Something About Some Stuff

My father, you'll all be pleased to know, has had his surgery and is doing well. He should be home sometime today, although there was talk of keeping him at the hospital for one more night. He was not pleased about that. We'll find out today what they've decided.

I have been discussing names of the imaginary horses that my sister and I will one day own. I "have" a Baroque Friesian mare I've named Gypsy. My sister "has" a Percheron. She was looking for a name. I suggested Vercingetorix. Let's face it, if you want an epic name that screams "warrior," you have to use the name of the famous Chieftain of the Averni tribe. The one man who managed to unite much of Gaul and give the invading Romans a very, very difficult time. Too late, of course. He lost eventually. Still, that is an epic name. I've decided to steal that idea. If I get a draft horse, I'm definitely naming him Vercingetorix.

My sister's Vercingetorix:

My Vercingetorix:

You can't really tell here, but these horses are HUGE. We had a pair pull the wagon at the sugar bush. I had to look up to look the horse in the eye.

Imaginary horses are fun.

Not as much fun as the real things, of course. Speaking of which, I have to email my Equestrian Archery coach. There are lessons to organise!

Writing is going very well. I made my daily 3 000 yesterday and will strive for the same today. The Seraphimé Saga is having less luck. I've managed to garner two rejections in less than a week. I have another query out now, but we'll just have to wait. Perhaps it will be third time lucky. Perhaps not. Trying to get published as a giant nobody really, really, really bites.

Just so you know.

Right, I have to get on with it, and so do you, probably. So, here's today's Forgotten English:

Panshard

A passion, a rage. In a panshard, in a rage, out of temper. Pansheet, at state of excitement, confusion, sudden passion. Panshite in West Yorkshire.

- Jospeh Wright's English Dialect Dictionary, 1898-1905

You have no need to get into a panshard.

- John Wise's New Forest: Its History and Its Scenery, 1883

I'm off to write, then. See you later!

A Change is as Good as a Holiday

Good morning, everyone.

Happy Monday.

If you're thinking that there's something about this blog that looks different, you'd be right. I got quite sick of the design I had before and so investigated blogger.com for a new one. The layout is the same, of course (with a few minor alterations). What really has changed is the background.

You might be able to tell that I was in one of my darker moods when I settled on this particular design. To be honest, I'm rather liking this new look. After all, nothing says "I write angsty dark fantasy" like trippy purple smoke on a black background. I'm sticking with the colour purple, at least.

It was while designing the new look over the weekend that I noted I had forgotten to pre-schedule the weekend's edition of Forgotten English. So, here is Saturday's one:

Jeoparty-Trot:

A quick motion, between running and walking when one, on account of fear or weakness, is not able to run at full speed. The term seems to have had its origin from the flight of those who, living in a country subject to many inroads and depredations, were often obliged to escape from their enemies, while in consequence of hot pursuit their lives were in jeopardy every moment.

- John Jamieson's Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, 1808

I had a mixed day yesterday. The morning and early afternoon was lovely. I went on my first ever Sugar Bush, complete with a horse-drawn wagon ride. The horses were the most beautiful pair of Belgian Draft horses you could imagine. I though, at first, they weren't Belgian (though they didn't look very Clydesdale), as when I hear the word "Belgian" in the context of horse breeds, I imagine this:

Which is more typically referred to as a Friesian. Oh, and in case anyone wants to buy me an extremely extravagant gift, I would happily accept a Baroque Friesian...

Isn't he gorgeous? What a beautiful breed of horse the Baroque Friesian is. Baroque specifically - they're stockier than the more common (and more modern) Sport Friesians, and I like the heavier breeds (you can probably tell the difference between them even in the photos provided).

Then, last night, I learnt that my father is in the hospital awaiting a gall bladder removal. It's scheduled for today at 3:00pm, but will be moved back depending on what happens during the day. Needless to say, I'll be at the hospital tonight instead of at training. From what I understand, the surgery is a fairly standard procedure, so I'm not extremely worried (but worried enough).

Right. It's back to writing from this week on. I really needed that break from writing. Now I'm ready to tackle the rest of book 4 of The Great Man series.

In writing news of a separate kind, with book 1 of The Seraphimè Saga now free to be shopped around, I've started to query agents. I sent it out on the 31st to one agency. They were very prompt with their rejection. That's the first official one of the year. So I sent out another query on Friday. We'll see how that goes.

I've gotten to the point, I think, where I'm thinking that all my writing is crap, and I'll never be published. That is not true, of course, but I'm kind of thinking it all the same. I'll keep writing, though, and trying. I still want to make a living as a published author. Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

Once The Great Man series is written, I have plans to start another project that will be made available for free/donation only. I haven't decided. I still have to contact some people and clear it with them first (don't want to tread on anyone's toes). To be honest, I'm quite excited about having something available for free for my readers (which, according to sales of The Dying God are all of four people). Mostly because I don't have to stress about whether agents/publishers will like it or not.

Still on the writing thing, The Dying God & Other Stories, has not done as well as I might have hoped (I was hoping for more than four sales, to be honest). Seems no one really wants to read it. I'm going to go for a re-launch of it this year's Hallowe'en on Smashwords to see if it does any better than it did on Lebrary.com. I also want to publish a paperback version, but don't have the time for it right now. I will be looking into a P.O.D. version, though. I'm not sure how it'd work with the pictures for those do it yourself places. Anyone with experience have some advice?

For a post that was supposed to be mainly about my blog's new look, this really did veer off topic. I'll let you all get on with your lives after these messages:

Today's Forgtten English is brought to you by Jeffrey Kacirk.

Bosky:

Elated with lquor.

- William Cope's Glossary of Hampshire Words and Phrases, 1883