly liked the Official Guide to Disco Dance Steps (http://awfullibrarybooks.wordpress.com/2009/05/30/disco-fever/) and who knew there were two Bert Bacharachs!

Dundee Literary Festival 2009

So yours truly is appearing at this year's Dundee Literary Festival in two capacities. Firstly, I'm introducing the fabulous Anne Fine who will be speaking about her yet to be released book (I'm still awaiting its arrival in the post so I can read it before hand!) and chair a question and answer session afterwards. I'm always nervous when it comes to meeting such well respected authors but will have the priviledge of meeting her at a dinner the night before so I'm hoping to put my butterflies to rest before the big day.

Also, given that New Writing Dundee 2009 is officially being launched at the festival, I shall be reading an excerpt from my published short story, as mentioned in my previous post, "The Magic of Murder". There will be other authors reading excerpts from there stories along with musical entertainment from Fest 'n' Furious.

Tickets for the Anne Fine event can be purchased from the Dundee Lit Fest website, http://www.literarydundee.co.uk/festival.htm, and the launch of New Writing Dundee is free. So come along and enjoy the best of what the UK has to offer!

New Writing Dundee 2009

I'm very proud to say that I have had a short story published in New Writing Dundee. This is an annual anthology of local and international published and unpublished writers produced by Dundee University Press. The publication is in its 4th year now and is attracting some high profile authors such as Douglas Dunn, Meaghan Delahunt and Kirsty Gunn. I'm proud to be associated with such venerable writers.

My piece, entitled 'The Magic of Murder' is a metaphysical black comedy about a woman who sees herself through her husband's eyes moments after he bludgeons her with a waffle iron.

The publication is available for purchase from Amazon.co.uk so pick up a copy, if not to read my story but to sample some of the best of what Scotland and those associated with Scotland have to offer.

Why am I a claustrophic agoraphobe?

...for the simple reason that I'm afraid to go out when I know I should be in working on my manuscript or on the many new ideas for novels that are popping into my head at an alarming rate, but at the same time afraid to stay in when the sun is shining and I should be out enjoying what the world has to offer. I should compromise by working outside...

But enough about me, does your writer-self guilt-trip you?

Introverts need not apply

To be a writer, or should I say successful writer/author, do you need to have a fearless ability to sell yourself, a killer instinct? Is talent not enough to secure a book deal? Are those less inclined to be so brazen about themselves less likely to attract attention from agents and publishers? Are they less worthy of publication because they don't blog or have the time/skill/confidence/money* (*delete as applicable) to set up a website or because they don't harry unsuspecting agents at conferences with rehearsed pitches?

I'm starting to think that the answer to those questions is 'yes'.

I'm finding this hard to get my head around. It sits very uneasy with me not least because I got out of the marketing rat race to write. Now I find that if I'm to succeed in that I'm going to have to throw myself back to the wolves. But hey, I've done it before I can do it again.

I recently discovered a book on this very topic which I have just purchased from Amazon's marketplace called "Get known before the book deal", by Christina Katz. I've only read the few sample pages offered by Amazon but she talks a lot about developing a 'platform' (images of high divers flit through my mind when I read that word, and perhaps that is what it's all about, she says as the penny drops. It's about raising yourself up above others although 'stilts' might actually be a better noun to use. It certainly sounds higher). I suppose in these tight economic times, just as the average shopper is more cautious, searching for ways to maximise the contents of their purse, the same is true for publishers. They want to be sure that their pennies will yield pounds, and that I can understand. So as they say "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" which is the exact reason I have set up this blog.

Bye for now...

ICDL - International Children's Digital Library

I serendipitously happened across this website today, http://en.childrenslibrary.org/, the International Children's Digital Library.

ICDL is a collaboratively developed database of multi cultural work's of children's fiction that have been digitised and are available to read online. It's a fabulous and expanding resource for anyone wishing to sample the best of foreign language books or to simply expand their pool of reading material, and more importantly it's perfect for teachers or librarians to encourage children to read and learn outside their own cultures.

You can become a member of the ICDL, or sponsor, or even contribute books to the digitisation project to help develop the resource.

It's well worth a visit, I highly recommend you check it out, if not to contribute but to simply enjoy reading something completely different!

The merit of procrastination

"Procrastinate now, don't put it off!" said Ellen De Generes.

I'm a believer! After nine years, from the moment I came up with the bare bones of an idea, I finally finished my first book. Okay the last four were spent on the actual writing and editing part, but it has made me question the merits of protracted completion of such a mammoth project. I'm totally convinced that if I had tried to pitch my book to agents when I thought I'd finished it, some two years ago, it would never have seen the light of day and my dream of becoming a published writer would have been as pointless as a broken pencil. And though it still is very much a dream at this stage I'm 100% happier with the way the book has evolved over the last two years. I'm sure Darwin would have something to say on the subject if literature came under his theory of natural selection. How many other books might have been published if only they'd been nutured for a little bit longer? Are we in too much of a hurry? Do Darwin's laws of 'survival of the fittest' actually apply here too?

That's just one reason to procrastinate...for 101 other reasons check out this site, http://101excusesnottowrite.blogspot.com/ - my personal favourite excuse is "I'm attending another writer's retreat" - speaking of which, anyone attending the SCBWI conference in LA in August?

Meaning behind the name! (part 1)

In case anyone is curious as to the meaning of my blog url, here's the story.

When I lived in the richly multi-cultural enclave of North London, before they erected an 8 foot fence on the central reservation of the North Circular Road, I was a flamboyant, adventurous and fanciful child (sadly that diminished when I stepped out of Lewis's Wardrobe and into the 'real work-a-day world!'). As such I was fearless enough to perform in many school theatrical productions, one of which earned me the moniker of 'witch', owing to my memorable performance of the Wicked Witch in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (a performance my mother claimed was entirely natural and required no particular stretch of my acting ability). But the performance that sticks in my memory is when we did cabaret acts. I distinctly remember singing, with two of my fellow school friends, the song 'Side by Side' (a song written in the 20's and covered more times than 'Whiter Shade of Pale' - nobody quote me on that one!). One of the lyrics in the song is 'maybe we're ragged and funny'. Now I would of had 'raggedandfunny' but some other blogger beat me to the punch, so opted for 'araggedandfunny.blogspot'. As for the meaning behind my blog name, that's for another day...

No possible Plan B

So here's the thing...do aspiring writers ever think of having a plan B career?

It's a question that sadly is nagging the pragmatic part of my mind.

I work in a university library and have been since I graduated with my MLitt in Creative Writing at the same university. I don't have a formal library qualification (my undergraduate degree being in Marketing!) but am now being gently coerced to consider my future by my employers. They clearly have my best interests at heart and want to nuture someone they consider a valuable asset. That I can understand and appreciate, but it leaves me in somewhat of a quandary. In my heart I don't want a plan B and don't want to have to contemplate or invest time and money in developing it. Call me a dreamer but my plan A career is to be a published, professional, full time writer. I'm doing everything in my power to achieve that goal. I've completed my first novel, recently had a short story published, have performed some of my work at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and have even started this blog to get my name out there, so my dedication can't be called into question. But the fact remains that I'm not being paid to do what I love, I'm being paid to do something that in my heart will always take second place. Unfortunately the 'being paid' part is critical, especially in the current economic climate. So if it's a choice of fantasy or reality, which would you opt for?