Happy Halloween – October 31st
Today is Saturday 30th October. Today, I’d normally be decorating our yard for our bi-annual Halloween Party; for the second time, because I would have put them up yesterday to save some work, but as always the weather would either rain on them or blow them down. It’s an unspoken agreement I have with the weather and I never learn. Next year, all body parts crossed, instead of thinking about it, as I am now, I’ll be doing it. That’s me up there, by the way, the one in the red wig.
I worked for twenty-five years in the costume hire industry and Halloween was the busiest single weekend of the year. Commercialism at its best. And while many will say ‘Oh, I don’t celebrate Halloween’, I wonder – is it a celebration? or just a really good excuse to have a party, without having to hand over presents. The meanings behind Halloween are interesting. Some of them, are a cause for celebration and an excellent idea for another post. Another time – stay tuned, don’t touch that dial (or remote).
What’s new?
Some freedoms for Sydney came our way, which was refreshing. I was able to go to the movies for the first time in four months. If you’re a Marvel fan, check out Shang-chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
I did this with an old ladder. It’s in front of my ‘she’ shed; I’ll soon have my own craft/sewing studio and a place for all our costumes inside that shed.
October’s Books
Read –
Reign of Beasts (#3 Creature Court) by Tansy Rainer Roberts; She Sat He Stood by Ginger Hanson – a ‘show not tell’ writing craft book; 1,000 Strong Verbs for fiction writers and 1,000 Character Reactions from head to toe by Valerie Howard both are also ‘show not tell’ writing craft books.
Reading –
Natasha Lester’s The Riviera House. It wasn’t listed in my September post, but it’s amazing where life takes us or what the post brings us. I’m still reading Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper, it’s an easy book to pick up and put down without having to stay in tune with what is going on. And, since starting this post, I began and am now almost finished reading No Plot? No Problem, by Chris Baty. The creator of NaNoWriMo delights us with tales about how to write a novel in 30 days.
To be read –
So many on the bookshelf and on Kindle. Here is a list of potential next reads – The Other by Mark Brandi or The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, or Girl, 11 by Amy Suiter Clarke (on Kindle). You may have noticed it’s the same list from September – oh look, shiny thing!
Reno update
The Bathroom is 90% finished, just waiting on a cupboard to be made. It’s likely to arrive at the same time as our new kitchen. The old bathroom was so pokey, this new one will take a little getting used to. I’ve also been busy sanding the outside window frames on the rest of the house and one of those windows has been painted. only a gatrillion more to go.
October Writing
My world of writing has been busy.
* Another of my flash fiction stories I originally entered into the Australian Writers Centre – Furious Fiction, was published at Spillwords.com, making it my fourth story to be published. Click the link. Speaking of Furious Fiction, my untitled entry for October was longlisted – I was excited and had to check twice to make sure it was my name. I may have uttered a tiny ‘Squeee!’
*Word count for my current manuscript – 17565 as of the 19th of October. I haven’t added any more words, well I have, kinda, let me explain –
*Da Dum … I’ve entered NaNoWriMo.
So, the words I’ve written after the 19th have been in preparation for this – 50,000 words in thirty days-writing-frenzy madness. I’ve taken notes on historical facts so I don’t have to stop to do the research; I’ve jotted down a story outline, made character notes and listened to planning tips on various podcasts, and read similar blog posts. The family has been warned of my writing schedule and a weekly-writing-catchup-date at the library has been organised with my friend and writing buddy. Good to go.
Will I meet that target? Who knows, but every word written is a step closer to a finished manuscript.
October’s entertainment for you and because it amuses me –
What type of Witch do you find at the Beach? – Sandwitch.
What type of bank does a vampire invest in? – Blood bank
So, what’s your news? Have you entered NaNoWriMo? Do you have a Halloween anecdote or joke?
Stay safe everyone.
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