NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2019
Editing time. Such fun. Better than struggling with the unending challenges of the Technology beast; I console myself. Cross-eyes, unending arguments with the grammar-check app. Evict every ‘was’ from within the manuscript, an almost impossible task, the little blighters breed like mosquitoes. Wassi wasp is a real pain but the word ‘was’, contains no sting, just boredom.
“Woulds”, “coulds”, “shoulds” must all pack their bags and decamp. ‘Passive words,’ they tell me. I tell you just, ‘So b-o-r-i-n-g’. And do you have any idea of the number of times the sneaky inverted commas forget to ensure their mates are following? You know, like, the speaking bit opens with inverted commas and then without the twin, the speech never ends. No point searching for them. They are just not there. Most likely the gremlin in the computer has shot through with ’em.
Don’t forget the word, THAT. I think (don’t guarantee my memory) THAT it was Stephen King commented on the overuse of this word. “THAT” is like a nightmare mother-in-law. It must go. On most occasions a total waste of space.
And while we are blaming the computer; what about those words I know I typed but have since vanished. And letting misspelling pass through e.g. their/there, form/from, her/here, the list stretches out forever. But the electronic gizmo is so quick to throw up a red line like flashing demon eyes under things that I want to be left as they are.
While I am remembering the other sins of this PC (personal computer – no verbal abuse here) I need to take a big breath and grab a coffee. Maybe lie down.
Keep reading and if you have the bent or you are just a plain masochist, keep writing.
Elizabeth Rimmington
www.elizabethrimmington.com.au
Current Weather and Tides:
October; the month is here. My Book-tour begins in earnest. Excitement, terror, thrill, panic all swishing through my veins like white-water on the Baron River.
TUESDAY 15/10/19 Bundaberg Library 49 Woondooma St. at 10am.
WEDNESDAY 16/10/19 Gladstone Library 39 Goondon St. at 3pm.
SATURDAY 19/10/19 Mackay Dudley Denny Library 134 Victoria St. at 10am.
MONDAY 21/10/19 Proserpine Library 12 Main St. at 10am.
MONDAY 21/10/19 Bowen Library 67 Herbert St. at 3pm
From here on I need to confirm before updating including time for Burdekin on Thursday 24th
Need to find a Townsville venue
A PEARL FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT:
Excerpt from” Shadow of the Northern Orchid”
Like two wraiths the boys returned to the bushy cover from where they could once again reconnoitre the situation before making the road crossing.
“Struth, here he comes,” Josh whispered. “He must have left the pub earlier than usual. Don’t move. He won’t see us here.”
A clamped off high pitched yell sounded. The lads peered around the branches. Between the shadows, cast by the moonlight through the trees, they saw what appeared to be Mister Bland in the arms of a very tall and very solid man. It did look a bit like Jacko Benson from “Millie’s Mariner’s Rest: Hotel and Lodgings.”
“Hell, is he going to kill him, Josh?” Gus’s voice shook.
“I’d doubt it, but we never tell a soul if he does; agreed?” The boys spat on their palms and shook hands on the promise.
