A Wee Trip To Scotland . . .

We've just had a long weekend in Scotland - Dunoon to be precise.

It's our third time up to Dunoon. We have friends there, but this time we went with another couple who had never been. I absolutely love Scotland. For our honeymoon 10 years ago we could have gone anywhere in the world, but I insisted on Scotland as I'd never been before. We rented a cottage just outside Inverness and I've never tired of going back there since. To say the landscape is stunning is an understatement, and its so rich in history that you're reminded of it practically everywhere you look. I'm so inspired by it, so I thought I'd share a few snapshot moments and share some inspiration...

Puks Glen is a national park where you can walk up the side of a woodland hill, following a waterfall

The view once you reach the top of Puks Glen

Some Scenic views...

 

Kilmun Church situated alongside another waterfall and with a historic graveyard and mausoleum

 

Inverury Castle

The tower of Inverury church

We also spotted some local wildlife, including birds, seals, and an animal that is extremely rare to see during the day and in this area. The genuine Wild Hairy Haggis. I was also lucky enough to bag one and sneak it home. Look at it!!!

Yep, I Love Scotland!

Pic of the Week . . . Phantom of the Opera

It's all about the Phantom of the Opera this week it seems, so what better theme for this week's Pic of the Week.

Apart from the sentimental value, what is it that I like about the Phantom? Well, it's a gothic romance, isn't it? What's not to like about that? Young, naive Christine Daae, dreams of becoming an opera singer having grown up listening to her father's tales about the Angel of Music. Then when she hears the voice in her dressing room, she believes it to be this celestial being and accepts singing lessons from him. His own voice is powerful and seductive and she finds herself enslaved by it, giving herself over to him. Then as her fame begins to spark, along comes Raoul, the future Count of Changny and childhood sweetheart, to sweep her off her feet. So what's a girl to do?

As you sink into the story line, you can't help but give yourself to the Phantom. His mysteriousness, his voice, his power. It's enchanting. It makes you think Raoul-Schmaoul. But then when you sit back and think about it, this disfigured person - Erik - is a master of seduction and deceit. He's allowed Christine to believe he is her Angel of Music. He haunts the Opera house and sparks fear in everyone who works there. He demands payment and keep from the owners lest terrible things should happen to the people. He kills for what he wants. He kills for Christine. And kidnapping and demanding marriage? Is that really how to win fair maiden?

Yet, you still want him, you still lust over him. So is Erik a monster or a victim of a cruel society who forced him to hide away, a society that would never accept him and his disfigurement for who he is?

Anyway, showcasing Anne Bachelier and her wonderful oil illustrations for said book. Joining with CFM Galleries, she has produced a collection of some wonderful pieces, some of which are for sale, and are well worth heading over there for just to see. The piece below is from the Masked Ball and I think it's absolutely stunning.

Have a good weekend and enjoy...

It definitely left its mark . . .

Have you ever seen something that was so good it stayed with you, maybe even left its mark on you somehow? Well, I did, and it definitely left its mark on me - with added colour.


Ta da! My new artistic wrist addition.

I've always loved Phantom of the Opera. It's something that has been a part of me since childhood. My nan used to love it and owned the vinyl, and every Sunday my sisters and I would walk round to see her and listen to it and sing along (I dread to think what we actually sounded like...). Because of this, it's always held a little place in my heart.

So when my friend said she had tickets to see the show in London and asked if I wanted to join them I literally jumped at the chance. I'd obviously heard the soundtrack, I've watched the film with Gerard Butler, but I'd never seen it live.

Oh my God!!! It was amazing. I've been to numerous shows and nothing has touched me as much as this one. I don't know what it was, whether it was the emotional story line, the power in the songs, or even nostalgia, bringing back memories of my nan, but I loved it so much I decided I needed something to commemorate the occasion. And what better way to honor it than with a tattoo.

I'm not sure what my nan's views on tattoos were but I hope she would approve...lol (I know my dad won't 😬 )...


So have any of you felt the need to commemorate an event in such a permanent way?  

Quick Tunnel Update . . .

It's been a busy week. Out every evening - and that's exhausting when your an introvert and a hermit like me. I like my time, with evenings for just me, the cats and the freedom to do what ever I want, be it writing, reading, drawing or lounging in front the TV. But I also know it's not exactly healthy so I make allowances and some evenings I do go out and be sociabe - believe it or not.

This week felt full on though. Monday I usually meet friends. Tuesday I was dragged to see the meatloaf show 'Bat out of Hell' - which was good but not being a real meatloaf fan, I didn't really know many words to the songs, unlike my mother-in-law who was merrily blasting in my ear the entire way through. Wednesday evening I put myself under the needle of a tattoo gun (that wasn't fun) and then on Thursday I went and saw the huge Blue Whale display at the Natural History Museum in London. That was good - although I was very paranoid over my sore arm and felt the need to protect it againt the London crowds. Friday and the weekends are always reserved for family and the hubby.

The Blue Whale at the Natural History Museum

Anyway, imagine my delight after a busy week, to check my book, Tunnel, on Amazon and to find reviews on .com - GOOD reviews! two 4 stars and two 5 stars. I'm over the moon with these and there's nothing like a good review to boost your confidence enough to put fingers back to keyboard.

So here's to many more hours of hopeful productivity... :)

Pic of the Week . . . The Boys

It's been a sad few days here. My parents had to say goodbye to one of their K9 best friends, Molly. She was a 12 year old yorkshire terrier. Even though she wasn't my dog, she was still very much part of the family, and I remember watching her grow from an adorable little puppy to the lovely lady that she became. She had three beautiful litters of puppies that flew the nest, all but one who remained with my sister, and another K9 companion and father of those litters, Toby, who will sorely miss her.

She was such a sweet girl. She did have a tumor which lead to other complications, but in the end it was heart failure that got her. My old cat, Daisy, had heart failure, and watching her go was heart breaking. But no matter how hard it is, we move on and find new companions, and when something like this happens, it just makes you feel blessed and grateful for the time you get to spend together.

So, raise a glass in honour to our pets, past and present. Below is a picture of my boys, Bodie and Doyle. I'd like to say they are writing companions, but to be honest they're more of a distraction...but we wouldn't have it any other way...

Fun at London Film and Comic Con . . .

A couple of friends and I toddled off to the London Film and Comic Con at Olympia in London on Saturday. It was so much fun. I love going to these events and seriously getting my geek on. There were so many stalls and I spent far too much money. Plus there was a huge line up of celebrities there that you could see, including Benedict Cumberbatch. You can imagine my excitement! Except, it was to expensive too meet him, and tickets for his talk were sold out.

So I settled for spending neigh on seven hours wandering around and taking pictures - as you can see below. The cosplay that was going on was phenomenal...

 

  This was just half of Olympia.

To the left was a second hall just as big, filled with more geeky surprises.

Below: I think it's obvious...

 

 Saw DC's Bane wandering around a few times...

Assassins' Creed and some tall thing...

To the Bat Mobile...

Deadpool and Loki and a few more...

 

Some prosthetic heads...

 

Mr and Mrs Wonder Woman...

Cosplay competition: Look carefully and you'll see Mary Poppins...

Wash and Jane from Firefly...

 This was as close to Benedict Cumberbatch as we could get. 

They kept him imprisoned behind those walls...

 

Although I did see a few Doctor Stranges floating around...

 

But the most satifying part of the day? I found Wally...

Roll on Winter London Film and Comic Con...

Pic of the Week . . . that's MRS Doctor Who to you

I confess, I have a LOT of catching up to do regarding Doctor Who, but you'll be pleased to know that I'm currently working on that thanks to Netflix. It wasn't something that I rushed out to watch when it was showing, but I did catch the odd episode and remember thinking to myself that that was really good. It's the same with Game of Thrones to be honest - but that's another story.

Anyway, I can't remember if I blogged about this all those years ago, about a dream I once had with Doctor Who, but I'm gonna blog about it again today, regardless. And what with Doctor Who being in the limelight at the moment and the news that the next Doctor is going to a woman, there's no better time to bring it up again.

So what do you guys think to the news? Will Jodie Whittaker become a successful Time Lord? I'm open for it and think it will be an interesting twist. I've watched her in a few other things and she's a good actress in my opinion but will the Doctor be the same as a female? And this is where my dream has a fun little answer to that...

Obviously I can only account for the episodes I've seen, so my facts may be slightly off. If so, you'll have to forgive me for that, but I do get the feeling the Doctor refuses to have any relationship with any of his female companions. All through the episodes with Rose Tyler, we watched how their relationship grew, evolved, and it was obvious that she loved him, but he never returned the feelings until the end, but even then he didn't actually say it. We're just lead to believe this was what he was going to say. And then afterwards we saw how painful it was for him to bring her up in conversations. So if he did actually like her that much, why didn't he act upon it?

In truth, according to my dream, he couldn't because...wait for it...he has no genitalia. True story! In my dream, he was asked why he would never take that step, and his answer was that Time Lords were minus any genitalia which meant any sexual relationship - especially with humans - was impossible. Whether this was kept secret due to embarrassment, I don't know, but that's why any relationship between the Doctor and his companion has never taken that final step.

So, if the Doctor wants to regenerate as a woman, why not? He's not defined by genitalia which sex he is, so in reality he's free to choose. And will being a female change anything? Of course not. It's still the Doctor. In fact, I'm surprised he hasn't made this choice sooner :)

Anyway, enough silliness. On to Pic of the Week. Sticking with a Doctor Who theme, this little beauty was created by Jasric on Devientart. If you like anything sci-fi, fantasy, film, TV, you have to check their gallery out. There's some real impressive pieces, including this piece below. So go check it out, and in the meantime...

...enjoy and have a good weekend!

  

Book Launch . . . TUNNEL is up on Amazon!

Hazzah!!!

It's up! It's published! TUNNEL is available on Amazon for kindle and print. It's very exciting. Below is the cover and the blurb.

Check it out HERE :)

Oh and almost forgot to say, as from tomorrow and the next 5 days, it's totally FREE so grab a copy while you can...

TUNNEL

The London Underground, a convenient way to commute, with miles of tunnels weaving their way beneath the city – but with many of these tunnels now unused and abandoned, a whole new world unknown to the people above has evolved below the streets.

Mike travels the Underground every day for work, battling rush hour crowds all taking the same journey day in day out. He follows the unspoken underground etiquette every time, with his music playing in his ears and the avoidance of eye contact, and no one says a word as they routinely travel the tedious path life has given them.

An evening of working late means Mike misses these rush hour crowds. The platform at nine o clock in the evening is sparse of people, and the train car he boards offers plenty of seats. He settles down, listening to his music and preparing to travel the same journey taken hundreds of times before, only this time the journey offers something different, and as the train stops, trapping everyone beneath the streets, he realises they are not alone.

Something else, something terrifying, is lingering in the shadows of the Tunnel…

Pic of the Week . . . Brandon McConnell

Today, highlighting the spray paint artist Brandon McConnell with his phenomenal talent with SpaceArt. I first saw a guy painting with spray paints about 15 - 20 years ago on a visit to Camden in London. He blew me away, so much so that I even went home and tried it myself. I created a few pieces, experimenting, but the cost of the equipment meant I didn't continue.  But still to this day, I could watch them spray all day long.

So, introducing Brandon McConnell. Be sure to check out his website - and, if you're interested, watch how he creates this specific piece in his video tutorial on YouTube.

Enjoy and have a grand weekend...

Getting Back In The Swing . . .

I faded.

I disappeared from the whole blogger community. I used to post twice a week, every week, religiously. I loved it. And not only did I fade from you wonderful people, I faded from my own creative self, too. I've been clinging on to that creativity for a good few years now, struggling and desperate not to let go - but then not doing much to help myself rescue it either.

I've suffered a whole identity crisis in the meantime, too. I've always been writing, as a little kid, all through my teen years and up into my adult life. It's the one thing I've always wanted to do, and the one thing that has always been a constant for me, and after publishing a few works online as well and my inclusions in anthologies, as well as personal projects that I've been working on, I was proud to call myself an actual writer. But then I wasn't writing. And if I wasn't writing, who was I? This left me confused and added to the struggles. In the end, I've just been meandering through life, not doing much at all to be honest.

I'm not sure why my creativity dried up. I could put it down to changes in work which have left me unsettled and therefore unable to get into it; a break which got me out of the habit of writing regularly, and a habit that I haven't been able to get back into...who knows. But one thing still remained, and that was the passion for my ideas. Even though I wasn't actually writing, the ideas still kept flowing, ideas that I love and would one day want to put down on paper - or a word document.

So, a little while back I decided to get my posterior back in gear and get back in the flow, and I've finally finished my novella, Tunnel. Can't actually remember if I mentioned it all those years ago in one of my last posts, but I originally started Tunnel (a zombie flick) for Nano way back when and then had a car accident which ruined that November flow. I still worked on it though at my own snail pace and eventually finished it. And now it's edited and polished and soon ready to go up on Amazon. I'm actually proud of myself and I will keep you all posted with that one.

Then also, out of the blue a few days back, I received a friend request on facebook from the wonderful Nick Wilford who inadvertently reminded me of the whole writer community sitting here that I had once been a part of and who offered support and inspiration (thank you), and so decided that I needed to get back here too. If you believe in fate, I think the signs are all there, finally aligning and telling me it's time to rekindle that creative spark. It may be hard and a struggle but I'm ready to give it a go...

So, deep breath and fingers crossed. Let's get this show back on the road...