Feel very spiky today and hugely on edge – no doubt due to the all-consuming worries about tomorrow’s launch of Thorn in the Flesh. I’m now worried I might have too many people coming and am severely up to my limit of 35 in the venue. Let’s hope that none of them decide to bring an unaccounted friend, as if they do no doubt Godalming Museum will beat me with twigs and throw me out. I hope to God it goes all right and people don’t notice the joins. Of which there will be many, I’m convinced. I also really don’t know how I’m going to get everything set up and sorted out in the hour before it starts. That is, without lying down, chewing the carpet and weeping. And that’s only if I think it’s going well …
In the meantime, I’m struggling through the working day without actually feeling I’m here. Same old, same old then. Though I have managed to do something about the ongoing online booking system project – I even contacted Procurement, good grief, and contacted some suppliers (good Lord, I sound almost professional!) - though I’m not sure what sort of effect I’m having or really what the hell I'm doing … However, I attempted to raise my happiness levels by visiting the University art gallery at lunchtime – they’ve got a staff exhibition on, which is always inspirational. I particularly enjoyed “Second Horizon” – a thought-provoking study in grey-blue and black. And heck we all need a second horizon sometimes …
This afternoon, I am putting my professional secretary hat on and taking the minutes for the Student Induction Implementation Group. I think there’s going to be a lot of flipcharts and strategy, from what I can tell. Lord, what fun we have! If only I knew what it was all supposed to be about, eh? It did last a rather long time, I have to say, and I didn't have the heart to start on the writing up - I shall have to try to work out what they want me to put next week.
And we’re still thinking about where to go on holiday in May – which is actually a nice thing to think about, so I’m glad we haven’t managed to book anything yet – it gives me something else to focus on, and, Lord, how I need that! UPDATE: We've booked it, hurrah! Lord H managed to find spaces on the week-long Iberian river cruise that they told me yesterday was fully booked (the bastards!). Must be his dulcet tones eh ... But a holiday - wonderful!
Tonight, I’m off to the Goldenford meeting, but Jackie has taken pity on me and agreed to do the minutes this time – thank you, Jackie! I’ll certainly be in no fit state to concentrate, provide sensible input or write anything up afterwards, so the gesture is much appreciated.
Today’s nice things:
1. Art
2. Thinking about holidays
3. Goldenford.
Anne Brooke
Anne's website
Goldenford Publishers
ANNE BROOKE BOOKS: Independent writer of modern fiction
Showing posts with label anxiety. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anxiety. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Inner bitches, writers’ errors and a little bit of dancing
Dark rain clouds over the south today, m’dears. Plus lots of rain. Darnit. And I’ve planned to walk into town at lunch today to get a few bits and pieces, so I’d better dress up warm and not forget the brolly. UPDATE: actually it wasn’t raining and I had a nice, if brief, chat with one of the old Guildford Writers bunch whom I hadn’t seen for a long time. So that was great. I also bought the “Getting in Touch with your Inner Bitch” block calendar, as I thought the office would appreciate it. I was right … I particularly like the look of the “Niceness Detox Tips”, one of which is: Start a revolution in your life. Say “I don’t think so” at least once today. Fabulous! I hope to put it all into practice next year.
Ooh and the big shock of the day is that I’ve discovered that the last line of my Maloney’s Law blurb is almost exactly the same as the last line in my Thorn in the Flesh blurb. Arrggghh!!! I am now wearing a Writers’ Dunce hat as punishment but am too humiliated to provide pictures. The one good thing that can be said is that at least it shows that – even if I don’t stick to the same genre – my themes are similar. Ho ho. Which is surely one in the eye for all those publishers who object to my lack of predictability – hey there, I am predictable after all!! In the meantime, I have changed the last half line of my Thorn blurb so the glaring error is less glaringly obvious. It now reads:
“Can she overcome the demons of her own personal history before time runs out?”
Whereas before it was: “Can she overcome the demons of her own personal history and protect those she loves before it’s too late?” Way too similar to Maloney indeed!... Ye gods, I am starting to plagiarise myself. Should I sue?
Anyway, I shall run it by the Goldenford Girls to see if they’re happy. There’s still time, thank goodness. And all this existential angst of course assumes that the same set of people might read both – well, you never know …
In the meantime, the mystery of the strange outside table continues to puzzle us. This table which has been on the courtyard/walkway outside our office window for a few weeks has now been joined by a chair. Perhaps it is indeed one of the new faculty offices who simply can’t afford a roof? We’re thinking of placing one of our old phones on it and seeing if anyone makes a call. We could also make it pretty and put a plant on it – well we don’t want the poor hard-done-by admin bod to feel unloved.
Tonight, I’m off to Scottish country dancing – I’m hoping I can pick up on whatever I missed last week without too much embarrassment and confusion as I was too busy editing for Britain to go then. It’ll probably do me good – even I can tell I’m getting way too twitchy and anxious about stuff. I was panicking this morning before work about double the items I usually panic about: the iron, the hairdryer, the heater, the oven, the kettle, the computers: are they all off? To this obsessional list, I also added checking the book covers, checking the blurbs, worrying about not writing enough and staring at the computer screen whilst hyperventilating until my eyes imploded etc etc. I also did all of this twice, just in case I hadn’t panicked to the appropriate level of mania. I seriously need to reeeelaaaaxxxx. Maybe it’s time for a calming pill.
And later I’ll be glued to “Heroes”. How will it all end? It won’t be the same without my weekly dose of Hiro.
Today’s nice things:
1. The walk into town
2. Dancing
3. Heroes.
Anne Brooke
Anne's website
Goldenford Publishers
Ooh and the big shock of the day is that I’ve discovered that the last line of my Maloney’s Law blurb is almost exactly the same as the last line in my Thorn in the Flesh blurb. Arrggghh!!! I am now wearing a Writers’ Dunce hat as punishment but am too humiliated to provide pictures. The one good thing that can be said is that at least it shows that – even if I don’t stick to the same genre – my themes are similar. Ho ho. Which is surely one in the eye for all those publishers who object to my lack of predictability – hey there, I am predictable after all!! In the meantime, I have changed the last half line of my Thorn blurb so the glaring error is less glaringly obvious. It now reads:
“Can she overcome the demons of her own personal history before time runs out?”
Whereas before it was: “Can she overcome the demons of her own personal history and protect those she loves before it’s too late?” Way too similar to Maloney indeed!... Ye gods, I am starting to plagiarise myself. Should I sue?
Anyway, I shall run it by the Goldenford Girls to see if they’re happy. There’s still time, thank goodness. And all this existential angst of course assumes that the same set of people might read both – well, you never know …
In the meantime, the mystery of the strange outside table continues to puzzle us. This table which has been on the courtyard/walkway outside our office window for a few weeks has now been joined by a chair. Perhaps it is indeed one of the new faculty offices who simply can’t afford a roof? We’re thinking of placing one of our old phones on it and seeing if anyone makes a call. We could also make it pretty and put a plant on it – well we don’t want the poor hard-done-by admin bod to feel unloved.
Tonight, I’m off to Scottish country dancing – I’m hoping I can pick up on whatever I missed last week without too much embarrassment and confusion as I was too busy editing for Britain to go then. It’ll probably do me good – even I can tell I’m getting way too twitchy and anxious about stuff. I was panicking this morning before work about double the items I usually panic about: the iron, the hairdryer, the heater, the oven, the kettle, the computers: are they all off? To this obsessional list, I also added checking the book covers, checking the blurbs, worrying about not writing enough and staring at the computer screen whilst hyperventilating until my eyes imploded etc etc. I also did all of this twice, just in case I hadn’t panicked to the appropriate level of mania. I seriously need to reeeelaaaaxxxx. Maybe it’s time for a calming pill.
And later I’ll be glued to “Heroes”. How will it all end? It won’t be the same without my weekly dose of Hiro.
Today’s nice things:
1. The walk into town
2. Dancing
3. Heroes.
Anne Brooke
Anne's website
Goldenford Publishers
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