PERSEVERANCE PAYS

Current Work: Planning, Editing and Celebrating

Listening to: Silence

Reading: Bad Luck and Trouble (Lee Child), Psychologies Magazine

First Thought for the Day:

I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice. -Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President (1809-1865)

Sweet Success

As you know, I have been plugging away at building a writing career for a long time, seriously for the last year or so. Well, at the end of last year I had a couple of short pieces published which really bolstered my writing ego and I felt bold enough to call my self a writer. This morning, following a couple of follow ups on Friday, I found two emails confirming commissions for pieces I have done. Yes, two! Just need a third now to make it really magical. But it just goes to show that the publishing business is a slow business (one of the pieces I submitted last November) and that as writers we have to keep on with the business of writing whilst waiting for publication. It’s a great feeling, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a buzz and I don’t think I’ll stop feeling that either. So keep on plugging away, patience really does pay off. That along with a heap of self-belief which for me, is mainly thanks to my Man Friday.

Book Worm

I’m on a Lee Childs book at the moment. It’s the first I’ve read (my Man Friday is a huge fan) and I’m really enjoying it. It has about 50 odd chapters of about 2-3 pages each so it flows quickly and has pace. Its not really my favourite genre, but it is very intriguing and its teaching me a lot about pace and plot and most particularly dialogue. There is a lot of dialogue, something I struggle with to sound ‘right’.

Goggle Box

At the moment its dominated by the Rugby (Six Nations), which has been fantastic with our UK subscription allowing us to see British telly. I never thought I would miss it but the Italian stuff is oh so terrible (and I think many of them would agree with me!

And Finally, the Last Word of the Day:

fool's gold

PRONUNCIATION:

(foolz gold)

MEANING:

noun: Something that appears valuable but is worthless.

ETYMOLOGY:

Shakespeare wrote in The Merchant of Venice, "All that glisters is not gold." Fool's gold is another name for pyrite, also known as iron pyrite or iron sulfide. Its shiny yellow luster has many fooled into believing they have struck gold while holding a mineral of little value.

The name pyrite is from Greek pyrites (of fire), from pyr (fire) because it produces sparks when struck against a hard surface. Some related words are fire, pyre, pyrosis (heartburn), pyromania (an irresistible impulse to set things on fire), and empyreal (relating to the sky or heaven, believed to contain pure light or fire.).

USAGE:

"Although the old rust-belt industries of the 20th century had to go, Britain turned its back on industry rather too readily. We were bedazzled by financial services: fool's gold from the City."

Matthew Parris; There's No New Motor to Drive the Economy; The Times (London, UK); Jan 24, 2009.