I have a winner, part deux

The winner of the original draw for the book"Britannia in Brief" never got in touch, so I drew again and have a new winner: Tiffany S. come on down! Congrats!

American Style Hand Car Wash?

This business recently opened in the Kings Point building on King's Road. I don't know what it means, either. What exactly is an American-style car wash??? Note the broken glass in one window below, and boarded windows in another. It had been a vacant building ever since I've been here.

We have a winner!

I'm sorry to be late announcing the winner -- my computer got "sick" on Monday and has been getting treatment since Tuesday, and in the flap of laptop woes, I honestly forgot it was already time to pick a winner! I'm borrowing a laptop now to go ahead and end the suspense, so drumroll, please:

Congrats to: Sharon Parramore of Tuscaloosa, Alabama! Please email me at groovy.yank@gmail.com with your address and I'll get the book in the post!

Dipping into Water Fest

The River Kennet bustled with brightly colored canal boats and the occasional bellow of a steam whistle Saturday during one of my favorite local events -- Water Fest.

People crowded the walk along Blake's Wharf and up through the abbey ruins, browsing booths and jockeying for a spot to watch the activity on the water. I really love the canal boats -- the long, lean craft are designed to go through narrow passages and to be somewhat homey. Many have flowers and other homey touches, and the insides of at least some had stoves and places to sleep. I'd rather like a long cruise on one. If there are decent facilities for when nature calls that don't require some gross tank-cleaning procedure, that is.

The booths included fairly professional stalls offering food, clothes and crafts, to flea-market type stands run for various charities. Many of these offered several tickets for a quid to try and win a variety of items -- mostly also flea-market type stuff, but it was still fun to play. I won a bottle of chardonnay that my husband thought was awful yet drank anyway, a tiny teddy bear, and a couple of kid's toys I left for the next winner to take. There were also a few costumed people making the rounds, including the two women on stilts that "swam" through the crowd.



We also took a ride on a little boat with a green pavilion on top. I don't know what you'd call it, as it wasn't a canal boat and just held a few passengers. I loved the view of familiar sights from the water, and noticed a few things I'd never seen before.

All in all, it was a fun day that I wish came more than once a year.

Writing a go-go

Romance writer Christina Jones came to a Reading library Monday. I'm not really into romance novels, but the books are set in Berkshire, which spiked my interest. Besides, hearing an author talk about how she works seemed amply worth the £2 entry fee. I really hoped she'd go into how she found a publisher, but it turns out she never had to try too hard to get one, and I didn't feel like asking questions (I've become a bit reclusive and shy, must work on that).

She seemed very down-to-earth and basically like a nice, average Jane. The kind of person it'd be nice to have a pint with, and in fact she works in a pub when not churning out a book at the last minute to meet deadline.

That's what I found truly interesting, that she works best if she leaves things to the last minute. I find that helps me, too. I don't wait until the last minute necessarily, but it's the deadline breathing down my neck that makes me actually finish something. I keep wanting to rewrite, take a different direction, start over. Ever since I've gotten off the treadmill of full-time journalist and freelance columnist on the side, I haven't written very much, even though I have more time. And I've started far more pieces than I've finished. With a deadline, it's the knowledge that I can't keep changing it, I have to finish and be done with it whether it's perfect or not that forces me to wrap something up, smack it on the ass and send it out into the world.

Of course, the deadline also helps because that means you already have someone waiting to publish it; it's a bit harder working on something when you don't know if or when anyone will actually buy the damn thing, and that you'll have to actually hunt someone down and convince them to take it. Then there are submission deadlines for magazines/journals, but that's the deadline for everyone jockeying to be selected rather than a commissioned piece, so it's not the same motivation because you don't know if you'll make the cut. A deadline for a commissioned piece or full-time job may be stressful, but in the end, it's a magical, lovely thing to have.

Of course, I've never written anything the length of a book. It's hard enough to decide I'm actually done with and can stop re-writing something that's 1,000-2,000 words -- can you imagine actually staying on the same track without second-guessing it all for 60,000 words or so and actually deciding it's ready to hand in? Hats off to that accomplishment.

I checked out a book by Jones before she came, because I didn't want to go if it was unreadable tripe. Luckily, it was an enjoyable book. It was light fare that distracted me from other worries for a brief time, and that's probably the whole point of romance novels.

I really didn't intend to blog on and on about this, but it was interesting to see how another writer works, even if it's a rather different sort of writing than what I do or what I typically read. I should've bought a book and said hello after the talk, but at the time I was just thinking of the mountains of books I already have waiting to read and that I didn't know if I'd get around to another romance novel. But now I wish I had, as I'd enjoyed the talk and I'm sure I'd get around to the book eventually. Ah well, maybe next time.

Bang the drum loudly ...

This evening I heard a slow boom ... boom ... boom outside my window. When I went to look, nothing was there and the sound faded away. Within 15 minutes the slow, steady thump returned, gradually growing louder. This time I made it to the window quickly and snapped a picture of ... well, I'm not sure what's going on. A man at the front of a long boat pounded time on a drum as the other men rowed. The boat seems to be decked out as a dragon -- doesn't that look like scales on the side, and a tail on the back with the head at the front? Or is that a tail near the drummer and a head on the other end? I can't tell, but I'm sticking with my theory of a dragon theme to the vessel.

Anyone have a clue what's going in the photo?

It's contest time! Whoop, whoop!

As promised, I'm giving away a copy of "Britannia in Brief: The Scoop on All Things British" by Leslie Banker and William Mullins (they were good enough to contribute a copy for the contest). The book is an interesting, witty guide to British pop culture and history; for more details check here.

So, what daring feats will I make you complete to secure this worthy prize? Here we go:

• First, this contest is open to people in the UK or the U.S.
  
• Next, tell me why you want the book. Your reply can be a simple, single sentence, or you can go into more detail (feel free to share!); the choice is yours.
  
• Make your entry in a comment to this post (my preferred option, just click on the word "COMMENTS" below) OR via email. Either way, include your first name and last initial as well as your city & state (or city & country in the UK). If you enter by way of comment to this blog entry, I'll enter your name TWICE in the drawing. If you opt to enter by email (groovy.yank@gmail.com), I'll put your name in the hat once. By email, use the subject line: Book Contest Entry.
  
• I'll do a random drawing on June 30 at 5 pm (GMT) and post the winner by July 1. If you're the winner, email me by the end of the day July 7 with your full name and mailing address. If I don't hear from you, I'll draw another name out of the hat and post it July 8.

Good luck all!