tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58745482011-07-30T20:33:55.351+01:00Alex RoddiePorridge is everythingAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.comBlogger3761100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1131375935613682052005-11-07T16:05:00.000+01:002005-11-08T23:44:37.666+01:00Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1131369472728252772005-11-07T14:17:00.000+01:002005-11-07T14:20:28.653+01:00Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1131061333854811842005-11-04T00:35:00.000+01:002005-11-04T00:42:13.866+01:00Finished work for tonight *yawns*Please note the timestamp on this post. It's after half past eleven, and I've been working at my B23 coursework assignment for four hours solid now. I think I've put in about nine hours on this one in total ... and I'm less than halfway through.I've had larger assignments before, but usually it's obvious from the outset that they're big. This one was deceptive.Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1130946755658427662005-11-02T16:20:00.000+01:002005-11-02T16:52:35.726+01:00Uni is about expanding your horizonsAt its most basic, university is about earning a degree--but it's really much more than that. At its most dynamic, life at uni is about expanding your horizons, trying out new things, meeting new people. And although it's a stereotype, students really do drink a fair amount of alcohol (surprise, surprise!).Some of the people on my corridor drink Stella lager Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1130885446080676142005-11-01T23:14:00.000+01:002005-11-02T00:11:56.186+01:00Stop press: Amazing new Cobra Mist resourcesI have discovered a superb new online resource for information about Project Cobra Mist. Cobra Mist is the factual basis for Cold Witness, and was a gigantic over-the-horizon radar array constructed on the East Coast of Suffolk in the '60s. The premise for Cold Witness is that the original radar transmitter, capable of generating a 10MW beam, was Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1130781306651219172005-10-31T18:39:00.000+01:002005-10-31T19:03:39.526+01:00BREAKING NEWS!Now that I have your attention, I will display the happy tidings.+ I have decided to start working on Project Cold Witness again (!!!!!).+ No, I really have.+ This isn't a Halloween joke.Basically, it's that time of year once more. I went for a walk through Rendlesham Forest yesterday, and despite the garish new "UFO TRAIL" signs that the Forestry Commission have plastered all overAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1130430649052053642005-10-27T17:28:00.000+01:002005-10-27T17:30:49.073+01:00Why I'm addicted to the Lake DistrictAt the suggestion of Joel, here is an extract of an email I sent him the other day. I think it helps to explain the real reasons why I love escaping to the hills so much.The way I see it, living in Norwich for the past month has dulledsomething in me. That's why I need to escape home for the weekends,to remember what it's like to be under the trees or Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1130337691974140612005-10-26T15:35:00.000+01:002005-10-26T15:41:31.983+01:00Things are going better than I thought!The programming module is becoming more challenging as the weeks go past. Last week I was unable to complete one section, and I'm fairly sure I had information missing from one of the other questions. This week's assignment is about five pages long--for the questions alone!--and is even more difficult, but difficult in a good way. Programming is somethingAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1130157119912808802005-10-24T08:50:00.000+01:002005-10-24T13:32:00.050+01:00Taking stockThings have been moving quickly in my life recently, and every so often I think it's important to slow down and look at where I am and where I'm going. Sometimes it seems like five minutes since I was at school, wondering what I wanted to do when I left ... and now I'm here, in Norwich, studying Computing Science. Where did the time go? :-)1. I am studying towards a Computing Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1129840264339445592005-10-20T21:04:00.000+01:002005-10-20T21:35:52.616+01:00Home crap homeI never truly realised what a boring and depressingly safe place Norwich is. After only one day on the freezing, windswept mountains of the Lake District, I return here to find people strolling along wearing jeans and T-shirts, birds tweeting in the dusk after a gentle sunset, and folk just generally getting on with their lives.That might sound appealing, but it's not for me. I Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1129559040230609652005-10-17T15:12:00.000+01:002005-10-17T15:24:00.276+01:00IT'S ON!I just checked the weather forecast. Although a depression is coming in from the Atlantic, it won't begin to be a problem until Wednesday, by which time it will be in the English Channel. It is then predicted to move up the country, gaining strength as it does so. But it won't hit the North until Thursday for certain--so I'm almost guaranteed good weather for Wednesday, bar the usual Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1129483131891790922005-10-16T18:04:00.000+01:002005-10-16T18:18:51.960+01:00Maths woesBig Brother is watching ME! As part of our assessment routine for the Maths unit in our course, we have to use an online system called AiM for tests. The tests are monitored by the head of department. This means that he gets to see who's doing well, who's doing badly, and who isn't doing very much at all.Last week it was suggested that we take a look at the first test on AiM, Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1129202972178307142005-10-13T12:08:00.000+01:002005-10-13T12:29:32.186+01:00I HATE October weatherIt's done nothing but rain for one and a half days now. Not particularly heavy rain; just constant, mindless, depressing drizzle pouring out of a grey sky. I went shopping this morning and after forty minutes outside (walking to and from the shop, which is a mile away) I was soaking wet, even wearing a waterproof coat. I decided yesterday that my existing waterproof had Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1129051824773820782005-10-11T18:15:00.000+01:002005-10-11T18:30:42.436+01:00!*%£$*@ *!*$ !*&*%**£&*!!!!Ahem, excuse my language. Guess what? Not content with having cancelled our seminar for yesterday, the room reference for the replacement seminar today turned out to be wrong. There is no such room as CH01.11! It doesn't exist, never has and never will!Soon after stomping back to my room, I noticed a new email in my inbox. It was a "sincere apology" from the unit Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1128952030016224752005-10-10T14:38:00.000+01:002005-10-10T14:47:10.370+01:00Back againBack at UEA after another weekend at home. Got the late train on Friday and was at Sax station within two hours, but there were engineering works on Sunday and I had to take a bus for half the journey (ie. all the way from Oulton Broad South to Norwich station). Didn't get back until about half six.My classes are already over for the day. We had a two-hour lecture first thing this Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1128630339762115102005-10-06T23:14:00.000+01:002005-10-06T21:26:02.500+01:00*hickkup*Defnitely too much Fell Club Punch this evening, I think. Just come back from a "meeting" (okya, more of a party) to introduce the new people to the UEA Fell Club. Most of them are the old mmembers from several years, back, but a few (like me) are new. After a brief speeech from the President someone mixed a whole b ucket fiull of vodka, wine, Martini, lemonade, pineabple juice and Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1128593291468774092005-10-06T11:00:00.000+01:002005-10-06T11:08:11.473+01:00Wha ... ??Oh god ... the fire alarm went off at half past eight this morning, waking up everyone in Suffolk Terrace. Every room has an alarm bell, so we really, really knew the alarm was ringing. It jerked me from a comatose state to full alertness in less than a second, which can't be healthy. At first I had the stupid idea it was my alarm clock (if so, it's probably illegal), then I started Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1128516873953378992005-10-05T13:39:00.000+01:002005-10-05T13:54:33.960+01:00My day offAh, freedom. This week's timetable has been great: only eleven hours of work in total, and as far as I can see only one written assignment, and that short. Today is completely free of lectures and lab sessions. After enjoying a lie-in until eleven o'clock, I made my way into town. My mission was to find an insulated cover for my Sigg water bottle, which I'll need to stop the bottleAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1128422223595061102005-10-04T11:20:00.000+01:002005-10-04T11:37:03.603+01:00Second day's classes over already!After only a single two hour lab session this morning, my classes are now over until Thursday afternoon! The reason for this is that we don't start one of our modules until Thursday, and Maths seminars won't begin until next week. I'll be looking at about ten extra hours next week ... which still isn't all that bad, actually.I have my first assignment to Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1128339173514638192005-10-03T12:13:00.000+01:002005-10-03T12:32:54.296+01:00First lecture done and dustedI got up early this morning to attend my first lecture, a two-hour introduction to the Java programming language. I actually understood most of the concepts and ideas, and I'm fairly sure I am at least capable of understanding anything I didn't pick up this time around. The language itself seems to be fairly basic--the examples given were regarding the manipulation Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1128281040344136312005-10-02T20:05:00.000+01:002005-10-02T20:25:15.466+01:00Back at UEAIt's so nice to be able to jump on a bus, be on a train within twenty minutes, and home in under two hours. Going home was great in itself, but the important thing is that the idea has been firmly lodged in my head that it doesn't take long to get back, and I can do it every weekend if I need to. I won't be marooned in Norwich for weeks on end, thank God ...Apparently the campus was Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1128113295973028842005-09-30T21:08:00.000+01:002005-09-30T21:48:16.020+01:00Going home for the weekendI actually learned some very useful stuff in the lectures today--such as the basics of my timetable, for example, and which group I'll be in for seminars and lab sessions. And apparently we have a reading week in Week VII in which we don't get any work. For a lot of the day we were doing a sort of treasure hunt, looking up different things from around the campus: Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1127986323469686802005-09-29T10:16:00.000+01:002005-09-29T10:33:22.233+01:00Luck begins to turn (the wrong way)I was forced to wake up at an unholy hour this morning for a cruel nine o'clock lecture. We filed into the lecture hall, all two hundred and fifty of us, then waited. And waited. For half an hour. By the time the lecturer appeared, mumbling pathetic apologies, some of us had actually fallen asleep.The lecture itself was a rambling and incoherent account of aAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1127897498490776502005-09-28T09:46:00.000+01:002005-09-28T09:51:38.496+01:00Bleary-type groanBleah. It's about quarter to ten (AM) and I've finally dragged myself out of bed. Plan for today: SocMart and SportsMart at eleven, I think ... no wait, the timetable says twelve ... hell, the other timetable says eleven. Make it eleven. Then a lecture at one. "Introduction to Computing Science". That does not sound very exciting.I really, really wonder how I can go about Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1127869896938600002005-09-28T01:58:00.000+01:002005-09-28T02:11:36.946+01:00It's two in the morning and I'm boredJust come back from a meeting at a house belonging to a friend of Graeme's. It was a GameSoc meeting--that's Games Society to mere mortals--of which Paul Crompton (as in the Paul Crompton I shared a tent with eight years ago) is now chairman, in only his second year at uni. Apparently there is some kind of massive schism between the "Old Guard" of the Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1127741150962437932005-09-26T13:58:00.000+01:002005-09-26T14:25:51.466+01:00Photos from NorwichWell, I got here, and I survived the first two days! Here are two photos of my room:You can also view a large panorama of the university itself, seen from the lake, here. Be warned: the file is over 600KB in size.I'm actually having a lot of fun. I met up with my friend Graeme on Saturday evening, and after a drink in the pub we made out way into the city, intending to see Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1127462922110546672005-09-23T08:54:00.000+01:002005-09-23T09:09:11.613+01:00This is the last day before my life changes (possibly forever)I woke up this morning to the glorious golden glow of the sun rising in the field across the road. Mist was floating in layers a few feet above the ground, and the sun had just begun to pierce the veil, burning off the cold of the night. It was, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful sunrises I'd ever seen. I feel it's a way forAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1127396536469458472005-09-22T14:02:00.000+01:002005-09-22T14:43:06.446+01:00The Luggage is ready!The amount of stuff I am now bringing has grown to a huge pile of five 40-litre duffle bags, two backpacks, and three carrier bags. I think it warrants an upper-case first letter by now, isntead of mere "luggage". My big worry is forgetting where I've packed something, then hunting around frantically for it for ages, convinced I've left it a hundred miles away at home. Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1127290928153165392005-09-21T09:20:00.000+01:002005-09-21T09:22:08.160+01:00A surprise ...Apparently, I am 90% psychic, according to a psychic quiz I found at BlogThings.You Are 90% PsychicYou are so very psychic.But you already predicted that, didn't you?You have "the gift" - and you use it daily to connect with others.You're very tapped into the world around you...Just make sure to use your powers for good!Are You Psychic?Weird!Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1127208123078194712005-09-20T09:58:00.000+01:002005-09-20T10:44:31.086+01:00Coastal erosionI live on the Suffolk Coast, an area of land which is slowly being eroded by the sea. Our current coastline of sand and shingle (flint gravel) is a constantly-changing environment which may be an entirely different shape before and after a storm.In recent years, erosion has increased dramatically. There are fears of the sea breaking through at the narrow neck of Orfordness, the Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1127115656827658072005-09-19T08:29:00.000+01:002005-09-19T08:40:57.333+01:00I have now (definitely) left WyevaleYesterday was the last day in my job at the garden centre. It was a pretty typical Sunday: busy generally, with a couple of mad rushes over lunch and one horrendous über-queue at the end of the day, just when everyone had gone on their break, leaving just me and Rachel to fend off the customers. It did feel funny looking at my watch, thinking "Only half an Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1126780011117366422005-09-15T10:47:00.000+01:002005-09-15T11:26:51.143+01:00I have begun to packI don't know how I'm going to fit all this stuff into the box-room quarters I've been allocated in Suffolk Terrace. Firstly I have the essentials such as bedding, clothes, cooking utensils (of which I am taking a minimum), etc. Then I have personal items, like my computer, books, camera, and other bits and bobs. And on top of that is two backpacks, one for general use and Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1126624572018621162005-09-13T15:57:00.000+01:002005-09-13T16:16:12.026+01:00A radical changeYou may have noticed that this blog no longer says "ALEX'S WRITING JOURNAL" at the top. I have decided to change the title simply to "Alex Roddie" because this weblog isn't really about writing any more.I've watched my posts grow thinner and thinner on the ground over the past few months. I still manage to post at least once every week, but I am finding it harder as time goes byAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1126511092228143832005-09-12T08:36:00.000+01:002005-09-12T08:58:26.736+01:00Less than two weeks to go!I'm feeling a strange mixture of dread and excitement: a familiar sensation for me, but usually only felt when looking over the edge of a cliff or scurfing down a bloody dangerous scree-run. It's totally new to me to experience this in day-to-day life.I leave for uni on the 24th of September, which means I have a little under two weeks to conclude my "previous life", Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1126080282062832802005-09-07T08:56:00.000+01:002005-09-07T09:04:42.066+01:00My application has been APPROVED!For a student loan, that is. I haven't got the assessment through the post yet, but I checked on the website and most of the details are there. After five months, it's about bloody time.Basically, I won't be entitled to any subsidy for my education fee (which is about £1,100 per year), because my family's income isn't low enough. So I have to pay that yearly Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1126002444333278062005-09-06T11:02:00.000+01:002005-09-06T11:27:24.340+01:00A (rather funny) snare for gullible peopleTake a look at this article: Get your Welsh mountain air here!.Apparently a Wales-based company is charging £24 for doses of "fresh Welsh mountain air" presented in an ornate and beautiful presentation bottle. They also cater for individual requests, and you can order Welsh sand, Welsh seawater, or chips of Welsh slate ... which are slightly more sane Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1125924340643505952005-09-05T12:47:00.000+01:002005-09-05T13:45:40.760+01:00Only one more week of work leftTime is beginning to run out until I move to Norwich at the end of this month. I'll complete my last week of work at Wyevale next Sunday, and it's hard to believe that I'll have worked there for an entire year. It's certainly gone past quickly. Many of my friends are also leaving the store at about the same time, and either returning to their A-levels or heading Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1125522432812246342005-08-31T22:05:00.000+01:002005-08-31T22:07:12.820+01:00A mid-life crisis at nineteen?I’ve thought a lot about my future over the past couple of days, and I’m becoming more and more worried that I might have taken the wrong course.As I mentioned on Monday, I am far from certain that computing is something I want to do for a living. This feeling has solidified after a long and hard period of thinking. The question is this: What do I actually know Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1124361721814708852005-08-18T11:02:00.000+01:002005-08-18T11:42:01.846+01:00Just watched Touching the VoidTouching the Void has to be the most epic survival story ever put to screen. If you don't know, it's about a team of two climbers who set off to climb Siula Grande, a massive peak in the Peruvian Andes, via its unclimbed west face. One of the climbers breaks his leg, and despite a brave attempt to get safely off the mountain, his partner is forced to cut the rope Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1124196211637910772005-08-16T13:39:00.000+01:002005-08-16T13:44:21.436+01:00The Naked Rambler is arrested in YorkshireTake a look at this article:Naked Rambler in naked arrestI heard about this man's first attempt last year. He planned to walk the distance from Land's End to John o'Groat's--the length of the British Isles--in the nude, and actually succeeded, despite several arrests and jail sentences. This morning he was arrested in Gargrave, Yorkshire, after enteringAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1124117123848119962005-08-15T15:35:00.000+01:002005-08-15T15:45:23.856+01:00UpdateWriting is going well--slow, given the amount of other things I'm doing at the moment, but well, all things considered. I've progressed to outlining the secondary characters now; most of the MCs are pretty firmly tied down, and I'm happy with the personalities I've created. I have also kept the scene of freewriting material I did a couple of weeks ago. I'm pretty sure that will form the Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1123680756775232472005-08-10T14:04:00.000+01:002005-08-10T14:32:36.790+01:00ReviewTHE NORTH FACEJester 28Description: 28-litre daysack for hillwalking or general useTraditionally, I've erred somewhat towards large, heavy backpacks. My Trilogy 65, for example, is a great piece of kit: strong, water-resistant, and comfortable to carry with large loads. But for some of the tougher ascents I've conducted recently, it's just too heavy. In the past, have also used a Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1123601967605446772005-08-09T16:35:00.000+01:002005-08-09T16:39:27.613+01:00Another obstacleI received a message from the student finance organisation today. Apparently my application for a loan is going so slowly because there's something wrong with my form--they didn't specify what--and it's being sent back to me for correction. The message was so crackly and indistinct that I missed half of it, and they didn't give a contact number. This is going to seriously delayAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1123492221591020872005-08-08T10:00:00.000+01:002005-08-08T10:10:22.130+01:00First scene written!To take a break from characterisation and plot structuring, yesterday I decided to try something more interesting. I had an idea for the first scene--a darkened, windowless room as the setting for a secret council--and couldn't resist the urge to write it. The scene's short (about 500 words give or take), but I really like what I've come up with. It's good to be writing "Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1123154204425202392005-08-04T12:12:00.000+01:002005-08-04T12:16:59.486+01:00*Breathes sigh of relief*I just received this email from UEA:Dear Alex,It is fine to omit the Student Support Number in your registration form.Best wishes,(admissions tutor)Thank God for that!Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1123073453812611212005-08-03T13:46:00.000+01:002005-08-03T13:50:53.816+01:00The ineptitude of the NHSIt turns out that my BCG (Tuberculosis) innoculation hasn't been recorded on my medical records either, so to all intents and purposes I haven't had it. The options are now to a) either have another injection; or b) wait until I get to UEA and have the injection. I'm certain I was given it in 2002 ... but we were in the process of moving house at the time, and it's Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1122983647260784292005-08-02T12:38:00.000+01:002005-08-02T12:57:43.236+01:00Worldbuilding "pickups"As I progress further into the prewriting for Warriors of the Duskmarch, I'm finding that I don't know enough about the geography of the world. I have my 10mm:1 mile map, but it's not detailed enough. I need to know the settings in minute detail.To that end, I've started to compile a map at the scale of 30mm:1 mile, covering the High Moor, upper Spardale, and the Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1122793379557973342005-07-31T07:56:00.000+01:002005-07-31T08:02:59.563+01:00Registration documents from UEA have arrivedAfter months of hearing nothing from the university where I'll be studying, huge amounts of documents have appeared. I need to fill in about seven forms, including the registration document and the application form for my campus card. In addition, I need to work out how I'm going to pay for my accomodation--which has finally been allocated. Turns outAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1122620332758948962005-07-29T07:41:00.000+01:002005-07-29T08:00:25.073+01:00More plot elements come togetherOne of the main themes in this novel is going to be the quest for truth. This is made manifest in the form of a corrupted secret society, once sworn to protecting the secret of magic until the time was right to reveal it to the world. When the Secret Order begins its plan to take control of the government--still keeping magic secret--it becomes plain that the Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1122477533764829542005-07-27T16:50:00.000+01:002005-07-27T16:18:53.773+01:00The plot so farI'm using this post to clarify my thoughts. Here's the skeleton plot of Warriors of the Duskmarch so far:+ Some weeks before the book begins, ADAIRN, Earl of Edgington and father of KYLAN, dies. Kylan becomes the next Earl at the age of twenty. This also makes him Lord of the land of Westwintern.+ The Secret Order of Grey Knights (a secret society of wizards) has long since beenAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1122393196691691802005-07-26T16:51:00.000+01:002005-07-26T16:53:16.700+01:00The British stereotypes ... according to BlogthingsThis is a list entitled You Know You're From Britain When ... from www.blogthings.com. They're stereotypes, but the sad thing is, some of them are actually true.You Know You're From Britain When...You believe that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday are all good nights for drinking. Sunday day is also entirely Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1122364541013749432005-07-26T08:52:00.000+01:002005-07-26T08:55:41.020+01:00Word countIt's official: I have now written 23,000 words of worldbuilding and prewriting for Warriors of the Duskmarch to date. Considering I wrote less than 5,000 words of worldbuilding for my first novel--and that took over a year--this is very encouraging! What's more, I'm confident that most of this material is actually useful, as opposed to useless fluff, which tends to accumulate as soonAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1122226804401342122005-07-24T18:25:00.000+01:002005-07-24T18:40:04.406+01:00Two characters completedTwo characters, Dulais and Adelin, have now been fully outlined for Warriors of the Duskmarch. As it turns out, these characters will work better if they're father and daughter. Both are now pretty well fleshed out, and their own unique problems give them clear parts in the story. Their plotline has many of the characteristics of a subplot, but at the same time their Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1121966991309936652005-07-21T18:24:00.000+01:002005-07-21T18:29:51.316+01:00More terrorist attacks in LondonIn an eerie re-play of the events exactly two weeks ago, four bombs went off in London this afternoon, three in tube trains and one on a bus. Fortunately the explosions were very small and only one person was injured, but the incident has caused chaos in the public transport systems, and for a while there were fears of a biological or chemical attack. Here's the Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1121946020060756272005-07-21T12:24:00.000+01:002005-07-21T12:42:28.546+01:00ReviewOPINELNo.7 VRNDescription: Folding lock knife with wooden handleEver since I can remember, my father has always carried an Opinel knife with him, largely for whittling or a thousand minor cutting tasks. My first Opinel knife was presented to me as a Christmas present about four years ago: a No.6, the slightly smaller version, but no less robust.It lasted until about five months ago, whenAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1121863571363005722005-07-20T13:44:00.000+01:002005-07-20T13:46:37.493+01:00Photo album has been postedYou can see 45 pictures from our recent trek in North Wales by clicking on the link to the right (just below Gable Cam). The link is North Wales.Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1121759932510699142005-07-19T08:56:00.000+01:002005-07-19T08:58:52.516+01:00Characterisation has begunI've begun to outline the main characters for Warriors of the Duskmarch. The cast is a surprisingly mixed one: the lonely, unhappy Earl of Edgington; a beautiful actress who's also an undercover agent for the Secret Order of Grey Knights; a wandering warrior who hides his fear of darkness by fighting it; and a servant girl who is captured and tortured because of her Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1121683660645146412005-07-18T11:39:00.000+01:002005-07-18T11:48:40.316+01:00New sidebar elements!Thanks to the good ol' Ordnance Survey's Get-A-Map service, I can now provide small, online maps of various places through hyperlinks. You'll find them in the "Ordnance Survey Maps" section in the sidebar to the right. Here are the maps I currently have uploaded:+ My home village: This is a 25K scale map of Sudbourne, my current village of residence. Note the huge Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1121548936571001502005-07-16T22:16:00.000+01:002005-07-16T22:22:16.576+01:00Progress reportWorldbuilding for Westwintern is very nearly completed--as completed, at least, as it needs to be. I am simply burning to be writing again. I want, crave, need, the sense of being poised at the start of a new and exciting novel. No matter how successful or "publishable" the idea is, I have to write it. I'm sick of letting time slip by and wishing I was writing again.The time Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1121342952177639892005-07-14T12:51:00.000+01:002005-07-14T13:15:46.673+01:00I'm back!Back from North Wales after a week of successful mountaineering. Due to adverse weather--first very cold then very hot--we were forced to miss out Carnedd Dafydd, Glyder Fawr and the sub-3000 foot hills, but we still climbed four of the highest mountains in Wales, and completed all of our major objectives. The hills we climbed were Y Garn (947m), Glyder Fach (994m), Pen Yr Ole Wen (Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1120133335901804642005-06-30T13:02:00.000+01:002005-06-30T13:08:55.913+01:00Where I've gone and when I'll be backOn Monday, my brother and I will begin the long train and bus journey to the small campsite of Gwern Gof Uchaf, located in the Ogwen Valley, Snowdonia. We'll be there for ten days, and our mission is to climb the following mountains (asterisk denotes a 3,000-footer):+ Y Foel Goch+ Gallt yr Ogof+ Cefn Y Capel+ Glyder Fach *+ Glyder Fawr *+ Pen Yr Ole Wen *+ Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1119951756532075442005-06-28T10:21:00.000+01:002005-06-28T10:42:36.536+01:00Worldbuilding progressing v. wellI have now completed the chronology for all 966 years of Wintish history. This has produced several possible characters I could use in a novel: Kylan Notling, the current Earl of Edgington; and Rose Berwood, a descendant of a Queen of Wintern three hundred years in the past. I have no idea of a story as yet, of course, but the exciting thing is the knowledge Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1119867561159670692005-06-27T11:18:00.000+01:002005-06-27T11:19:21.160+01:00Completely new templateThe old page layout, after a year or so of tinkering, seems to have given up the ghost. I'm using this one as a trial template until I can sort the old one out. I may actually keep this one ... if I can figure out how to restore all my old sidebar elements, that is. Tell me what you think.Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1119856763912291502005-06-27T08:17:00.000+01:002005-06-27T08:19:23.913+01:00Testing ...The formatting has gone a bit strange this morning. All the posts seem to be bunched up under the sidebar, and I haven't even been meddling with the template.Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1119527084524432122005-06-23T12:40:00.000+01:002005-06-23T12:44:44.530+01:00Quick updateDon't have time for much. Writing / worldbuilding is going very well--even if most of it happens in my head--and I've started to read Dune by Frank Herbert. It's a novel I've been meaning to read for ages, at the recommendations of several friends, but somehow I never found the time. Now I've started reading it, I'm hooked. I have also started to read First Steps in Old English byAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1119426990611794422005-06-22T08:31:00.000+01:002005-06-22T08:56:31.350+01:00Map #1 completed!My first detailed map of Westwintern is now finished. The tiny kingdom has everything: mountains, forests, rivers that follow the peculiar form of Suffolk estuaries, and more than its fair share of heavily-defended frontier country. The fact that this is a very small kingdom (only twenty miles across) has prompted me to cram as much as I can into the map ... it's a little Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1119267929178882562005-06-20T12:06:00.000+01:002005-06-20T12:45:29.590+01:00ReviewBRASHERHillmaster Classic GTXDescription: Full-grain leather hiking boot with Gore-Tex liningIn the past, I've been a big fan of the fabric walking boot, or the lightweight partial-leather boot. They're relatively easy on the feet, are comfortable from day one, and don't weigh much. However, they all had one big disadvantage: they leaked.Everyone knows that the Lake District is pretty Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1118911865097794832005-06-16T09:34:00.000+01:002005-06-16T09:51:48.766+01:00Another updateI've added a "View my profile" link to the sidebar. It includes a humourous self-portrait of myself, taken en-route to the Coniston Massif in hill-fog and torrential rain.Please also note that Gable Cam is functioning properly again, ie. it's showing Great Gable, not Scafell Pike.WritingI'm slowly easing back into writing, concentrating on enjoying myrself and finding my own pace.Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1118837941096408802005-06-15T13:10:00.000+01:002005-06-15T21:43:46.340+01:00Site updateThanks to the kind permission of the WasdaleWeb administrators, I am now able to provide a thumbnail link to the Great Gable webcam in Wasdale Head. Great Gable, 899m, is my personal favourite and many believe it to be superior to England's highest mountain, Scafell Pike. It is also the birthplace of modern rock climbing, home of Napes Needle, and witness to an annual Remembrance DayAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1118829482993770182005-06-15T10:38:00.000+01:002005-06-15T10:58:02.996+01:00Worldbuilding in progressI'm really pleased with the headway I'm making on the world of Westwintern. The mapping stage--always my favourite--has turned out to be even more stimulating this time, possibly because I can be more creative at the scale I'm using (1cm to 1 mile) without getting bogged down in too much detail. I've come up with some interesting features to add to the map. One of Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1118661180641739732005-06-13T11:32:00.000+01:002005-06-13T12:13:01.406+01:00ReviewTHE NORTH FACEParticle 13 (Flight Series)Description: Ultra-lightweight one person tentAt the last minute before setting off for the Lake District (literally five days before departure), I decided that my Eurohike tent just wouldn't cut it. I was worried that my old tent wouldn't be able to stand up to three weeks of continuous use: in particular, I was concerned about the poles, which Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1118235680290397512005-06-08T13:43:00.000+01:002005-06-08T14:01:20.296+01:00Which direction to take?Now I've cut myself free from the Master Plan of finishing and submitting Project Cold Witness, the choices for what I could do next are myriad. For a long while now (upwards of a year) I've spent a lot of my spare time drawing maps and outlining ideas just for the sake of it. I never expected I'd ever use any of the material I created. I love maps and the art of Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1118092392312450232005-06-06T22:05:00.000+01:002005-06-06T22:13:12.320+01:00Still here, still aliveSorry for the extended silence. Something, I'm not sure quite what, happened to turn my mind away from blogging--I've always felt the need to hoard information, to chronicle, to keep a record. Maybe something's changed in me. But I'm back now, both from my epic trek in the Cumbrian Mountains (160 miles walked, 36,000 feet climbed: beat that!), and my thoughts are Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1111308039216954912005-03-20T09:39:00.000+01:002005-03-20T09:40:39.216+01:00ReviewEUROHIKEBackpacker 210TSDescription: Lightweight 2-man tunnel tentMy search for an ideal backpacking tent started early for the Wales 2004 trip. I tried out a cheap £19 dome tent from the camping shop in Stowmarket, but it was a nightmare. The poles were slightly too long, which meant that trying to pitch the tent was time-consuming and frustrating. It was so short that I had to sleep Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1110961683408118012005-03-16T09:27:00.000+01:002005-03-16T09:28:03.410+01:00Spring is coming!After over two weeks of snow, ice and frost, the weather has finally started to warm up again. Night-time temperatures haven't dropped below zero for several days now. The weatherman predicts temperatures of almost 20 degrees Celsius by the weekend--too bad I'll be working!With only seven weeks left to go until May the 3rd, when I leave for the Lakes, I'm now busy in the Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1110788114560952902005-03-14T09:13:00.000+01:002005-03-14T09:15:14.563+01:00A star is born?Every month, TRAIL magazine has a feature called Tent Face, in which three pictures of TRAIL readers are displayed. They usually show campers waking up in their tents, bleary-eyed, with a sort of "leave me alone" expression on their face. The best one (read: least flattering to the subject) is awarded a prize.While rooting through my files yesterday, I found a gorgeous picture ofAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1110662291833827122005-03-12T22:16:00.000+01:002005-03-12T22:18:11.836+01:00ReviewGARMINeTrexDescription: 12-channel GPS receiverThere was a time, not so long ago, when I would have scoffed at the idea of using a GPS. After all, I learned to read maps many years ago, and can fluently interpret the landscape from a glance at any 1:25,000 OS map. Why bother with a GPS unit when you know what kind of terrain is in front of you? I didn't see the point.But after playing Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1110358373897822592005-03-09T09:50:00.000+01:002005-03-09T09:52:53.910+01:00A blast from the pastI attended a concert at Snape Maltings concert hall last night. My brother, who plays the clarinet in the Thomas Mills Second Orchestra, was performing. After the first few features went by (performed by other schools), the Thomas Mills conductor led the orchestra up onto the stage. They seated themselves, with the usual shifting around and turning over of music pages. I Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1110183819181431322005-03-07T09:21:00.000+01:002005-03-07T09:23:39.183+01:00More preparationsI just sent off for some information from the Ambleside Tourist Information Centre, in the Lake District. Some of my information regarding campsites in the area was contradictory and confusing, so I wanted to make sure I knew the facts before making any further plans. Guess what? It turns out that of the two campsites I was looking at in Torver, one of them no longer exists, Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1109946832566234022005-03-04T15:33:00.000+01:002005-03-04T15:33:52.570+01:00ReviewEUROHIKEWilderness Trilogy 65Description: 65 litre rucksackI've had my rickety old backpack for years, ever since my days in the Scouts, and as it just kept on working I saw no reason to replace it. Until, that is, my brother bought a new 'sack: the Wilderness Trilogy 65. He used it during our backpacking trip to Wales last year, and even carrying full loads for long periods of time, heAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1109841413470435412005-03-03T10:13:00.000+01:002005-03-03T10:16:53.473+01:00And the "writer's restlessness" strikes againSomething--I'm not sure quite what--has precipitated a minor crisis. I read about the writing progress of others and wonder why I'm not making similar progress. I see WIP meters going up and up and reflect on the static nature of my own. But most affecting of all, I remember what it feels like to create, rather than hammer an existing creation into Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1109774818238123112005-03-02T15:44:00.000+01:002005-03-02T15:46:58.246+01:00An extraordinary discoveryI found an old copy of my father's autobiographical book, Honey Hill House, on my computer this morning. It's essentially a "written-up" version of the diary he has been compiling for over twenty years now. Some time ago, he transferred a copy of it over to our computer for spell-checking and backup purposes ... and we have it still. It's in an old file format, and Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1109752264377115342005-03-02T09:28:00.000+01:002005-03-02T09:31:04.380+01:00Computer woesMy iBook is up the creek again--not, this time, due to a faulty display chip. A CD has stuck in the drive and makes hideous grating noises whenever the computer tries to mount the disk. The drive will eject only about 10mm, and I'm forced to keep it in this position to prevent further damage.At the moment I'm using our external CD burner as a disk drive. Luckily this isn't a Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1109578530874881762005-02-28T09:13:00.000+01:002005-02-28T09:15:30.876+01:00Snow, snow, and more snowWe've had snow on the ground, on and off, for eight days now. The weather forecasters slotted into their Severe Weather mode over a week ago, prophesying a another Big Chill And Arctic Blast ... usually this means a period of slightly milder than usual weather, punctuated by the occasional burst of drizzle (our weathermen are always wrong). But not this time. It has Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1109365416753545692005-02-25T22:01:00.000+01:002005-02-25T22:03:36.756+01:00Review: Peter Storm AS-1 trekking pole setDescription: pair of antishock trekking poles with included carry bagI've used a lot of Peter Storm gear in the past, and generally, I've been impressed. The C-1 Compact trekking pole is inexpensive and reasonably sturdy, and served me well during the Wales 2004 trip. A few weeks ago I decided to upgrade to a pair of antishock trekking poles. Since Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1109166011477663292005-02-23T14:34:00.000+01:002005-02-23T14:40:11.496+01:00Some changesFirstly, I want to apologise for not posting here as often as I used. Things keep getting in the way--we all know how persistent Real Life can be--and, to be honest, I'm finding less and less time that I can devote to my weblog. My writing is also slowing down considerably, which leads to fewer writing-related posts that I can put up here. Nothing exciting is happening with regardsAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1108971689699011942005-02-21T08:40:00.000+01:002005-02-21T08:41:29.703+01:00Things improve at workI went in to do some overtime at the garden centre on Saturday (they asked me nicely this time), only to find out that it was to be Jenni's last day. She has been lured away by the promise of the staff discount, increased pay and seating at the tills offered by Focus DIY at Martlesham. We haven't seen much of each other lately, but I'll miss her--she was the first friend IAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1108411542154800412005-02-14T21:04:00.000+01:002005-02-14T21:05:42.156+01:00Wyevale bluesNot being content with having altered my working days no less than five times in as many months, my employers at the garden centre now seem to delight in playing the "let's annoy Alex" game. The rules are simple: each supervisor, sub-manager (or even the manager himself) will take turns to ask me to work extra days. Quite frequently they will ask me to work days I've already Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1108156512800987962005-02-11T22:14:00.000+01:002005-02-11T22:15:12.803+01:00Weekly picsA couple of random photos this week. Firstly--and aren't you thrilled to have the priviledge of seeing this--here is a photo of my main workspace in my room. The clutter covering the desk is periodically cleared away, but it accumulates again very quickly: mostly it's a collection of printed-out scenes, notebooks (the one half-covering my iBook is mostly written in Old English), andAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1107953882334966662005-02-09T14:55:00.000+01:002005-02-09T13:58:02.333+01:00Preparations are almost complete
Okay, so I know there are still three months to go until the 3rd of May (my departure date), but I've decided that I want to avoid the rush we were caught up in while planning the Wales trip last August. I want everything to be in place as early as possible before I leave for the Lakes in May.
On Monday I went into Ipswich to the local Millets store. At the Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1107767912689649492005-02-07T10:15:00.000+01:002005-02-07T10:18:32.690+01:00Quick post
I've begun the rewrite of PCW in earnest today (it's my day off), but I'm about to head off to Ipswich to get some new hiking boots ... at long last! I'll post something more substantial tomorrow.Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1107551870201960252005-02-04T22:13:00.000+01:002005-02-04T22:17:50.200+01:00Weekly pics
Two more local pictures this week. First--to continue the Cold Witness theme--this is another shot of the blockhouse, with a heavy sky louring overhead. My brother took this picture last July when we were walking the ten miles from Orford up to Iken, following the Ore riverwall, and hence the curve of Orfordness itself, all the way. Since then I've taken that route several times.Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1107427044692396212005-02-03T11:36:00.000+01:002005-02-03T11:40:17.280+01:00The crit has returned!
The good news
My proofreader seems to be convinced that Project Cold Witness is now a good story--compelling, even--and that it has a good pace. He was impressed by the characters (Kate: I've taken your past advice well to heart here), thought some of the description was great, and liked the themes and ideas used in the story. I was particularly pleased in that he Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1107163727234560232005-01-31T10:26:00.000+01:002005-01-31T10:28:47.233+01:00Work continues on both projects
My last crit is promised within days for Project Cold Witness, so I'm confident that I'll be able to wrap up the novel within the next month. At the moment I'm aware of two or three scenes that seem a little off (I've learned to trust my intuition), and I know that the whole thing could benefit from another on-paper read-through, to catch those pesky wording and Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1106943334601928162005-01-28T21:10:00.000+01:002005-01-28T21:15:34.600+01:00Weeky pics
Some photos from the Sandlings this week.
First, a picture of the sun rising beyond Staverton Forest--a small stand of primordial woodland left over from the last Ice Age.
Secondly, some of last autumn's golden colours, in this case a shot of some maple leaves in Tunstall Forest. This autumn wasn't as vivid as 2003, but it was pretty good nonetheless.
Lastly, this is my dog, Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1106727404841892932005-01-26T09:15:00.000+01:002005-01-26T09:16:44.843+01:00The clock is ticking!
I believe that the time has come to get Project Cold Witness finished once and for all. The time has come to start preparing it for submission--hopefully as quickly as possible--and to start actually submitting it to literary agents.
Something big has happened that affects this story directly. For years, the promise of a British Freedom of Information Act, similar to theAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1106554496831999092005-01-24T09:12:00.000+01:002005-01-24T09:14:56.830+01:00Research for Silent Falcon
On Saturday, I visited a region of Rendlesham Forest known, variously, as Little Scotland or the Scotland Fens. I've decided to use the area as a setting for the opening incident in Project Silent Falcon. An unidentified radar trace over Woodbridge airfield will be fired upon by the Cold Lightning defence system, and it will crash somewhere in the Scotland Fens. Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1106341797187336022005-01-21T22:06:00.000+01:002005-01-21T22:09:57.186+01:00Weekly pics
This week, I'm showing you some examples of the worldbuilding I've done on The Riven Path to date. TRP is traditional fantasy, and although I'm concentrating on my two Cold Witness projects at the moment, worldbuilding is too much fun to leave alone for long. At the moment, I'm still in the mapping stage--but I'm taking it very seriously. I already have five or six small-scale Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1106123265536134972005-01-19T09:25:00.000+01:002005-01-19T09:27:45.536+01:00Preparations for the Trek begin!
I can't believe it's only just over three months until May. I've been looking forward to this expedition for nearly two years. Ever since I first found out I actually liked walking, the promise of a "terminal trek"--the ultimate long-distance hike--has pulled me onwards.
It's almost here. This year, my "gap year" before university in September, has been my Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5874548.post-1105952374770412442005-01-17T09:56:00.000+01:002005-01-17T09:59:34.770+01:00My "lost projects"
Every writer, no matter how successful he or she may be, will have novels that never worked out. Some will have many--possibly a whole slew of books that just didn't work, before that writer finally hooked onto the theme or genre which worked. I think I'm one of the latter. Of the nine novels I have worked on so far, here is what has become of them:
The Falcon's Flight (Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12092606606370780437noreply@blogger.com0