Welcome to my blog - a collection of thoughts and musings on the world of writing, books and all those wordy type things.

Sunday 9 November 2014

Time Out and a Submission

Hello everyone!

It's been several weeks since I was here so, sorry about that, but I've come to realise that sometimes life just gets in the way of all our plans and that just has to be accepted, mostly by me. I'm getting better at that, but that isn't to say I don't still find it frustrating when health and stuff gets the upper hand for a while.

Still! I haven't been totally resting on my laurels - although resting was something that took up a few weeks, unfortunately. Firstly, I'd been having some pain and numbness in my hands and knew this as a sign than I needed a trip to the osteopath. True to form, there were some pretty big knots that had built up and so a fair amount of squashing, twisting and crunching went on.

I usually feel a bit off for a couple of days after these sessions but this one was particularly bad and I was pretty ill for about a week. Just as I was picking up from that, my ankle decided it was time to have one of the worst flare ups it has ever done. Perfect timing. Just as we book a real holiday for the first time in nine years, I can't even walk on it! There was nothing to do but rest it as totally as I could in the hope that it'd be ok in time for the trip. I was so stressed as it was so bad, we really were unsure as to whether we would be able to go. The holiday involved a certain amount of walking and hopping on and off trains, so crutches wasn't exactly an option.

Long story short, a perfectly timed check up with my surgeon meant that he was able to whack a steroid injection in to help settle it in time. I'm not a big 'trainers as fashion' girl but I could get my ankle supports in my boots so with a bit of fudging about, as much resting as possible, and a stock of painkillers, we were ready to go!

 
The flower garlands we were greeted with

 
Finally at the top after five hours on the UNESCO 'Toy Train' from Kalka to Shimla

 
Last time we visited here, it was dazzling in midday sun. The sunset visit this was just as amazing

 
The incredible sight of the Palace of the Winds, Jaipur
 
We took the trip through Great Rail Journeys and whilst it was great to visit, and sometimes for us, revisit the sights of India, the schedule was pretty full on. I'd taken my writing pad for any ideas and scribbles on our days off, and a journal to record thoughts in, but I only got a few days journaling in and never even got to look at the pad! It was literally up, breakfast, trip, dinner, bed. And there were some very early starts (4.50am in the foyer, anyone?!). Hence, very little inspirational writing took place.
 
On the other hand, I did have a couple of ideas and one of which was to twiddle and then send off a short story that I'd had written for ages as part of the Writers Bureau Course - an assignment I still haven't finished. Oops. And guess what, I actually did it! Off it tootled in an email. Whether anything comes of it, who knows, but at least I have tried. Short story writing isn't something I've done a lot of at all so I'd be over the moon if it did get published!
 
And whilst time to ourselves was very short, and brain and body was generally too exhausted to even think of picking up a pen, I've stored all the sights, sounds, and yes, smells (!) away for reference purposes in the future. That's the good thing about being a writer, no experience, big or small, is ever wasted.
 
I hope all of your projects are coming along well, and good luck to anyone tackling NaNoWriMo this month!
 
Happy writing!
 


7 comments:

  1. It looks like you had a wonderful trip! Good luck with your short story submission.

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    1. It was great, thanks - very tiring but such a fascinating country with such diversity. Thanks for the well wishes!

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  2. So pleased you were able to go on your planned trip. You clearly got a lot out of it despite the ankle problems.

    Good luck with the short story. :-)

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    1. Thanks, Carol. Yes, it was definitely a close thing but I'm so glad it worked out. And yes, plenty of info stored in the noggin for future reference. Thanks for the good luck wishes. I hope your writing is also going well!

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    2. Writing every opportunity I get the time. :-)

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  3. By train through India! I would love to do that. We're going to England for a fortnight - my mother's 90th birthday amongst other family stuff - which isn't nearly as exciting, but I shall probably not use my pad much either!

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    1. It was definitely an experience! I hope you have a great time back here in old Blighty. Having the ability to jot things down is always handy - but it has to come second to an a fabulous celebration like that! Have a wonderful time, and happy birthday to your Mum! :)

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