"I'm in shock - look, I have a blanket"

I was going to attempt to write an in depth, thoughtful post on planning/outlining versus winging it/praying it all holds together, but that will take time and I managed to slice my left index finger with a bread knife yesterday* so typing is hard/painful. So, instead, some (short) random:

- The fabulous Stephanie Perkins is doing a giveaway on her blog for her novel, Anna and the French Kiss (link is to the UK Amazon page, because you can get it from there). Even though I have pre-ordered, I am still after a free copy, hence this promo of the giveaway (could that be put any more bluntly? Ah well).

- I have written more of my book, though that is going to slow down owing to painful finger/my stupidity.

- Mark Reads Harry Potter is made of awesome. Partly because it just is, but mostly because he hasn't read the books before and he doesn't know many spoilers so it's a bit like going back to when you first read them - with the added joy/pain of someone loving characters you know JKR is going to kill without the knowledge of their fate.

- Also awesome: picspam from BBC's Sherlock. I had not known Benedict Cumberbatch was so pretty until this aired. I did however know that Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss were creative gods.

* Why yes I am a clumsy idiot who would make Bella Swann fear for my safety - well, maybe not that bad, but it was still an act of stupidity.

Bad lazy type (for which I blame others)

I won NaNo, yay! I have done nothing since then - er, boo! Yes, boo me. Turns out changing the sort of scrappy, caffeine-fuelled, muddled draft I created during NaNo takes some doing, especially when subsequent thinking makes you want to change the entire plot, add POVs, alter subplots, mess about with what I thought were fixed ideas - generally rip the entire thing to pieces and then stare at the remains with hollow eyes while clutching a glass of wine and wondering how it happened.

Have been procrastinating like crazy, pondering such important issues as

1) should I start a book blog? My thoughts on books I like tend to be confined to "it was awesome/lovely/I can't put it down even though I've finished it" and on those I hate along the lines of blistering rants ending in "how did this get published?!?!? How!?!?!"

2) should I get a livejournal? This is purely for the usage of pretty icons

3) moving to London - actually, this was an important issue

TV has not helped. Yes, it is entirely the TV's fault that I have been watching that when I should have been writing. But there has been new Doctor Who! And Sherlock, which was unbelievably good. I think I blame Stephen Moffat for this, as he was responsible for both of these.

Basically: I have been a lazy procrastinating type, and all that needs to change. That is my Half Year Resolution.