They've Got a Little List

... and I'm on it! Whoo hoo!

You might find the my enthusiasm a little odd when you find out that I'm on an author boycott list. I had no idea I was there until Renee Miller and Rita Webb (who contributed to and edited (respectively) the anthology Unlocked in which one of my stories appears) told me directly.

The list belongs to pretend industry watch-dogs The Write Agenda. Here's the list. Check it out! There's my name! Squee!

I'm just happy that someone knows who the hell I am, alright? Is that a crime? I had no idea what I thought or said was important enough to be put on a boycott list.

The Write Agenda, incidentally, claims to be an industry watch-dog. However, a little searching around will reveal them to be little more than some sort of backlash against the real watch-dogs, refuting claims of scams and trying very hard to defame authors who speak out against such scams.

You can read about them on Rita's blog here, or even on Renee's blog, here. Both excellent articles, incidentally. For their notes on The Write Agenda, they gotten themselves boycotted as well. Rita, the overachiever, has managed to get herself on the Author Boycott list, on the Propaganda Watch List, and on the The Write Agenda Critics List.

Clearly, I'm just not trying hard enough.

Their biggest target thus far has been Writer Beware, who do very good work and ought to be commended.

The fact is, if The Write Agenda did what they claimed and actually exposed fraud, or really did tell 'the other side' of the story, so to speak, then I'd be able to take them seriously. As of now, they've proven to be nothing more than a hate group - like a pack of school yard bullies who have nothing more intelligent to say than 'I know you are, but what am I?'

What's more, anyone who finds the list and researches the authors upon it will find a whole whack of people all saying much the same thing about The Write Agenda. It won't reflect well on The Write Agenda. They're actually damaging themselves. What a bunch of tools!

Of course, the bigger tools are those who only read The Write Agenda, and I suppose there must be a fair few of those floating about.

Do us all a favour, new authors. Research.

Since I can't really take them seriously, I'm having a ball with this. I'm on a list! I'm on a list of authors! I'm on a list of authors in very good company! Hello, Rita and Renee, A.C. Crispin and Victoria Strauss!

So, I'm on a list, and I couldn't be more thrilled about it!

Right. In other news...

Last night was a more or less impromptu equestrian archery lesson. It was hysterical fun, as always. There were three of us last night - myself (obviously), J.M-B. and her sister K.M-B. One person was on a horse, the other two worked on a move in sword-play on foot.

IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!

I have a tendency to giggle hysterically, when I'm having fun, and I spent most of my time with the swords giggling hysterically. Awesome!

My archery improved a little, I felt; and, of course, it was incredible to be on a horse again. I heart equestrian stuff. Stuff is the technical term, in case you were wondering.

There will be no photo evidence of this lesson, I'm afraid, as none of us remembered to bring a camera. Oops.

In writing news, I haven't done any. I know basically how my next new fun project will go, but other than jotting down some descriptions and one or two scenes, I haven't really done anything. I've been watching lots of re-runs of Qi and enjoying it immensely. Writing will commence next week. I have the first scene in my head already.

Well, there's no rush for me to do anything much, but I'm going to leave you anyway. This post is long enough, I reckon. Have a great weekend all!

Cincinnati Oysters

Pigs' trotters, or pigs' feet. Many examples can be given of this strange perversion of names - Albany beef, Marblehead turkey, etc. Similarly in England, a herring is called a Billingsgate pheasant, a two-eyed steak, etc.

- Sylva Clapin's New Dictionary of Americanisms, 1902

Vast Improvement

Life seems to have improved overnight.

J.M-B. and I went to Equestrian Archery last night, and I wasn't nearly as frustrated. Plus, I got to ride back to the stables the long way - and it was a beautiful ride through grasses that came up to my waist (mounted) and birds that suddenly took flight from right beside me.

Ahhhh.... bliss!

My own improvement and the fact that Nash was very well behaved helped improve my mood. Then, to cap off the night, I finally met our trainer's new horse, Marius. Marius is a quarter horse/ paint mix. He has the sweetest face you can imagine, and appears to be always smiling.

He's also incredibly friendly, and affectionate and just so dang adorable! I fell in love right away.

What a sweetheart.

I haven't any pictures or video of the lesson up yet, but they will be forthcoming.

Right, I have a book to finish, so I'll leave you alone now... except to say that, by a magnificent stroke of someone else double booking, I'm going to see The Lion King at the N.A.C. tonight. Squee!

Suppedaneous

Being under the feet; from Latin pes, the foot.

- Rev. John Boag's Imperial Lexicon of the English Language, c. 1850

Applied to a mountain lying at the foot of another.

- Sir James Murray's New English Dictionary, 1919.

Epic Adventures of Which There is No Evidence

Yesterday was an epic, epic day. I like using the word "epic." You may have noticed.

In any case, yesterday was my mother's birthday and I apparently missed a wonderful day. Next time I'll have the funds to fly home for it. Though I could not fly to Australia, I celebrated my mother's birthday in style.

The morning saw me, J.M-B., K.M-B., and A.G. head off to equestrian archery lessons. It was a fantastic lesson. The first round of arrows I shot were extremely well placed. J.M-B. hit the target dead on three times. The string was very loose when my turn came and so the first round went well... but it all went down hill from there. J.M-B. finally managed a blister on her thumb, and was proud. She became slightly miffed, however, when I managed to acquire a very nasty bruise on my forearm from the bowstring. Apparently, my one-up-manship is annoying.

J.M-B. did extremely well on her runs, hitting the target on all three of her passes. I did less well, hitting on the first pass, and missing the next two. I was given a pity run, and I hit then.

Deciding that we weren't ready to give up on horse-riding yet, we headed off to Pinto Valley Ranch for a trail ride. It was muddy, but glorious. The sun came out as we waded through puddles up passed the horse's hocks, and trampled through mud just as deep. We managed a lovely trot on the drier ground. Drier ground was patchy, so our trots didn't last very long.

The day was spectacular fun and I took some wonderful pictures of the day. Videos of our passes in the lesson were excellent. Only you're never going to see them because somewhere between the middle of the trail ride and its end, the camera went missing. It must have fallen out of my pocket and it's safe to say that it's now buried in mud or lost at the bottom of a puddle somewhere on the trails of Pinto Valley Ranch.

It was J.M-B.'s camera.

I feel like the worse person ever. I was so upset, I spent much of the drive home, and the preparation of today's lunch last night trying hard not to cry. The person who should have been crying was J.M-B., but she was positively angelic about it. She's a little sad about the photos that have been lost, but didn't seem all that bothered by the camera.

I'm thoroughly despondent over both.

There's not much that can be done, however. Still, I feel so bad.

Such is life, I suppose. I did promise on Saturday to catch up on the Forgotten English today. So here it is:

Exlex

An outlaw; Latin ex, out, away and lex, law.

- Robert Hunter's Encyclopaedic Dictionary, 1894

Dern

Of actions proceeding the secret, or in the dark; kept concealed; hence of evil or deceirful nature. Of persons, secret in purpose or action; reserved; hence, underhand, sly, crafy. Of a person, treated as a confidant; entrusted with hidden matters. Of places, serving well to conceal, as lying out of the way.

- Sir James Murray's New English Dictionary, 1897

Preparing for the Apocalypse

Or, rather less dramatically put, Equestrian Archery lessons.

That's me on Nash. Nash is a bossy mare, but once she gets going, she's very good.

So, Monday evening was the first ever Equestrian Archery lesson of the season. It was cold, wet and generally miserable, so we headed into the arena to train. Nash doesn't much like the arena, so she was a little... uh... bitchy. Still, it was good fun.

The trainees were myself and J.M-B. as the other interested parties found they didn't have the time. My Kung Fu sister N.T. joined us for a gander to see if she might be interested in taking it up.

Neither J.M-B. or myself had ridden for a while, nor had we shot in a while, so this lesson was a reintroduction to riding and shooting. I was on Nash first to warm ourselves both up. And J.M-B was doing this:

Then we switched. J.M-B. did this:

While I did this:

We shot with the thumb release. I managed to give myself a blister without knowing it. The sudden pain in my thumb when the blister tore open alerted me of that fact.

Owie!

Without a plaster handy, I just had to suck it up. I tried shooting left handed. Yeah, that was abysmal. Then we decided it was time to shoot from a canter, and then the fun really began. Now I'm not so skilled that I can nock an arrow whilst riding (yet), but I did manage to shoot the target and hit it. The first pass I shot and missed. The following two passes, I couln't even pull the bow as the arrow kept dislodging. Then on the fourth pass, this happened:

I have trouble keeping my heels down, you can see, but I'll correct that soon enough.

And then it was J.M-B.'s turn:

It didn't take her quite so many passes to get it right.

All in all, a brilliant evening, and I can't wait to do it again! The trainer, Chris Kovach, is fun and easy to learn from. He's also extremely accommodating. He rearranged his schedule to take us on Monday, and will be again to accommodate us on Sunday mornings. It's just awesome fun. I'm so happy to be training with him!

If you're in the Ottawa area, and have the means and the time to get to Kemptville, do go and check it out. Chris' website is here. Check it out. You won't be sorry.

Last night was the first night of Martial Arts training in a couple of weeks. Already achy from riding, it was absolute torture... but so, so good! The last hour of training has been devoted to an exceptionally traditional way of training, and the focus is on Mantis Kung Fu for that hour (our school focuses on Mantis, but also teaches a number of other styles including San Shou, Pi Gua, Baji and Ba Gua. The philosophy is one of inclusiveness and openness to other forms of Martial Arts). It was intense, but so much fun!

Writing wise, I did nothing, of course. I mucked about until late in the day when I decided to start the preliminary spelling and grammar check. I didn't finish it as I had started so late. I might finish it today. I might not. I've given myself permission to slack off.

Right, I'll stop boring you and get on with my day. Here is today's Forgotten English:

Fire-Fanged

Fire-bitten. Spoken of oatmeal &c. that is overdried.

- Francis Grose's Glossary of Provincial and Local Words, 1811

Burnt, overheated, dried; fire-fangitness, the state of being overheated, burnt.

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

Cheese is said to be firefangit when it is swelled and cracked, and has received a peculiar taste in consequence of being exposed to much heat before it has been dried.

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

TGI ... Th

That's right, thank goodness it's Thursday. Today is the last day of the working week. Wonderful, wonderful Easter has dictated that I require a four day weekend. Can anyone say "squee!"?

Of course, that means that Monday's usual blog post will just be Forgotten English and nothing else, you lucky things. It also means that I won't be writing again until Tuesday. This is a good thing. It's a mini break before the final few thousand words of Overlord. I haven't decided how I am going to celebrate the book's completion. It's usually a bottle of red wine and chocolate. I might just take myself out to the movies. Thor looks like fun...

There isn't much to say. This marked the last week of Kung Fu training. Not that I've gone at all. I'm resting my foot so I can come back stronger next semester. Next semester starts that 3rd of next month. I can't wait to get back at it. I've gotten quite tense since I've stopped training.

Still don't know about my Equestrian Archery lessons yet. I hope I find out soon! I can't wait to get on a horse again. There will probably be pictures and photos to follow (this time around).

Right, I'm just procrastinating now. I should probably get to writing, so here's today's Forgotten English.

Faffering

Of the wind, blowing with cold chilly gusts.

- G. Story's Dictionary of Newfoundland English, 1982

Faff, to blow in sudden gusts; Scotland, English North Country. Hence faffment, nonsense, balderdash; Lancashire.

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

I think it would be safe to say that yesterday's weather was faffering. I'm not sure I used that in the correct manner. Oh well!

Back to Normal

Well, as normal as my life gets, anyway.

The computer seems to be back up to speed, so I will be writing today. There is a lot I have to catch up on. If I want to stay on target, I'm going to have to write 6 000 words. It's never going to happen, but I'll give it a shot.

I'm still trying to arrange a time for my equestrian archery lessons this summer. I hope I can resolve it soon, they're to start in a fortnight or so. It's quite exciting as my trainer has bought a second horse, so now two of us can train on horseback at the same time. I think I'll still ride Nash, as I've gotten so very attached to her bossy, hard-headed nonsense (actually, she's extremely good once she knows you mean business. She works hard. Don't tell her I said so), though I can't wait to meet the new one.

Horses rock!

Sigh.

I have to try and catch up today, so I'll leave it there. Before I go, today's Forgotten English.

Chair-Days

Old age, spent to a considerable extent resting in a chair.

- Albert Hyamson's Dictionary of English Phrases, 1922

In thy Reverence, and they Chaire-dayes, thus to die in Ruffian battel.

- William Shakespeare's 2 Henry VI, 1593

Drooping chair, chair fit for old ages; 1 Henry VI.

- C. Herford's Works of Shakespeare, 1902

Home at Last!

My flatmate's home! It makes me very happy to have her back. I've missed her a great deal. The cats were less than impressed, however. Persephone, normally an incredibly affectionate feline, did everything she could to avoid J. M.-B.

I did mean to make this blog post a rant about something, but I can't remember what I wanted to rant about. It mustn't be import.

Writing went fairly well yesterday. I did some serious haul-arse and am now only 2 000 words behind schedule. That means, if I write 2 000 today, I'll be right on target if we assume I usually take Friday's off. I can do that. I think.

There isn't much else to say. I've emailed my Equestrian Archery trainer and hope to start lessons soon. I'm aiming for the first Monday in May to start. Seems like as good a time as any.

I'll be back at training next week (thank heavens!).

Uh... that's about it. Righy-o, time for today's Forgotten English.

Stand Mute

A prisoner is said to stand mute when, being arraigned for treason or felony, he either makes no answer, or answers foreign to the purpose. Anciently, a mute was taken back to prison, placed in a dark dungeon, naked, on his back, on the bare ground, and a great weight of iron placed on his body ... By statute 12 George III, judgment is awarded against mutes, in the same manner as if they were convicted or confessed. A man refusing to plead was condemned and executed ... on a charge of burglary, at Wells, 1792.

- Joseph Haydn's Dictionary of Dates, 1841

Have a great weekend everyone!