my journey as a civil war novel writer

I've got my cloak! I know it is a totally different one from the ones I showed you. But it is more practical. I have three to four outfits for fairs. one is purple/black, two are burgundy and the other is burgundy/cream. This cloak can go with all four of them. Most of the fairs are in times that the weather can still be a bit cold. The biggest one Elf fantasy fair is in April. Usually they have good weather but you can't could on it. If it is raining I don't go in costume anyway so they don't have to be watertight. Now the praying starts that it gets past customs without costing me more money. Bleh! This week is mostly devoted to reading. A client came up last week w ith a background that I know nothing about, luckily I was able to find some secondhand books on the matter. yeah bol.com. And have already started reading. End of the week I am going to Belgium again to celebrate Mel's birthday. So on saturday I also read some rules for games. I have a few new ones th...

I feel like I am on a rollercoaster at the moment, with my feelings. Actually practicing with clients is giving me a lot! Headaches, confidence, fear etc. I still expect myself to be perfect while I am still learning my trade. Talking to my own supervisor is helping a great deal. She says she still has the occasional session that could have gone better and you cannot be perfect. That is exhausting! And the weird thing? My clients leave happy it is just me that thnks I should have done more, better etc. But I am learning here and demanding less of myself. Yeah! I love the work, and I am learning so much. Have had some time for reading. Finished "what a scoundrel wants." not too impressed and Kresley Cole nr 4. This series... I can't put my finger on it. Nrs 1 and 3 I didn't like too much, I read them but they didn't inspire me. 2 and 4 I could not put down. Weird, weird, usually I like a series or I don't. Started: Shayla Black - tempt me with darkness. Not su...

I still need cloaks for my various fantasy/historical costumes. Often the festivals are in a time of year that it might just be too cold to wear them without a coat or something. And a modern day coat would of course ruin everything. There is my purple goth vampire outfit, my burgundy lauhging vampire dress, my burgundy medie val dress and the civil war ensemble. Different colors. I had been looking for cloaks, affordable and nice!!! for a long time, without much succes. Until I cam across this site on ebay. Of course it is bidding but with the dollar being what it is at the moment it still isn't expensive. And I absolutely cannot choose!!! I have fallen in love with these cloaks andthe ones I have included pictures off here, well I love them all LOL. Bad aren't I? Yes I am. I am not handy so I could never make something like this myself, and with the cost of materials being what it is right now in the Netherlands I doubt I could d o it for this amount of money myself anyway....

Flow is a wonderfull thing, it makes you creative and you want to keep going and going without ever stopping what you are doing. But.... if you are a chronic sufferer like me, it has it's drawbacks. I function very well if I take many a n to my practice in fact. It came to me last week. I don't have my own space for sessions so I have to rent. I like to communicate with people all over the world and already want to work with people from foreign countries who live in the Netherlands. Why not branch out to internet coaching? And use modern techniques as voice and video on the computer. I could then branch out to people who are thinking about moving and give them advice. And even do regular counseling/coaching for people who find it hard to come to my location. nd long breaks throughout the day. And well that kinda breaks the flow. finding my way in this process has taken me a long time. And I am there now, most of the time. This week I found it very difficult to stop in time, bef...

Not much time today but I wanted to share this. I love quotes! And I have now found a place to keep them all together. Hopefull if you click on the sign you go to my quotes page. Anyway you can make one of your own there, if you do please share yours with me. I like to see what motivates other people. Because they motivate me and they make me think. I love to write them on little cards and keep them with me at difficult times. I LOVE this one: No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Eleanor Roosevelt , 'This Is My Story,' 1937 US diplomat & reformer (1884 - 1962)

Because of my 'drug withdrawal' I had put off trying out my new glasses I bought last year for a while. Half an hour ago I finally decided to try them out. Yeah I was putting it off I am notoriously bad with small changes. And I am not happy right now. Distance looking is great but the computer looks weird, as if the angles are all wrong and the letters smaller. LOL. I will get used to it in time. I might not keep them on the whole day. This afternoon is research! Brainstormed with my coach yesterday afternoon and I have loads of good new ideas! Finis hed Predator by patricia Cornwell and I must say I was very dissapointed. I never read one of her books and I don't think I ever will again. The writing style is awfull, it was written in the present tense, and for me that does not work. It felt childish somehow and I barely got through it. This one definately goes onto the ebay/marktplaats pile. Started Judith Tarr's King's blood. She is a long time favorite of mine, ...

I have to apologise to my readers but posting will be sporadic for now. I have so many other things to do, think about, prepare and write having to do with the practice that this has to take a backseat. Last week I noticed that I was getting stressed again with all the things I had to do. Of course the only one making me do them was ME. So ME is the only one who can stop it and will!!! Don't worry about me, things are going well. Only like usual my brain is a little bit ahead of the rest of my body. My first client went very well last week and I enjoyed it. It also filled me with other ideas for my practice that I would like to work on. But I had a few bad days regarding pain and wisely stayed away from the computer as much as possible for a while. Bummer, the ban on painkillers is for headaches but it means I can't take them for the muscleaches either. I finished my favorite all time book again last night. Sharon Penman's Sunne in Splendour about Richard III. That books mo...

I am getting organised for tuesday! My treatment plans etc are finished and printed. Going to organise them this afternoon and then tomorrow just browse through the books one more time. I just like to be wellprepared. There was a moment that I was just scared but now I am looking forward to tuesday. This is what I trained for all these years and this is what I want to do! Still debating if I want to spend money in the sales. I promised myself I would but to hit that send button to actuall y spend the money, that is hard. I might get some dvd's I wanted for a long time. Some boardgames and as always the books!!!! Looking forward to the start of the booksale at this shop. Last year they had a 25% off sale for every 4 books you bought. And their pocket books are not expensive to start with. For boardgames I have tried some nice ones recently that I would like to have, but they are so bloody expensive. On the other hand they give you hours of fun and I have plenty of friends that like...

Life is more or less returning to normal after the hectic last week of the year. So many social commitments but so much fun! Both trivial pursuit evenings were a great succes and new year's eve was great fun in Deventer. I did not go to bed very late, around 1 o'clock. So I started the new year honoring my resolution to listen to my body. I was cold and tired and just did not want to push myself. I the past I would just have taken another painkil le r and soldiered on, but no more. I really h ope I can keep this up! As usual I start the year with a fresh batch of book. One of my quirks trying to finish my stack by the end of the year. One of the non fiction books is the following. Allison Weir: Katherine Swynford. She has interrested me since re ading the novel Katherine by Anya Seton a few years ago. This story is so unusual you would think it a fairy tale and not true. John of Gaunt a 14th century son of the english king had children with his mistress Katherine but after hi...