What I Tweeted - Week to Feb 9th

Couldn't keep up with all of my tweets last week? Here they all are for your perusal. Is this a good idea?

Sahara Sandscapes, Egypt on Vimeo http://bit.ly/14N9Y9n 

'The idea we live in a simulation isn't science fiction' - opinion-18 December 2012-New Scientist http://bit.ly/WYk3xN 

"But that's-" Donna spluttered.The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "River Song. I know." My fanfic, chapter 3 - http://bit.ly/WZidg6 

 Grizzly meets washing machine on a frozen lake in Canada. Clever ad! http://on.fb.me/WXbIdN 

 Orchestra Flash Mob - Ode an die Freude ( Ode to Joy ) Beethoven Symphony No.9 classical music-YouTube http://bit.ly/WV9rzH 

Auckland's wetlands - new to me, must visit when I can walk again - Travel-NZ Herald News http://bit.ly/WUneGV 

Auckland seen from space on Friday 8th Feb by @Cmdr_Hadfield: http://bit.ly/14Id92d 

 Stupefying Stories: JUST RELEASED: The 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology - FREE Kindle/Epub! 80 SFF stories. http://bit.ly/14IwRuA

 See, we do have snow down here...in June! Train plowing through deep snow Arthurs Pass - YouTube http://bit.ly/14I6DbK 

 First world problems read by third world people - brilliant! (video) http://on.fb.me/WPWF5B 

 The Lost Scribes: Falls the Shadow now available per request! Awesome steampunk novel, email for free PDF :) http://bit.ly/14EYpRB 

 "A cry split the night...The Doctor tensed and whipped out his screwdriver. He aimed it ahead and activated a pulse. " http://bit.ly/14HaENp 

 Landfill Harmonic - Instruments from garbage | Juliana Penaranda-Loftus & Alejandra Nash on Vimeo http://bit.ly/WPSqXQ 

 Is All of It Worth the Prize? Diane Graham on what sells books and what are we aiming at? | The New Authors Fellowship http://bit.ly/14EY8Op 

 Simple online timer to get things done w. the Pomodoro technique - 25min work, 5min break, & list your accomplishments. http://bit.ly/WkU9Ea 

 "The smile melted off the Doctor's face as he gripped a handle until his knuckles whitened. He flung the lever down..." http://bit.ly/WNI8r6 

 Health risks of too much chick lit - Life & Style-NZ Herald News http://bit.ly/WPp23K

 FedEx airplane mechanic humour http://bit.ly/14EBR3q 

 Scripturient: possessing a violent desire to write. - Blog by Mary Ruth Pursselley http://bit.ly/WPmjrd 

 Writer Beware ® Blogs!: Christian Writers Guild Publishing: Pay to Play from Jerry B. Jenkins http://bit.ly/YUaQts 

 The Way Publishers Create Marketing Copy is Stranger Than Fiction http://bit.ly/VCQvCD

  "The Doctor and Donna sat on comfy camp chairs pulled up to the open doors of the TARDIS..." My new foray into fanfic! http://bit.ly/WNI8r6 

 A bird ballet | Music Video on Vimeo http://bit.ly/WNFH85 

 Ten mistakes I’ve made with my writing career that you can avoid http://bit.ly/UqEa9z 

Create a 3D Book Animation with CSS http://bit.ly/VFWdc0 

Free Fiction Monday: Renn and The Little Men http://bit.ly/TCkOfX 

 gallery hijack - how to be art by DougAnd Mikael http://bit.ly/VFBvJs 

 Paris law bans pants for women - Life & Style-NZ Herald News http://bit.ly/USR7qr 

 OpenDyslexic - Font for Dyslexia http://bit.ly/XbpaIR

 Neil Gaiman on making good art http://on.fb.me/Xbn5g7 

 8 Daily Habits that Will Make You Stronger http://bit.ly/UoAJQF 

Colorful Photographs of Tulip Fields As Seen From an Airplane http://bit.ly/14yGT1d 

 Doctor Who Series 7 Part 2 Trailer by TheDoctorwhoisepic http://bit.ly/Y3puZe 

Writing the 10th Doctor with Donna and River

Well, I went ahead and did it. Not much else was done on this beautiful Waitangi Day when I couldn't even get out of my room. The sea was a beautiful colour, from what I could see between the trees, and despite the aching rip in my leg and the general frustration, I was more or less inspired.

You can see the results of that inspiration at this link:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8982909/1/The-Doctor-Downunder

If you're a member of fanfiction.net (easy - do it with Facebook) - you can sign up to receive notice when I post a new "chapter". Also you can post comments. Alternatively you can come back and do that here, but I may not remember to cross-link every single time.

Things are about to get interesting when the Doctor and Donna step out of the TARDIS into the New Zealand bush... and find that River Song is already there!

Zumba's Revenge

I had planned to get fit. You know, doing lots of stuff, walking and going to the gym. Well, so much for that - for the next month or so at least.

It was yesterday at 6pm. My first ever Zumba class. I've always been fascinated by the idea and wanted for a long time to give it a go. So I did. 

It was the freaking warm-up song. It was not hard or fast; just step to this side, then the other. Easy peasy. Then - bam.

I stepped back, leaned against the wall, and clutched at my right calf. It was just like one of those nighttime leg cramps I get sometimes if I don't eat enough bananas. You know the kind.

Except it didn't go away.

I finished out the class on one foot and just doing the arm movements. Called Mum for a lift home (my car is still not going), ascended to my room with great difficulty and attempted to settle down for the night. Half an hour later I was sobbing into my sleeves with the pain, which still has not changed in the slightest since it happened.

So I called Mum again and off we went to the after-hours doctor. Probably torn, she said, but you need an ultrasound to be certain, and they were already closed. Ultrasound today showed a 2-inch tear on the inside of the leg, just above the sock line.

I'm not to put weight on it for 3 weeks, maybe 4. I'm a total klutz with the crutches and totally immobile without them. Going downstairs involves sliding on my rear and coming up involves crawling. 

Thank goodness for Mum - she's helped me set up my room so I can manage. It's going to be an interesting few weeks mostly stuck in here.

I have a massive to-do list, but a good deal of it is going to have to wait. At least I can do my desk work, in bed, sort of...

On leaving a friend

It's no simple matter to leave a friend you've been beside for six weeks, and four other weeks before that. It's surreal, it feels wrong, and it's almost inconceivable to have lived and breathed anywhere else. And so it really didn't bother me when snow cancelled my flights and I had to rebook for a day later. One more day is worth any price. Yet now that day is over and loss impends.

I don't mean to sound overly dramatic. But when you live in a lonely attic as I do with only a grouchy cat for company - even though said attic has a lovely view and everything I need to be comfortable - then companionship has a particularly high value. Goofing off with a friend is just not something that comes easy at home.

Some of the things I've treasured: mind-melds when we both thought the same thing at once (Comic strips! Treadmill desks!)...Getting worn out at the gym...Writing conferences and hanging out with lots of cool people... Long drives to said conferences... Catching up on all the latest Doctor Who... Mysteries and surprises, enjoyed by me but not so much by Chila... Invisible ink sonic screwdrivers... Having my writing intensified by empathetic advice... doing farm stuff: collecting eggs and feeding kitties and hugging new lambs... hilarious board game sessions... poking and prodding that went on for some time to reassure us both that yes, the Internet friend is real... sharing some good meals... working on our own things, but in the same room... the absolute ease of life with no screen between.

We both bought treadmills and mine is waiting for me at home. I've been well and truly introduced to the habit of gym-going, which I intend to continue at home since I have one just around the corner. Next time we meet I hope to be healthier and have new gym buddies, too!

I'm so grateful for the hospitality that makes this possible and I hope I get to do likewise - and that I'm as good a host as Jerry and Chila have been for me.

There's so much more, and maybe I'll think of it in days to come, and add it here. Like this day, this post began with Chila and ends alone in an airport.

But I won't stay alone for long.

Posting at ICFW today

Hi guys,

Today I'm going home. Check out my post over at ICFW.

Yes, that is Thorin and all his men painted on a plane. :)

This week's winner in the writers' weightloss challenge is Krystyn Phipps and you can check out some of her success tips here: http://kristynphipps.com/write-to-lose-week-two/

A Lot to Lose

Time for a confession. I have a problem, a common problem that many people have: I'm too heavy. It has various reasons, but it really comes down to the old culprits of too much food and too little exercise. When I stepped on the scales recently out of curiosity - it's not a regular habit at all - I was horrified. Six months in the land of Supersize has indeed done a number on me.

So when I heard about a group of writers getting together to spur each other on in the health department, I jumped in. I only know a few of them so far. The idea is that the most successful "loser" each week is to get linkage and cheers from the rest. Sounds good, yeah? This week's winner was K. Ann Seeton and you can find her blog at Quicksilver to Gold.

I'm not going to win this week. I'm probably not even going to register any progress, because I'm still away from home and any hope of setting up regular habits.

However, I did buy a treadmill, and it's waiting for me when I get back. I plan to build up to walking all day with an adapted high desk. It'll be great for my ongoing back problems - walking has always done a load of good right there - it's healthier than sitting and a way to get that exercise in even if I'm stuck in front of the computer for 14 hours a day at times. (Whether I'll walk all 14 hours is another question entirely!)

I've heard about treadmill-deskers mapping their virtual progress cross-country. That sounds like a really cool idea so maybe I'll track myself from Cape Reinga to Bluff. In hunting around for webapps to help with this, it seems most of them exist to track actual routes and calculate distances, not take input distances and calculate a location along a route. I may have to resort to drawing on a paper map!

I hear great health benefits are possible even at a slow speed, and that I could log 5 miles / nearly 10 km per day with a gentle pace. We'll soon see about all that, I guess...Interesting times are definitely ahead.

If I wrote Doctor Who...

...would you read it? 

I've been getting curiouser and curiouser about the notion of fanfiction. Writing for the fun of it, without thought of commercial gain - impossible in this scenario - using existing characters and worlds AND potentially tapping into a fanbase that loves it just because of "who" is in it.

So I'm thinking of having a go. Short bursts to start with, to see if anyone likes it. Flash-fiction, let's say. Of course it would be Doctor Who. Though I'm a Trekkie too, the writer in me rather likes the infinite possibilities of time travel (Yes, I know, they do that in Trek too, but far less often!). No one can beat the Doctor for sheer quotability. Hmm. Can I come up with some doozy one-liners for him?

In perusing some of the fanfic that's already out there, I've noticed that the writers often don't spend much time describing the characters. Well, sure, maybe it's not needed since everyone knows them so well already, but that's no excuse for weak writing, now is it? I would want to pay particular attention to that aspect, pretending they were people from out of my own head that I have to describe fully or no one will comprehend them.

The next thing I'd have to think about is what kind of story would I do? Well, I've often wondered what would happen if the Doctor ended up in New Zealand. I don't think that's ever officially happened - correct me if I'm wrong, please. Okay, so that's a setting.

I'm kind of leaning towards the Tenth Doctor with Donna and River, to start with. An interesting combination that we saw far too little of in the series. Plus some locals of course.

That just leaves a plot needing figured out...yes I do have thoughts on that, but I'd love to hear yours! What do you think the Doctor should get up to in my part of the world?