Missing October 2012

I write blog posts in my head all the time. (I try not to think about whether this is normal. I get on well with the voices in my head and since they don’t tell me to do bad things, I’m assuming they’re relatively benign.) Still, it distresses me that I’ve stopped being able to put the blog posts down on ‘paper.’

Poor old October didn’t get a mention on the blog and it was a pretty wonderful one with a trip to the UK, friends, family and millinery. I just noticed that November was in great danger of being missed as well, so… here I am.

I could write in a paper diary and therefore keep my inanities to myself but I’ve never kept that up. Failed by January 13th. There is something about blogging - publicity? Commenting? Interaction? – that has enabled me to keep going. We might have had an uppy and downy few months (year?) here at Tea Stains but we are approaching our 6th birthday; much, much more success than a paper journal. (I have had many an attempt at writing a diary primarily because I need to write but also because I love the way that paper that has been written on both sides, begins to curl and crinkle like it’s almost changed its chemical make up.)

The truth of the matter is this: while you are most welcome here and I love it if you enjoy what I write, I blog for me. It’s giving a voice to the voices; remembering our conversations. Concocting them in my head seems to be enough at the moment but I get a good deal of pleasure going back over past posts and rereading things I’d forgotten.

So I’m just going to get quietly on with putting them down on ‘paper’ again.

Happy Birthday Tea Stains!

*
Well, I jolly nearly missed that, what with all the hard work, wild dreams and food obsessing.

But I'm very pleased to announce that Tea Stains is four years old today. And as well as sharing tea and cup cakes (do try; they're wheat free) to all readers I'm going to have a blog birthday giveaway.

There will be a mystery prize (probably of a Thai flavour unless you live in Thailand) for four winners - one for each year that I've been blogging.

All you have to do is leave a comment or email me at 4pmteatime (at) gmail (dot) com to say you'd like to be entered into the birthday draw. You will have to be prepared to give me a delivery address if your name is picked out of the hat. I will send prizes any where in the world (I hate being excluded because I live in Thailand; it's just not right.)

Do please pass the details on; the more the merrier. You have until Thursday 27 January to register your interest.

Here's a warning for you...

Oh I’ve been jumping up and down and squealing at the new followers. Thank you; thank you Rach for your Platform-Building Crusade. Actually I have to be honest I don’t like reciprocal following for the sake of increasing numbers but what I do like about this is that we’re all writers, right? So that’s not just for the sake of it…

Another confession I have to make to my new followers is about tea stains.  If I’m talking about writing it’s often a sign I’m not writing… obviously, to someone who wants to finish her book, this is A Bad Thing.

I’m trying to change the Bad Thing into Good Thing. Good Thing is writing; or editing. So I’ve implemented a new habit: I’m ending each post with an edit status.  Public humiliation tactic: progress (or otherwise) on my edit: page xx. This is working well in that I’m embarrassed to have to say I’ve done very little editing since yesterday. It’s good that I’m embarrassed but that’s not really enough. I need to move the embarrassment and inaction towards pride and action because I’ve made progress. I am determined that pitiful progress won’t happen again tomorrow. Watch this space.

So, when I’m not talking about writing because I am writing (Good Thing) I quite often post about my life as a British woman in Thailand or my family or something I see on the street, or somewhere I go. This might mean my blog is somewhat eclectic but that’s just the way it goes. Anyway, now you know.

Public humiliation tactic: progress (or otherwise) on my edit: page 39 

Happy Birthday!

Tea Stains is three years old today. I wrote my first uncertain post here and was rewarded with a comment from a spammer and one from Husband. I was equally excited by both.

I needed a blog to join the Novel Racers so Tea Stains was set up to chart the writing of my novel.

I struggled. In the early days it charted the mostly not writing of my novel.

I grappled with theory as I read endless ‘how to’ books; I tussled with voices in my head telling me … well, all sorts of horrible things: you can’t; you won’t; you haven’t…

And here I am three years later, with 107,257 words - the first draft of my novel, sitting in a drawer waiting for attention.

I want to thank everyone who has ever come to read – even those who found Tea Stains by searching for ‘nude people.’ (*sigh* follow the link, if you must.)