Ooooh, hello. Long time since I used Sianyland. Rather nice it is too.

I've noticed that while I haven't been blogging over the last month, people have still been reading. More of you over Easter, actually. A few of my blog posts have been linked to and I'm surprisingly further up in the Google rankings now (if you Google Reblogging NonSociety, you find me third in the rankings, so hello to all those people who are finding this little blog that way. I hope it's more interesting than that). Granted, there aren't thousands of people checking in each day, but it's enough to make me drop you all a line and tell you that in no way is this blog defunct.

I find it strange that more people read my blog when I'm not writing it. Hmmm... best not to think about that.

But, this is just a short post to say that things are fine and I haven't gone anywhere. Everything is pretty good actually. You should come over to Domestic Sluttery. It's really pretty over there and updated far more frequently. Daily, even.

The blog is having a redesign now, that's all. I expect that'll take a week or so. I've missed blogging, but having a break has been good for me. So come back next week when I have something new to say, and there's something new to see.

Sianyland is going on a little break.

There are some things in life that I won't ever blog about, but sometimes they're just too big to ignore, and I can't hide from them. I don't want to write a personal blog right now if I can't let myself write honestly and truthfully about how I'm feeling. It just doesn't seem right.

So Sianyland will be offline for a while. I'll still be writing, just in private, with good old pen and paper. In the meantime, Sianyland might have a bit of a revamp, so when the sun is shining, and when I'm shining again, things will be brighter.

But instead of writing The Book, I am, of course faffing about online. So I thought I might live blog The Book writing. That has to be the ultimate in procrastination, but my plan is to blog a mini bit about how I'm going, when I stop to make tea, or when I'm stuck for words and can't type anymore. Not just "oooh I wrote my first sentence and then deleted it". I'm curious to see how it goes, and I'm planning on writing for the next four or five hours, so I'll need a few distractions along the way. I'm not Wonder Woman, if I could type for five hours without finding something else more interesting, I'd have finished The Book by now.

And we're off:

14.00 - 46,008 words. I wrote a cunning list of the bits I need to concentrate on last week so that should help me. Getting two characters to meet is the biggy. The only problem is, one of them lives in London, the other one lives in a parallel universe. As you do.

14:32 - 47,281 words. Not all brilliant. Someone very clever told me that the first twenty minutes of doing anything creative would mostly be shit. They're often right. It takes me time to warm up. Writing a lot of references to fairy tales. I like the notion, just not sure if they're cliches. Still, that's what a second draft is for. 

14:49 - 47,666 words. Ick. Tough. Really tough. Having a "your book is shit" moment. I'm not writing plot which is always a bad sign, I'm just writing monologues. That's what I do when I don't want to write the difficult bits of conversation. I'm avoiding the tough bit and basically writing around it.

15:06 - 48,068 words. Wow, I'm flying through my word count this afternoon, which wasn't really the plan. I've got the two characters to meet fleetingly, and I like the conversation they had. I don't like the setting, or how I've ended things, but it's a start. I like where that part of the book is going, but I'm not sure I'm ready for it yet. It's very much gearing up to the end of the book, and I'm nowhere near writing that yet. There's too many gaps for me to rush to the end just yet. And the gaps are going to be fun to write. I need a whole back story for Greyson, my favourite character in the book. I need to write a scene surrounding the tree, which is the centre of the book, and I need to tie in all of the other stories that are going on. I've got too many little bits to finish before I reach the end. I have no idea what will happen when I get there, and I don't want to find out yet. Too much fun writing the other bits.

15.28 - No more words. Housemate back from Amsterdam. Chatting instead. Yay.

15:42 - Lovely chat. Talked about museums, holidays, Medieval poetry, philosophy and the bit in his copy of The Art of War i read that said "a good idea is nothing to do with a clever mind, or intelligence. It's the understanding of society and nothing more." So clever. Now, back to scribbling.

16:06 - 48,585 words. I like this planned procrastination thing. It's fun. I'm hungry so might have to stop for some food in a little while. Just sketched out a really important part of the book, but I don't think it's quite there yet. I like everything in it, but when I'm having a tough writing day i have a habit of not writing very fully. I can see where it's going, but I'm avoiding writing anything concrete.

16:25 - 49,059 words. STARVING. But I pushed forward with the story, it's a really fun bit to write. Writing about love, and truth, and how much you can hide from something before it takes over. I've reached a strange turning point now, being kinda halfway through. I can feel that I'm working towards an ending. It's a strange feeling as until today I was in the middle of everything, now there's a definite goal in site. Very strange. But, I'm not capable of writing another word until I've got some food inside me. Cornish pasty methinks.

16: 48 - Mmmmm, update brought to you by Ginster's Cornish Pasty and Quavers. Yummy. Interesting chat with housemate about the origins of the pasty which really is a food of the gods. Reckon I have about 1000 more words in me before I call it a day. That all important 50k mark is calling me.

16:57 - Dear housemate. Get out of the kitchen. You are distracting me. Need quiet.

17:06 OMG Exciting bit of the book! Really exciting! Everything that's been going on has been building up to this part where two parallel worlds finally crash together. I don't know what will happen when they do, but it's great fun to be in the middle of it. Still ,very aware I'm nowhere near finishing it and there's huge chunks of the middle that I need to write at some point over the next week, otherwise I'll finish the end before I've finished. Still, OMG excited and really enjoying myself. Yay.

17:25 50,011 Words. Yay! That's a great big huge milestone. Really chuffed! I've spent the last half an hour writing about what life without imagination would mean so that's been fun, if a tad depressing. I don't think you can have a life without imagination, but as my book rests a lot on it, it's been good for me to flip that on its head. Makes for a really interesting part of the book and gives me some more stuff to think about.

Liveblogging writing is strange. but fun. It's nice to see how many of you have been checking back to see what I've been up to :-) I've written a lot today, without even realising, and probably could force more if I wanted to. But I want to just have a think about some more ideas and tie up some loose ends. I need to go back to pen and paper to do that. But I'm done now and feeling happy with the work I've done. Time for a cup of tea.

A little while ago, I wrote a post about the hideous piece of blogging trash that is Reblogging Non Society. Some of you didn't really understand why I'd written so much, gone into so much detail, and really, why it bothered me so much.

I saw this video on Julia Allison's blog this weekend:

NO ONE should ever be made to feel like that. EVER.

Everyone has songs that make them think of certain things at certain times, and they're never the songs you think will be special. They surprise people, and even if they're rubbish, they'll still make you smile more than anything else. Songs are pretty magic like that. Here are some songs that make me smile. It's not a list of songs I ever expected to see together, and there's a few I've chosen to leave out. Some of the songs are musical genius, others are trashy pop. Every single one of them is special.

Losing My Religion - REM - reminds me of being 15, on holiday the west coast of France and kissing my first love while sat on a pin ball machine.

I LOVE this song. It's not exactly a happy song, but it reminds me of being 15 and drinking Bacardi and coke and feeling like summer (and my lovely young perfect romance) would last forever. And that's no bad thing. The boy in question is now engaged and has three beautiful kids. He's happy. I'm listening to this song on YouTube right now and have freakin' goosebumps. Goosebump music is my favourite kind.

Fascination - Alphabeat - reminds me of dancing at Secret Garden Party when I was 25.

Everything about Secret Garden was brilliant. EVERYTHING. But this song makes me thing of dancing with my friend Giacomo without a care in the world. He was dressed in a jester suit which made things even better. That festival turned my whole year around and changed my life in more ways than anyone could ever understand.

Walk On - U2 - Reminds me of being in Spain when I was 18.

Before Uni, I lived in Spain for three months (no reason, just jumped on a plane and got a job). If you're not Spanish, Spanish radio is crap. All that you can't leave behind was the only tape we had (yes, that was before CD players in hire cars existed) and I heard it at least four times a day for two weeks. I HATED it for months afterwards. Any U2 song drove me crazy, but after that intense hatred wore of, this song stuck and I love it.

 Into My Arms - Nick Cave - Reminds me of being in China when I was 21.

After Uni, i buggered off to China to teach English to little rugrats. This song reminds me of singing around a camp fire. Watching my friends John and Ross (two of the most decent blokes you could ever meet) sing this stunning song on John's guitar. It was brilliant. Nick Cave is pretty fabulous. I've only recently realised that.

 Nothing Man - Pearl Jam - Reminds me of the wonderful John Ezzy.

John taught me to play this on guitar in China. I wish I could remember how to play it. He's an amazing guy and I miss living with him. 90% of the laughs that we had on that trip were down to him. He's one of the cleverest, funniest and kindest men I know.

 Epic - Faith No More - Reminds me of my first crush at 14.

My first crush was on a guy called Craig Ratcliffe. He looked like Brad Pitt and I was besotted. I was about 14, maybe? I met him when he was with my friend T at the local drama group. They were playing Faith No More on the stereo although I don't remember why. I borrowed the tape (at the time it was an excuse to talk to the handsome grown up men - although they were only about 17!) but I love that song and the band. Luckily the cute boys I know have good taste in music.

Roadtrippin' - Red Hot Chili Peppers - Reminds me of Cristian

My friend Cristian died in a freak accident about 7 years ago. This song, among many others was played at his funeral. I can't listen to it a lot, it's too much. But when I do, it's special.

Kiss Me - Sixpence None The Richer - Reminds me of summers when I was a kid.

This song is my favourite summer song. I makes me think of summers that are a bit like Dawson's Creek. Of course, they don't happen in real life, but this song epitomises summer and can drag me out of even the darkest mood.

Golden Touch - Razorlight - Reminds me of quitting my sales job when I was 24.

I don't like Razorlight. Actually, I think Razorlight are pretty shit. But I was having a really tough "I'm going to cry at work if anyone talks to me" morning, and then this song blasted into my iPod as I got off the tube. By the time I got into work, I felt like I could kick ass. I did too. Whenever I'm having a bad day, or I'm not feeling very kick assy, I play this and it sorts me right out.

Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams - Reminds me of being at Uni.

I loved my last two years at Uni. I loved living with Sarah and buying three bottles of wine for a tenner. After our second glass, my Bryan Adams CD would come out and we'd play this. It reminds me of Sarah and uni and all the fun we had. Reminds me of cocktails in The North Pole and us thinking we were grown ups. We were just kids really. I miss her more than anyone.

Music is a very powerful thing. I've never been more compelled to pick up my guitar and bash out some chords.

There are NO PHOTOS of my fabulous party. If you weren't there, you might not even believe it happened, but we were all having far too much fun to take photos. Even the photographer who was there didn't bloody take any. Although he did throw a raspberry martini over my kitchen floor and clearing that up this afternoon was fun :-)

Here's what you missed:

BRILLIANT COCKTAILS, chats about whether or not I would stay married to someone who couldn't get it up (if you'd bothered to come, you'd know the answer to that), moaning about my bad music, NOT playing Girls Aloud, deciding who would marry my friend Sofia to keep her in the country, making jewellery conversations, lots of bellinis, not enough food, Eddie making RUBBISH cocktails A LOT, chats about why boys do silly things, catching up, being silly, giggling at nothing, girly squealing, me being a quite crap hostess and not answering the door or my phone ALL NIGHT. 

And catching up with some lovely people that I haven't seen in ages. It was really rather brilliant. You'll just have to imagine it.

Fabulous party. The best thing about living so far away from central, is that everyone buggers off by midnight to get the last train home. I was in bed by two and I don't have a headache now. I've got a bottle of bubbly left over too. WIN.

Lookit! Me getting my eyes tested!

I've decided that I like eye tests. Mostly because the lovely Ang is an eye doctor so I got to play and chat to her and find out about her holiday to the swanky hotel I stayed in in Sicily. Then we got to play with geeky science stuff and I read things. See? Geeky and booky. Happy making.

My eye sight has been getting worse over the last couple of months and it's been affecting my writing. There's certain letters I can't tell the difference between, so my proofreading is fucked. My eye sight isn't really really bad, but I've apparently got astigmatism in one eye, and I'm long sighted in the other, so I'm a bit wonky Hopefully now my writing will be back up to standard. On Tuesday I get to pick up my new glasses and practice my sexy secretary look, which is coming along nicely.

I've been a geek and I got to accessorise. I also bought a pretty new tea set. See? Eye tests are ace.

This song is... one of those songs that makes my tummy feel funny.

Domestic Sluttery is my exciting new project. GO! GO LOOK AT IT RIGHT NOW!

As it says at the top of the site, it's the home and lifestyle for women who have better things to do. This is probably going to be the most fun blog I've ever worked on. Because it's simple, it's fun and well, we're not taking it too seriously.

So who's 'we'?

Well me. But you know me already.

Jane, who was my deputy editor on Poppycockney. She now writes for Bitchbuzz and she's got her own serial fiction blog called Aimee and Alicia. Gemma is Shiny's fashion editor and she's the brains and bellinis behind Catwalk Queen. Robyn writes with me on WalletPop and we've been cheering each other's writing since our stints on Dollymix. And Jess, well I'm not really sure where Jess came from. We're online friends. Possibly we've known each other from reading Dollymix? We chat on Twitter, read each other's blogs and well, just generally get on great. She likes cakes and pretty things so I asked her if she wanted to scribble. A very good idea it was too.

So those lovely girls and myself will now be known to you as the Domestic Sluts. We're still getting used to emailing each other and saying "hey sluts" and the DomSlut bookmark folder on my laptop is amusing me. But really, everything about this blog is making me smile.

It's fun. And it's nice to have a blog that feels like an antidote to blogging. I spend a lot of my spare time faffing about, shopping for things that make my house look pretty. I also cook without really cooking. My idea of cooking is throwing stuff in the oven and then watching telly. I'm often not in, but when I am I love my house and I love it looking pretty. My favourite thing about the blog is that it's the kind of thing I would read.

The blog was accidental, it was a blog I was going to pitch to a publishing house before all those lovely job cut things kicked in. Damn them. Jane and I realised that we enjoyed the blog enough to carry on writing. It wasn't even meant to be on Blogger, but I just needed a clean slate to write on. I've been writing the blog for about four months. Then out of blue Robyn prettied it up and make it into a real website, not just a forgettable blog. The other girls got on board and now it's live. Simple. Nothing difficult. Nothing complicated. Just a fun, pretty blog that I'm really proud to edit. Accidental blogs might be the way forward. Maybe someone from Elle Decor will read it and give us accidental millions. But honestly, I don't care if they don't.

I hope you like it.

Image from Hallie Elizabeth.

I've had a relatively dull weekend if I'm honest. I've had too much work to go out and have fun, but it's been good to catch up and now I feel heaps better. But it's still been a fun weekend (is that the sign I'm a workaholic, or that I'm lucky enough to enjoy my job?)

I've discovered these things:

1. I can't tell the difference between normal latte and skinny latte.

2. I've just discovered ITunes is going to be my undoing. Is there a password I can add to it to ban myself?

3. I really really like Take That, despite hating them with a vengeance when I was a kid. I'm pleased I'm not a music snob.

4. I work better when I'm in a tidy room.

5. I sleep better when I'm in a tidy room.

6. I might live in the sticks, but I love my house and my housemates :-) I also love that my rent allows me to buy many many pairs of shoes each month.

7. I should cash cheques when I get them otherwise they expire. On the plus side, after forgetting to cash my birthday and Christmas cheques, I'm pretty rich now.

8. I spend over £50 on home and fashion magazines each month. I wouldn't do this if mainstream publishing houses didn't have shit websites.

9. Fleet Foxes make for an excellent Sunday soundtrack. It's made working on my new website and WalletPop all weekend actually rather fun. You get to see my new website tomorrow when it's live to the general public.

10. I'm really happy when I'm not under pressure. Most of the pressure I put myself under is my own doing. Hopefully this weekend I'll get enough written so that I can relax a little during the week and write into the future. Hopefully I won't catch up with myself any time soon. I'd like to see some of outside next weekend. I hear it's rather sunny out there.