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Sarah Painter

Author of contemporary fiction with a touch of magic

Geekery

Done!

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I navigated the Bemuda Triangle and returned victorious!

Yes, there’ll almost certainly be another rewrite further down the line and, if I’m lucky enough to get a publishing deal, further edits and copy editing and all that, but right now I’m breathing a big sigh of relief.

I finished the book.

Now I can enjoy the fact that my kids are on summer holiday and hang out with them properly (rather than saying distractedly ‘in a minute’), read (yay!), watch films and television, and say ‘remember me?’ to my husband. I may even go outside. Hurrah!

Oh, and tomorrow I’m meeting up with my awesome family to watch the The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy live with Neil-frakking-Gaiman.

I’m also taking a little internet break. I’ll leave you with Ze Frank on finishing stuff. Hope you all have a great week!

[Image via Neatorama]

Friday Five: The ‘huh?’ edition

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[Image credit: Terry Lightfoot}

I’m so close to finishing the book and am unable to think of anything else. Or at all. These links may amuse you or they may make you go ‘huh?’ – I am currently unable to make value judgements of any kind.*

1. These handmade leather wings from ThinkGeek are undeniably brilliant, but I think I like the customer warning even more: ‘Wings Do Not Enable User To Fly’. Heh.

2. I’ve just set this as my desktop background. Van Gogh’s Starry Night with added TARDIS.

3. More Doctor Who; a preview for the next installment of is available here. Yay!

4. Word nerd? There’s a wealth of information on the meaning and origin of words and phrases over at Mark Forsyth’s (The Etymologicon) Inky Fool.

5. A great piece on writerly procrastination by Emma Darwin. Getting through the door in the wall.

* Except those involving snacks.**

**And, yes. I’m aware it’s Monday. This is just the way I roll at the moment.

Towel Day; who knew?

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I was introduced to Douglas Adams at a young age. I remember listening to Hitch-Hikers on the radio with my brother and picking up the books from my parents’ shelves as soon as I was able.

Despite these impeccable credentials, I wasn’t aware that May 25th is Towel Day in honour of the great man.

To celebrate, people are sharing their favourite Douglas Adams quotes on Twitter and I thought I’d join in. This is actually one of my brother’s favourites but it’s so apt for my state of mind today that I’m going with it:

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.

Weekend round-up: Fun and Geekery

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Good morning! Hope you all had a spiffing Bank Holiday Weekend. Since we’re all back to work, I thought I’d distract you with tales of my weekend. I know, I’m too kind…

On Saturday, I headed to Dundee with my daughter to visit the Funk Fair. It was stuffed with vintage and retro pretties but we were very restrained. Okay, some hair slides by Love From Alice jumped into my bag, but they were impossible to resist I tell you. Impossible!

Next, we headed into H&M to get jeans for my girl. She had her first ever ‘trying things on in the shop’ experience which, thankfully, was a pleasant one. Then we stroked the nail polishes in Boots and the stationery in Paperchase and listened to Kasabian loudly in the car on the way home. Having an ‘Oh My Gosh; Eleven Years Old’ daughter isn’t so bad when she is Made Of Awesome.

On Sunday, I got my geek on. We took a family trip to our local cinema to see this:

Joss Whedon is one of my favourite writer/directors and I’d heard good things (thank you Matthew and Alistair!) about this film, so hopes were high. In short, we all loved it. Lots of thrills, in-jokes, cool moments and, above all, laughs. It might be a big-budget commercially-minded film, but it definitely has the Whedon magic.

Plus, yanno, this:

Oh, hullo Thor. I like your… hammer.

On Monday, my lovely parents had the children so that I could write. I’m in first zero draft mode on a new project that I’m super-excited about, so it was brilliant to have a few clear hours to work on it. I also edited a short story and wrote a couple of blog posts, so yay me.

How about you guys?

Awesome Geektastic T-shirts

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You’ve probably already seen the awesome geektastic t-shirts by Mental Floss, but I thought I’d mention them just in case…

If (like me) you’re based in the UK, don’t be afraid to order. I got the ‘ambiguity’ one (pictured above) as a gift and it was delivered in a timely fashion. Plus, not to get all domestic and boring on y’all, but it’s a decent quality shirt, too.

I haven’t ordered from ThinkGeek (yet) but I’m very tempted by this Self-Rescuing Princess shirt for my daughter’s twelfth birthday this year*.

*Urk. Twelve. How did that happen?

Writers on writing: Joss Whedon

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Riki Lindhome (actress, writer and one half of Garfunkel and Oates) interviews Joss Whedon about writing and his career.

I recommend listening to the whole thing: Joss comes across as a really nice, down-to-earth guy.

Even though Joss says he ‘loves writing’ (the lucky duck) and he’s one those irritatingly prolific people who make me feel more-than-usually-inadquate, I did enjoy his advice to the would-be writer:

“If you’re a writer you need to write. You have to do it and you need to have to do it because it’s gruelling. You have to give yourself over to it completely. And that doesn’t mean that you have to become tortured, it doesn’t mean you have to become a dick, it doesn’t mean you have to ignore the people you love, it just means that is you. That is what you are. And that kind of passionate tenacity is necessary when people are telling you it’s not going to work out.”

[Via Diane Shipley on Twitter – thanks!]

My Weekend: Puppets, Zombies and Lemon Drizzle Cake

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On Saturday the sun was shining and my husband was off gallivanting (climbing a hill) and my favourite daughter was home from her school trip so I donned an apron (yes, really) and did a passable impression of a domestic goddess. I baked flapjacks and lemon drizzle cake, I cleaned and tidied, I hung laundry on the line to dry and I sewed a couple of cushion covers. My mum came round for lunch and board games were played. It was a properly domestic, cosy and delightful day.

In the evening, just to balance things out, we watched Zombieland. I loved it. Woody Harrelson is a very funny man. I will warn you, however, that the first twenty minutes or so  are pretty disgusting. I was starting to worry that it was all going to be a bit too graphic for my delicate sensibilities but I was already through the ‘worst’. Either that, or I just got used to close up shots of zombies spewing blood. Whatever.

It was Mother’s Day in the UK yesterday and I was awoken by my children bearing gifts. Green & Black’s chocolate, a beaded bracelet, homemade cards and… Mummy Puppet. My son made me in puppet form and I couldn’t be happier. I now have a partner in crime and someone to blame when things Go Wrong (“Mummy Puppet did it!”). Plus, as I pointed out to my bemused husband, I will now win any discussion that we put to the vote: Husband = 1 vote, Me = 1 vote, Mummy Puppet = 1 vote. Score.

My daughter tried to rename Mummy Puppet ‘Muppet’, but was vociferously overruled by my son. And, oddly, by Mummy Puppet herself. She’s actually quite strong-minded and, rather creepily, she sounds like Mr Punch. Hmm. She’s looking at me now. Staring, really. With… Intensity. Hold on, while I turn her to face the wall… That’s better.

Friday Five: Etsy goodness, International Women’s Day and deep water

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I was spoiled for choice for this edition of Friday Five but there are still only four things on the list… My internet has gone a bit wobbly and I want to press ‘publish’ before it dies completely. Enjoy!

1. This one comes courtesy of some book-research which got out of hand. I began looking for bird-themed ceramics on Etsy and, as if by magic, lost six hours of my life.  Steampunk Bicycle print ‘The Sparrow Thief’. CollageOrama upcycles old dictionaries by printing bold images on the pages.

2. Even though I am personally freaked out by the depth of the ocean, and find it difficult to think about that volume of  cold dark water without nausea, I couldn’t fail to appreciate the brilliance of this graphic by the BBC. It illustrates the awesome depth of oceanic trenches in a clever and informative way. As long as I don’t picture myself in a tiny boat floating on the surface, I’ll be fine. Urp.

[Found via Jennifer Crusie’s blog]

3. March 8th was International Women’s Day 2012 and although I actually intended to post about it yesterday, I’m going to pretend that I’m a day late in order to make a statement about gender equality being relevant every day. Also, check out this excellent article from The Huffington Post: 10 Reasons Why Feminism is Good For Boys and Men.

4. An inspired (and very patient) crafter has built a Tardis in a bottle. Cool.

Steinbeck on writing

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Letters of Note (‘correspondence deserving of a wider audience’: great blog idea) has posted a letter Steinbeck wrote to his editor (and friend) on the occasion of his finishing East of Eden.

Here’s an excerpt:

A book is like a man—clever and dull, brave and cowardly, beautiful and ugly. For every flowering thought there will be a page like a wet and mangy mongrel, and for every looping flight a tap on the wing and a reminder that wax cannot hold the feathers firm too near the sun.

Head over to the site to read the whole letter. Also, if you want more insight into Steinbeck’s process and thoughts on writing (and why wouldn’t you?), there’s a whole bookful available:  Journal of a Novel: The ‘East of Eden’ Letters by John Steinbeck.

Film News: The Hunger Games

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I loved The Hunger Games and inhaled it in one heart-pounding session so I’m certainly interested to see the film adaptation. Interested and, of course, a little worried.

While the story is practically born-to-be-filmed, it would be such a shame if justice isn’t done. I’m concerned that the director won’t be able to stay true to the horror of the book while achieving a teen-friendly guidance rating. The trailer looks promising, though. What do you think?