We’ve just finished this year’s shearing. And as I worked in the dusty confines of the shearing shed and as the burr of the shearing motors became a comforting background sound, I noticed things I have never bothered about before.
Things that make one’s heart beat faster: Winter trees silhouetted on ‘Camden’ hill against a clear azure sky. Her Excellency the Governor General’s beautiful daffodil yellow suit with a purple flower pinned to the shoulder. 
The shorn sheep lying in winter sunshine, faces turned to a sunbeam. Me standing at the door of the shearing shed, face turned to a sunbeam. Today’s frost in first light – a comparison with diamonds and white gold filigree is not idle. A kookaburra’s call at ‘cut-out’, almost like a finishing bell. The pressed wool in bales, lined up like soldiers. The AAA stencil in black.
What treats in amongst the drech of manuscript revision, the upsets with my dogs and the copious cooking required for shearing.
Last night I sat down for my regular hit of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple on ABC-TV. It was, of course, a repeat. But there, lo, in a secondary role, was Richard Armitage. The first time I watched this series a couple of years ago, I didn’t know who Richard Armitage was and so his role passed me by. I think the production date was 2007 which may have been on the cusp of his rise. His face had less expression lines and his voice hadn’t quite the depth of later roles. And he was confined to a wheel-chair which reduced the expressiveness of his role even more. Having said that, the thing that I find most fascinating is watching how he has matured as an actor. This may well have been pre the seminal North and South.
Along with revision, this week has been dominated by dogs, both mine and the Dog’s Home’s. Mine are Jack Russell terriers. Normally fit, fighting fit, with emphasis on the fighting. Both dogs, being small, suffer from SDS (Small Dog Syndrome) part of which is a psychotic belief that one is actually a bull-mastiff or a pit-bull. Something that is big, anyway, and preferably threatening.
This week my poor poppets have been unfit in so many ways. Dog One, the smooth coat, is fourteen and is beginning to suffer aspects of senility. He gets lost inside the house and just sits and barks until I appear and he can follow me. It’s no good me calling as he is almost deaf. But he is a vocal dog and is quite capable of letting me know when there is a problem, it’s just that the vocalising itself can be a problem . . . especially when one is trying so hard to revise a manuscript.
I noticed there was a question from Nathan Bransford’s blog in the last week or so, asking writers whether they read only the genre in which they write?
It seemed some did, some didn’t.
I read a lot, not as much as I want as I seem to fall asleep by the second para of the page on any given night, but I love to read. Once when I was a reader I read for pleasure totally. Now I find my pleasure is overshadowed by a questioning mind: why did the author do that there, how do they accomplish that, why that word and not another. And look, there is an adverb and wow!, an exclamation mark, lots of them! And ooh-er, an edit blooper.
Things one shouldn’t do: Pass wind (in public). Lose focus with one’s manuscript revision. Become involved in another’s trials and tribulations. Wear lipstick a shade too red for one’s certain age. Short hems and bikinis (in public) after a certain age. Gossip. Drink more wine than is good for one . Wish, because one should be careful what one wishes for. Lift heavy planks that need stacking. Be xenophobic. Lose one’s temper.
This is the Pied Piper who leads me a merry dance.
Should I adopt her, or shouldn’t I?
What would my other two JRT’s say?
I discovered The Lunatic, the Lover and the Poet by Myrlin A.Hermes in such a roundabout manner. Reading Nathan Bransford’s blog in January, Myrlin A. Hermes discussed how she put together a book-video on the novel for Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBvQItaRdJc
Recently on Rachelle Gardner’s blog, she talked about a visit to her local bookstore, and which became a real learning experience. She said:‘ What a great way to expand our reading horizons! It’s best if there is comfortable seating. I collect a stack of books, then go sit in the cafe and open them up. Often I’ll get so engrossed that I’ll read two or three chapters just sitting there! Then I know I want the book. Sometimes I read enough that I feel I don’t need to buy it after all.’
My friend Michael (thevelv.blogspot.com) is in the throes of editing a wonderful biography of his mother Catherine Duncan who was an actress, artist and witty and observant commentator on life. Mike’s book will be released through Macmillan next year and so he is in the clutches of the dreadful ‘R’ word. Or the ‘E’ word if you like. Revision, editing, it’s all the same. This is what he says in a recent blog:
