2012 or 2013?

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Everyone else appears to be doing reviews of 2012, and for a while, I did think about dissecting the year using various typical headings. Problem was, I couldn't remember what books I'd read this year (or what I'd read in 2011), and I couldn't remember all of the films I'd seen in 2012. Thinking back on it all, I simply depressed myself because this year has not been particularly great. I've had two break ups, countless other difficulties with interpersonal relationships, other needless hassle, and not a lot of success in the writing department - basically, I didn't have time to write as much as I'd have liked since I had other, more pressing, demands on my time. While yes, I celebrated the first anniversary of publication of The Guns of Retribution, and I did complete the first version of The Necromancer's Apprentice which is currently with the beta readers, I didn't really have time to do any more and that as rather depressed me. However, I did have a few stories appearing in various anthologies, and I've done well on the PhD front. I think the best part of the year was easily my trip to Venice in the summer, which inspired a scattering of Friday flashes (the photo is me in the Piazza San Marco in front of the Basilica, with the Campanile to the right).

So instead of looking back across the year that was, I'm going to look forward to the year that will be. I don't do resolutions, and haven't done so for a very long time, but I am going to set myself some goals instead - goals are things you would like to reach, while resolutions are things you will do, and unfortunately my temperament tends to skitter away from things I must do in favour of things I want to do, rendering the implementation of resolutions somewhat problematic. So in 2013, I intend to complete at least one more writing project next year, be it another novella or a full-length novel, as well as hopefully putting out another anthology of short stories. I've got plenty of ideas for novels so that shouldn't be an issue...so long as I manage to find the time! I've been outlining towards the end of this year so I've got plenty to start on when I've finished editing my Fowlis Westerby novel. Once I've got the structural outline in place I tend to find it easier to 'fill in the gaps', so to speak.

Away from writing fiction, I also intend to keep working on my digital art, as well as working hard towards my PhD. I've got two essays to plan and write for possible inclusion in anthologies, and with the literature review and historical context chapters out of the way, I'll be able to get my teeth into the main 'meat' of my thesis. I'm actually really looking forward to it, and I'm extremely lucky to have chosen such a wide-ranging set of topics, making the research a pleasure as opposed to a chore. I finish my teacher training course in May, which should free me up to devote my time to other pursuits. Whether that's blogging, writing, knitting, drawing or something else I haven't yet taken up as a hobby, I don't know yet, but it'll be lovely to have the time to choose!

All I will say in closing is thank you to anyone who has bought a copy of one of my books this year, because if people didn't buy them I'd give serious thought to just quitting this mad business altogether.

The Goings On of Icy

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I haven't really done many posts about myself for a while, I suppose in part because I can't think who'd be interested (well, that, and most people who read my blog follow me on Twitter so you get to hear my rants waffle on there). Still, I figured I should probably do some sort of update about what I'm getting up to at the moment.

First off, where the heck has the year gone? Can't quite believe it's October already. It just seems like yesterday that I was getting excited to go to Venice in July, and the whole summer stretched ahead of me like a season of promise and potential. Now it's nearly Halloween...

I finally bought a Kindle! I also got it a very cool Frankenstein cover. I'm currently reading Helen Howell's Jumping at Shadows on it, and it's so much easier reading off the e-ink screen that it is the screen on my Android. That'll make it so much easier taking books to and from work - plus it's lighter, so hopefully it'll make my bag lighter, and thus less stressful on my back. But isn't the cover cool?!

The second year of my teacher training course kicked off in a big way on Friday so I'll be devoting a lot of time to that between now and May. Between that, my day job, my PhD and editing on The Necromancer's Apprentice, I won't be taking on any new commitments until at least Easter or so! I expect to be rather busy over the coming months.

Speaking of my PhD, I'm currently working on my second 'big' chapter (my first being my literature review, in which I summed up which texts I'm planning to use in my discussion). This chapter is an overview of the horror genre within cinema, ranging from around 1910-1978. That's a lot of horror and I've only got about 8000 words in which to do it, so I'm finding keeping to the word limit to be a whole lot harder than the actual work. I'm reading some fascinating books so it's all very interesting, and I get to watch horror films and claim it's research. I've just finished writing the section on German Expressionism, which special emphasis on The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, Nosferatu and Der Golem, and I'm moving on to horror's "classic" age, in the 1930s. Many critics seem to think that one neatly leads on to the other, pointing to the move of Paul Leni to Hollywood in the 1920s, but to do so completely ignores the horror production within silent Hollywood, namely films such as Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde starring John Barrymore in 1923, or Lon Chaney's starring roles in The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1923 and Phantom of the Opera in 1925. Madness, I tell you.

Anyway. Watching all of these classic horror films has me staring at the exceptionally beautiful leading ladies, and it's got me experimenting with my own image a tad. Behold! Me with curly hair, retro makeup, and a suitably vintage Photoshop treatment. I actually went out like this last night, my look complete with fake beauty spot, false eyelashes and suitably slinky black dress, but I can't help thinking it makes me stick out like a sore thumb in Newcastle. Still, it's a look I'm fascinated by, so I'll probably spend the rest of the year working on variations of it. In case you're interested, the makeup I used is a combination of Max Factor, No.7 and Soap & Glory.

I think that's enough waffle from me. What have you all been up to?

Venezia 2012 trip

Tweet According to Blogger, this is my 500th post! So congratulations to me for managing that much waffle, and well done to you for putting up with it!

Anyhow. I got back from Venice on Tuesday and I figured I should probably actually put some photos up on here and tell you how the trip went. Well it all began on Thursday when I got the train down to London, since we were flying to Marco Polo Airport from Gatwick. Travel to Gatwick on Friday was fine, flight was fine, arrival in Venice was fine...and you have to admit, a view like this takes some beating.

Santa Maria Della Salute on the left, then the Doge's Palace and Campanile on the right

We caught the water bus, or vaporetto, for the airport to the Rialto Bridge, which is one of Venice's busiest areas, and most well-known tourist spots. It's also one of the few bridges over the Grand Canal, and has shops lining the bridge, selling all sorts of tourist treasures. You can see how packed it gets from the people lined up.

The Rialto Bridge

We eventually managed to find our hotel, which was just round the corner from the Rialto Bridge, but hidden down a rather narrow street. Nice place, really. Clean, comfortable, all the stuff you'd expect. I'm still a little flabbergasted that I managed to find a hotel in such an essentially central location at such a reasonable price - thank you, Expedia!!

Typical view while walking around Venice

We spent Friday afternoon and evening just wandering around, acclimatising to Venice and enjoying being out of England. Still a little baffling that I could walk around in a vest and shorts at night, but then the temperature only went down to around 24°C.

View down the Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge

Saturday was our "doing stuff" day. I'd wanted to see inside the Doge's Palace since I was in Venice in December 2006, and we'd bought advance tickets online before we went from VivaTicket which meant we could jump the queue (hurray!) The Doge's Palace, or Palazzo Ducal, is a fantastic confection of Byzantine architecture, from a spectacular courtyard to the sumptuous rooms inside. The Palace is linked with a nearby prison block by the famous Bridge of Sighs.

The Doge's Palace courtyard

After that, we explored St Mark's Square, or the Piazza San Marco, which is sort of Venice's equivalent of Piccadilly Circus or Trafalgar Square. It's home to the Campanile bell tower, the Basilica di San Marco, the Doge's Palace, and the Museo Correr. The last one is pretty much three museums in one, and entry is covered by the same ticket we used for the Doge's Palace. They have mummies!!

Piazza San Marco

The rest of Saturday was spent wandering, and we popped into the Hard Rock Cafè (just behind the Piazza San Marco) for dinner. Venice is definitely a city which caters to walkers, since the gondolas and water taxis are a bit pricey. But if you're prepared for many steps up and down the bridges over the canals, and you don't mind exploring twisty, narrow streets, then you'll be fine.

So pretty!

On Sunday, we decided to go looking for the church featured as a library in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Paul tracked it down online, and we went looking for the Church of San Barnaba in the Dorsoduro district. The exteriors were filmed in Venice, while the interiors were a studio set at Universal. After walking past it twice and even eating lunch outside it, we finally realised we'd found the place! Good job we didn't go looking for the Grail too.

Church of San Barnaba in the Campo San Barnaba

Dorsoduro was probably my favourite of the districts, as it's by far the prettiest and quietest of the five. I could imagine spending many lazy Sundays here, even if it is fairly easy to get lost. It's also where I found my Venetian mask souvenir, but more on that later.

Typical Dorsoduro view

We ended up spending a fair bit of time just exploring Venice, and the Piazza San Marco at night is well worth a look, if you can stand all the tourists and street sellers.

Piazza San Marco at night

Monday ended up being a chance to take one last look around, and we set off to make sure we had plenty of time to catch the vaporetto back to the airport in time for check in. I certainly enjoyed Venice, and I was glad I'd gone back for a second visit. It was nice to explore its labyrinthine streets, and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as expensive as I'd been expecting. Plus, in terms of souvenirs, Venice can't be beaten with its fabulous array of masks...

More traditional masks...

Cyberpunk masks!!

And of course I had to get my own, didn't I?

Mid-January Update

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Yesterday I introduced myself again over on Write Anything - albeit myself as a writer, not as a person. It's part of their project to get the readers of the blog to get to know the contributors. I like to think that the two are actually fairly closely linked, but it got me thinking again about how little I actually include of myself on my blog. I read other blogs in which people discuss their lives and let their readers get to know them, but unless you're a subscriber to the theory that a person's soul is laid bare in their fiction, or you 'read' the images I use as photo prompts, then I guess I'm a bit of a shadow of myself online.

Maybe I should use 2012 as the time to change that? Well we're halfway through month one, so how has the year been treating me so far?

As well as my introductory post I've already mentioned, I've also had a post on Write Anything about why writing needn't be a chore, and posts on Fuel Your Writing suggesting ways to get back into your writing routine after Christmas, and also why writing what you know shouldn't be taken so literally.

I've posted two Friday Flashes in 2012 - Spot the Mistake, a slice of silliness, and The Bell, a Gothic tale set on a lonely moor. If that weren't enough, Metro Fiction were also kind enough to publish my short story, The Hen Night. It's not my usual genre but then again, considering I've posted fantasy, horror, steampunk, historical and even science fiction, who's to say what "my genre" actually is? The Guns of Retribution is a pulp Western, after all!! I'm just not a writer who wants to get hung up on what genre I should, or shouldn't, write. I understand the marketing implications but sorry, I'm not going to quit writing what I enjoy just to satisfy a few hardcore genre fiends.

Speaking of Westerns, I can now say that paperback copies of Guns are available from A Reader's Heaven in Lithgow, New South Wales, if you're in the area and want to pick one up. I'm thrilled to see the copies on an actual bookshelf! With any luck they'll appear in UK stores this year too but fingers crossed on that. Work is progressing on the sequel, and my beloved bounty hunter, Grey O'Donnell, is now giving me ideas for short stories as well as novellas, so hopefully 2012 will be a year in which he meets even more people! My current plan is to get book two written by May, in order to start work on book three in the summer.

But so far, all I've been talking about is writing. What else have I been doing? More of my spare time than I'd care to admit has gone into playing World of Warcraft (I know, I know, I got sucked in) but work is well underway on the infamous PhD, as I work my way through reading existing texts on the topic in order to compile a literature review. Best of all, I've booked a holiday in Venice! I last visited the Italian city in December 2006 and I've been itching to go back so I am very, very excited at the prospect of visiting again. My camera and I will be inseparable!