So long ago it’s almost not true anymore

Just occured to me today that I have to go much further back. The person who kickstarted my love of the written word was my primary school teacher. At the beginning of second grade, she took us to our local library.

From that day on, it was a Tuesday in late August or early September, I went to the library every Tuesday. Every week I left carrying as many books as I could manage, and I returned them all a week later.

Thanks to my old teacher, I fell in love with books. And that led, a few years later, to my wanting to be a writer myself.

I can do that

I owe my first round of THANKS! to a German writer who was hyped as the new literary wunderkind about 10-12 years ago. I read three of his novels and kept asking myself what all the hype was about. I hated his books and thought that if I wrote novels, they would be much better.

Which is what made me sit down and give this writing thing a go. I began to scribble down ideas regularly, found out that I couldn’t quite write a better novel yet, but I was determined to do it one day.

The seed had been sown.

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Yeah, wrote zilch today. Drinks with new colleagues instead.

November is also NaBloPoMo

November is not only National Novel Writing Month, it’s also National Blog Posting Month.  30 days, 30 blog posts – one every day.

While I have no problem with winning NaNoWriMo, I have not been quite as successful at NaBloPoMo. I’m going to change that this year, though.

I’m officially an optimist now

I lost my job today. Now that would be a good reason for being upset and feeling low.

I feel fine, though. I suppose the main reason for this is that my company has stopped doing what they used to do, and will focus on web development in the future. There is no need for a multi-lingual translator, lesson creator and writer any more. It’s a business decision, and I can live with that.

I’m not that worried, either. I’ve freelanced before. More importantly, I’ve spent a lot of time recently figuring out how to start my freelance writing career. Being made redundant will add that extra bit of pressure to get going, and I see it as a blessing in disguise.

I’m sure the first few months will be hard. I have no doubt that I will make it, though. Little Miss Optimist has spoken.

I’m back

I think I’ll end the Writing Words experiment. I just like it better here.

It’s a bit of a pain that I’ll have to copy over all my posts by hand …

Foo Zeppelin

I think it took a couple of days to sink in – I watched rock history in the making on Saturday night, I saw (half of) Led Zeppelin play to songs with the best rock band of the last 13 years, if not ever. The Foo Fighters gig in Wembley on Saturday was quite possible the best concert I will ever experience in my entire life.

I’ve been a massive fan of the Foos for ages, and I have wanted to see them live for about as long. Something always came up, though. When they played the O2 Arena in November last year, I couldn’t go. Shortly after that the Wembley gig was announced and I knew that this was my shot to finally see them.

And man, did I pick the right concert there! 86,000 people, the Foos in top form rocking their socks off, and that encore. Now I am not a massive Led Zeppelin fan, but when Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones walked on stage, the shivers were chasing each other down my spine. How many more opportunities will be to see Led Zep live (it’s a bit of a pity that Robert Plant couldn’t be there, I have to admit)? Two, one, none at all? Who knows.

My personal highlights were some of the Foo classics, though. Singing along with an entire stadium full of people to all the songs, but especially to Breakout, Stacked Actors, My Hero, Everlong, Monkey Wrench, All My Life and Best Of You was AMAZING. Just the thoughts of My Hero – which turned into a collective Dave Grohl worship – and Everlong – greatest song ever – give me goose bumps.

Right after the show I said to myself, “Sonya, that’s it – you have to give up rock concerts for good. This show just cannot be topped.” Now I’m not so sure anymore that I will never go to another concert. Yet I can’t see any other band replace the Foo Fighters as my rock gods.

Why-oh-why blues

I’ve had one of the dreaded “why oh why am I doing this to myself” days. I’m sure every fiction writer has them, even though I hope they’ll occur less often after publication.

When the why of why blues hits me, I temporarily change sides and join the people who tell me that I will not make it as a writer and that I’d best concentrate on the career I could actually have. Since I moved to the UK for a much better job, they even have a genuine point, and sometimes I can’t help thinking that I should focus all my energy on the day job.

I know the routine now and go through all the motions – it’s a lot less painful that way. In the end I reach the conclusion that I will never write another word, only to change my mind again 5 minutes later.

I think I have to give up writing occasionally to remind myself how much it means to me.

Offline

I’m still here. Moved house, though, and as usual there are issues with the broadband.

How dare ISPs to deny me internet access. Has to be said, though, that my involuntary withdrawal from the online world has led to a significant reduction of the stack of books on my nightstand.

Hope I will be back online soon, though. Until then, remember: Writers write!

Sunday Scribblings: What’s your sign?

What’s your sign?

Cancer. Yeah, that’s right, it means that my birthday is some time around now. In fact, it is today.

Tell you the truth, I have not been looking forward to my birthday. Over the last week, it was all a bit much. But then I had a good time last night, the sun is shining, the first batch of muffins I made for this afternoon smell absolutely delicious, I am listening to the omnibus edition of The Archers, and I have the feeling this is going to be a good day.

So I am writing my own horoscope for today: You will have a lovely time with your family and friends this afternoon, they will be in raptures about the muffins you made, and tonight you will go for a delicious dinner. The thunderstorms predicted for the late afternoon are going to rage elsewhere. You are going to have a fantastic time, and you deserve it, too.