Quick Update and Pretty Sewing Photos!

Evening all!
I have a spare few minutes this evening, so I thought I'd give you a bit of an update.
Life is, as ever, busy. Lots of dissertation work, lots of lecture reading and (oddly for me) lots of social contact. Bizarre...

Spent reading week at home, which was fun. For those who don't know, reading week is, supposedly, a week for reading. Science students tend to scowl at arts students because it's essentially a week of freeeedom that they don't get. They never believe us when we say we actually do -work- during our week off. Seriously! I do. Lots of work.
And...
well...
sewing.

Sewing is work, yes?














I is making a dress. A pretty dress, from a vintage 1950s fabric pattern and some gorgeous curtain fabric. Pretty!
:D
There will hopefully be more photos after next weekend, I only have access to a sewing machine when I'm at my parent's house so progress is somewhat sporadic. I'm planning on wearing it at my boyfriend's work-christmas-party-thing.

This week has so far been spent (apart from working) making 21st birthday presents for the twins! Somehow, they're going to be 21 in Thursday. Very strange. Photos of the presents will be appearing early next week...if I post them now the little minxes are likely to find them.

Brother bought a tarantula. Not sure how I feel about this. If I find a shed tarantula exoskeleton on my pillow, I will be less than impressed.

Oh, there will most likely be photos of the night out on Thursday. I'm off out to York to see Erin (female half of the twins), which will involve afternoon tea (we are British, after all), then cocktails in the evening followed by dancing. Excitement, I haven't been dancing since Spain :D I've planned my outfit and everything! Gorgeous purple/blue silk dress plus by black boots. I love them, they've got a 4" heel. Stunning :D

Anyhoo, must go now. Have to be up early to get to town before my lecture starts! Have a lovely evening :)

No More Work :(

So, I had my last shift ever at work yesterday. True, it's only a summer job, but it's been my third year there and I got quite emotional.

For those who don't know, I (was) a care worker at a day center for adults with learning difficulties. It was one of the most difficult, rewarding and unpredictable job I've ever had. Yes, every day had a plan at the beginning of it, but it rarely went as it was supposed to.

I didn't tell any of the clients until right before I left. Those who were able to understand that me leaving today, as I did every other day, did not mean that I would be coming back as I did every morning, said that they would miss me. I appreciated the sentiment, though I doubt some of them would remember me enough to miss me :)

I won't be going back next summer as I'm planning on moving in with my partner, some 3 hours travel away. A bit too much for a commute :D Never mind...next summer will bring the excitement of trying to find a job in publishing :D

Trying to get published?

So...
you've written the perfect book, you've sent it to your friends and they say it's the next 'Lord of the Rings'.

You want to send it to an agent so they can find you a publisher.

Excellent plan!

One, cardinal rule before you even CONSIDER sending it to any agent.

CHECK YOUR SPELLING. Repeated spelling mistakes are really not the way to win over any agent. If I have to trawl through misspellings of commonly used words, I will give up after the 5th page and go on to someone else's manuscript, in the hope that they know how to use an english dictionary.

Same goes for grammer, actually. If you use an average of 3 commas in every sentence, no-one in the publishing industry will be impressed.

Seriously. Agents do expect basic levels of literacy.

End rant!

Contemplating business

Evening all!

Another fantastic day at the office, tomorrow I actually get to offer advice to a writer. Good first 50 pages, needs a bit of adjusting and a more suitable agent but he may actually get published.

I spent the evening talking with my dear friend Nicky (who was my babysitter, then my mum's best friend, then our legal guardian and is now just...close, close friend to the whole family) about my Etsy shop and my jewellery in general. Paid work is somewhat unforthcoming at the moment - it's hard for students everywhere and she suggested building up a line of jewellery and approaching local boutiques and gift shops. I think this is a good idea and it just so happens that I ordered a small quantity of silver and gold jump rings yesterday as I need more stock anyway. I'm also awaiting a large pearl order (will post photos when they arrive!), partly why I bought the silver and gold.

It's exciting and scary. I'm going to have to spend a fair bit of money building up stock etc...but I think it will pay off in the end. Etsy is great, but I can't see it being regular, reliable business for a while yet.

Quick look at potential stock for you, I made this set a month or so ago and sold the necklace and bracelet. I want to make something similar, probably in precious metals and without the silver charms. What do you think?

Literary Agency, more interesting than it sounds!

Sooo...
I decided on a career path a few months ago and managed to get some work experience at a literary agency in London.

It is the most fun I've ever had at work. They actually want me to just sit and read unpublished books then give them my opinion. It could only be better if they delt with scifi/fantasy. As it is, they have some very interesting things for me to read.

Some are awful, some are moderate and a few are good...if needing a few adjustments.

Being around the office is fascinating as well. I get to hear about things like publicity deals for individual authors and get an insight into how the publishing industry works.

I won't get rich doing this, but it will keep my brain occupied!