What Breaks your Brain? Or have you managed to avoid Insanity and Love the Internet?

October 14, 2017 / jenanita01 / 6 Comments

Fractured…

Some of you may be familiar with most of the trouble I have had since I began to organise our writing career on the Internet. It is probably simple for all you single people out there, but as soon as you are a partnership, trouble arrives big time!

Not that we could ever separate our writing business, not even to make our lives any easier. It is all far too complicated, but it works for us though, so that’s good.

We tried having separate websites, so as not to overcomplicate everything, but as we share a PC, this didn’t seem to work. Plus it was twice the work. So we reverted back to having a joint website on Blogger. Still managed to confuse half the population, including ourselves, but all our links seemed to be working. But it still didn’t feel right, so I approached WordPress and discovered that we could actually share a website. How very civilised.

I have since managed to share Anita’s Facebook too.

Goodreads almost cater for the two of us, and we have our own pages, but only one of us can have our blog showing.

There are still a few places that refuse to understand, that although we share a PC, we do still have separate email addresses and passwords. I won’t name and shame, but they have driven me mad for the last time and I have resigned myself to sharing these awkward sites under Anita’s email address.

It goes without saying, that if I had known this marketing and promotion lark was so complicated, I might have had second thoughts, but on the whole, it has been interesting, and dare I say it, fun? The fact that I am almost certifiable is unimportant, as I think you have to be barking mad to approach a computer in the first place!

When I saw these lovely fractured pictures the other day, I was fascinated, probably because half the time, my brain is in pieces too.

Time to Think Again!

October 4, 2017 / jenanita01 / 5 Comments

A new week starts, a time when my enthusiasm usually renews itself, but there is a noticeable lack of ‘get up and go’. It was more like, ‘get your arse moving and see what you can muddle through this week!’

Last month’s USB failure, resulting in the loss of three weeks work, has left a sour taste in my soul, leading me to wonder if I should even be doing any of this promotional stuff. I have ended up juggling so many balls; I am in danger of losing sight of the original dream, consumed as I am with the need to find that one magic ingredient that will make it all worthwhile.

It is always possible that I am not destined for greatness, and I am happy to realise that. Relieved, actually, but that will not stop me from trying my best, and improving my work. (At the time of writing, I plan to re-edit my books and update the covers, blurbs and keywords. I have been having a long hard look and not entirely happy with what I see!)

Little by little, I think I am beginning to lose my edge, the ability to juggle everything and still keep my balance. I seem to recall that this has happened to me before, a long time ago. I was in a relationship, and as long as I obeyed the rules and performed as instructed, I was grudgingly allowed to breathe.

Of course, the day eventually came when I needed more than that when I was tired of the constant struggle to be the person that was required. This wasn’t the first time I escaped from tyranny and it wouldn’t be my last, but eventually, I found a better way to live.

My present struggle is beginning to feel the same, and the need to escape is growing again. This presents a problem, for I don’t want to run away from most of it. I have to find a compromise, a way to keep our options open and the dream alive. I have to stop trying everything and anything, looking for the golden goose, who, for all I know, gave up laying eggs a long time ago…

Our Review: Narrow Margins by Marie Browne @Boat_Wife #Boating

August 29, 2017 / jenanita01 / 2 Comments

Narrow Margins – a laugh-out-loud book which proves that lean times can sometimes be a very positive thing.
Faced with the loss of everything following the collapse of the Rover Group, Marie Browne moved her long-suffering husband Geoff, chaotic children and smelly, narcoleptic dog on to a houseboat in search of a less stressful, healthier, alternative way of life.
Strapped for cash, the family buy a decrepit 70ft barge called Happy Go lucky which had been run as a floating hotel. Outdated and in need of a complete refurbishment, Happy becomes their floating home. First they need to learn the ropes and many pitfalls beset their adventures.

As they come to terms with living on a narrow boat, readers gain a fascinating insight into life in the slow lane.

About the Author

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Marie Browne is a mother of three who, for the past fifteen years, has been desperately trying to escape the Customer Service Industry. Apart from her husband and kids, the best things in her life are real ale, barbecues, ugly mad dogs that nobody else wants and cream-covered designer coffees. She also has an obsession with shoes.

Our Review

I am a fiction writer, trying to write a memoir based on a family holiday we took over forty years ago. Having never written in this genre before, I didn’t have a clue how to go about it. I was advised to read as much as I could of other author’s work, to see how it is best done.

I had read quite a few before picking up a copy of Marie Brown’s best selling novel, Narrow Margins and I didn’t need to look any further.

Narrow Margins is exactly the kind of book I want to write!

When life interferes and ruins her family life, she has to find a way to make the best out of a disaster. It seemed to be an impossible task, but fate intervened and suggested a houseboat might be the answer to their prayers.

How they manage to find one they can afford, and what happens next was an enchanting story. Beautifully written and uplifting too, proving that you can survive a disaster if you have enough determination.

My family has been through a similar situation, but I don’t think we handled it half as well as Marie and her family…

Since reading this lovely book, I have finished writing ‘Lazy Days’, my attempt at transcribing the notes I wrote all those years ago in our Captains Log. I wasn’t happy with my efforts, so I had it beta read. The results were not encouraging. I was right, it needed a lot more work.

This work in progress is getting better, but may take some time, but I will always be grateful for the imspiration I found in Marie Browne’s books!

An Exercise for the Mind…

August 17, 2017August 17, 2017 / jenanita01 / 1 Comment

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I am in the habit of changing my screen saver/background image quite often. I like to have something lovely on my computer screen, as it is the first thing I see every morning.

This picture appealed to me for several reasons. I love trees and this one is lovely but also ethereal, the mist hiding most of the scene. I particularly like the contrast between the nakedness of the sleeping tree and the tree covered in blossom.

I have recently found myself ‘skimming’ when both reading and writing, and I am not seeing or describing anything enough which is not good. This post is an exercise, not only for my eyes, but also for my imagination. I don’t want to think of my old age robbing me of so much of my enjoyment of life.

The blossom tree in this image attracted me first, being frustratingly out of focus enough to prevent an easy identification. The blossoms are pure white, no hint of colour on them, and the petals are delicate and small. The branches look old, but the slender double trunk would suggest otherwise. Are there any more clues in the picture?

The tree is blooming very early. The companion trees still bare, their branches stark and austere looming through the mist. Winter has not long departed, as I imagine the chilly dampness of the morning on my skin. The shrubbery in the background is sparse too, confirming that Mother Nature is not fully awake yet.

My mind sifts through my knowledge of flowering trees and comes up with a likely choice. Is it a Magnolia, one of the small flowered varieties, maybe Stellata?

Moving on from the details of the image, my mind is not finished. I wonder where this lovely little tree is. The setting would suggest a park, for the area seems too big to be someone’s garden. There are vague images hiding in the mist, indicating far more space than first thought.

Could that be a roof I can see? It doesn’t look like the roof of a house though…

My mind yearns to explore this scene, to visit the tree and then walk into the mist to see what I can discover…