S. Blaise's Blog

I don't know when exactly this thought popped into my head today, or why, but here it is: a snooker player meets a pool player and they "connect". Just saying.

Over here we have snooker: practically a national sport (in fact I think it might be, not sure) broadcast on television, dull as ditchwater, players wear white shirts, waistcoats and bow ties. And trousers and smart shoes, obviously. They look a bit like footmen or waiters.

On the other hand the stereotypical view of pool is one of di...

I don't know when exactly this thought popped into my head today, or why, but here it is: a snooker player meets a pool player and they "connect". Just saying.

Over here we have snooker: practically a national sport (in fact I think it might be, not sure) broadcast on television, dull as ditchwater, players wear white shirts, waistcoats and bow ties. And trousers and smart shoes, obviously. They look a bit like footmen or waiters.

On the other hand the stereotypical view of pool is one of dingy bars filled with smoke, rock/country music and testosterone, guys in plaid shirts or t-shirts and jeans, swigging from a bottle of beer in between taking shots.

They are such similar games (long sticks knock coloured balls into holes placed around a large table covered in ugly green felt) yet they have such different backgrounds. So what would happen if two players from these practically opposite backgrounds met? I'm sure my brain will toy with this idea for a while, I might just do something with it, eventually.

Oh God, if I did write this I'd have to research snooker. And pool. Gaaaaaah . . . *points to the definition above* That's pretty much how far my knowledge extends for either game. I think in snooker you're supposed to pot the black last, but I've no idea why. Still it could be fun. And of course, there's all the bending. Ah the bending . . . Leaning over the table, long, smooth poles gripped confidently in their hands . . . Okay I'll stop now. ^_~

Wow it was hot today. I had Sean and Cam yammering in my head most of the day, which was annoying, 'cause I was in town most of the day and couldn't write anything. It's not a wip, since I haven't even started it yet, it pretty much just exists in my head.

Sean is a rugby playing, drinking, swearing Glaswegian (so, fairly typical Scottish bloke really), who happens to meet Cam, a willowy, pretty boy cross-dresser. The two of them get set up on a date by both of their friends for a practical...

Wow it was hot today. I had Sean and Cam yammering in my head most of the day, which was annoying, 'cause I was in town most of the day and couldn't write anything. It's not a wip, since I haven't even started it yet, it pretty much just exists in my head.

Sean is a rugby playing, drinking, swearing Glaswegian (so, fairly typical Scottish bloke really), who happens to meet Cam, a willowy, pretty boy cross-dresser. The two of them get set up on a date by both of their friends for a practical joke, but Sean has seen Cam before and figures out what's going on. The two of them become friends, with Cam being attracted to Sean and Sean not quite able to figure Cam out, the first openly homosexual person he's met, who dresses up in girl's clothes for fun. There's Sean's younger sister, his homophobic rugby mates, Cam's catty friend who only wants to get into his (Cam's) pants . . . All sorts of fun things. I'll write it at some point. You'll hear me say that a lot, lol.

I've tried ordering The Shiny (mini HP laptop designed by Vivienne Tam - so pretty!) but the HP site is being difficult. I need a new computer! I tried going on my old desktop in our downstairs living room since it's cooler down there and had barely been on it, but Firefox still crashed - twice. I should probably do a system restore thingy but it's too fiddly and I'm worried about messing it up. Oh well least I've finally got wireless Internet, lying on my beanbag on the dining room floor with the laptop is more comfortable anyway. :-p

I really should remember to try not to eat or drink anything while watching QI or Mock the Week, even if I've seen them before. QI's always hilarious, especially Alan Davies' "cheeky schoolboy" to Stephen Fry's "patient schoolteacher" act. There's definitely a story in there somewhere.

Should write, feeling sleepy. I'm sure my brain will start blethering away at 3am, which is another reason why I want the mini laptop, so I can write in bed when my brain won't shut up. :-D This old thing, for a laptop, weighs a ton.

Took part in the chat for Dreamspinner authors (still getting a kick out of calling myself an author, lol) over at the Love Romances Cafe Yahoo group on Saturday. Had a brilliant time, was great fun chatting to everyone and getting insights into their lives and writing. And reading the excerpts of course! As I'd said in a post there I felt a bit like a kid trying to hang out with her older siblings, but everyone was lovely. There's lots of amazing sounding books I'm looking forward to buy...

Took part in the chat for Dreamspinner authors (still getting a kick out of calling myself an author, lol) over at the Love Romances Cafe Yahoo group on Saturday. Had a brilliant time, was great fun chatting to everyone and getting insights into their lives and writing. And reading the excerpts of course! As I'd said in a post there I felt a bit like a kid trying to hang out with her older siblings, but everyone was lovely. There's lots of amazing sounding books I'm looking forward to buying if my bank balance can cope with it, heheh. I just need to finally get going with getting a book of my own finished and published! :-D I'll be keeping a look out for other chats in the future, I definitely want to take part again.

The two free copies of the Reflections of Love anthology from Dreamspinner finally arrived! I was so happy, I couldn't stop staring at it and holding it with a big silly grin on my face. Ebooks are great (and can really help save on space) but there is nothing quite like holding an actual paper and ink book with words you have written in it in your hand. I guess I am just a little old fashioned lol! It looked wonderful too, I love the cover. Sending it had taken longer than normal becaus...

The two free copies of the Reflections of Love anthology from Dreamspinner finally arrived! I was so happy, I couldn't stop staring at it and holding it with a big silly grin on my face. Ebooks are great (and can really help save on space) but there is nothing quite like holding an actual paper and ink book with words you have written in it in your hand. I guess I am just a little old fashioned lol! It looked wonderful too, I love the cover. Sending it had taken longer than normal because apparently there had been a problem with the first print run so they had to re-print. I didn't mind the delay, I'd rather have to wait for a better looking copy of something than get an imperfect one, but now the books are finally here it just made my day! XD

Yes . . . I keep getting caught up in different things, and focusing on them, to the detriment of other stuff. I really need to learn to manage my time better. I have been writing as well, but still need to get off my lazy ass and do more of it. :p I tried writing a short story for Dreamspinner's wedding anthology that's coming up, but it just wasn't coming together properly. I couldn't even figure out one of the character's names for goodness sake! So unfortunately wasn't able to fini...

Yes . . . I keep getting caught up in different things, and focusing on them, to the detriment of other stuff. I really need to learn to manage my time better. I have been writing as well, but still need to get off my lazy ass and do more of it. :p I tried writing a short story for Dreamspinner's wedding anthology that's coming up, but it just wasn't coming together properly. I couldn't even figure out one of the character's names for goodness sake! So unfortunately wasn't able to finish it in time for the deadline. I will get it finished at some point though and probably try submit it to Dreamspinner as a short story/novella. I still have other stories for other anthologies that I want to submit to to do I just need to get my brain in gear and get them done.

I've also been revisiting a story I did for a competition at MLRPress, it didn't win anything but I still like the story and would like to get it published sometime. I just can't help the feeling that there's something . . . wrong with it though. The competition was for their Partners in Crime line and the theme was art and murder so it has a kind of "police procedural" feel to it, along the lines of the CSIs or Law and Order, but with gay men. ;) What I'm not sure of is if it all fits together, if the person who's guilty is too obvious, if there's plot holes to drive a truck through, if everything sounds right. I think I'm too close to the story though, I need someone to read it with fresh eyes and seriously pick it to pieces, tell me exactly what they think is wrong with it and what works (if anything). And the harsher the better. It couldn't be any worse than how I am with myself, even if it's telling me to just forget it or re-write it from the ground up (I'm almost considering doing that anyway). Of course there's other things I should be working on, but yeah, after months my brain has decided to jump onto this again. I don't want to start working on it too much though without some other sort of feedback/criticism. *Sigh*