Another silly writer-related cartoon... 

Loads of great cartoons on THE BLOGHORN, from the professional cartoonists' organisation. 

I was looking for some cartoons related to writing, and I stumbled upon this one (which is not related to writing).
It is not signed, and I can only say that I found it here: VIEWS FROM NATURE

I will be aiming at an end of April 2012 publication date for I Am a Muse. 

If my brain allows me to understand the ins and outs of Lulu.com (their tutorial seemed clear enough...), then by the first week of May, I would have self-published my first book... 

Fingers crossed...

I have been "MULTITASKING" recently, trying to get stuff done. 
Freelance work has been intense over the past three months, but it's getting better this week, and therefore, I have been able to free a section of my brain (and my timetable) for my personal projects.


I have started writing again on The Book of Thoth, which is getting bigger and bigger everyday (I have always been one to over-write - my school essays were always the longest - and dare I say it, the best! ha ha - but music journalism had taught me about rather drastic word counts, as in how to write an album review in, like, 90 words? But now, I've succumbed to temptation and I've been letting myself go again!). 
I can't even start to imagine how much of the first draft I'm going to have to cut if I want to get down to a reasonable length! Oh well, that's something to worry about when the aforementioned first draft is completed, which won't be in the near future... 

I have started on the fourth draft/third draft revision of I Am a Muse, and I am enjoying it immensely. Not that much to change so far, only a few mistakes here and there, and I might need to rearrange the numbering of the chapters. There are far too many of them. 

I have started writing down some ideas for the cover, acknowledgements, spine, back cover blurb, etc. I would like to go for a block-colour cover without image or artwork and I definitely wish to avoid a cover that screams: WOMEN'S BOOK ENCLOSED! At the moment, my favourite choice is a RED cover to reflect the nickname of one of my main characters: the Crimson Lady. Something bold! Outlandish! Simple. 


I have just stumbled on this very handy little blog offering tips about how to publish on Lulu (which is the self-publishing site I'm going to use for I Am a Muse) and it's given me a few ideas about how to proceed... 
You will find the tips HERE.

I am going to sound like an old-fashioned cow, but I have decided to forgo e-books at the moment as I have read quite a few alarming stories about files getting stolen, copyright issues, etc. I have a love of the physical book and will stick to physical books in the first instance. 
Now to put them into practice myself! 

I always start my freelance and/or writing day with a one hour work out, without fail.  
It stimulates the brain! 

I stumbled across this lovely little blog earlier called BO'S CAFE LIFE. 
It's about "the writing life through the eyes of Bo, an aspiring novelist", and it's quite good fun!  

I have found this "poster" on facebook (yes, it can be useful) and really liked it.
It does speak to me, big time, as they say.


I have read On The Road (and didn't really like it that much, found it quite boring really) and I have read quite a bit of William S. Burrough, but I find the Beat Generation rather... distasteful (much like people like Charles Bukowski. Yuk, yuk, yuk.) 
Any talent? 
I think it's still open to discussion. 

And they were not that interesting to be honest. True, they might have written some good lines (well, for example, this quote below) but I have never been enamoured with that bunch. 

Anyhow, here's to the Crazy Ones, of which I am, surely, I am! (Although it is not my goal to change the world. Not anymore...)

Have you seen and loved The Artist? Have you fallen for Uggie, the now famous dog actor? 

Well, then, you will love Behave Yourself, an utterly (Black and White) delightful 1952 comedy.  The star of the show is the wonderfully naughty Archie who gets the young couple who adopt him in quite a bit of trouble - they get involved in the murky going-ons of the Underworld.

"A young couple, Kate and William Denny (Shelley Winter and Farley Granger) adopt a stray pooch, not realizing that the dog carries the key element to a criminal plan to hijack a million-dollar shipment. Before long, they are in the middle of a comedy of underworld lunacy."

You can actually watch the whole movie HERE. 
Go on, it is really, really good fun! Well, not according to this scathing review HERE, but hey, I liked it so I don't care! It's the fact that it is over the top that makes it so enjoyable! 

Oh, and now I want to see The Artist again!