Want to see some of the photos from the shoot with Sophie? I was so impressed with the dress she made, she’s clearly a natural. She did a great job with the editing, too!
As you can imagine, it was bloody freezing in that underpass. Obviously these photos are resized to fit the page width – just drag the image to the URL bar to view the fullsize, I’ve uploaded them all to my own server, so no one’s bandwidth is getting pinched.
It was worth all of the shivering and numbness, I think. 
She’s going to do very well at her course, that much is for certain.
More progress this week, but in other areas. Yesterday I came home late from work (seriously, Christmas opening hours take the absolute piss) to find that the proof copy of my stories collection had arrived from Lulu. I started reading through it today, over coffee.
Looking good, huh? As I’ve been working through it, I’ve noticed a lot of formatting errors…this doesn’t surprise me. I did lose my mind at various points throughout the process…and of course, I have to do it all over again! It’s difficult to read the stories with an objective eye, though. I might take it into work tomorrow and ask people to read a story on their break, or something. Who better to ask for constructive criticism than other passionate readers? In my experience, other writers aren’t all too helpful. It’s all tactics and ego and chased flattery. At least someone who doesn’t know that side of me will tell me honestly if it’s shit, knowing they aren’t seeking my opinion on their own work in return.
I’m looking forward to seeing the illustrations (especially the cover!) as it sounds like Dan’s been working hard. It’s gonna be good. Once this project is out of the way, I have various things to keep me occupied. I still need to work on The Icarus Files, and record some vocals for Marley, and Harry at work mentioned the other day that he wants to collaborate on a graphic novel type project… good lord. Where will I find the time? I realise now that if I want to do a good job, I have to concentrate on one thing at a time. Though it’s going to be fun getting to grips with all of these different ideas, I know that, above all, the Chronicles of Nom needs finishing. That is my goal for 2010 – not just to complete this current draft, but to actually finish it, and get it ready for publication. Nom is more important than anything else, and I will remember that. Everything else will have to work its way around it.
