AT HOME: We visited relatives for an extended Easter break and, for once, the journeys weren’t too bad despite a hold-up and diversion when returning home owing to a lorry on fire. Of course, these days, the moment one leaves the main road, there’s little to no help. Gone are the days when anyone puts out signs, and don’t bother relying on GPS as Satnavs try the utmost to turn you around to go back the way you came, placing you on the very road you need to avoid.
Monsoon season continues — we’re on our 8th storm of the year right now — and this is affecting a lot of the country. Farmers understandably complain about ruined crops, and business owners complain about lost bookings and fewer visitors. There’s been little in the way of a spring, though we could work on the garden occasionally.
FILM/TV: Working our way through classic episodes of Doctor Who is interesting. At season 9 now, with Jon Pertwee, who was my first Doctor. I’d forgotten how argumentative this Doctor could be with Lethbridge-Stewart, though the smirk of amusement on the Brigadier’s face softens their confrontations. It’s a delight to see Katy Manning as the companion (Jo) being that she voiced the short audio story I did for Big Finish Productions. I remember her, of course, though I recall which episodes I’ve seen by the monsters more than anything. I’d also forgotten how adventurous Jo Grant was.
WRITING: I am writing, though there’s not much to report right now, as I’m mostly doing some editing rounds and re-writes. Not very exciting but that’s how writing goes sometimes. Stay happy and healthy! Sharon x
AT HOME: Living in the countryside isn’t always the holiday atmosphere people assume. Officially on the news the South West has had 3 to 4 times the amount of rain it usually has this time of year, so despite trying to get out and about more, some days have been a bit more like monsoon season making some outings impossible. We went for a meal one night, driving through mist and fog to get there. There’s been a lot of what locals call mizzle, some of it icy. There’s some snow at high altitudes. Trying to sort out the garage and make a start on the garden where we can.
FILM/TV: Watched Saltburn mainly owing to all the shocked buzz about the film, but I worked out what was happening and didn’t see all that much to be perturbed about. The real world is far more startling. I can’t say much surprises me.
Both Asteroid City, and Everything Everywhere All At Once, though fun and entertaining, left us with a sense of WTH did we just watch?
It’s easy to see why Brendon Fraser’s performance in The Whale was award-winning, and makes for compelling drama, throwing up a lot of reasons to question personal point of views, mostly for the good. Of course, The Whale doesn’t refer to his size, but to the emotional states of the characters. In particular, Ellie believes her father, Charlie, to be uncaring, and this has affected her attitude. The end is a little abrupt and purposely ambiguous, with various meanings. The film also showed how some people can react in negative ways to emotional upheaval, such as Charlie’s weight gain, a physical representation of the emotions that weigh everyone in the story down.
WRITING: I at long last found the missing idea for another book, and I am thinking about re-editing another for a re-release, and am working out a new timeline for a book already written. Stay happy and healthy! Sharon x
Hi Everyone! AT HOME: Sorry there was no update for December, but not a lot to report. Trip to relatives, horrendous traffic, and a general hatred of travelling anywhere on a major holiday. A definite reason to exclaim one is getting too old for this. And January always seems to be a bit of a bleak month. Illnesses in services have interfered with our receiving various treatments or tests. And, despite my vow to not spend more on the garden, various plants await better weather so that they can go in the ground. There’s also a few more to come.
FILM/TV: We’re continuing with a few series, including Doctor Who originals. So nice to see finally The Web of Fear, Doctor Who, Season 5 with Patrick Troughton as the first book in the spin-off series of novels featuring Lethbridge-Stewart was The Forgotten Son, written by Andy Frankham-Allen, which follows on from the yeti invasion by the great intelligence. A series I was fortunate to write for. Watching the old shows also made me realise what an excellent book Andy had written in his unofficial guide: Companions, Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants.
We finally got around to watching The Full Monty series (Disney+), and were pleasantly surprised. We thought it would be good, but it has real social commentary, funny, sad, and serious. Every episode flew by.
WRITING: I have attempted to write again, somewhat delayed with one project potentially lost as I can’t find the article whence the idea sprung. Not as bad as losing actual writing, but a reason to grind teeth for sure. Nothing to report as I’ll be in the old rewriting phase for sometime on an existing draft. Stay happy and healthy! Sharon x
I don’t believe resolutions really work, but I have plans after a pretty disastrous 2023 health-wise with a wrist/hand out of typing action for 6 months. I’ve got to get the decorations down and house tidy, plus I have appointments this week. I also need to tidy up the mess of files on my laptop. Then I ‘plan’ (not resolve), to begin exercising again — nothing new, just returning to what I used to do — and to start writing. Hoping all your plans go well.
AT HOME: We had an extremely wet holiday staying beside (almost in) the Beaulieu River in the New Forest. Fortunately, we were in a stilted house, so weren’t too worried even at high tide, when the water overflowed the bank. Was strange to think had we gone a week earlier we would have enjoyed spring if not summer weather, but our week was like monsoon season, especially in the morning, so we often made a late start to the day. Despite the rain, we managed a couple of pleasant walks, visited some towns, and took a boat up the river. And of course, there were the ponies, though I was a little disappointed to only spot one donkey. The wild ponies are in fact owned by people called commoners, who have the right to graze their stock wild in the forest, so we also saw cows and pigs. Beaulieu village, though tiny, is lovely to visit with some nice places to eat, and we had the most amazing pie from the deli. So amazing we had to buy a second one. Well, they were small, but worth it.
The house refresh restarted upon our return because we’d decided as we’d done so much other work inside, we might as well redo the dining room. The key problem was that meant emptying and moving a lot of furniture, and putting it all back again. We also had a tremendous problem choosing a wallpaper, but think we made an excellent decision, although it wasn’t the easiest to work with, and as I’m the one who wallpapers, I was far from happy.
FILM/TV: We’re still working our way through Supernatural. Anyone who hasn’t watched Only Murders in the Building should try it; we sped through it. The patter song Steve Martin performs in season three is what would get stars an ovation. That and The Bear are probably the best series we’ve watched on Disney this year, though with it apparently doubling in cost (we were lucky to just get in on the old price this time), we likely only have another few months to enjoy it as while open to an increase next year, we don’t think it’s worth twice the amount. We’re now watching season three of The Watcher, though with Henry Cavill leaving, it’s questionable whether we’ll carry on with another series.
WRITING: I’ve decided to take a break for the rest of the year, planning to write again in 2024, though I may sort out some files and do a little editing. Stay happy and healthy! Sharon x
Hi Everyone! AT HOME: We had a lovely holiday staying just outside Carbis Bay. Managed lots of walking. Went into St Ives twice, once walking along the coast path, once via a short train op from St Erth. The weather was lovely, even too hot (for me), so I didn’t mind when the weather broke mid-week, giving us a couple of cooler days. Not been to the bottom of Cornwall for many years and won’t be going that way again until the work on the A30 concludes. Although not as bad as we feared, roadworks still caused a 50 minute delay in the journey.
The house refresh goes on, although we’ve finally moved on to the upstairs hallway. Next it’ll be the bannisters and, finally, the downstairs hall. I have to say the colour Poetry in the Crafted range by Crown proved to be the perfect colour. The only way I can describe it is like a soft but strong pistachio green.
FILM/TV: We’re still working our way through Supernatural, now on Season Six. I finally get why the series had such a fan base. Once the series got over the basic Sam and Dean just hunts a new monster every week and became more personal, it took off. That’s the basis for all good writing. Create characters your audience can care about and then throw as much and increasing conflict at them as possible.
We’ve got way more to watch than we have time for right now, so I’m behind most people starting new seasons, but I’ve been a fan of Black Mirror and was happy to see series six appear, which we’ve just started. Joan is Awful, episode one of season six may be my favourite episode to date. It is funny even as it’s thought provoking, questioning the use of A.I. and our rights along with so many relatable issues in a world using so much technology.
Also saw Good Omens 2, which I loved, but then it’s difficult for me not to love anything by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman (yes, Terry has gone but he and Neil worked on the book and kicked around ideas for a sequel), or staring David Tennant, or Martin Sheen, so this was always going to be a treat. I can’t say I loved season 2 as much as season 1, but as Neil has explained, this season acts as a bridge between 1 and 3. He has promised we will get the third instalment ‘in some format’. Let’s hope the third series gets made, although I’d also love the trilogy in print. Some hated season 2 because of the ending, but have they not heard of a cliffhanger? That end is not the where the story finishes. In Good Omens, angels and demons are genderless and asexual and, I confess, I’ve never considered Good Omens as a love story, but I’m happy to accept it either way. It’s simply great story-telling.
WRITING: Two announcements this month. Wildest Dreams re-released at JMS Books, and Night to Dawn #44 magazine, featuring my short story Brain Dead, is now available.
Detective Inspectors Frederick Dick and Riley Silcox have more important things to concern them than their names being a source of amusement. While Riley embraces his homosexuality, Frederick’s attraction to Riley brings him nothing but torment. Although Riley suspects Fred might be gay, if true, he’s certain the man isn’t happy about it, and Riley doesn’t intrude where he’s not wanted. Despite being on assignment, Riley has no reason not to pursue other relationships, especially with the attractive Scotsman, Calhoun. If only he knew how much Fred wants him, it could be a different story.
They endeavour to uncover a new and exclusive drug with strange side effects and recuperative powers, but become victims when they find the supplier. Does Frederick only hallucinate running wild in the woods? Or, like Riley, will he choose to run naked, baring not only his body but also his soul, revealing the reason for his celibacy, and why having Riley around means that isn’t working out for him, at all.
Had a horrendous trip to the in-laws. Traffic jams, roadworks, diversions, reports of animals on the road and people throwing things from a bridge. Could anyone have thrown anything else into the mix? If I put all this into a story readers would say I’m being melodramatic or unrealistic, proving life is stranger than fiction. All this added a good couple of hours onto the journey, which did me no good at all.
Once back home, we continued with our ‘refresh’ of the house, repainting one wall in the guest bedroom, and touching up any marks. It’s never looked so good. I’ve now moved on to the room’s ensuite shower room, but discovered the wall needs a little attention once I pulled off the paper. I think it’s because we papered over bathroom paint, so we’ll put a different base coat on the wall we intend to re-paper once it’s repaired. Otherwise, there’s not much to do in there with snagging (small cracks in new builds) only over the shower.
FILM/TV: We finished the Netflix limited series Midnight Mass, which turned out to be a questioning religious take on vampire mythology. The arguments presented and the thought-provoking dialogue were exceptional. About to finish watching the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films, which have been a nostalgic joy. And we watched series 4 of Stranger Things (Netflix), which we enjoyed the most of all the seasons. The way Netflix enhanced the sound was excellent and I hope they make this a more regular feature.
WRITING: I now know why I’ve not written much since breaking my wrist, having received my latest edits. Many were stupid mistakes because I was typing with one hand and using dictation. However, surely my brain was also scrambled, as I should have caught most, if not all, of them during the last read. I must have gone over it too many times by then, so my eyes filled in the blanks, which is why writers need an editor or at least a second set of eyes. Fortunately, I have a fab editor. Wildest Dreams this will re-release in the autumn.
I also received my copy of Night to Dawn magazine #44, also out this autumn, containing my short story Brain Dead. More on that nearer the time.
