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Me Before You Preview - Review

As you know I love movies and I have a long list to see this year.  It's been a good year so far in terms of movies, there's been quite a few that I've really enjoyed and Monday Night I got to see another good movie. Me Before You in Cinemas 3 June 2016 Me Before You is based on the novel by Jojo Moyles, I must admit I haven't read the book.  It was originally published in 2012 and having just lost my father who I was carer for I wasn't really up for reading it given the subject matter. Roll on a few years and the book is now a movie starting Emilia Clarke of Games of Thrones fame and Sam Claffin (Pirates of the Caribbean & The Hunger Games).  The screenplay penned by Jojo Moyles gave me hope that the movie would be true to the spirit of the novel which the book groups I am in do rave about. When the opportunity came up to go to a preview screening at Cineworld I thought why not, I'll just ensure I take a box of tissues! Tissues was a great call,

When Life Gives you Lemons....

I was catching up on my Face book groups the other day and someone had asked the question, if you blog and work how do you fit it all in and it got me thinking how do I fit it all in and am I achieving what I set out to? Well as the old saying goes - "When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade" 1. Day Job As an independent author I still need a 'day job' to earn a living, I'm not in a position yet where the money I earn as a novelist is enough to cover my expenses,  I am working towards that but for now I need to support my writing by working. I'm a Personal Assistant in the Fire Service, I'm lucky in terms of my job is flexible.  A lot of writers and bloggers starting out are in jobs where the time they are in the office is set and unchangeable.  I'm lucky that mine is flexible.  Having this flexibility allows me to plan my days effectively. Most days I'm at my desk by 7.30,  depending on what the day holds which being an emergency servic

Knowing the Story Behind you, to Live the Way Ahead

Everyone has a story, some sound like a best selling novel, others seem a little more middle of the road.  But the art of the story is what you learn from it, the moral that stays with you, the changes it makes to you as a person.   Everyone lives a story, life is the biggest and best book you'll ever write, so you have to write the best one you are able.   Learn from your past but don't be bogged down by it, use it  to make your future the best and biggest it can be.  You can also learn from the stories around you, from the people you love, the chapters of the lives of the people who build your family.   There are a lot of stories in the chapters lived before I was born  There are so many I'll never know, so many I know pieces of and some like a good mystery I'll never really know the end to, but each one teaches me something about who I am and who I want to be.   This weekend it seems very apt to tell the story of something that happened on

Do Blondes have more fun?

The evolution of my hair, well there's a story; When I was born, my mam always reminds me, I went missing in the hospital for a while because the nurses were amazed at my thick jet black hair and decided to show me off as my mam slept.  I'm sure if that happened now there's be some major case review and heads would roll!  Anyway, the point is I was born with a lot of rich dark hair and while the thickness has never changed, the colour well..... Before The Cut  As I grew my hair grew long and dark changing from jet black to a deep brown/black with a hint of red. I think at one point it was waist length that was until I found a pair of scissors and thought I'd make a great hairdresser - the results horrified my mam and I ended up with my first ever bob. This should have been a life lesson and I should never have let another pair of scissors near my hair again, only well as I came in to my teens I decided to cut my hair off and have a pixie style only

25 Facts About Me

I was reading a friends blog the other day and she was doing a 25 Facts About Me Tag, so I thought I'd give it a go for today's post, so hold on tight here's a whistle stop tour of me; 1. I'm English, born and raised in Sunderland Northeast England, this is on the north sea coast and it can be rather cold! 2. Being from Sunderland I'm classed as a Mackem, but I don't have a strong accent 3. I lived in Bellingham WA when I was at Uni as an exchange student and came home with a strong American accent - go figure! Visit to Seattle in 1998 4. I hated school, I was bullied from the age of 5 till I was 16, the worst years being between 8 and 12 so School was the worst time of my life.  It's something I still struggle with to this day. At a time when you should be learning to be confident, build relationships and all the social skills you need for life, I was taught the opposite.  I still struggle with confidence in myself and my appearance and I

Time for a Spot of Tea

I love tea, I'm English, I swear it's something written in to our genes.  I have always loved tea - I don't remember the first time I ever had a cup of tea I just know its something I've drank all my life. I come from a family of tea drinkers and everyone of us takes it slightly differently, even my tea tastes have changed over the years. When I was young I took my tea with whole milk and one sugar.  I don't know why I just always did. I drank tea four times a day, one with Breakfast, one with lunch, one after dinner and then one at supper. Tea was a big part of family life, I remember in the summer sitting in my Grandparents garden with a china plate with a special spot for your tea cup to sit eating cucumber sandwiches made with cucumbers my grandad had grown. I drank tea when I was cold because it was comforting and warming and I drank tea when I was hot because it cooled you down. You drank tea when you were happy and you were comforted by it w

Sometimes you just need a Bigger Boat

I love movies, I mean I really love movies from the script to screen I love everything about the process and the final outcome.  I studied media at university and concentrated on the history of film and theatre. I've always loved movies ever since I can remember, I would spend my weekends watching old hollywood movies staring Bing Crosby, Danny Kayne, Frank Sinatra and Doris Day with my Grandparents.  I would watch 80's blockbusters with my family, horror films with my mam, and  teen slasher flicks with my brother.   I always had my favourites films I would watch over and over again and I think it's partly my love of films which influence the way I write. When I write I see movies in my mind, I have the actors picked out the locations, the camera shots the whole deal and I think it's because I grew up watching some of the most amazing movies of our time. I took a little walk down memory lane this week, I was in the mood for something good, something that would rem

Tried & Tested - Fleur De Force Make Up Range

I'm usually very wary about trying new products on my skin, for a long time I've stuck to trusted brands but sometimes even after years of using a product a reaction can develop.  So I decided to start trying new products selectively and hopefully find some new items that will work for me. I've followed Fleur's blog/Vlog for a little over eighteen months now, I find her videos interesting, friendly and informative.  It's like having a conversation with a friend over coffee.  So when she launched her make up line last year I was interested to see how it would work out. Fleur De Force Make Up Line  I didn't purchase her products initially as I wasn't sure they were for my age range.  But after watching her videos where she demonstrates the eye shadows and lip balms and seeing some of the reviews come in I started to think that maybe this would be something I could try. I've been giving my skin time to settle down after having a reaction last ye

When the Idea Strikes.... Be Organised??!!!

Ideas are illusive things, they can strike at any time, like a seed in your thoughts they start to grow and develop in to something that you just need to write down somewhere to nurture, consider and assess. So, when the spark hits how do you capture it before it fades just like a dream when you first wake up? If I was asked how I define me as a person, well, I'm a writer, a fictionalist, a scribbler, a dreamer, a story teller and a creative.   Whether I'm sitting at home watching TV, in a meeting in the day job, working out in the gym, walking the dog or even sleeping, my mind and my imagination never stop telling stories. This is not a new development in my life, its always been this way ever since I can remember.  My friends as a child were the books I read or the characters I created in my head.  I didn't really have 'real' friends I was the 'odd' kid, but instead of letting that be a bad thing I've tried to accept it as just part of who I am a