Tuesday 20 May 2014

Guest Post: Chris Votey - Writer's Block

Today I would like to welcome Chris Votey, a fellow writer and friend I met through the April AtoZ Challenge this year. He a very lovely chap and today he's talking about the familiar problem of writer's block and its causes. This is a very different take on your average discussion of writer's block, however, Chris knows far more about the psychology of it that I do, for a start :).

~*~

Writer's Block by Christopher D. Votey

For me, writing is the spice of life. Putting words on the page is exhilarating. I love building the world and giving life to my characters while putting them in peril as we get closer to the climax of the story just to see how they handle the situation. The only thing greater than that is finishing your story and rather than be a collection of words on paper, it has become a novel. It is a moment I live for.

I only wish it were as easy as talking about it. I am a writing addict; I can't get enough of it. But unlike any other drug, this is one that requires a lot of hard work, a lot of time spent staring at the screen and trying to put words down. Worse is when no words come from you, and your story is now in a pit of doom. Or as we call it in the biz, Writer's Block.

Now most writers from here will tell you how they overcome writer's block and some personal experience about it and be done with it. On my blog posts, we don't just identify what something is; I set upon myself to really understand what something is. I will answer the what, the how, and the why. So sit back and prepare to be educated.

Writer's Block has been around for a very long time, but the phrase itself was introduced into psychoanalytic literature by Edmund Bergler in 1947. It was coined to denote the "drying up of a writer's wellspring of creative imagination"; it gained recognition as a term due to its self-evident nature.

Bergler noted that writer's block may be total or partial, with early manifestations from feelings of insecurity centered on one's creativity, development of style, or distracted by ideas for other works.

Bergler cited the origins of writer's block to oral masochism and superego driven need for punishment. That's right boys and girls; your writer's block is you having a subconscious need to be punished. I'll take my spankings now.

Thankfully, the science of psychology has developed quite a bit since then.

Writer's Block is a complex issue that often takes a complex answer for us to get out of it and back to writing. Now our culture has tried to define what writer's block is, and tries to offer the same kinds of solutions over and over again and tend to be hit or miss. In order to tackle Writer's Block, we need to get to the bottom of what is it really, and finding the right tool to get the job done. Sure, we can use a wrench to hammer in a nail, but there is a much better tool for that.

Another nail.

There is a lot to say on this topic. To cut for space, I will only be covering one aspect of this complex problem. I recommend reading the article in full to get a more comprehensive guide on it. You can find that article here. I will be discussing what I thought was the more important element.

In our understanding of how and why Writer's Block happens, we must first get an understanding of creativity. We start with the model of creativity by J.P. Guilford. He divided it up into two parts, Divergent thinking and Convergent thinking. Divergent is about coming up with ideas, whereas Convergent is about narrowing down ideas. We'll be looking at Divergent thinking in this article.

Divergent thinking can be broken down into three elements: fluency (volume of possibilities); flexibility (variety); originality (uniqueness).

Let me give you a challenge. Name 5 things that are heavy. Anything at all. Seriously, go ahead.

Now I'm sure many of you picked something within sight of where you are sitting. Maybe something you possess or something you see. I'm sure many of you picked something in relation to weight. So there is a "volume of possibilities" (fluency) here. In relation to weight, there are my chest of drawers, bowling ball, TV, truck, Earth.

But is that the only kind of heavy? What about things of density? heavy smoke, heavy soil, heavy features. This is flexibility; we begin to expand the possibilities.

Let us take this a step farther. Championship class (heavy weight), something to excess (heavy drinker), grief (heavy heart). We are entering territory that most people may not have taken this. The examples above may have many similar answers, only a few get to this level. Not because their smarter, but because they really think outside the box. Most people will stay in the first level, and that is perfectly fine, or even get into the second level. This is the level of original answers.

Don't worry if you didn't get beyond the first level, this is an exercise for a group activity, not an individual one. Having mastery of the first level is an important skill to have. Now I say that, because when it comes to Writer's Block, we need to look at it as a problem of where are we lacking in our thinking. I look at the elements of Divergent thinking as 3 levels, and we must address each level in order.

Many people try to go for level 3, originality. However, you cannot have originality without flexibility, and you cannot have flexibility without fluency. Now we have level 1, getting a volume of ideas, and then trying to figure out which one is original; skipping flexibility all together. In doing so, you get sucked into the abyss that is Writer's Block.

So how do we become more flexible thinkers? For this, to describe the example above, we use the word Fixation. There are two basic types of fixation: mental set and functional fixedness.

Mental set is easier to spot and work around. Say you are given 10 math problems. The first 9 are solved using the same method. The last one, which is easier than the others, requires a different approach. Many people get stuck. Why? They got into the rhythm of what they were doing. Once they got to the 10th problem, they continued the rhythm. But the rhythm doesn't work.

This example is how writers get stuck. We are doing an action sequence with explosions and gun fire and martial arts... and now we have to write a romance scene. It's hard to go from one to the other, because you have to change gears, and you must approach it a different way.

Both examples demonstrate what is called mechanized thought. You are set in a single thought pattern and it is hard to break out of. You set yourself into a mindset and to break out of it, you realize that your mind has become inflexible. You are fixated on a single approach. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps, instead of changing gears, you move onto the next action sequence. Most likely this is not a permanent problem and when you come back to it a different day, you can write the part that gave you trouble.

Just because the reader starts at the beginning and reads to the end, doesn't mean that's the order it must be written.

As far as Function Fixedness and Convergent thinking, I refer you to the article, as it has a great way of explaining it.

It should be stated that this can also be an emotional response. Stress and pressure can definitely lead to Writer's Block. Self-esteem plays a big role into that, whether of ourselves or our work. We are always our toughest critic, and it can be hard to find people to support us. The best advice I offer you is really get yourself out there in the Writer's Community. There are a lot of great people out there wanting to help.

In the end, your Writer's Block is for you to determine how to get out of it. Try to understand the problem, before fixing the problem. Definitely look more into the article, but don't be afraid of trying something new.

Before I depart, I will tell you my techniques. My problem is not always a lack of flexibility or making assumptions, sometimes the words are not there:
  1. Work on something else. I've got more than enough to do. If my writing is not there, work on my website, work on research, work on marketing, do some proofreading, write articles.
  2. Look at my wall. I have a wall dedicated to Writer's Block, starting with the Writer's Cheat Sheet. Be sure to give a shout out to @peter_halasz It is an awesome resource. Every time I look at this, I generate ideas for my story.
  3. Reread my story. By reading it, I can think up new ideas to insert or remember where I was going with my story.
  4. Work on Character/Plot Development. Look at the why I'm doing things and how I'm going to get to the end goal. Perhaps do some background work on how people or things got to where they are now.
  5. Rewrite my story. In retyping it, I find ways to expand upon it that rereading doesn't enable me. Often times I find ways to expand it or make it more concise. Sometimes as I develop the story, something that happened later in the story requires the beginning to be changed.
  6. Work on a different part of the story. I'm stuck here right now, but I know what another part of the story looks like. Perhaps by completing A and B, then going to E and F, I can figure out what C looks like. Be a nonlinear writer.
  7. Take a walk/Take a shower. Whether walking outside or taking a shower, it is great to be naked. :D. I generate so many ideas in the shower or taking a walk and have resolved so many issues that way. Sometimes you just need to get away from it.
  8. Tell someone else. Yeah… make it someone else's problem. They say the best way to learn is to teach. So by telling someone else your story (tell, not have them read it), it can help generate ideas, especially when they ask you questions.
~*~


Christopher D. Votey was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1980, first son of Steve Votey and Jolene Knight (née Nichols). He is a college graduate in Computer Science at Collins College in Tempe, Arizona and has worked in the computer field for 10 years. After a debilitating work injury, Chris decided to take up writing, producing 2 books.

Chris currently lives in Mesa, Arizona awaiting Social Security disability and working to recover from his condition of Post Concussion Syndrome to return back to a normal life.

Website: http://home.chrisvotey.com/
Blog: http://writing.chrisvotey.com
Twitter: @authorvotey
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherDVotey
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+ChrisVotey
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7733607.Christopher_D_Votey

Book
Title: Terran Psycosis:
Links: Amazon US Amazon UK
Description:
A man who thinks he is an alien finds himself in a mental institution. He has been visited by many doctors, but none of them were able to help him. The hospital has brought in a specialist to try to get some answers. This specialist is the top of his field and he may be able to unlock the secrets of the patient and be able to answer: Is he an alien, or simply a man seeking attention.

Saturday 17 May 2014

Afia playing and trying out the radiator bed

Yes, it's time for more kitty piccies :D.

While Amber was lounging in the sun in the garden Rob and I were playing with Afia in the old dining room (sorry for the state of the carpet - it's the main thoroughfare of the house). We also set up a radiator bed for her when she first arrived that she has never looked twice at until today. Below is the pictorial evidence of the adventure.
And I'm supposed to do what with that precisely?

Does it move?

Such a top predator!

It's there - I can see it...

Moarrrr

Mine now.

Don't move, you're surrounded!

I'm gonna eat you little bit of plastic...

Perfect view of the cat flap.

Can I reach the sideboard from here in a single bound?

Is that a spider?

Tuesday 13 May 2014

There is nothing wrong with a man in a dress! Conchita is Awesome.

For those who have been under a rock, or not in Europe, this year's Eurovision Song Contest was won by Austria and their entrant, Conchita Wurst, a singer whose real name is Tom Neuwirth, who created the persona of Conchita in a bid for tolerance.

"This is about an important message, it's call for tolerance for everything that seems different." - Conchita Wurst

She was utterly spectacular on the night and boy does she have a fantastic voice. Play the vid, the song is brilliant - it's the official vid from Eurovision TV.


I think her win is incredibly important because it really is a complete up yours to all the prejudice.

There is a backlash in Russia apparently with celebrities shaving off their beards - which is clearly a political move. However, according to Popbitch on twitter, Rise Like a Phoenix is currently No1 on Russian charts, so ordinary people are not of the same opinion. See this article for info on both:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/alanwhite/russians-are-shaving-their-beards-in-reaction-to-conchita-wu

Russia tried to have Conchita banned before the competition : http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/russia-slams-eurovision-winner-conchita-3525396

Sorry Putin - you can't stage a debate with only one side of the argument and expect people to take it seriously. I feel sorry for your entry this year because they're only 17 and they were booed and that is your fault for invading Ukraine. You're a homophobic arsehole with megalomania and Europe just stuck its fingers up at you.


However, it's not just Russia sadly. I've already heard someone say it was disgusting and that they had to try and explain it to their 4 year old. Um, so what? Just tell them she's a man who likes to wear dresses and be a lady when she's singing. What's hard about that? You don't have to explain all the political and social implications to a 4 year old.

Personally I thought explaining Poland's entry to a 4 year old might be harder, given that there were two lasses on the stage who were only there for their big boobs and the butter churning was fooling no one!

For heaven's sake, we're in the 21st century, if a man wants to wear a dress he should be able to. Judge people on who they are and how they treat others, not what they look like or who they do or don't love.

If you would like to read more about Conchita here is her official page and her wiki page.

All I can say is, well done Europe. We voted for a fantastic singer, a fantastic song and tolerance.

Oh and for the record, for once my fav songs came top:

  1. Rise Like a Phoenix - Austria - Conchita Wurst
  2. Calm After the Storm - Netherlands - the Common Linnets (I am sure the Winter Soldier was signing for them :))
  3. Undo - Sweden - Sanna Nielson
I also loved Iceland, Norway, Spain and Slovenia's entries. You can see them all on Youtube under the Eurovision's Official Channel.

AO3 (Archive of Our Own - fanfic) Top Ten Hit List meme

So I saw this meme on vix_spex blog on LJ and was intrigued, so I had a go.

Meme: List your top 10 AO3 fanfics by number of hits.

  1. Gold Tinted Spectacles (Harry/Draco, NC17, Hits:18332) Harry is about to enter his seventh year, and things are not quite what he expected. He is no longer the angry boy who watched his world fall apart at the end of his fifth year, but neither has he completely found his place yet. He is looking for someting, and to his confusion it seems to have something to do with Draco Malfoy.
  2. Angels and Devils (Harry/Draco, NC17, Hits:12784) Harry defeated Voldemort: his act of heroism is famous throughout the wizarding world. He’s trying to finish his final year at Hogwarts in peace, but something peculiar is happening to him, something he never would have expected. It's all rather embarrassing and making his life very complicated.
  3. Faults for Fixing (Charles Xavier/Eric Lehnsherr, NC17, Hits:11579) Charles sees the events of the missile crisis and subsequent weeks when he uses Cerebro to touch the mind of a mutant with the power to see the near future. When he wakes up he is determined that he will not allow them to happen and he will not lose the people he loves.
  4. Of All the Locked Rooms In All The World... (Derek/Stiles, Teenwolf, NC17, Hits:11579) Hunters have plans for Beacon Hills that involved kidnapping Stiles and having him killed by a rogue werewolf. When that rogue werewolf is Derek, however, plans are bound to go awry.
  5. The Needs of the Few (Sherlock/John, NC17, Hits:9522 When Sherlock is shot and lies dying, John confesses what he has come to realise; that he is in love with his friend and cannot go on without him. This confession leads to revelations about Sherlock and vampires, of all things, and sets their relationship onto a whole new path.
  6. Destiny Sucks (Derek/Stiles, Teenwolf, NC17, Hits: 8481) When Stiles sleeps he goes to the white place he, Scott and Alison visited when they sacrificed themselves. He keeps seeing a white wolf there and he knows it's important, but he's just so tired.
  7. Hot and Hotter (Derek/Stiles, Teenwolf, NC17, Hits: 7813) Stiles has been hit by magical backlash and he goes to Derek for help without really knowing why.
  8. The Needy (Sherlock/John, NC17, Hits: 7566) Sequel to The Needs of the Few - Sherlock is finding that letting his vampire side out is very interesting and stimulating as well as making him more than a little obsessed with John. He could have done without Lestrade showing up, but he had left rather a lot of blood at the scene so it was only to be expected.
  9. Corruption (Harry/Draco, NC17, Hits: 6210) Voldemort has captured Harry and for his own twisted reasons has chosen not to kill him outright. Revenge in the Dark Lord's mind requires a fate worse than death and Harry is about to find out what that is.
  10. More Mundane Needs (Interlude for the Needs series) (Sherlock/John, PG, Hits: 6177) An interlude where John and Sherlock go shopping to a very exclusive gentleman's outfitters.
Most interesting how one of my oldest fics that was only secondarily posted to AO3 after years on LJ is at the top :). Shows that the Harry Potter fandom is still going strong.

I had no idea that my Sherlock fics were so popular compared to my other fics, or my X-men: FC fic.

Teen Wolf really is a monster fandom - I've never had so many hits so quickly as when I post Sterek fics. :) It's like the high days of Harry Potter fandom all over again.

Wednesday 7 May 2014

Cats are such regal animals ;)

I so post things other than pictures of my cats, I promise, it's just with a new kitty in the house the camera is out a lot at the moment :)


Fi-fi loves having her tummy tickled :) There would have been more piccies, but Rob's camera ran out of charge.

Of course Amber would never stoop so low (or at least not when there is a camera around :)). She is always a princess!




Sunday 4 May 2014

New Piccies of Amber and Afia

Well all is going well so far. Afia spent yesterday evening hiding under things, but then explored most of the house in the early hours and is now happily sitting on top of the kitchen units :). We've given her a bed up there until we have the large cat tree delivered so she has somewhere proper to sleep. She likes high up.

They are currently ignoring each other mostly - well Afia is ignoring Amber, Amber just hasn't looked up yet and can't figure out where the other cat has gone ::g::. Amber knows she's here somewhere, but doesn't seem overly bothered that she can't figure out where.

They also chose to eat each other's food this morning :)

On to the piccies!
Afia

Going to sleep on the unit

That Amber is loud isn't she!

Been up all night exploring, shall sleep now.

This bed, it is good.

Amber
Making sure I still belong to her

Paying close attention :D

Love me please!

What do you think you're doing?

Saturday 3 May 2014

New Kitty - Afia or Fi-Fi for short

So today we picked up a new kitty as a friend for Amber. Her name is Afia, or Fi-Fi for short, and she is lovely natured and beautiful and also an ex-breeding queen. She's much more laid back than Amber so we hope they will get along.

This is a piccie of her at her old home with a lovely lady called Karen.
Copyright Spottydreams.co.uk
We met her son today as well and all of Karen's other kitties and they are all gorgeous.

When we brought her in and opened the cat basket there was a little hissing, but Amber doesn't seem overly bothered, which is good. Fi-Fi is a little more timid, but then she is coming into another cat's territory.

Currently I am upstairs with Amber sitting behind me on my PC chair and Fi-Fi is downstairs, hopefully exploring with Rob keeping an eye on her.

She's a climber so we're going to buy a humongous cat tree to put in the corner of our kitchen, or else I foresee a kitty sitting on top of the units :).

Will post piccies of her (and hopefully Amber together :)) when she's through the hiding phase.

AtoZChallenge 2014 Reflections post

First of all I just wanted to mention that I would love some guest post on my blog and I have a form here to fill in if you are interested in submitting a post.
Click to visit the AtoZ Site
Thank you to everyone who organised the AtoZ Challenge and everyone who took part. Many Congrats to everyone who made it all the way to the end. This April has been so much fun and I've enjoyed every minute of it. This year was my second year and although I enjoyed last year, this has been so much better. Here are a few things I have learned from year 1 to year 2:
  • Have a theme - it allows people to remember your blog and they will come back if it's something they enjoy.
  • Join in the theme reveal blog hop that happens just before the actual AtoZChallenge - you meet some wonderful people and it's a good start to the whole hop.
  • Keep a record of the blogs you have visited - I have a spread sheet with links and days on it which recorded who had visited me, who I had visited and commented on and when. It really helped me keep track.
  • Ask a question at the end of your blog post - it means commenters don't just have to come up with something to say off the top of their heads if they don't want to and helps starts a dialogue.
Then there are the things which always hold true and I found made the challenge work well for me:
  • Try to visit back all the blogs who comment on your blog.
  • Visit new blogs from the list as often as you can (I managed daily to begin with, but slipped up towards the end)
  • Try to comment on all the blogs you visit, even if it's just to say 'hi, thank for your post', because I know that occasionally we all run into posts that we just don't know how to respond to :)
  • Reply to comments on your own blog
  • Pre-schedule your posts in advance so you're not worrying about them and have more time to visit other blogs, or at least have a plan; it decreases the stress :).
  • Don't put obstacles in the way of people commenting:
    • Captcha puts people off
    • I had one post that asked me to register to comment - so I didn't comment
    • there were a couple of places where comments simply weren't working
There were a few of us who had our own mini-hop within the main hop this year specifically for supernatural themed challenge posts and I think this worked really well. There is a list of all the participating blogs at the bottom of this post.

At the bottom of this post there is also a table with links to all of my posts for the AtoZChallenge 2014 in case you missed any of them and would like to take a look. My theme this year was vampires and there is information on vampires, a vampire film review and a flash fiction about my new vampire character Ianthe Jawara in each of the posts :). In a little while I will be taking all of the flash fiction and rewriting it into a proper novel for Ianthe, but the current posts will stay up as well.

So I kept track of all the people I visited over the challenge and here are a few I think are really worth a visit (sorry if you're not on the list - it's just I had to pick a few and there were so many wonderful blogs).
My posts for the AtoZChallenge 2014

April
SundayMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturday
////01 (A)02 (B)03 (C)04 (D)05 (E)
//
//
Attitude,
Abchanchu
Blood,
Baobhan sith
Coffin,
Camazotz 
Darkness,
Dhampir
Eyes,
Estrie
0607 (F)08 (G)09 (H)10 (I)11 (J)12 (K)
Fangs,
Farkaskoldus
Grave,
Gayal/Geyal
Hellhounds,
Hahn Saburo
Immortality,
Impundulu 
Junkie,
Jaud 
Killing,
Krasue 
1314 (L)15 (M)16 (N)17 (O)18 (P)19 (Q)
Lemon,
Loogaroo 
Madness,
Mara
Nails,
Neamh- Mhairbh
Occult,
Ohyn
Priest,
Pey
Quixotic
2021 (R)22 (S)23 (T)24 (U)25 (V)26 (W)
Roses,
Revenant
Stake,
Shtriga
Thrall,
Tlahuelpuchi
Underground,
Uruku/Utukku
Vendetta,
Vyrkolakas
Wall,
Wurdulac
2728 (X)29 (Y)30 (Z)//////
Xanthodont,
Xiang Shi
Yarrow,
Yara- Ma- Yha- Who
Zealot,
Zburator
//
//
//

Review: King Lear NTLive

King Lear NTLive
Director: Sam Mendes

So we went to the cinema on Thursday and saw the ntlive broadcast of King Lear. I wasn't blown away.

I'm not saying it was a bad production, there were moments of brilliance, I just didn't think it was amazing. The versions of Hamlet, Macbeth and Coriolanus I've seen in London have all had me raving about how wonderful they are, but, unfortunately, not King Lear.

Looking at the whole thing I think it stems very simply from one cause: as we were told in the interval presentation, Simon Russell Beale was trying to portray Lear as a man suffering from the early stages of a form of dementia. He did that fantastically; he's a superb actor - I just don't think it was the right decision for the play. It lead to a complete lack of subtly throughout the whole first half and it didn't gel for me.

We were also told in the interval presentation that they were trying to present Lear in the first scene as a dictator surrounded by yes men where Cordelia is the only person willing to not flatter him. Because of the use of the dementia angle, I don't think that came across at all well - in fact I didn't realise that's what they were going for until the interval presentation told me. There was no glimpse of the strong, respected man who was feared, at least, not for me. I really got nothing from the first scene, which was a problem because it's the set up for the rest of the play.

Then there was where they actually put the interval. It's not a good sign when every time there is a new scene I was going, 'oh god, not another one'.

I can always tell when a play has me riveted because I don't notice how I am sitting. During Coriolanus, for example, my behind went completely numb because I barely moved, same with James McAvoy's Macbeth and that was probably the most uncomfortable theatre I have ever been in. During King Lear I was fidgeting because I was uncomfortable and Cinewold has quite comfortable seats in comparison to most London theatres.

However, that said, some of the individual performances were superb, even if I don't think they came together as a cohesive unit.

Simon Russell Beale gave a fantastic performance; he hit the nail on the head for what he was going for. The man is outstanding. In the second half he shone. The moment when he is sitting with Gloucester in the corn field and he finally recognises him was simply amazing. I just wish the first half hadn't been all shouting and ranting and had had the same contrasts as the second half.

Then there was Sam Troughton as Edmund and I thought he was one of the highlights of the first half. The way when he was pretending to be good he wore his glasses, but when he was monologuing to the audience about his nefarious plans he took his glasses off was superb. He was good all the way through, but his early scenes were simply brilliant.

Then we have Kate Fleetwood as Goneril and Anna Maxwell Martin as Regan who were fantastic in several of their scenes. I felt sorry for Goneril when she was trying to deal with Lear to begin with, even if she did go about it entirely the wrong way. I never felt sorry for Regan, however, which was a nice contrast; she was always conniving.

The scene that stands out for Goneril for me was the one where she was with Edmund and it was as if his attentions freed her (not a good thing as it turns out :)). There was a lovely visual cue with her skirt, where when she was with Edmund it was unzipped to the thigh and when her husband appeared she zipped it back up again. Kate Fleetwood played it perfectly.

For Regan the best scene was by far the blinding of Gloucester. She always had something of the sociopath about her, with the way she flirts with her own father for a start, but in that scene we finally saw the reality of how vindictive she actually is. The way Anna Maxwell Martin just kind of devolved in the scene was superb.

Another fantastic performance, possibly the most outstanding one in the play actually, has to be Adrian Scarborough as the Fool. The nuances of his character and how he delivered his lines were brilliant. I really wish Shakespeare hadn't killed off the Fool mid play :).

Then the final mention goes to Tom Brooke as Edgar for when he was pretending to be Mad Tom. For starters anyone who can play naked in front of that many people and deliver their lines that well deserves a medal and secondly he has a very nice body ;).

So, as you can see, I really did like parts of the play. The problem was the moments of genius mostly seemed to be individual to me and the whole thing didn't come together. There was also no contrasts during the first half and so my brain eventually had enough and stopped really caring.

There were also scenes that got lost for me. When the Fool is killed by Lear my brain went 'oh' and I'm pretty sure there should have been more shock than that. Then in the final scenes I had no idea Regan had been poisoned until she rolled under the table and stopped moving. I did not get what was happening until it was completely over. I thought she was throwing a tantrum or something until she didn't get up.

I know for a fact other people totally don't agree with me :) because we met one lady in Morrisons the next day who we had bumped into on the way in to King Lear and she thought it was an amazing production. Her husband, however, seemed to be of the same opinion as we were.

I really wanted to enjoy this play; it's one I hadn't seen before, but it fell short for me. On the one hand the director, Sam Mendes, seemed to have had some great ideas, and on the other some that caused a complete lack of subtlety.

Thursday 1 May 2014

And breathe ... the AtoZChallenge is done :) Thank you everyone who has visited.


Yay, we've made it - the AtoZChallenge for 2014 is done. Now I shall post a proper reflections post when I have had a chance to think about it and I've finished visiting everyone, but I just wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who has visited throughout the fest, even if you didn't have time to comment.

I've certainly had a wonderful time nipping around other people's blogs and answering the comments on my own. I hope everyone else has as well.

Special thanks go to everyone who participated in our little mini-hop within the big hop too.




P.S. If anyone is interested in guest blogging on my blog, I have a very simple form to fill in and I'd love to host you.