In Rainbows ...

Apologies for the blogging break but ... well, between trying to hang on to my sanity and get a book finished, I haven't really felt up to it.

Today though I do have a story that I want to share with you. It's something that happened yesterday that made me realise that my mum is with me all of the time and she will find ways of showing me.

We need to go back in time a bit to get the full picture, so bear with me.

I lost my dad when I was eighteen.  As a Daddy's Girl, this was tough and I would cry myself to sleep at night longing for him to visit me or, at the very least, give me a sign.

Then I had 'the dream' ...

There were huge fluffy clouds and the most amazing light - pretty corny so far, huh?  Poking through the clouds was a stunningly vibrant rainbow but it was actually an arched ladder and my dad was at the top of it with a paintbrush.  He turned and looked at me - he was really happy and clearly pretty chuffed with himself - and I asked what he was doing up there.

'This is what I do now,' he said simply.  'I paint the rainbow.'

Well, as he was a painter and decorator during his time on earth, this seemed a perfectly logical explanation and - in the time honoured tradition of bad story-telling - I woke up!

But ... I woke up happier.  He'd given me that sign I'd asked for. Even my son, as a child, used to point to the sky and say, 'Look what Granddad did!'

So imagine my surprise thirty-four years later when my lovely mum called us to her bedroom to say her final goodbyes and within the hour a rainbow had appeared in her back garden.  You couldn't make it up, could you?  My dad was there, ready to take her to be safe and he was telling us he loved us.

My Dad's rainbow in my Mum's garden

Then yesterday I was going to a friend's for lunch and I was dreading it.  My mum would always come along with us and sit and chat to his elderly mum and it just seemed wrong going without her.  Our friend had been thoughtful and set the table in a different room to where we would normally eat so that we didn't feel like there was an empty space and we had a lovely lunch - but it still felt odd.

When you're grieving, you become adept at painting on a smile and chatting as if you haven't got a care in the world but suddenly I found that I was smiling and really feeling it.

Because I'd looked out over my friend's back paddock and there she was - only this time with my dad.  His MASSIVE, vivid rainbow ... and later the shadow of a double rainbow by its side, which Mr Misfit joked wasn't as bright because she hasn't been 'up there' long enough to earn her stripes!

She was looking over me, after all!

Thanks Mum - as always, you were there when I needed you and I hope I did the same for you too while I was lucky enough to have you.

I found this song - says it all.

FUNKY FRIDAY - With writer Geoffrey West

Hands together please for Indie author Geoffrey West as we chat about what makes him tick as a writer.

So Geoffrey, what are the best and worst things about writing for you? 

Best – getting a story finished, feeling that it’s come together properly.  It’s rather like building a house: you can’t envisage the end of the job until it’s actually done, you can only do it in sections. I also enjoy doing anything I can to help other writers sell their books, via RTing or doing reviews of books I like.

Worst – trying to sell books, or any kind of marketing (unless it’s for other people). 

You’ve been invited on Big Brother – Writers Special!  Do you accept? 

Depends on the other guests.  I imagine successful writers can be like successful actors, behaving like ‘luvvies’ and showing off and being precious.  But it would be great to chat to Julian Barnes or Rose Tremain or Sarah Waters, or Dick Francis’s son Felix, so yes, maybe it would be fun. 

You’re going on a chat show to discuss your books.  Whose is it and why? 

Afraid I don’t watch many chat shows, so can’t think of anyone. 

If you were offered a squillion pounds to never write again would you take it? 

Well, er, er. . . Gulp. Maybe I should give the legal answer: I refuse to answer on the grounds it would incriminate me. 

It’s your dream week as a writer, anything’s possible.  Tell us about it. 

Travelling around Europe and maybe even Asia.  Doing all kinds of research into the history, and intricacies of cities all over the world, to use in future novels. 

QUICK FIRE ROUND 

Planner or Winger? 

Neither.  I don’t wing, but my planning’s pretty hopeless on the whole. 

Night or morning? 

Night night night every time.  In the mornings I am dead. 

Doer or procrastinator? 

Doer.  But a doer that does it slowly. 

Writing, first draft or editing? 

Like it best when I’ve got an idea going, and doing a second or third draft, altering, chucking out ideas and making changes.  My best ideas have come as a result of scrapping an original idea and going on with the second.  But I’d never have got the second idea without doing the first.  Does that make any sense? 

Tea or coffee? 

Coffee every time.  And I’ve grown to hate instant.

* * * *

Geoffrey blogs both as himself and the hero featured in his books, Jack Lockwood.

You can also visit his Website or follow him on Twitter.

Here are the links to his books: Doppelganger and Rock'n'Roll Suicide.

 

 * * * NEWSFLASH * * *

The solo edit has been completed by hubbie and we are about to set sail on the joint edit.  Eeek! Hissy-fits at the ready.

Fellow Indie, Kathryn Brown is currently selling Kindle copies of her novels for a mere £1.02.  I can highly recommend 'Nightingale Woods' - a right good giggle!

FUNKY FRIDAY - with author Kathryn Brown

It's that time again and this week I welcome fellow Indie, Kathryn Brown.  If you haven't read her books, why not?  What are you waiting for?  Check out her Amazon page here.

We settled with our decaff teas and huge chunks of fruitcake - more of that later - and here's what she revealed.

 

So, Kathryn, as a farmer's wife and busy mum, how do you manage your writing time?  I'm in awe of you!

I can only write during the day and during the week when my daughter, Amy, is at school. She leaves early in the morning and doesn’t get home until 4.30pm so I generally get a full day if I need it. However, at certain times of the year, the farming calendar can be quite overwhelming which means I have to don wellies and abandon pen. Well, computer and notebook ... During lambing, however, I do take the note book and sometimes a Dictaphone into the night shed. It’s so peaceful in there at night and is the perfect location to think.

Dream time.  What's your ultimate goal as a writer?

I have a few ambitions where my writing is concerned but one in particular, and the one that would make me a very happy bunny, is to have one of my books made into a television production. I thought Discovery at Rosehill, my debut novel, would have made a great drama series, being about ghosts and things that go bump in the night. Maybe one day I’ll think seriously about writing for television but I suspect it isn’t an easy market to crack.

Tell us about your ideal writing day.  It can be as wild and far-fetched as you like!

To have the house to myself, peace and quiet, no one knocking on the door, no visitors, no phones ringing, lots of chocolate biscuits, several bottles of water, and a brain full of ideas. I’m one of those people who needs absolute silence in order to function to 100% capacity. I work from home, as a writer and a farmer, and unfortunately, we have a number of friends who haven’t yet grasped that when one is ‘at work’, it usually means one cannot be disturbed. I get many phone calls from my mum for example, and end up asking her (politely) to either ring in the evening or let me ring her back. She’s usually telling me about Auntie Margaret’s out-of-date Muller Lights which can be quite inconvenient when I’m in the middle of a big sex scene. Then the next time mum rings, which is usually around 12pm as she assumes I break for lunch then, she makes a point of apologising for disturbing me. I do love my mum, she’s such a fruitcake.

I know exactly what you mean about people assuming that because you're at home, you're not working!  I could rant about that all day!  So, as a fellow ranter, tell us one thing that drives you round the bend about writing.

Apart from the rant I’ve just had above regarding unwelcome visitors and phone calls when I’m trying to work, I think that would have to be the marketing side of being an Indie author. Bloody hard work doesn’t cut the mustard. Marketing and promotion doesn’t come easy for me because I’m not one to blow my own trumpet, and let’s face it, when we’re trying to get our ‘product’ out there, blowing one’s own trumpet is pretty damn important. I do try though, and most likely bore my Twitter followers and Facebook friends to within an inch of their lives. And then there are those followers and friends you’ve known for years on social media, the lovely ones you’ve chatted to, had a laugh with, awed at each other’s cats with, and then bang, they unfollow and unfriend because they’re sick of your self-promotion. Yet these people don’t have a book to promote, they are not an indie author who relies on this new age of technology to make a 25p royalty, nor do they understand that you’ve worked damned hard on the publication you’re trying to get out there and of which you’d like just a little support to help reach an audience. So I guess disloyalty drives me round the bend about writing. And lots of other things of course, but we’ll save that for another day.

I couldn't agree more - marketing and promoting is SO boring and takes us away from doing what we love.  Moving on to reviews, how do you deal with a bad one?  Are you a sulker or a shrugger?

Good question! I used to be a sulker in the early days. I guess you could say I was lucky with my debut novel as it received only four and five star reviews (there I go, blowing my own trumpet), but the second, Nightingale Woods, after five days of free downloads where every man and his dog jumps on the ‘free’ bit, the one and two star reviews came rolling in, and it was a bit of a shock to the system. Not saying I’m the next JK Rowling of course, but none of us like those one and two stars, do we? Some of the low rated reviews are usually just an excuse to slag the author off, and it always amazes me when a reviewer says, “I wouldn’t normally post a review but ...” then they rant on about how they absolutely hated your book and it was utter bum-fluff. Maybe they should stick to watching Jeremy Kyle and leave reviewing to normal people.

So now, I’m a shrugger. Oh yes, I like to shrug. As authors, we need to remember we can’t please everyone. Bedknobs and Bachelors contains a fair bit of strong language and some rather risqué sex scenes, nothing explicit, just humorous. If someone who doesn’t like language in a book gets hold of this one, then I doubt they’ll enjoy it much. Then again, they’d be hard pushed these days to find a book that doesn’t contain language. And as my fruitcake mother once pointed out, “Sex sells, Kathryn, sex sells.” At aged 70, I was quite impressed.

 LOL!  My 86 year old mum asked me why I couldn't have written '50 Shades' - you've got to love them!

QUICK FIRE ROUND

Planner or Winger?

Both

Night or Morning ?

Both

Doer or procrastinator?

Both (comes with being a farmer!)

Writing/first draft or editing?

Definitely writing first draft. Can’t stand editing!

Tea or coffee?

So long as it’s decaffeinated, either.

'Bedknobs & Bachelors' can be found on Amazon for Kindle or in paperback.

You can find Kathryn on her blog ('Crystal Jigsaw'), Facebook or Twitter.