The Thin Executioner comes to town.

I've been mega busy since posting my field trip post and that's mostly to do with my uni work. Last week was so crazy, I had work in and work to finish off and on Tuesday I handed in two essays and tomorrow I've another one due in! I need to finish that other one tho, because it's a short story I re-wrote, so it just needs a little bit more.....

Anyway, today Darran Shan was in Liverpool 1 Waterstones signing his new novel - The Thin Executioner and I being a fan, decided to drag some friends along to the book signing. I was looking forward to a nice afternoon in Liverpool doing a bit of shopping before popping into waterstones, but so typical of the British weather it was raining! And it was the second worse kind of rain-that fine stuff that soaks you even before you've had a chance to notice it's really raining! (the first is that large, sudden down pour stuff, that makes you look like a drowned rat.) So we cut the shopping trip short and headed for Waterstones.

Where we met Darren Shan! It worked out okay, because we had time for hot chocolates and cake, before we brought the book and hurried into the already growing queue. We stood for 4o minutes there, chatting and poking the books that were on display around us and then talking to random people in front and behind us. Then at 5pm, he started sighing books and the queue moved up. It took us 20 minutes to get there and then he was mega happy to sign books and meet his fans.

Also it seems he has a weird thing about strangling people and writing strange notes in the books.....but still I guess every message is different and he seemed to be enjoying himself!

I got him to sign a book for my brother too, because it was only fair....

We ended up coming back home after that, the rain was getting heavier and though we got vouchers for Burger King, we had food at home. Now though, I need to go off and do some more work and then I'll finish Pieaces of Eight, which has taken me awhile to get through because I've been busy reading other stuff and writing about it! But I have like 2 chapters left and then tomorrrow, I can start my new book!

Fiction Field Trip

Yesterday, I went on a field trip with my fiction group to the Liverpool World Museum. The idea behind it was to become inspired through the images we could find in the museum exhibits and then have story ideas for the last fiction assessment. I'd been to the museum a few times before and its still pretty good. I always see something new and enjoy wondering around the display cases. Things were a bit different this time because we were there to work and I took a lot of photos, which I'm hopefully going to create a murder mystery story out of and had two ideas.

Striking a pose.

There's something above you.....

I think most of my class had fun too and I'm looking foreword to reading their stories in a workshop next week. I've already written my story, though I'm not sure what people are going to make of it because it has a number of different levels and I'm still not happy with it. It's a case of I know what I want to say, but I can't express it through words. Hopefully someone can give me a hand with it.

There was a new exhibit too, a plant world and it was very interactive. I think the small group I was with spent most the time in this room, though we did get to see the bugs and the Ancient worlds. We were meant to concentrate on the bugs, because the stories have to involve them. It seemed to be a good subject because the bug world is so large and can be used in many different contexts.

Discovering a new world......

So going to museums can be really useful for writers because not all only can you have ideas but you can get background information too. I've a strange love for museums and such places anyway, thanks to my parents and being taken to many places when I was young. In fact, beside from writing, reading and playing Facebook games, there's nothing I like better then exploring a new place! Be it woods, countryside, beach, castle or a cemetery, I just love walking and connecting with nature. I've some of my best ideas in theses places too!

The world of the ancients....

Well...when in Roman you've got to look the part!

Who says mummies are not scary????

Before I go off to get ready for a night out, I'm going to share my current reading material! It's a newish novel by John Drake and the second in a trilogy. It's called Pieces of Eight and the first one was Flint and Silver. These novels are about the events before Treasure Island and answers some of the questions that were created, but not answered. I'm loving reading them, the story telling is just so good and the adult-ness that I was seeking from Island and never found is very clear in here! So I'd recommend them for anyone who loves Island and pirates.

The ghostly photos.

Cool frog in Liverpool square.

Hey, I know I've not wrote in ages, but first not a lot was happening and then suddenly I had to do all my uni work and found making time for anything else difficult. It has been a strange time really, because after three weeks of well....not doing a lot, but knowing that I should be doing something, I've had to wake up to the fact that time is running far too fast for me to catch up with it, so I might as well get down to the tasks before me-namely horrible essays about long dead people and others who think they know everything about them.

Today I manged to do another essay, so that is something of a weight off my mind, but it still needs fixing up and a biblography, so its not over yet! This essay was tough, I think I made the mistake of choosing the most easiest question and then whilst trying to write it discovered that really it was hard because of the lack of second critics out there about the plays and themes I was meant to be writing about. So I decided that what really needed to happen was someone to come along and write about the things I was trying to study-thus making life slighter easier. This then got me thinking about why don't I write this article/book thing? but I just don't have the time!

I know what my tutor would say, 'give up sleeping.' That was his claim to frame, he slept for only 4 hours for like 10 years. But I can't do that! I'd be too tired to do anything and right now, being so pushed about, I think that would only add to my stress. Anyway, I'm sure you don't really want to hear about this, so I'll get on to my title......

New bar in Ormskirk!

On Thursday one of my friends had one of her friends from home come down for the day to visit her and get to see her life at uni. We went shopping in Liverpool, had tea and then came back to Ormskirk for a night out. We had a great time and when we had to leave the bar at 1am, we felt it was too early for us, so we went back to my house and there decided to go on to the park which is just opposite my house on the fields. It was here that whilst taking photos, that I suddenly become aware that something wasn't right.......we were not alone on the field......and on viewing my photos I found something very strange....

What can you see in the mist?


When we got back, I showed my friends the photos and we tried to come up with scientific explanations, but we could arrive at none other point then the fact that the field was haunted by something......

A ghostly hand grips the wrist of my friend.

So now we are scared to go back on the field! I think it'll be awhile until we go out again as well, because I spent all of Friday recovering and I've got more work to do as well......

Anyway, if you have any ideas about the photos or you see something in them, please leave me a commit, I'd love to hear from you.

Easter Sunday Walk

We found this starfish

Yesterday, I hit the beach with my dog, parents and youngest brother. We tend to go on long walks during bank holidays, because we like doing family things together and at home spending this time together can be hard because everyone wants to do there own thing in their own space. So, my plan was to go to Bolton Abbey, but they were having a huge Easter egg hunt and it was decided that to avoid the young kids-speically with grumpy Sandy-We'd go to St. Anne's in Lytham instead.

Being use to such chances of a sudden weather change, we all dressed warmly. I was glad of my jumper once we hit the beach, it was so windy that the warmth from the sun was almost lost most of the time. The beach was busy with walkers through, people who'd braved the weather to take their dogs out or they kids to ride the donkeys.

Sandy had fun digging



The dragon kite

Mum got this kite for her birthday, being a lover of dragons and kites. Now adays we spend much of our camping hoildays flying kite and it seemed fitting to give the dragon his first flight on the beach.

He was a site to see! All those bright colours against a blue sky and the wind carried him high, so that he could be seen across the beach. He was easy to fly as well because he only had one string. The best part was though, when you pulled on the string his wings flapped, so he gainned more air time! He'll be coming on holiday with us for so now.

I've still got easter eggs to eat, which is a good thing. I'm still trying to loss weight at the minute, but its sort of had a set back because my other brother has decided to take up all the time on the Wii fit, so its hard for me to get a look in now. I'll keep trying though!

I've nearly finished Treasure Island now. I've got more into it then Dorian Gray-which I give up on, it was taking too long. I've got another book that goes with Island and its Captain Flints and Sliver's story, though I'm not sure how that's going to be because it was only published in 2009.

Oh, my Easter nest cakes are nearly ready....time to carry on with the bank holiday!

Time to Get Fit for Summer!

Hey! I've decided to get more fitter and loss some weight. So I'm doing something of a diet with a lot of exercise thrown in. This has mostly been on the Wii fit because the mere thought of a gym scares me and then there is of course all the mega fit and toned people that might be there at the same time as me.....so for starters I'm doing an hour a day of a range of Wii fit plus activities and already I've lost a few pounds and am I feeling like I've more energy. Also I'm doing half an hour running with my dog Sandy.

She's old now and I often find her limping at my side or else she's a mile behind me eating grass....Today when I give her the choice of places we could go to, she choice to go to the woods. Within seconds of setting out it started raining heavily and the wind was really strong and cold. I so wanted to turn back but the chances of the weather not changing was not good-it snowed this morning! So I walked on and then sort of spent an hour in the woods within out really thinking about it.

Cute dog!

Now I'm drier and it seemed that I'm heading off to the cinema on Friday to see how to train your dragon with some friends. Hopefully we'll be watching it in 3d! I manged to see Alice in Wonderland on Monday with free tickets that I got for the time Harry Potter blew up when I went to see it....It was alright, bit slow, but more worth my free tickets that New Moon would have been-I'm still disappointed with that one.....

Lastly then I'm writing a novel about pirates.....It was inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and its going really well...shame none of my uni work is getting done though!

Exploring Bronte Country

Hey, on sunday my family and I went to Haworth villiage which was where the Bronte sisters lived and wrote their novels. This trip was suggested by my mum because I told her that I had to read Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre for my 3rd year eng lit. I'm not too keen on this kind of novel- period romance- because I normally read vampires and fantasy, so my mum thought that if I could see where the inspiration for the novels had come from that I might get into them.

I think that I might prove her true! I had a good time in Haworth wondering around and reading the guide book. I would read random facts out to my family and I took a lot of photos! I liked exploring the graveyard at the church where the Brontes went to. This is because one of my hobbies is studying headstones and looking at their design. There was a lot of intersting headstones to see!

We also walked through some of the countryside which inspired Wuthering Heights. There were some really nice views! I could see why such places would get people writing. There were lots of walks we could have taken but we took a small short cut root and headed off to Haworth cemtery.

There I found some more intersting headstones and my parents had to drag me out of there because I was just wondering and taking photos for far too long! We wondered back to the village then and I brought a book about ghosts in Haworth which was really great because it was about the graveyard as well, so I found some more graves that needed to be visited.

I didn't get any story or poem ideas through, but I did get a deeper understanding of how the Bronte sisters lived and I'm hoping that this is going to get me into the novels now. Speaking of which they came today with some of the others I've to read. I've got 3 chapters of Kell's Legend left to read...wonder how long I can draw them out for......

Is off for easter!!!!!!!!!!

Happy St Patrick' day too-sorry its late, but I was busy last night and to clear up any mistakes that might be made, the photo is in fact of a Yuletide Gnome pertaining to be a Leprechaun. He was knitted by my mum, of an Irish friend.

So I've finished university for three weeks now! But I still have a ton of work to do, like the bulk of my essays. But if I don't do them then there's just going to be no way I can get through. So I've to work over Easter. Should keep my mind active though!

I'm still reading Kell's Legend. I've been sucked in but work has been demending lately, so I've not got very far into it yet though. I'm enjoying reading it though. It reminds me of Warhammer novels a little bit, only this is a lot rougher! I heard also that there's a second book due out soon, so I must keep an eye out for that!

Also today I'm spreading the word about Pineapple Journals. It's a publishing website that me and two of my friends have set up. I'm hoping that people will be submitting their work to us soon!

http://www.pineapplejournals.co.uk/