Veganism - Day one

I've been vegetarian for thirteen years now, and have always wanted to become vegan - that is, removing all products that come from animals from my diet - but have never had the willpower. After reading another article on the way animals are treated for eggs/milk etc, I decided yesterday to take the plunge - and so today is my first day as a vegan!

I'm starting the process slowly, as it will take a while to get used to checking all food packaging for any animal products, but I'm hoping I'll be able to stick to it - even though my friends are quite cynical! Today I've eaten completely vegan, and have bought some vegan 'butter', vegan pate, vegan 'mozarella' and vegan ice cream - which I'm going to go and try now! I think the hardest part will be going out and going to friends' houses, and so I may end up being a flexi-vegan at those times - it's quite difficult, I would imagine, to be vegan outside your own home.

Anyway, just a quick update! In other news, Snap Sho - the sequel to 'Family Portrait' - is nearing 20,000 words, which I'm very pleased with!

A lot of reading

Lately I seem to have been having less and less time to read, chill out and blog. Unfortunately, I have completely lost my revision drive this weekend, andhave done nothing. I worked all day today, but have found that I'm caring less and less about revision, which is really quite worrying. My last exam's on Monday, and I really need to revise, but I just can't find the motivation to. I'm really exhausted all the time at the minute, and not really sleeping, and feeling quite down about going back to school. I'm not sure why, but I'm dreading it. So, I've been reading quite a lot, and taking advantage of the nice weather to sunbathe.

So, my reading list this week has been: The Other Boleyn Girl, The Luxe, The Manny, and Cradle Snatcher. I loved The Other Boleyn Girl - I'm really interested in the Tudor period, and found the book fascinating; I'd definitley recommend it. The Luxe was also interesting - it's all about high-class society in New York in the 19th century, and whilst it was quite predictable, I enjoyed it. The Manny was a light chick-lit book, but I was quite disappointed with it. I tend to feel I have to finish books as I always want to know what happens at the end, but the writing style really annoyed me. I've always bene quite critical, and since I've been writing and criticising my own work, I'm even worse. The use of '!!!!' and '??!!' really bugged me, as did the constant use of caps lock - "YOU! SUCK!" is an example of one sentence in it. Another thing was having to use repeated vowels all the time - "Pleeeease!" and "Noooooo". I just feel that if you need to use things like that (little bit of English Language showing off here - it is called replacing prosodic features) then it means your writing can't show the way it's being said without it.

Anyway, enough moaning :) I'm off to watch ER!

Abandonment of Blog

Ah, I've been a bit useless at blogging lately! Things have been so hectic, I'm afraid i just haven't had a time to post, but I'm here now!

The reason for the chaos is mostly down to exams; so much revision to do, so little time and motivation! I've done four exams so far, and have another two to go. I hope that the first four went ok - French Speaking, French Reading/Writing/Listening, English Lit, English Lang - but the next two are the hardest, as they're for History which I hate & have the most to study for. The problem with it is that the revision is really important - with English Lit, for example, it's difficult to revise; the work you've done all year is what pays off ,if you get what I mean.

My lack of motivation is proving to be a problem too; I think it's because I've worked pretty hard this year, and so now there's no homework I just can't face doing the work. Plus, with revision you're never truly finished, there's always more that can be done, which I don't like!

My last exam is on June 8th, and although I still have another 6 weeks at school after that, I hope it will be a little more relaxed than the rest of the year has been. Other than revision, I have been focusing on my novel - something else which distracts me from revising! I have finished the first round of edits, and have some people currently reading it, although I'm looking for some more who'd like to take a look at it. Luckily people have more free time now that we're heading for summer! I have been planning a sequel, and a third book too - it seems it will be a series! - and have finally worked out the titles: Family Portrait, Snap Shot and Camera Shy. Now I just have to finish my exams so that I can get writing again! I've been trying to fit in some reading too (more distractions!) and have finally finished 'Extras' by Scott Westerfield. I then started 'The Other Boleyn Girl' by Phillipa Gregory, and was so addicted I read it all last night - I definitley recommend it!

Right now I'm on a lunch break from revision (and it is actually a deserved break - I've bene revising all morning!) but I'm gonna to get back to it soon. I promise another blog post soon!

A Bad Day

I knew today wasn't going to be great; I had a mock history exam scheduled for the morning, a difficult essay due in for a teacher I'm not too keen on, my French Oral exam in the afternoon, and a dentist appointment after that. Luckily, I managed to escape the History mock: I told my teacher I hadn't had a chance to revise, as I had my real exam that afternoon, and she allowed me to reschedule it for tomorrow. I got the essay done, and whilst it wasn't fantastic, I did at least have a few pages to hand in.

I felt really rough all day, because I was so nervous: I find nerves affect me really badly, and I end up feeling or being sick, and having crippling stomach pains. Because of this, I'd asked to have my exam in the morning, but she decided to put it in the afternoon.

So, after a long day of worrying, I got to the exam, and I think it went ok; I was opretty fluent, although I know I made some mistakes. I'm hoping it'll be alright. After that, we went to the dentists; now, I don't particularly mind the dentists, but it's not exactly the nicest place to be. Luckily, he said my teeth looked fine.

Then, around half an hour ago, my mum wanted to go to the garage, and I asked if I'd drive. She checked to make sure all our cats were inside, as one of them is quite deaf and so doesn't move when cars start. Then, I began to reverse of the drive - and heard a squealing. The deaf cat had come outisde, unseen by my mother or me, and I think I ran over his tail. We're waiting for the vet now. I feel terrible, and really put off driving; I'd checked, and just didn't see him at all.

Here's hoping for a better day tomorrow.

I have...

finished the book I'm writing! This is a quick post, as it's late and I have work tomorrow, but I had to post it (yes, on both my blogs. I'm happy!) The first draft of 'Family Portrait' is now complete =]

I have done a word count of everything I've written for this book, and it's ended up at over 91,000 words. However, I decided tonight that a section I wrote just didn't quite work, and ruined the book a bit, and so the first version now stands at around 86,000 words. But I already have a sequel planned out, so all the cut bits will most probably end up in there.

Right, I must sleep. Just had to post it! =]

New Blog

I've started a new blog (which, if you want to see, www.kingsleyfamilyportrait.blogspot.com) which I plan to be just about the progress of my novel, as this one is just about my life in general. I quite like having a blog just about my writing, as it means I can see what I've done when, explore new ideas and let anyone who's interest know how I'm getting on! Still, I reckon I'll still mention it here - it's taking up a lot of my time at the minute!

On that note, sorry (again!) for not posting recently - homework, revision and novel work had just been eating up all my time. First major exam is on Wednesday, so I'mn revising loads. It's my French Oral Exam, and I always find those nreally scary :S on the same day, I also have a mock history exam and a dentist appointment, so I'm guessing it's not going to be the most fun day ever!

I've found a website that I'm on quite a bit at the minute, called Absolute Write, which is great for anyone who wants to be an author - it's great for ideas and support. I've also said I'm going to join in a challenge to read 100 books this year (Alhough as it's nearly May, I'm aiming for fifty - I started late!) I know I read fast, and quite a lot, but I;ve never recorded it, so I haven't a clue how I'll get on - but I'll let you know! I'm also planning on taking part in NaNoWriMo in November. You may have heard of this - I heard about it about a year ago, but never got round to entering. It's short for National Novel Writing Month, and you basically have to write 50,000 words in November. You enter you're word count so everyone can see how you're doing. Obviously, it's not going to be perfect, but I think it'll be great for getting more ideas off the ground!

Sorry for the brevity of this post, but my driving instructor just rang to bring my lesson forward, so gotta go and wreak hell on the roads! Only joking :) I'm gonna post again soon though, and expad on the stuff I've written about in the last paragraph. Promise!

Long time no post!

Sorry for the lack of blog updates in the last couple of weeks: I've been really busy, and haven't been able to find the time! I'm on holiday from school for Easter now, which is really nice - although I'm working loads!

The first week of the holiday was really busy for me: I worked loads, and went up to Manchester for two days to see the University of Salford. It was a really interesting Open Day, and I loved the feel of the Uni and the city: the shops up there were amazing! Obviously, shopping is not what it's all about...but coming from a tiny place like I do, anywhere big with nice shops is amazing! We had a nice but busy couple of days up there: we managed to pack in two shoppoing trips and dinner out as well as the visit to the Uni! The course there sounds great, so it's defnitley somewhere I'll be considering applying to.

I've been working a lot, with cafe work as well as babysitting, which is good as I need money for my America trip, driving lessons, car insurance and to do a little bit of shopping for some summer clothes! I have a laugh at work, so I don't mind doing it. Today I was meant to be working all day, but it was so quiet I offered to go home early. Unfortunately I seemed to miss all the sun! I enjoyed it yesterday though, and sat out in the sun doing homework (although not enough :S) and working on my novel.

On the novel front, I'm now up to 75,000 words, which I'm very pleased with! I think I'll have finished it within the next couple of months, as I've realised that to fit all my ideas in, it's gonna have to be more than one book - so book one will hopefully done soon! Then I plan to go through it all and edit it, and then maybe attempt to send it to some agents/publishers. If I manage to finish it, I figure I may as well have a go at getting it published!

If you haven't already, take a look at Holly's Blog and Molly's Blog for how Donor Day went: I'm so impressed with what Holly's managed to achieve! It's a great cause.

Anyway, I'm off to work on my novel a little more (I should be doing homework, but I just can't face it!) and then I have a driving lesson at 5.30. I'll try and update again soon this time! Happy Easter to everyone :)