Pause for Award

Am I boring you all to death with stories/pictures of my holiday last week?

Is it horribly ‘me, me, me and my holiday’?

Just in case it is, I’m pausing to post an award that I got from Suzanne and Carol. I won’t make a speech but thank you ladies - it’s lovely to get award.

A nomination entitles me to pass the award on to 10 other bloggers but I know it’s been around a bit so if you like it and I visit you, please take it. If you’d like it and I don’t visit you – leave a message here and I’ll come by.

I’ve got horribly behind reading my blog feeds. I’m trying to catch up but there’s been less commenting from me than normal and the feeds keep growing every day.

Half term

Is it half term every where this week? It is here for our school. Daughter has gone off on a school trip to London and Son and I have work to do. My work (on the travel articles) is being met with little resistance; after all this is what I want to be doing. Son's work... well not so much.

In order to make it as pain free as possible I've brought him to Chiang Mai, Thailand's second city. We're staying in the same hotel that we stayed in when we came here two years ago. It's orange so I'm very happy. It has criss crossed chips - fries - so Son is happy.

Yesterday I went down to breakfast before Son. I'd been up longer, was starving hungry and he was dragging his size 12 feet, hoping that the longer it took him to get to breakfast, the less likely work time would appear.

I was sitting in the restaurant; gazing around. There was a family on the table by the window with two small boys. They were around seven and nine, I'd guess. I began to think about how normal that is now... to fly longhaul as a family. When I was a kid I had a good friend whose Dad had his own travel agency and they went to exotic places and came back with suntans. I do remember being quite envious of her.

I watched these two boys, thinking how lucky kids are today. My family holidays had been camping to Somerset when we were that age. There were no suntans to be had there, though one year we did have a whirlwind that picked someone's tent up and placed it in the field next door with some cows. I certainly wasn't deprived: I went to Rouen in France on a school exchange. Then later, my Dad's job took him to Germany for work during the summer holidays, and we would go out to join him for a bit. I thought that was exotic.

After they'd finished eating the boys were allowed to play on some sort of computer console while Mum and Dad finished at leisure. I'd caught the Mum's eye a couple of times but eventually I looked at the Dad. I could only see him almost in profile, behind the Bangkok Post.

I wondered where my son had got to.

I looked back at the Dad: hmm, I thought.

Where is Son? Whatever is he doing?

It was a slow dawning. I was tired and it was out of context.

I texted Son 'Are you there?' No answer.

'SON' I texted next. 'You won't believe this...' Still no answer.

'Son, don't freak out, but your headmaster and his family are having breakfast next to me.'

I'm surprised Son came down at all to that news.

Goodbye 2009

It seemed fitting to end 2009 on the last post, however, it wouldn't do because I have to thank you all for coming to Tea Stains over the last year.

I've been feeling ten feet tall over the last couple of days... It's been wonderful to feel such support. Thank you so much for your comments and congratulations.

We opened our presents today because in half an hour we leave for the airport. (We're spending two days in Geneva and then transferring on Boxing Day to a ski resort for seven days.) My lovely husband has had 'my three little words' immortalised on a ring for me as my main present (see below) and I've spent the morning spontaneously bursting into tears... It's a mixture of finishing the book and remembering how those words got me through my wibbly wobbly times. I can't wait to get going on editing.

My rush to finish the first draft has saved you all from the prospect of 'the Christmas series' which is all the shiny decorations I can find in Bangkok. There were a lot. We should all be grateful they didn't get posted here.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.

And we're off (again)

Family arrived yesterday in Bangkok and we’re off to the beach today. Sorry, it does seem a bit like I’m always on holiday but see, the UK, lovely though it was… that was a bit of a tour of duty. This is a holiday (with family) and Husband’s coming too so I’m excited.

“Not with a bang but a whimper”

Well, there it is. It’s 'over'. A court ruling declares that ‘the court held the parties, their respective leaders and executives accountable for the electoral fraud committed during the December 23 general elections.’ Forgive the pessimism realism but let’s just wait and see as the ‘new’ parties are formed.

Now, we are turning our thoughts to a holiday.

Me? I’m turning my thoughts to not panicking. I haven’t written for several days and I hate the feeling of losing my train of thought. I'm busy all day tomorrow; I’ve got to send Husband to work with a costume for the Christmas party and my next Novel Racers coffee is on Friday, for which I am entirely devoid of subjects: eeeek. I won’t panic. I won’t.

10,000 big ones

I’m changing the subject from our holiday plans. There’s more than a little Mr Toad in the Beattie family personality, which I don’t wish to highlight any further…

I am going through my next 10,000 words as they are due with my mentor on Friday. On Sunday my heart sank as I began to read through. My family, whose minds were all on the snow in Siberia, were distinctly unmoved by my trauma. On Monday, I got past the first two pages, and there were definite signs of improvement. I marked up the pages (I confess, while I had a pedicure!) with big strokes of the pencil I stole the complementary, promotional pencil from the hotel in Korat… It’s a perfect pencil; dark enough without being too soft and it keeps its point beautifully so they found their way into my pencil case. (Yes, damn it, okay I stole two pencils.)

I am desisting from shovelling MORE on my metaphors. Clearly dialogue comes relatively easily to me, for which I am thankful. But! There has to be a but… But, characterisation; emotional roundness of my main character… Can’t work it out. She’s STILL two dimensional.

What to do?

On holiday

It's half term, and we're away: not where we planned to go and not our second choice ... but we're away.

This is Son's preparation for his holiday. His wicked parents told him he couldn't bring his lap top. He'd finished the first Harry Potter for the 247th time, by the end of the journey. His stupid mother didn't notice the hotel had a wii.

It's definitely still the rainy season.

Bits and Pieces

I can almost touch the end of my holiday now; I fly back to Bangkok on Friday.

What I really want to write about is my notion of home, which is being seriously questioned in some part of my heart. I tried yesterday to write about it too, but I can’t get it down or correct or something ... so instead, let's go on with other, less enigmatic topics …

The last few weeks have been proper holiday with Husband here: no work and too much food. I’ve been extremely naughty about 100 words a day but I shall get back into it when I get home. I’ll be reporting in every day with my word count.

Yesterday I talked on the phone to a woman at a local prison … about one of my characters who has been inside. He has to have done something, been punished and served the right length of time to fit in with the rest of the story … I’m hoping to see the vicar this week about the funeral and my sister has dug out a contact that deals in antiquarian books, so all the research is coming together too.