Various things

[nineveh_uk]

(1) After my "maybe I should" angsting, I have now resolved that I am not going skiing at Easter. It's disappointing, but the right decision. I applied the lottery test* and confirmed that if being paid for out of a finite source, the guided bit of a guided trip really needs to be at exactly the right level or I'm going to feel frustrated. So that's that. Instead - and how's this for glamour - I shall go to the Turkish bath at Swindon and at least get a decent sauna, and save the holiday money (and the annual leave) for the summer.

(2) Writing seems to be progressing. Last night was not a success, but I think that's because the next scene is a significant one , and I am anxious about writing it not so much because I think it will be technically difficult, but because it’s a big step in the story and I’m thinking “but have I done everything I need to do in preparation”. Which is silly, because I can always go back and add material if necessary. And also because it is an essential part of a murder mystery that somebody die.

(3) From the department of "the old ones are not in fact the best", an episode summary from the back of a free disc of Upstairs, Downstairs episodes. So much for its being more realistic than Downton Abbey:

Elizabeth and Rose return home one evening after a concert to find that a certain Baron Klaus Von Rimmer, a friend of the people she stayed with in Germany,* has called on her parents. The Bellamys like their guest and invite him to stay and assign Albert to be his valet. It soon transpires that the Baron is actually a spy who has tried to bribe Richard into helping his armaments company to get a contract from the British Navy. This is not all, he has also seduced Albert.

I am absolutely not writing a Red Dwarf crossover.

(4) I have been listening to random Handel, as you do. Endless Pleasure, from Semele. Seldom has a song been better named.

*"What would I do about this issue if I won the lottery today?" It's excellent for addressing how one feels about all sorts of things, though I usually use it for analysing how annoyed or otherwise I am at work in the form of "how much notice would I give?"

**I think that must mean Elizabeth. Rose is the servant.

Comments

[antisoppist]

Decent sauna....

I continue to admire the way the murder is the least essential element of your murder mystery.

If you won the lottery, wouldn't you do all sorts of things that you wouldn't otherwise? Or is it that if you still wouldn't do it if you won the lottery, then you know you really really don't want to? I favour the Miranda West method of tossing a coin and seeing whether you are disappointed or not by the result. Or there is the bit where I write lists of plusses and minuses and analyse things to death and then do it anyway just to see what Fate produces next, which is how I ended up applying to teach English to Finns in the Arctic Circle, and having children.

Handel made a nice change from Elijah on repeat.

[nineveh_uk]

Pack your costume and you could stop off on the way! Or we'll go on Sat., though I did speak too soon and it turns out from the website that they don't actually have a sauna and it is just the steam room side of things, which may be less appealing.

If I won the lottery I would do loads of stuff I wouldn't already do. But what it is useful for in this case is taking money out of the occasion. If I won the lottery, would I enjoy a gentle skiing holiday that's rather easier than I generally prefer, but would be out in Norway at a location I've fancied for some time? Yes, because I could enjoy it for what it was without being frustrated that I was spending lots (and so not doing other things) for something that wasn't exactly right. I write lists (or don't even get that far) and don't do things anyway, which is probably a bad idea.

The murder is absolutely essential! Or it will be when I get there... I think the best explanation is to think of it as a two-volume novel in shape (but not length): there's part 1, the set-up and introduction to the new world, and then part 2, the mystery bit. My hesitancy in getting to it now I am in vol. 2 is two-fold, being in part the need to get some things set up first, but also trying to work out the time-scale since 9 months-ish need to pass between the Fatal Night and the end. Though I have realised that I can address that if necessary by just shoving an extra month in before Wimsey goes to Corsica and adjusting any seasonal plant references.

Ed. The victim is dead, hurray!

[antisoppist]

Yay victim! It would be a pity not to have one. Are you sure it isn't going to be a four or five volume novel at this rate? I don't know what happens when things get more than 3000 words though.

I could always pack a being prepared swimming costume just in case.

[nineveh_uk]

I have given up trying to guess how long it is going to be - my previous record was 7000 words, so this is entirely outwith the realms of my experience. But at least now the victim is dead the pre-murder bit has to stop.

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't put a bit of espionage past Rose...

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Fair point! Though probably not for Germany.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

I am absolutely not writing a Red Dwarf crossover.

BOOOO.

The lottery test is a great idea. I shall have to remember it next time I am having decision angst.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

The lottery test can be very handy. It doesn't work for everything, but it can help isolate causes of angst and identify degrees.

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

I started watching Upstairs, Downstairs to cope with the DA withdrawl, and came to the same conclusion pretty quickly.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Both the old version and new version are decidedly more soap and less incisive social commentary than one might be led to believe. (The new version occasionally tried – I liked the fact that the first new series made it clear the house depended on child labour – and the cinematography is a long way above Downton, but it’s basically still soap.)

[azdak.livejournal.com]

I like Downton for the soap, though. I certainly don't watch it for the keen insight into the class system or the perceptive portrayal of historical sensibilities. Which I suppose means I should possibly give Upstairs, Downstairs a try ...

So what will you do with the oodles of dosh you've saved by not going skiing???

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

U, D also gives you extra Nazism! (Naturally the good characters all know it's a Bad thing.) The first series was fun, the second got annoying, the best bit is the Duke of Kent RPF.

what will you do with the oodles of dosh

Spend it on a summer holiday! (Destination to be determined.)

[sonetka.livejournal.com]

I'm slightly embarrassed that I remember this, but it was Alfred, not Albert. Alfred returns a few seasons later having stabbed his employer/lover to death and ends up holding another servant hostage before being arrested and finally hanged. I loved watching UD, but yeah, it's a soap.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

it was Alfred, not Albert

What can you expect from the Daily Mail? I've never seen original UD, but I loved the spoof, "You Rang, My Lord" when I was a child.