Snow and Wasps

I had hoped that by the time it came to do this post that the weather would've improved. It did yesterday, a slow but steady thaw was taking place, but when I woke up this morning the dreaded white stuff had returned with a vengeance. It has covered everything again. Yesterday I saw the tarmac on the road outside our house for the first time this year, but now it looks like a Christmas cake again.
Our road like many others in the country hasn't been gritted and I'd probably stand as much of a chance of spotting a bittern as I would seeing a gritting truck.

It is at times like this that I feel grateful to be able to work from home. Going out to work everyday in conditions like this isn't much fun. I also feel sorry for the animals who just have to put up with it. Here is a photo of some sheep and a lonesome cow that I took recently, all I can say is roll on summer.

Fishing
Have you ever gone fishing when you would have been better off staying in bed. You know it was raining all day yesterday and the river is going to be bursting its banks, but you can't turn over and go back to sleep because of one little thing or I should say person. Yes, your best fishing buddy is going to turn up as planned come hell or high water.
Going fishing with ones best mate is one of the things I like about fishing, that is all accept for when the weather is going to ruin the days sport. Common sense seems to go out of the window on days like these. I remember many a winter's morning, waiting outside my house hoping in vain that Tommy wouldn't turn up, but he always did. I can see him now getting out of his Triumph Spitfire, his face grinning at me with a moustache that he could've borrowed from somebody in the RAF.
"You ready for it then, Georgie boy," he'd ask enthusiastically.
"Yeah, I think so," I always replied. Well I was too much of a nice guy to burst his bubble.

Tommy was a nice guy too, always smiling and looking on the bright side. If you ever get the chance make sure you surround yourself with positive people. Those who always have a face like a broken fiddle will only drag you down.

I suppose that fishing in the cold weather has one good thing going for it and that is the lack of wasps. If there is one creature in this world that I truly hate it's Mr Woppy. What a waste of space, what was our creator thinking when he unleashed that terrible, stinging monster into the world. My dad used to crush them against the window with his thumb, not a pleasant sound but somehow it was strangely satisfying. Over the years I found my own way of dealing with the little horrors especially while I was fishing. There isn't space here, but I do say quite a bit about wasps and how to deal with them in my recently published book, Fishing:Learn from the Tips & Laugh at the Tales.

More information about the book

If you are thinking about going fishing this week-end I'll wish you the best of luck because I think you're going to need it. I'll leave you with a photo of warmer times and how the weather should look when you are wetting a line.



Writing
In my last blog I talked about how wasting time is the writers biggest enemy. When writers boot up their computers to start writing they get caught up in lots of other activities which isn't good. So if you are going onto your computer to write, ignore everything else and start writing.

I said when I set out the aims for this blog, that I was going to show people how to get started as a freelance writer and that is what I'm going to do.But before I explain to you how to go about getting started it's worth considering if you think doing a course would be helpful to you or not. There are many out there to choose from and if you take on board the knowledge that they pass on, you will no doubt at some stage become a published writer.

One of the advantages of doing a course is the confidence that it gives the student. It takes away some of the fear of sending submission out into the big wide world.
But before you leap in and sign up for one of these courses please consider the other side of the coin.

These courses don't come cheap. They also take up time and you have to consider if you might not be better off just getting on with it. Following this blog will point you in the right direction and I will let you know which books have helped me along the way.

Now at this point you might be asking the vital question. Where do I start? That is a good question and one that is easily answered. I will tell you how I got started in this writing game in my next post.

At least with all this bad weather about I've been able to get on with writing my next book, so every cloud has a silvery lining.