Day 218

*Hangs head in shame*

I’m yet to start editing chapter 15. I’ve been away since last Wednesday though, so I haven’t spent too much time at my desk (or at home for that matter). We went to Epworth in Doncaster for a 60^th anniversary event for the German Short-haired Pointer Club (okay, we don’t have a GSP – but we went down with my folks, and they have two of them).

I’m all rested and chilled out now – so I’ll keep this update very brief and just crack on.

My skates are now firmly strapped on, and I’ve removed the stoppers from the front...

Day 211

So much has happened this past week! Now where to start...

I suppose most importantly, I will start with a Slippery Souls update. Alas, I only have 14 chapters sorted for the second draft...it’s very slow going at the moment, because I’ve been busy with so much other stuff, oops.  I’ll be making a start on chapter 15 today though (which thankfully is a nice short and snappy chapter).

Last Wednesday I went to Beamish to read out my poem in the memorial chapel, for the 60^th anniversary of the pit disaster. It was all quite nerve wracking really – the memorial chapel was absolutely crammed full, and it was my biggest audience yet. Luckily, I was standing up in the pulpit, so nobody in the audience was able to see my knees knocking together. Mind you, it didn’t go unnoticed by the other members of the Easington Writers who were sat behind! (Thanks guys for not laughing at me!).  Anyway, that’s all the pit disaster anniversary stuff wrapped up now...and we have an exciting new project ahead. The Durham Light Infantry Museum would like us to do some creative writing for them to read out on Friday 8^th July. I don’t know all of the exact details just yet – so more on that later J

And then onto something non-writing related...

I went to Yorkshire for a girlie weekend with my mam and my friend Angela....which is why I haven’t got much writing done! On Saturday we visited Huddersfield and then Holmfirth – where they filmed Last of the Summer Wine. We enjoyed a nice cuppa in Sid’s Cafe, met some friendly (but toilet-hogging) bikers there and posed for photos on Nora Batty’s infamous steps. Then on Sunday we visited the original Woolpack pub from Emmerdale...and despite the fact that none of us even watch the programme, we still posed for photos outside. Unfortunately it was only 10am and it wasn’t open, so it’s with regret that I wasn’t able to have a pint there, pah! Then lastly we headed over to Haworth, which was apparently the home of the Bronte Sisters. I had no idea who they were, shamefully, until my mam muttered something about Wuthering Heights and Jane Ayre. I’ve vaguely heard of these before (though I’m more familiar with Kate Bush’s song), so we just did some retail therapy in Haworth instead of investigating the Bronte museum – period romance just isn’t our cup of tea. We arrived back home yesterday teatime, and I swear I could have slept for a week!

But I can’t. So okay, chapter 15, I’d better go and get started with that...

Well, maybe after I’ve looked at my photos from the weekend J

Day 205

Isn’t it typical how the weather starts looking up again now that the Bank Holiday is over! Oh well, I suppose it’s just sod’s law...

And it’s sod’s law how I didn’t get 17 chapters edited, as hoped – in fact I’m still on editing chapter 13, so I think I can safely say this second draft is taking a little longer than initially expected.  In all likelihood I will probably have 17 edited by the end of this week instead. Not to worry though, as long as it’s moving along (even at a snail’s pace) that’s all that matters.

My poem The First Shift, which I wrote in commemoration for the 60^th Anniversary of the Easington pit disaster, and which I recorded at The Studio in Hartlepool with the other Easington Writers, has now been uploaded to the Listen Up North website and can be found using the following link:

http://www.listenupnorth.com/writer-profile/275

I read it out on Saturday 28^th May at Easington’s Memorial Avenue, along with the other Easington Writers who recited poetry of their own, to an audience of perhaps forty.

Sunday 29^th May marked the actual 60^th anniversary, and I, along with the other Easington Writers, read out at Easington Welfare Hall to an audience of around thirty. This time I read out a different poem of mine, 29^th May 1951, which was more specific to the disaster, which can be read below:

29^th of May 1951

It was a Tuesday morning like any other

So how could those men have known?

That Death & Fate had swooped hand in hand

To where they worked down below

It was half past four, the village still slept

When Death came thundering down

And Fate rose hot in fiery flames

Reverberations shook the ground

Fate was cruel, trapping all those men

From those they knew up above

And Death was greedy, taking so many

Caring neither for family nor love

The families kept waiting,

Hoping and praying for news of their men to pass

That they’d be ok and walk out unscathed

High hopes in their hearts of glass

Alas there was none, their lives were all shattered

They learnt the horror of Fate

So for the sake of those men and all they held dear

Let’s always remember this date

Tomorrow I shall be reading out one last time at Beamish. The Easington Writers will be opening the service at the Memorial Chapel. Then for the rest of the week I will be slogging away at Slippery Souls.

That’s all of my news for this week, and since I’m four chapters behind already I’m off to do some catching up!

Day 197

Ugh, I’m behind already – I had hoped to have at least 12 chapters sorted for the second draft by now, but as it is, I only have 10. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been right into the swing of things and I’m particularly enjoying the chemistry between my characters Libby and Grim – I’ve just been somewhat sidetracked by other stuff...

Derek and I have decided to put our house on the market, so we’ve been doing odd jobs about the house all week.  There just aren’t enough hours in the day, but all going well, I will get back on track and have 17 chapters sorted by the time the Bank Holiday weekend is over. So that said, I’ll stop talking about it and just DO IT!

P.S. Hope everyone has a smashing Bank Holiday, catch you all later J

Day 189

Well I’m not in the most creative of moods today because I’m nursing the most evil hangover, (obviously self inflicted, so I don’t expect any sympathy), so I thought the least I could do was update my blog for the week...because I’ll be doing very little else in the way of writing.

Chapter 7 of Slippery Souls is just about complete in its second draft form, so I’ll be cracking on with chapter 8 tomorrow. I really need to quicken my pace and get my skates on if I’m to get this book published by the end of summer, so I’m hoping to edit a chapter a day from now on. That should take me to the middle of June for the completion of the second draft *fingers crossed*

I’ve got a collection of short stories and poems ready for the Easington Writers Group anthology, which is hopefully set to be launched in July. And I have a poem called First Shift ready to be read out at the Easington Welfare Hall on 29^th May, where a commemoration of the 60^th anniversary of the Easington pit disaster will take place. I’m sure it will be nerve wracking stuff getting up to read in front of so many people, but hey, there’s a bar so I’ll be able to grab some Dutch courage beforehand J

Right, off to find some paracetemol for this monster headache...

Day 183 - Halfway

I’m at the six month halfway point now – can’t believe I finished work that long ago! How time flies!

In regards to writing, I suppose honesty is the best policy...I’ve haven’t touched Slippery Souls at all this past week, eek. I’m yet to pick up chapter seven to begin editing, (I’ve been ridiculously busy with other stuff though – including babysitting my mam and dad’s dogs Basil, Ruby & Rafferty. Having four dogs around, as you can imagine, has been quite a handful. It’s been rather eventful in the Dixon household!!).

On a positive note, I’m making progress with Assignment 17 and have pretty much written my radio short story. Next I have to turn it into a twenty minute play for the second part of the assignment. I was hoping to get it submitted this coming Sunday – but I think I’m being a little too optimistic there.

So today I will pick up chapter seven and crack on with the editing process – think I’ll take the manuscript and my red pen out in the garden with the dog and do some sunbathing too, could do with some sun on my skin! J

Day 177

Well, back to work after eleven glorious days off – most of which was spent moseying about in The Lakes where I didn’t lift a pen once!

I feel all re-charged and ready to go again now, though there’s not much to report in the way of writing progress - so I’ll just go and dig out my manuscript and get editing again. Chapter 7 and onwards...