Something British Monday #7 - Pride and Prejudice

Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for my absence over the past week. I've been focusing on editing and preparing my newest novel (The Trouble With Love) for publication.

With that said, now lets move on to Pride and Prejudice.

I love Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I first read it while attending an English Literature class in my first year of college. And I fell in love. I fell in love with Mr. Darcy, with the wonderful Elizabeth Bennett, with Austen's sense of humour, and quite simply, the story itself.

There have been many film and TV versions of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, but my favourite would have to be the BBC version starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. It was exactly what I had imagined while I had read the novel. They followed the novel beautifully, with minimal changes to the script so as to be unnoticeable.

I must confess, that I watch it at least once per month.

What about you? Have you read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice? Did you enjoy it as much as I did? Which film version is your favourite?

Nightmares

Nightmares have troubled me since I was very young. Of course, at a young age, most were about getting left behind or losing my mom in a crowd. But occasionally, they were very disconcerting…

I had recurring nightmares that still haunt me today, though none should be described here. Two themes occurred frequently in my nightmares, however, and one was… arachnids. That’s correct; I am terrified of spiders. I believe the term is “Arachnophobia”.

The second theme that often appeared in my nightmares was a ‘chase’; I continuously had to run from villains, whether they be torch-and-pitchfork-wielding townsfolk, or an evil doer with a dagger.

What made me think of creating this blog today is that last night my oldest son (aged 3 1/2) woke me out of a deep sleep with fearful cries. He claimed that Daddy had put someone else in his car seat and drove home without him, leaving him at the beach. Now, I haven’t the faintest idea what happened to inspire this fear of being left behind, but it reminded me of some old nightmares that I had had as a child and it made me wonder about what is frightening from a child’s perspective.

Upon reflection, I can clearly see the similarities between my son’s nightmares and my own as a young child. And, of course, after having experienced the terror of constant nightmares, I am confident that I know how to comfort him.

As an adult, I tend to calm myself after a nightmare by reading a book. As a child I simply lay there in the darkness or called for my mom. And as a mom with a child who has nightmares, I am happy to go and spend some time with him in the middle of the night. I think that having experienced nightmares, myself, that I have empathy for what he is going through.

What about you? Did you have any recurring nightmares as a child? Do you still? What did you do to calm yourself down after?

Something British Monday #6 - David Beckham

Hello everyone! Today's Something British Monday is going to be a celebration! You see, I finally finished writing my second Historical Romance novel! (My first novel, Love's Misadventure, is already available online). So what I chose to do today is celebrate with David Beckham, British football star!

Please join me in admiring the British splendour that is Mr. Beckham!

Thank you, to all my friends and fans for your support! I wouldn't be where I am today without you!

So Close I Can Taste It!

Over the last week I have spent a significant amount of time focusing solely on completing my latest novel. It currently sits at just over 82,000 words, and my hope is to achieve my 91,000 word goal by the end of the next two weeks.

Attaining my goal, of course, means that writing is pretty much all I am doing, apart from taking care of my children. Luckily for me, I have a wonderful Mom who offers to take the kids off my hands on occasion. Yesterday was such an occasion. It was wonderful. I woke up early, got my computer out and wrote until the kids were brought home late in the evening. I was able to write 4,400 words in one day!

Every time I write another 1,000 words, I get so excited! That is one thousand words closer to my goal!

It is for that reason that I have not posted many blogs of late. I plan to focus on my novel until it is finished and edited, then I will be back to my normal self!