The NaNoWriMo tag.

I'm doing NaNoWriMo! Again! Hopefully it will go well and hopefully I will have updates for you full of positive news about how I'm flying past all my word count goals!

We can but dream.

Anyway, no updates for today but instead I have the NaNoWriMo tag, which I'm sure we've all seen before over the years so I'll just get straight on with it.

1. How many times have you done NaNoWriMo?

I've attempted the regular November NaNoWriMo three times and Camp NaNoWriMo four times. I won one of each last year but all my other attempts have been dismal failures.

2. How did you first find out about NaNoWriMo?
I don't remember exactly but I'm pretty sure I just saw people talking about it online. Possibly on YouTube.

3. What was the name of the first novel you attempted with NaNo?
Kitten and the Wolf, which is not the worst title I've ever come up with.

4. Give us a 1 sentence summary of what you’re writing this year.
The second draft of last year's project.

5. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever been given?
'Don't write what you know, know what you write.' I can't remember where that came from but it really stuck.

6. Did you ever take a year off from NaNo? Why?
My first attempt was in my first year of university and I think I only actually lasted a day because I just didn't have the time, so I didn't try again until after I had completely finished uni.

7. What’s your biggest inspiration when figuring out what to write?
I actually have a lot of ideas stored up so when it comes to deciding what I want to work on for NaNoWriMo, I just pick whichever idea I'm most passionate about at the time and try to get on with it.

8. Give us the first sentence from one of your novels.
'The first fifteen years of my life were pretty normal.' That's from last year's NaNoWriMo project, which I'll be redrafting for this year's attempt, and that line probably won't be staying. Not least because I'm thinking about switching the whole thing to third person narration.

9. Why do you love writing?
I don't most of the time, but I do really love having written. Which I think is pretty common. At least I hope it is...

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A day in London.

My main man, Billy Shakes.

Since Brighton is so close to London, I decided that it would be a waste not to take advantage of that while we were there and basically strong-armed my dad into going into London for a day to check out a couple of the galleries I had never been to. Between The National Portrait Gallery and Tate Modern, we walked until my feet literally gave out. It was a pretty great day.

Just like I did with my last post about my trip to Brighton, I'm going to let my pictures do most of the talking. Except for the odd little caption.

I just can't help myself.

I am inordinately pleased with this photograph.

Emmeline Pankhurst and Beatrix Potter.

I don't know what this is but it's shiny and I like it.

See previous caption.

Taking a picture of Dad taking a picture of a picture. So many layers of interaction.

Very short story: Dad wanted to name me after the village where Monet painted this.

Nothing better than a day of good, old-fashioned culture, am I right? If you want to see more of my short trip to London you can see the pictures from my phone here.

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A week in Brighton.

So I finally got around to editing my photographs from the week I spent in Brighton with my parents last month! It was super cloudy all week so I'm afraid some of these photos might look a little dreary but I tried my best with the editing and I assure you most of them were a lot darker before I got them into Photoshop!

I'm not going to bore you with a lot of text today. Instead, I'll just let the photos speak for themselves. I especially hope you enjoy the ones of my mum on the pier near the end because she never usually lets me photograph her and I'm pretty sure she never will again once she finds out I've posted them here. Worth it.

If you want to see more of our trip to Brighton, you can see the pictures from my phone here.

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Brighton and London from my phone.

Last month I went to Brighton for a week with my parents. There was a lot of walking and a lot of taking pictures. I have more pictures, taken with my DSLR, but I haven't edited those yet, so keep an eye out for whenever I get around to doing that. Until then, here are the pictures I took with my phone. Some of these you will probably recognise if you follow me on Instagram but there are a few I didn't post there too!

This one was actually taken out of the car window while we were stuck in traffic on the way to Brighton. We were literally trapped in the car for nearly ten hours getting there. It was hell.

We stayed in a really nice Airbnb apartment in Brighton (or Hove? I'm still not entirely sure which.) This is the book case from the bedroom I slept in, with its very interesting selection of books, and the window in the bedroom my parents slept in. I just really liked how you could see the greenery from outside taking up all of the space in that window.

This is Monty. Monty lives in the apartment. His cat flap leads directly into the bedroom I slept in but luckily he only woke me up once or twice coming and going through it in the middle of the night. Mostly he just meowed a lot when he wanted someone to cook him some fish.

It was pretty cloudy most of the time we were there but it remained warm so that was okay. I'm from Cornwall. I'm used to cloudy days at the beach.

Pebble beaches make sand castles very difficult so obviously I built a lot of little pebble towers instead.

On one of the days when Mum was busy, Dad and I went into London and visited The National Portrait Gallery and the Tate Modern. I'd never been to either of them before so I forgave the sheer amount of walking I was required to do. Have I mentioned the walking? Possibly not enough.

The Tate was interesting but The National Gallery was far more my thing. I loved it there.

On our last night we went for a walk along the pier, saw some of the new dogs being put in, and mum got a new car. All in all, it was a pretty great week. More pictures soon, I promise!

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September reading wrap up.

I may only have a very small (and very blurry) pile of books to talk about from September but they all left a big impression!

Persuasion by Jane Austen

This is my second read for the Austentatious book club and I want to know why nobody ever told me how funny Jane Austen is before! I didn't enjoy Persuasion quite as much as Pride and Prejudice, I think due to the fact that the story itself means that the reader doesn't really get to see Anne fall in love in the way that you do with Pride and Prejudice, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm really looking forward to this month's read, Northanger Abbey.

★★★★☆

Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

I said last month that The Titan's Curse was my least favourite of the Percy Jackson series so far and that remains true. I'm not sure if it's because my favourite character, Tyson, returns in this novel or the fact that I was in a school production of Theseus and the Minotaur when I was about seven years old (I played part of the labyrinth wall. My primary school was very ambitious about school plays) so I just have fond memories of that particular Greek myth, but there was something about the labyrinth that I really loved and I think this probably stands alongside the second in the series as my two favourites.

★★★★☆

Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

I also read the very last novel in the Percy Jackson series this September! Personally, I found the first half of this one kind of confusing and long winded but towards the end it definitely picked up and I definitely did not cry during one of the final scenes (I did. I'm not telling you when though. Spoilers.) All in all I think The Last Olympian was a really fitting end to a really fun series and completely reinforced what a great bunch of characters Rick Riordan has created in these novels. I can't wait to get my hands on The Lost Hero and meet some more of them!

★★★★☆

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