Camp NaNoWriMo is coming!

Oh yes! Camp NaNoWriMo for July is nearly here! I have decided to give it another go. This Camp I have decided to try my hand at humour again – Heard Down At The Mill – it will be a collection of funny things I have heard while at work.

I am a little nervous about writing it; but I know that it will give me something exciting to think about when I am at work.

i already have a few already jotted down and are waiting to be written out properly and correctly. Knowing me, I will probably change my mind by the start date – July 1st

Bookcrossing News!

You may have noticed that there is a new “page” here on the blog?! Bookcrossing Conventions & UnConventions is what it is called. Here I will be posting all things related to Bookcrossing Conventions & UnConventions. Very exciting right?

As I have been doing a lot more reading recently, it is time for me yo get my TBR pile down! I will be sending some books out via RABCK and hopefully the receivers will enjoy the books just as much as I have.

I am also in the process of planning a monthly meet up for Northamptonshire (and other local ‘shires’) at The Towcester Mill Brewery; as The Mill has its own Official Bookcrossing Zone, which I am the Zone Manager. I will let you all know when and what time it is.

I have got my bookplates all sorted for the UnCon in September – I am super excited as I missed the official Convention in April.

Everything is changing…

I have been doing a lot of “reading” lately; well listening to Audiobooks, as I have been doing a lot more exercise, by walking to and from work. I have been reading a lot of self help and positive books – which have been helping. I have been focusing on my Jamberry business for the last few weeks and I feel that it time that I take it to the next level!

Luckily, my shifts have now changed at my current job – sadly not as good as I thought, but it is going in the right direction!

I have been selected to lead a Girlguiding Northamptonshire International Trip in 2019; the European Adventure event. I am very excited and I have already started planning for my fundraising activities. I have created an Easy Fundraising account and a Fund My Travel page to help me with the fundraising. I would really appreciate it if you would all have a look at one or both of the pages

International Bookcrossing Day

Oh yes! It is finally here! On Friday, 21st April it will be the 16th International Bookcrossing Day as on April 21, 2001, BookCrossing.com was launched. It is very exciting – if you wish to know more about Bookcrossing; just click here!

I have set myself a challenge, to release 21 books on April 21st. Originally, I was supposed to be attending the International Convention in Oslo, however I was unable to get the time off work. So, I thought as I have not been put on work on the Friday (strange I know – silly shifts!) I would do a mass release! I am super excited about it. I have never really done a ‘proper’ release challenge before. As some of you may already know, I am also the OBCZ manager at Towcester Mill Brewery. I have too many books upon the shelves; this was when I started releasing the odd one up at the shop; which is now at the Bell Plantation here in Towcester. I know that it is going to take a lot of organising and it is now the 19th April. I can do it!

I have also decided to show my releases on my personal and the OBCZ Instagram accounts – keep your eyes peeled!

Bookcrossing and a whole lot more…

I am rather excited! I have been doing a lot of reading recently and I have decided that I need to get away for a little but. I have decided that if I am unable to attend the Jamberry International Conference in Utah in June, I will attend the International Bookcrossing Convention in Oslo. I WILL attend! I WILL attend! I WILL attend!

I am going to make the most of this trip to Norway. I will have some books to release while I am there and I will be naughty and read my Kindle on the journey. I have set myself a challenge of only reading 10 books for the Goodreads reading Challenge for 2017

My muse has also returned! I completed another assignment for my Writer’s Bureau  – which I am very excited about! I am sending that out tomorrow morning; hopefully I will get the feedback quickly. I have been thinking about releasing the assignment as a short story on Createspace…what do you all think?

I cannot do it anymore!

I cannot believe that I have lost interest in my NaNoWriMo novel this month; it seems I am not destined to write a Science-Fiction novel. I have got bored of it at 12, 403 words. I haven’t even updated my word count on the site! Terrible I know! I have been focusing on my jobs this month.

My new job as a Retail Supervisor and Bar Tender has been rather busy since starting on November 1st. It has been very demanding on the body – as the shop is still being ‘created’ and is not yet completed. Which; is a shame as I would like to get on with my job.

Also, I have been trying to catch up on my reading. I have added more books to my TBR pile but it seems not to be going down! It must be, but I cannot see it!

NaNo Going To Plan…

Well, I knew that this was going to happen this year. Even though I have a new job which has given me more time to write it seems that I am just unable to write! I am a bit of a Planter – I think that is the term – where I have planned a little bit but I am also being an author who just goes with it. This year I purposefully did a little of planning – characters names etc, researched into their jobs and places where they could work from. However, I have ran out of everything that I have planned, which is a shame! I have not brought a “Winners” tee shirt this year, I thought I could get one when I actually won. Fat chance of that happening at the moment!

I need some positive vibes sending my way, please!!

Travelling Around the USA – Part Two

Welcome to part two of my recent trip to America, we left part one with myself in Philly. It was only a day and a half but I loved every moment of it. I think that next time I will stay there for three days (or a week?!), so I can get everything in. I missed the “Rocky Steps”, maybe next time!

Any how; after Philadelphia I used the NJ Transit to make my way to Girl Scout Camp in Newfield, NJ. It was a rather easy journey – much nicer than I thought it would be. However; I wanted to hold some of my luggage in storage at the station but I was unable to as I was not using Amtrak – I will remember to check that next time I travel to the USA. The website that there was storage for luggage but it did not say for Amtrak travellers only. I left Philly early and the journey was very straightforward. The conductor was not happy when he saw me get onto the train. I had to travel to camp in my Guide uniform.

I used a car to make my way from Hammonton to Newfield; I just squeezed in!

The car is filled with items that needed to be taken to camp; I think “last minute items” they were called. I was glad to be sitting on a comfy seat with decent air conditioning. The NJ Transit train has a leak – it was not a pretty sight. I wish that I had took a photo of it, so one I could show all of you and also I could have sent it to NJ Transit themselves. That is another thing I need to remember to do – keep photographic evidence of things that are broken or incorrect.

Camp went too quickly and I made new friends and caught up with some ‘old’ ones. It was fab to be at camp in America again. Bring on 2020; that is when that next Celebration camp will be. I am already planning on what I am going to do. Crazy I do; I do not know where I am going to be in the world by then – but I will still be going to the camp!

While at camp; I tried my hand at driving an automatic – never again! Did not like it! I also took my golf buggy driving “test”; there were two buggies for the staff members (which I was kind of classed as) to drive around the site.

Here I am with three other British attendees – one from Northamptonshire and two from Staffordshire. I had loads of fun while at Camp – I miss all the new friends I made and all the ‘old’ ones I re-met!

I used NJ Transit to get back to Philly, as this was where my Megabus was leaving from. I had the same problems with this train that I had with my first train. I did have the feeling that it was the same train – the conductor was even grumpier than the first one. He practically pushed me onto the train. This is why this photo does not really show me. I was not looking forward to getting into a leaking train. Sadly, I feel that I would not use NJ Transit trains again; this was due to the amount of water that was being leaked from the air cooling unit. I would like to try the bus system next time I am in New Jersey. I spent most of the journey trying to get myself all organised. I had packed away my ticket of the Megabus deep within my hand luggage. One more thing to add to my ‘do forget’ list – handbag with tickets etc. in always!

The Megabus section of my trip was reasonably okay – it was late by twenty five minutes and there was no proper shelter for us to stand under. I am glad that I have reserved my seat as I was able to get on first and sort myself out. I slept most of the journey and I was glad to get to my friend’s house. However; my Greyhound experience from Buffalo to Orlando was not good at all! 33 and a quarter hours (twice!!) on a bus (well, two buses) and with three lovely drivers and one horrid driver. I know that Greyhound are supposed to be the best way to see America, but I felt that it would have been better for me. The buses has WiFi and electrical sockets (outlets for the American reader); which worked intermittently. Also the buses were never on time. I tried to get my money back from my ticket before I left Buffalo, however, I was not successful. I am so flying next time!

Things that I need to remember when travelling around America:

1. Always have an American number (which I now know I could have had my old US number re-activated instead of buying a new one)
2. Flying wherever possible!
3. Always have my camera to hand to capture photographically evidence!
4. Definitely buy local sightseeing companies day pass tickets
5. Always to have all my travel details in one place that is accessible!

Goodreads, Life and Cross Stitch Updates!

Wow! I have had a massive burst of reading madness. Recently I have finished “Molly and the Cat Café” by Melissa Daley (review coming soon!) and I am already a fifth of the way through “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown. Both of these books are a part of my Goodreads Reading Challenge. I have also set myself a mini challenge to read both “The Lost Symbol” and “Inferno” before Tuesday 31^st October – as my Mum and I had decided to go and see the film “Inferno” on that day. A mission I know, but I am determined to do it.

My current Goodreads Reading Challenge book count is at 10 out of 24. Fourteen to go and two months to do it in! I will complete it! I will! I am staying positive!

Also I have some interesting news about my ‘everyday life’. I am no longer a member of staff for my local county council. Well, almost. I finish on October 28^th and on November 1^st (the same day as NaNoWriMo begins) I will be working for my part-time as a full-time staff member. On November 1^st, the Brewery will be expanding into a new building and I am going to be one of the staff members who are going to be working there. I am very excited about this.

I have also created a blog for my Cross Stitching ‘obsession’ it is called Dreaming in Aida. Please feel free to pop over and see it. Leave a comment and enjoy what you see!

 

Travelling around the USA – Part One

As some of you all know, I have been away in the USA. I was attending a Girl Scout camp out there for a week; but I thought that I would make it more of a proper holiday by visiting my friend, Amy and her family. Very last minute; I decided to attend an International Conference. Therefore, I ended up travelling all over the Eastern coastal States. At first, I thought was going to be amazing; however, I am going to tell you all a different story…

I used National Express to make my way to the airport; I chose to fly from Heathrow as I know my way around the Terminals. The National Express bus journey was fine, I was going to reading but I was too excited. It was a 5.10am departure – I know that I am a crazy person; but I need to get this departure as my flight was at 12.45pm and I needed to arrive at the airport three hours before departure – I arrived a 8.15am. There is no traffic “at the crack of dawn” on the British Motorway; which I am very glad about.

However, on my arrival to Heathrow – I did not have to wait awhile before I dropped off my bag. I checked in online 24 hours before my flight – I do recommend that you do that, as it made life much easier as it was rather busy at the airport – Top Tip #1.I am glad that I still had some British Pounds on me, as I knew that I would be hungry before boarding my flight. So, Top Tip #2 is have some of your “Home” Currency for the airport.

The flight was excellent; the staff were amazing and the people who sat next to me were good too. We didn’t speak much; so therefore, I thought I would catch up on some movies that I had missed at the Cinema. Seven hours were filled with six and half films. I think that is a record of my binge movie watching.

On arrival in to Philadelphia; I was going to use public transport to my accommodation for the next day and a half – however, I was a little worried as my Uber account was not working properly – I still haven’t worked out why?! – I found a cab that took me; sadly it was more expensive than Uber, oh well! I was using a AirBnB home for my accommodation. Pat, my host, was amazing. He made me feel welcome and safe, even though the neighbourhood did not. However, I found the links into the centre of Philly very good. I got myself a “Day Pass”; however I do not know if this it was it is officially called – it was only USD$ 8 and I was able to use it on train, trams and buses!

Excellent buy I feel. I also used the PHLASH bus; a circular bus route that ‘visits’ all the tourist places in Philly – that was only USD$5 for the whole day – I was unable to use the NJ Transit train ticket on this bus. I found that this mixture of tickets I could see a lot of Philly, both the tourist side and the not-so-tourist side. I went over to Pat’s King of Steaks – I was introduced to this heavenly place in 2012. I helped an Asian customer with her order; I felt like a local. I had onions on mine; I forgot that it gets messing with them on it! I did have to walk in Philly, but I had not bought myself an AT&T sim card by this time, so I was using local WiFi hotspots.