3 Hours and 15 Minutes!!!!!

Yay, only three and a quarter hours to go until Nanowrimo starts!!! I can't promise to be very good at updating during November. Most of my spare time will probably go towards writing. Must fish out the notebook I used last year, as I used probably less than half of it and it has my Nanowrimo sticker on it. It says: 'be nice to me or I'll put you in my novel', or something along those lines. It's probably my favourite notebook... (Yes, I'm sad like that, I have favourites. I prefer squared paper to lined, and usually prefer lined to plain as it stops me writing too small, provided the lines aren't ridiculously large, tempting me to fit three/four lines to a printend line... I have no idea why I like lined paper, it's just nice to write on.)

Death's Door

So, it's by Quintin Jardine, and I think I'm right in saying that it's the most recent in the Bob Skinner series. It's certainly the furthest along the series that I've read. Oh no, sorry, it's not the most recent to be published. Aftershock came out in May and it follows it on. Well, it's very deep and serious, a crime novel with a lot of human content in their too. I couldn't believe what happened to Stevie! And Maggie too, that was just creepy, but especially because it struck so close to home, and plus it's pretty much exactly how I imagine Nutmeg dying in the end. It's very well written, but I would recomend starting at the start of the series, or at least as near to it as you can get--I admit that I haven't, and I think I've lost a lot by not doing so, but the libraries never seem to have all the books in a series, and certainly not the first few. Especially when, like with the Bob Skinner ones, they started a fair while ago, even if they are still continuing now. Anyway, do your best to read the others first, but even if you don't, it's still a cracking read. The crime aspect is very well done, has a realistic feel to it, but I think to me what makes it so good is the way the people are actually people, and you can completely relate to them. They aren't perfect, they have differing relationships with each other, and the difference between this and the James Patterson ones which I also quite like, is that they're much more discrete when the boyfriend/girlfriend thing gets serious. James Patterson has a tendency to go into waaaay too much detail on that and you lose out on the plot in that way. I'm not saying his books aren't good--I love them--but I am saying that they aren't perfect. I don't think any book ever can be. Anyway, you should certainly read the Bob Skinner books if you like a good bit of crime, and even if you don't there's a good chance you'll enjoy them.

Shaman's Crossing

It's another of those by Robin Hobb that seem determined to steal all your time until you finish them. It's the first book of the Soldier Son trilogy, and boy is it good! I really struggled to put it down, stayed up till past midnight to finish it. Like the others of hers, it is quite a long book, so don't start reading too late or you're liable to not go to bed. The world she's created is amazing, and the characters are as good as ever. I have to admit, I would like to see a link with the world of the other novels--the magic of the old gods would work well as being the Skill and the Wit and the Hedge magic she used in the Farseer and Tawney Man trilogies. However, I can see why she's done it in a totally different place--you can't keep reusing the same ideas forever, no matter how good they are, and I think I'm right in saying the Liveship traders books are set in the same world as those two, although I haven't been able to find them. Anyway, it follows the tale of Nevarre, and his experience with the old magic that tries to claim him as he tries to make his way in a training camp biased against sons of new nobles like him. It really is awesome, and I so want to read the next book. Just hope I don't find it during Nanowrimo, or I'll never get my story finished!

Aunty Gladys

Ok, so I've just had even more bad news, as if what I've had so far hasn't been enough. My Aunty Gladys (she's actually my great step grandmother, but it's a lot easier to call her Aunty Gladys) was taken into hospital yesterday and died this morning at about two. It hasn't really sunk in yet, I mean, she had just moved into an old people's home, because she couldn't look after herself at home any more, but she was still pretty with it and smiling and all that the last time I saw her. My mum's quite upset, because they were close since mum went up pretty much every other week for ages to do her shopping for her and help her around the house and so on. It seems quite sudden to me. Admittedly, she was fairly old, and not especially mobile any more, but still.

This is quite amusing...

I can't claim credit for it, my mum e-mailed it to me and I don't know who she got it from. However, it does put a good spin on the 'credit crunch' or whatever they're calling it now.

Uncertainty has now hit Japan.

In the last 7 days Origami Bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up
and Bonsai Bank announced plans to cut some of its branches.

Yesterday, it was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale and will
likely go for a song, while today shares in Kamikaze Bank were suspended
after they nose-dived.

While Samurai Bank is soldiering on following sharp cutbacks, Ninja Bank
is reported to have taken a hit, but they remain in the black.

Furthermore, 500 staff at Karate Bank got the chop and analysts report
that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank where it is feared
that staff may get a raw deal.

Religious Freedom v Equal Rights

So, it seems to me these come into conflict a lot. The recent changes to make it legal for homosexual couples to 'marry' have annoyed a lot of Christians. (Other faiths too I'm sure, but as I don't really know much about that, I'll stick to my own beliefs, and I don't pretend to be representative of every single Christian). Now, I'm sure you can understand why, if you believe something is wrong, you wouldn't want to be involved in it. For example, if I say that I believe that having sex before marriage is wrong (and I do believe this), then I wouldn't want to be involved in giving contraceptive advice to teenagers. However, if I was a counsellor and suddenly my job description was changed so that I had to do so, I would naturally be a bit upset. I would ask to be excluded from such issues, and to concentrate on counselling people with other issues. Fair enough, I'm sure you'll agree, whether you think my belief that having sex before marriage is wrong or not. However, a few weeks ago, I became aware of a case where a Christian registrar, who asked not to perform Civil Partnerships as they went against her beliefs, was suspended and treated cruelly and accused of being homophobic. Today, I found out about another case, where a counsellor who refused to give advice on sexual problems to homosexual couples has been dismissed. He hadn't even refused to counsel them on relationship problems, but when it came to this, he felt he had to draw the line. And I might add, that I wouldn't feel comfortable giving advice on sexual problems to anyone, on the basis that I don't have experience in that side of things. Naturally, he wouldn't have experience in that area either. He spoke to his supervisors, who leaked details of the meeting to colleagues, damaging the relationships between them. Now, I don't think you can say that refusing to counsel same sex couples on having sex is discriminating against them, certainly not when you have religious reasons to do so. I could go on, but I won't. I think those examples are enough.
Anyway, what do you think? Should a person be forced to sacrifice their religious beliefs in order to make some pretence at equal rights? Is it not much better that those people are allowed to make a stand for what they believe is right, without being labelled homophobic? I might add, that they said nothing against the people involved. After all, God does not hate the sinner, but the sin. And if you view homosexual relationships as sinful (and I'm going to invite a lot of controversy by saying that I do think they're wrong and go against God's plan for the world), that does not mean you have to hate the people involved in it. On the contrary, Jesus called for us to love the unlovable, to care for those who would go against us, and in that vein, I don't believe it's fair to simply dismiss anyone on the grounds of their sexual orientation. I would protest against their practising it and encouraging others to do so, I would protest that we haven't yet seen the consequences for it, but I wouldn't out and out say 'you are evil for doing so'. They're not. This is a rather thorny issue, I'm sure you'll agree.
Just one little thought I'd like to leave you with. The guidelines laid out in the Bible are there for a reason. The reason behind no sex before marriage is because it should be something special, and if you look at what's happening now, with the increased spread of STDs, you can see that it does have detrimental effects upon people. The incredibly complicated guidelines laid out about what to do with mouldy things may not have made much sense then, but if you remember that they had no way of destroying mould, and that it would rapidly spread to contaminate everything, then it makes sense. So there you go. There's a good reason why the Bible condemns homosexuality, we just haven't stumbled onto it yet. Please respond, but please don't start slagging people off with generalisations. I'm not trying to offend anyone, I'm just stating my views. I am not homophobic (i.e. afraid of people who are homosexual, because that's what the word means, not that I disagree with it), I just don't think it's morally right.

Tomorrow...

So, I'm really not looking forward to tomorrow. My nana died last week, I haven't posted about it because I really didn't know what to say, and it's her funeral tomorrow. I still don't know how I feel about it. She'd had Parkinson's for a while, and the last time I went to see her, she didn't really know who I was. She went into hospital a few weeks ago, and she was refusing treatment and food. They said she didn't have long, maybe two, three days, and then the next day she died in the morning. She hadn't even really recognised my granddad, or my parents. So I guess in a way, she'd been gone for a while, but I still don't know how I feel about it. Anyway.

Nutmeg Angel

Well, I've worked out how to format it all. Kind of at any rate. It's a start, even if it isn't complete. I'm going to do this one, because what with it being my first, it has a special place in my heart. So I intend to go over it once more, and the it'll be up on Amazon. And I'll try to get the second one, Winged Fire, which can make perfect sense without the first one, and has a more exciting plot (in my opinion at any rate), published for real.

Oh, I didn't know it did that. Must remember in future

I forgot to log out last time I was on here, and so when I clicked on blogger in my bookmarks, it came straight up with my dashboard. Never knew it did that. Oh well.

Writing update

Ok, so at the moment I'm working on The Desert Rat (name subject to change), which is set during the First World War, about a British pilot, a German pilot, and a female spy (I don't know whose side she's on yet though. I mean, I'm only on Chapter 53, wouldn't expect me to know a crucial thing like that yet, would you?!), oh and a mechanic turned spy, and then in 1929, as the Great Depression/Wall Street Crash is about to happen, in Chicago, about a pilot bootlegger, the daughter of the mechanic turned spy who falls in love with him and then they argue when he admits he's German, and the British pilot, who her father heavily approves of, starts trying to seduce her. I still haven't quite worked out who she ends up with. I'd like to finish it before November starts, but I don't know if I will manage it. I'm doubtful, given how big it is already and the fact that I'm not really even half way through.
For Nanowrimo, I've decided (I think) on a fantasy/crime novel, set in an alternate reality. The MC is Sheol, who's a bitter ex-cop and is badly scarred through a bad experience that led to him being forced to leave the police. There's also Joab, who's a young, eager cop trying to prove himself to everyone and get promoted etc. He comes across a series of murders, involving prostitutes having all the magic sucked out of them (this is the fantasy bit :D) and their appendixes disappearing (where all the magic comes from). As he's the most junior officer and they aren't considered important, he's put onto it. When he finds the fourth body, he realises the area he's in isn't quite so deserted as he thought--there's a boarding house at the end of the street, a boarding house run by Sheol. Sheol is suspected as he casually reveals that he knows exactly what's happened to them. Up till then it was just conjecture and speculation. He also admits he was the last to see the latest girl alive. He has to work with Joab, reluctant to go near him, to clear his name and find justice for the murdered women. That's about it. I'm sure more plot will emerge as I write. It did last year...

Hmm, how interesting.

And what a profitable use of my time I might add. Hmm...

I could survive for 38 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

Created by Bunk Beds.net

Let's see if that works...

OpenOffice 3

The new OpenOffice has just come out, yay! I'm downloading it now. Let you know how it works once it's all set on my computer, but I have to say, other than the spellchecker sometimes taking a long while on the version I have at the moment (2.4 I think), it's really good. My favourite feature is the way it remembers any words over a certain length that you use and offers them to you as you type. It's really useful that, means I can type even faster than usual. :D

High School Musical Three

Ok, so I haven't seen the first two, and it's never really seemed likemy kind of thing, although I have to admit to having loved several chick flick type films (PS I love you, which is sooo sweet, even if I did sob the whole way through, Mama Mia, Wildchild...). However, it was pretty good. They could've made a lot more of the storyline in the first part, which was a little confusing (and not just because I haven't seen the other two), and with too many songs. The choreography was pretty awesome, as was the music, although some of it was just annoyingly unrealistic. Like the way they danced so well on their first ever time. The second part of the film redeemed itself though, but they didn't show the actual prom (I don't think, it was a bit hard to tell exactly what was going on...). Anyway, it's probably worth seeing. I enjoyed it for the most part.

Formatting PDF

Have now looked at the website offering it, and I have to transform my book into a PDF document and find a cover and stuff like that too... So I don't know how I'll do that, but somebody must know. And how hard can it be? (Famous last words most likely...)

WOW WOW WOW WOW YAY!!!!

I've just got an e-mail from Nanowrimo, and all of last years winners (people who managed over 50000 verified words in the month), can have a free copy of their book printed up. And then I can sell it over Amazon for free too!!!! So I might just be in print soon, I think it'll all work out ok, just have to check with my parents that I can do it, but WOWOWOWOWOW!!!! (Guess what? I'm somewhat excited!)