Running around like a blue-arsed fly.
No change there then.
Even so, I am going to write a blog post because I am beginning to understand that writing reasonably regular blogs is actually part of my self-care regimen. Yes. This is where I vent, and if I don’t, I start venting to actual Real Humans. The joy of a blog is that, if you don’t want to read this, you can just not read it, but Real Live Humans I Encounter are not so lucky. I need to not be that person with the verbal diarrhoea who buttonholes some poor schmuck and everyone else avoids like the plague.
So here I am, ranting virtually so that I do not end up Being That Person. Although there’s not so much to rant about this week. I’m more excited than ranty, as you’ll see if you do decide to read on.
Here are some exciting updates for you. Mmm. Some of life feels a bit like this …
Yikes!
Yes, as if I am hanging vertiginously from a piece of string thirty feet above a car park … well … you know … metaphorically.
Holidays!
Om nom nom
McMini gets at 2 week half term in the Christmas Term and as a result it means we can go to Portugal to get some sun and um … cake.
Which we did.
This time, there was not 100% sun but there was enough and I managed to score on all the food quests eating each of my favourite Portuguese delicacies at least once. Like this lovely cake which is called Almond Tart in the Algarve and for which I have failed, dismally, to find a recipe. Clearly it’s called something else as the swiss roll full of very eggy custard pictured is not what comes up when I search for Algarve Portuguese Almond Tart online.
Portuguese is a really hard language to pronounce although as a friend recently pointed out, if you try and speak Spanish with a Russian accent you can make a brave attempt. I can’t speak Spanish at all but I do make an effort with phrases like, ‘I would like x, y or z thing please,’ ‘This is very good,’ and, ‘Thank you,’ because I think it’s only polite.
The victims of my efforts patiently correct my pronunciation and then I have another go and fuck it up again. Mwahaharhgh. So if you’ve read any of my books and want to know what Tithian sounds like; Portuguese. I think The Pan of Hamgee may meet some Portuguese people and be completely bowled over by this at some point. There are the hints of an after story but I’m letting it foment a bit.
Other massive, massive news. I have a new book coming out. Fuck knows how but yes, it seems to be happening.
Eyebomb, Therefore I Am approaching publication.
Eyebomb, Therefore I Am
Lordy me but what have I done? I’ve been tinkering with the idea of producing an eyebombing photobook for some years now. Well … not exactly, it’s more that people have been asking and I’ve been telling them to sod off because a) printing photo books costs more than anyone is willing to pay, b)I’m a bit shit at DTP and c) because I couldn’t afford InDesign.
But then I discovered Affinity, indeed God Bless Affinity Suite and all who sail in her. I paid £150 to actually own the software, you know, like in the old days, without any of that subscription bollocks.
So now, like a chump, I’ve given in.
Yes. I learned it. I learned fucking DTP to do this, I must be chuffing crazy. Well no, we know that. But long and the short of this is, I have made the book and—God help me—I have put the kickstarter on preview, provisionally going live on 18th November.
Yes. I’m doing a kickstarter at the same time as there is a craptonne of Mum stuff going down. I am clearing out our house, clearing out my childhood home because there is no cash, and chasing up the company who are supposed to be doing Mum’s continuing care application who do nothing unless I prompt them. I must be a fucking masochist.
OK, so that launch date may extend because I haven’t finished the video yet, and the funding tiers are still a bit Meh and I only have about 8 hours between than and now to do all these things … but I’m closer than before. I have a script and a plan for the vid and it seems to be OK… gulp.
Probably.
So if you are one of the people who enjoys the eyebombing stuff I post, feel free to have a look.
Eyebomb, Therefore I Am
If you are not one of those people, but still want to help, and I fully appreciate that you may not, but … you know … if you do … feel free to pop over to the Kickstarter page and share it to your social media platform of choice.
Also, if you do Kickstarter and you think the book might be your bag, you can follow the campaign and then if you want to buy a copy, it’ll will automatically notify you when it goes live. I’ve tried to throw in digital stuff for those who don’t wish to pay postage and also I’ve done post cards and everyone who buys one of the physical tiers gets a mystery bonus.
I have dedicated the book to my lovely friends Jon and Nancy, because Jon died in February, which was, frankly, a bit of a shitter for all of us but especially for Nance so I thought this might make her smile.
That’s about it … here’s the kickstarter link if you’re interested:
M T McGuire Authorholic 
My sisters in Mexico did the hard work of dealing with our parents’ daily life and estates, and I contributed taking care of US paperwork – of which there was a lot – and US bank stuff – of which there wasn’t enough.
It was bittersweet, every piece of it. Even finding out that Mother had saved all my letters from college – and I have the other half as I saved hers and Daddy’s – means I have an interesting thing I can do to document my early adult years in the States IF I ever have both the time and a coherent brain.
And I was granted the family spoon – the one we all used at home and I requested as my portion (everyone wanted it). Which I never use now because I don’t do much cooking, and it’s metal, and would scratch our non-stick pans.
I don’t know where the time goes, but I’m STILL organizing the next book, and it’s getting there, but I do my usual deep digging before choosing scenes and what goes in them, and illness delayed it most of the year. I actually like this part when I get into it, but it’s such a massive job I have trouble finding the time to do it right. I’m using Freedom again, which blocks the internet for a chunk of time I specify, and that really helps.
Sorry you’re probably going to do most of the job of emptying your childhood home (I believe it’s closer to you than to your brother?), and sad I didn’t get to participate in mine. Hugs.
Thank you. And great news that you are able to start on the next book.
It must have been hard, being at a distance, even if you were doing your part from where you were. And yes there’s lots of stuff I’d like to keep but week probably have to sell most of it. Such is life eh?
Such is, indeed, life. I don’t know that they sold things, because many of them were designed for a large family (Mother liked to have everyone come to their house for holidays, and there are a LOT of us): a very long table, a huge circular couch, several complete sets of dinnerware for at least twelve (could have been more).
I miss those days. But at least two of my sisters have houses big enough for the clan – and may have inherited anything useful. Dunno – haven’t been home to Mexico recently due to the pandemic. It will be interesting when I do.
The book is getting to the exciting stage – when everything I plot seems to hang together and make sense, as if it had actually happened. The same thing occurred with the previous books of the trilogy.
It still takes me ages to write them, but I need the structure to hang my brain on when doing so.
Congratulations on the eye-bomb book!
Thanks and yay for smoother plotting. 😁
It’s really tough to let go. Maybe photos can help to preserve childhood memories (not necessarily eye-bombed, I hasten to point out).
It is. I think she’ll be OK if we can keep the true reason for the moves under wraps. I think if she thinks it’s temporary, she’ll forget quite quickly. I’ll look for some photos.