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Showing posts from 2007

Winter Warmers...

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# “A long December and there's reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last” # - Counting Crows I’m in a “tidy-up” sort of mood right now… I find that in life I can be the most messy person known to humankind, letting things pile up around the house, but every so often there comes a realisation and real motivation of “enough is enough” and I suddenly bolt into action and whiz through things with renewed energy - my wife incidentally thinks that I work some “Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo” Disney-style magic whenever I say I’m going to tidy up our living room and she comes in after just five minutes and it’s all clean (hint: this is where secret cupboards like the one in the background of the Monica’s apartment in Friends come in handy!) Anyway, with my writing too for the past few weeks I’ve been looking to round things off from the old year before all the things I've planned that are chattering away in my brain are let out as the new year begins. So it’s an excus

"Mulled Wine" (a tribute to a tutor)

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I'm adding a short post here today to bring some sad and unexpected news that's come my way this month about a writer I knew who's recently died. Her name was Chrissie Glazebrook and I was taught by her on the MA in Creative Writing I studied for a few years ago. Unfortunately Chrissie finally succumbed to a form of cancer she was suffering from for a long time - the full details of her career and life can be seen at this Guardian Obituary for her, and you can get a brief glimpse at her recent creative spark here , but I really just wanted to say something briefly here about the person I knew, who I will definitely look back on as one of the personalities in my formative years of trying to be a writer...

The Challenge Of Things To Come...

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# "It’s lonely out in space on such a timeless flight" # - Elton John "Zip-Zap-Zupow!" It's launch time... Are you ready? We are a-go for take-off... Back in January this year, in my 2007 preview post as well as in my 2007 "Coming Soon" stories post, I promised that come the late Autumn and year's close that there'd be the launch of a new "spin-off" series of space stories from my main novel of Moon Crater ... (I love that word "launch", especially since it ties in with the sci-fi aspect of "Moon Crater Adventures"...) So, just what are these stories going to be about? Well, for a long time, probably since I first began to blog I've had the crazy wild-eyed notion rolling around in my noggin about using a webpage with multiple-choice links to create an interactive online gamebook ... I used to love borrowing books of this kind from my local library when I was around the ages of 8 to 14, be they &q

Monday Afternoon Live!

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# If I had a wish, or even a choice, I'd wake up to the sound of your voice # - Barenaked Ladies I've been looking forward to October for the past five months - to a nice and relaxing time, with space to breathe after my "Big Write-Up” of the novel was done... And now it's here, it also means I've got time now to post a decent report on my experience being interviewed by a local theatre about my writing which took place in June this year…

The "Moon Crater" Write-Up, Week # 17 - "Lost for words..."

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# "Closing time... Time for you to go back to the places you will be from" # - Semisonic This was my grand plan back in May this year: "...to finish the novel I've been working on for about 8 years over a period of 5 months! All of the planning, plotting and preparation is over, it's time to just get down and write the blighter! Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to pass on some tips for other first-time writers as I discover them myself! So with a working title of Moon Crater , this is my week-to-week experience of its creation to complete-draft stage..." When I look at my writing output over the past year, I often find myself thinking back to when I was interviewed for the MA course in Creative Writing I did a few years ago. The head tutor asked if I was prepared to “Write in your lunch breaks and any spare five minutes you have like other struggling writers?” At the time I said I was, but during the time of that course and for a little while after, I

The "Moon Crater" Write-Up, Week # 16 - The End of the End... (an "epi pen" required?!)

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# "This is a list of what I should have been but I'm not..." # - Counting Crows The grand plan: to finish the novel I've been working on for about 8 years over a period of 5 months! All of the planning, plotting and preparation is over, it's time to just get down and write the blighter! Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to pass on some tips for other first-time writers as I discover them myself! So with a working title of Moon Crater , this is my week-to-week experience of its creation to complete-draft stage... Chris G. Allan (May to Sept ‘07) 3 things that I've achieved this week with my writing: * I’ve finished writing the novel that first came to me 8 years ago! * I’ve also in the process fulfilled an ambition that’s now 5 years old! * I’ve revisted an ongoing co-operative story from 2 years ago! A sentence from the new "Moon Crater" chapter: "Here you will rest forever and and a monument to you will be erected, so those you have

The "Moon Crater" Write-Up - Week # 15 - "The Ultimate Penultimate..."

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# "You still don't like to leave before the end of the movie..." # - Cake The grand plan: to finish the novel I've been working on for about 8 years over a period of 5 months! All of the planning, plotting and preparation is over, it's time to just get down and write the blighter! Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to pass on some tips for other first-time writers as I discover them myself! So with a working title of Moon Crater , this is my week-to-week experience of its creation to complete-draft stage... Chris G. Allan (May to Sept ‘07) 3 things that I've achieved this week with my writing: * I've brought the main story to a close for the main characters! * I've prepared and almost finished the introduction to a new story! * I've devised a story arc for a feathered friend I met a while ago! A sentence from the new "Moon Crater" chapter: Jo lowered her mobile, looking at the newspaper article, and said, "So, are you

The "Moon Crater" Write-Up Week # 14 - "What's in a name?"

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# "I can always change my name if that's what you mean" # - Counting Crows The grand plan: to finish the novel I've been working on for about 8 years over a period of 5 months! All of the planning, plotting and preparation is over, it's time to just get down and write the blighter! Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to pass on some tips for other first-time writers as I discover them myself! So with a working title of Moon Crater , this is my week-to-week experience of its creation to complete-draft stage... Chris G. Allan (May to Sept ‘07) 3 things that I've achieved this week with my writing: * I’ve written the penultimate twist in the novel's story! * I’ve discovered different times of the day are great for writing! * I’ve extended my current writing poll for more reader input! A sentence from the new "Moon Crater" chapter: “It’s you I’ve come to see actually, Gordon… I’ve got a message for you from Robert...”

The "Moon Crater" Write-Up Week # 13 - "Sarnies & Sound bites..."

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# “Inspired by true events and movie screens, I am a one-man wrecking machine…” # - Guster The grand plan: to finish the novel I've been working on for about 8 years over a period of 5 months! All of the planning, plotting and preparation is over, it's time to just get down and write the blighter! Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to pass on some tips for other first-time writers as I discover them myself! So with a working title of Moon Crater , this is my week-to-week experience of its creation to complete-draft stage... Chris G. Allan (May to Sept ‘07) 3 things that I've achieved this week with my writing: * I’ve completed a potentially difficult twin chapter denouement... * I’ve written the beginnings of a promised new sci-fi series... * I’ve vowed to venture into the audio world with my future redrafts... A sentence from the new "Moon Crater" chapter: Jo looked from the slowly-closing door, back at Billy and said with a grin, “We’ll have to rememb

The "Moon Crater" Write-Up, Week # 12 - Twin engines blazing...

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# "You see it all in 3-D, it's your favourite foreign movie" # - Nerina Pallot The grand plan: to finish the novel I've been working on for about 8 years over a period of 5 months! All of the planning, plotting and preparation is over, it's time to just get down and write the blighter! Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to pass on some tips for other first-time writers as I discover them myself! So with a working title of Moon Crater , this is my week-to-week experience of its creation to complete-draft stage... Chris G. Allan (May to Sept ‘07) 3 things that I've achieved this week with my writing: * I've discovered a magazine to aid my search for an agent. * I've written part of a difficult “twin chapters” section of the story. * I've glimpsed firsthand what the "celeb" me might look like. A sentence from the new "Moon Crater" chapter: Just inside the main doors, there was an old iron spiral staircase which disappeared

The Moon Crater Write-Up Week # 11 - "Laying the last pieces..."

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# "And, we're sorry, Mr Jones,... it's time..." # - Ben Folds The grand plan: to finish the novel I've been working on for about 8 years over a period of 5 months! All of the planning, plotting and preparation is over, it's time to just get down and write the blighter! Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to pass on some tips for other first-time writers as I discover them myself! So with a working title of Moon Crater , this is my week-to-week experience of its creation to complete-draft stage... Chris G. Allan (May to Sept ‘07) 3 things that I've achieved this week with my writing: * I've worked out more precisely how to reveal one of the minor surprises of the book with Chapter 21... * I've advanced my planning of "Moon Crater Adventures" with a little help from a professional... * I've been updating my main website content with little tweaks here and there... A sentence from the new "Moon Crater" chapter: "Ju

The "Moon Crater" Write-Up, Week # 10 - "Adjusting the clocks"

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# “I don’t remember... much of anything... of those years…” – Anya Marina The grand plan: to finish the novel I've been working on for about 8 years over a period of 5 months! All of the planning, plotting and preparation is over, it's time to just get down and write the blighter! Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to pass on some tips for other first-time writers as I discover them myself! So with a working title of Moon Crater , this is my week-to-week experience of its creation to complete-draft stage... Chris G. Allan (May to Sept ‘07) 3 things that I've achieved this week with my writing: * I’ve passed the three-quarters mark of the 1st draft! Only 6 chapters to go… * I’ve worked out properly the “paper trail” game of the hunt for the Missing Reel for my main website… * I’ve made some interesting research notes for a future “historical” series of stories that I want to write after Moon Crater … A sentence from the new chapter of "Moon Crater": Billy

The "Moon Crater" Write-Up, Week 9 - "Minding the gaps..."

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# "The disappearing nature of the people we have been, we have begun to change..." # - Adam Duritz The grand plan: to finish the novel I've been working on for about 8 years over a period of 5 months! All of the planning, plotting and preparation is over, it's time to just get down and write the blighter! Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to pass on some tips for other first-time writers as I discover them myself! So with a working title of Moon Crater , this is my week-to-week experience of its creation to complete-draft stage... Chris G. Allan (May to Sept ‘07) 3 things that I've achieved this week with my writing: * I've written out the main denouement/twist of the book... * I've been reminiscing about some early writting forays into comedy writing - a useful memory... * I've been upping the book's "emotional ante" more (or so I hope!) A sentence from the new "Moon Crater" chapter: Right at that moment Billy'

The "Moon Crater" Write-Up, Week # 8 - "Mourning lost Time?"

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# "A lot... goes... on... A lot... goes... on, but nothing happens!" # - Ben Lee The grand plan: to finish the novel I've been working on for about 8 years over a period of 5 months! All of the planning, plotting and preparation is over, it's time to just get down and write the blighter! Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to pass on some tips for other first-time writers as I discover them myself! So with a working title of Moon Crater , this is my week-to-week experience of its creation to complete-draft stage... Chris G. Allan (May to Sept ‘07) 3 things that I've achieved this week with my writing: * I've discovered that half an hour is just as good as an hour first thing in the morning for writing... * I've hopefully found a way to "advertise" the book more on the internet... * I've injected more emotional punch into the newest chapter than I'd originally envisaged... Sample sentence from the new "Moon Crater" chapter:

The "Moon Crater" Write-Up, Week # 7 - Yawns and sighs...

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# "I'm sick of this war I wage on myself... I don't know why I'm so gripped to go there, a universe riddle that only I know?" # - Nerina Pallot The grand plan: to finish the novel I've been working on for about 8 years over a period of 5 months! All of the planning, plotting and preparation is over, it's time to just get down and write the blighter! Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to pass on some tips for other first-time writers as I discover them myself! So with a working title of Moon Crater , this is my week-to-week experience of its creation to complete-draft stage... Chris G. Allan (May to Sept ‘07) 3 things that I've achieved this week with my writing: * I've beat a growing bout of writer's block brought on by lack of sleep! * I've realised I can produce good work at other times of the day than 6am! * I've potentially found a local children's writers group to attend! A sentence from the newest chapter of "

The "Moon Crater" Write-Up, Week # 6 - How long do you stay and chat for?

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# "Switch on the box, Mr Spock is on the table, Dr McCoy is unable to connect his brain..." # - Dan Wilson (Semisonic) The grand plan: to finish the novel I've been working on for about 8 years over a period of 5 months! All of the planning, plotting and preparation is over, it's time to just get down and write the blighter! Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to pass on some tips for other first-time writers as I discover them myself! So with a working title of Moon Crater , this is my week-to-week experience of its creation to complete-draft stage... Chris G. Allan (May to Sept ‘07) 3 things that I've achieved this week with my writing: * I've addressed niggling timeline probles and the ages of my main characters * I've introduced readers to and allowed a glimpse at the visual world of "Moon Crater" * I've made a potential contact for getting my writing "out there" and known A sentence from the newest chapter of "Moon

The "Moon Crater" Write-Up week # 5 - Oh, me of little voice!

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# "Everybody's gone, they left the television screaming that the radio's on..." # - Adam Duritz (Counting Crows) The grand plan: to finish the novel I've been working on for about 8 years over a period of 5 months! All of the planning, plotting and preparation is over, it's time to just get down and write the blighter! Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to pass on some tips for other first-time writers as I discover them myself! So with a working title of Moon Crater , this is my week-to-week experience of its creation to complete-draft stage... Chris G. Allan (May to Sept ‘07) 3 things that I've achieved this week with my writing: * I've written out for the first time an action scene that's been playing out in my head for ages! * I've conquered a small bout of writer's block over said scene above! * I've drawn a few new conclusions about the best way to end a chapter! A sentence from the newest chapter of "Moon Crate

1st Draft Interlude - "A Fan Too Far?"

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lert! Hacker Alert! Hacker Alert! Hacker Alert! Hacker Alert! Hac It's a sad post to begin my 'new template' look to this blog but it's also an ironically fitting twist in my "Year of Fear" motif that the mysterious Time Warp, a fan I reported on a few weeks back in the News section has taken a step too far this week. As I said, I intended to keep a close eye on developments over at his 'fan' page and apart from a few grumbled ramblings about me being too cryptic about Moon Crater, it appeared to be harmless stuff... But yesterday, lo and behold, there appeared on his page a YouTube video which shows my very own study and desk!

The "Moon Crater" Write-Up week # 4 - Beginning the end...

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# "I've got to begin again, though I don't know where to start... Yes, I've got to begin again, and it's hard..." # - Billy Joel The grand plan: to finish the novel I've been working on for about 8 years over a period of 5 months! All of the planning, plotting and preparation is over, it's time to just get down and write the blighter! Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to pass on some tips for other first-time writers as I discover them myself! So with a working title of Moon Crater , this is my week-to-week experience of its creation to complete-draft stage... Chris G. Allan (May to Sept ‘07) 3 things that I've achieved this week with my writing: * I've finally written down a difficult sequence that I wasn't too confident about in Chapter 14... * I've made a decision of "taking a risk" with my writing to look again for ways to read my work in public... * I've successfully completed the first month of the new working e

The "Moon Crater" Write-Up week # 3 - Headings for History...

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# "Elevator to the moon, whistling our favourite tune, trying to get a closer view" # - Guster The grand plan: to finish the novel I've been working on for about 8 years over a period of 5 months! All of the planning, plotting and preparation is over, it's time to just get down and write the blighter! Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to pass on some tips for other first-time writers as I discover them myself! So with a working title of Moon Crater , this is my week-to-week experience of its creation to complete-draft stage... Chris G. Allan (May to Sept ‘07) 3 things that I've achieved this week with my writing: *** I've come to a dazzling realisation and important decision about this journal blog... *** I've made some giant leaps in forwarding the story of one of my sub-blog pages... *** I've placed a certain bowler-hatted slapstick pair more in Moon Crater than I realised they would be... A sentence from the newest chapter of "Moo

The "Moon Crater" Write-Up week # 2 - Time & Space...

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# “Cos you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable, and life's like an hourglass, glued to the table” # - Anna Nalick The grand plan: to finish the novel I've been working on for about 8 years over a period of 5 months! All of the planning, plotting and preparation is over, it's time to just get down and write the blighter! Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to pass on some tips for other first-time writers as I discover them myself! So with a working title of Moon Crater , this is my week-to-week experience of its creation to complete-draft stage... Chris G. Allan (May to Sept '07) 3 things that I've achieved this week with my writing: *** I kept to my new writing routine and early "get-ups" (a small miracle, on past experience!) *** I placed the present "state" of my tome in my mind (in relation to sending off to agents) *** I gained greater control over my overall writing output and how it's presented to my "a

The "Moon Crater" Write-Up Week # 1: Back to Basics...

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# “What a beautiful day... I'm the king of all time... and nothing is impossible in my all powerful mind” # – The Levellers The grand plan: to finish the novel I've been working on for about 8 years over a period of 5 months! All of the planning, plotting and preparation is over, it's time to just get down and write the blighter! Hopefully along the way I’ll be able to pass on some tips for other first-time writers as I discover them myself! So with a working title of Moon Crater, this is my week-to-week experience of its creation to complete-draft stage... Chris G. Allan (May to Sept '07) 3 things that I've achieved this week with my writing: *** A brand new chapter is complete... *** I've resolved a niggling plot point regarding a runaway wheelie thing... *** I've set in motion a new, regular writing routine for myself... A sentence from the newest chapter of "Moon Crater": "I know that thing's older than the Freezer but we&#

Huge April updates, my friends...

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# "But I’m gonna burn, I’m gonna shine and multiply, I’m gonna fill up the great divide" # - Anya Marina As the results of the 2nd Fiction Decisions Poll trickle in, I thought I'd report on some cool news, some disappointing news, and hopefully, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, some downright earth-moving news (for me anyway)... A little while ago, I read an article on Blogger about blogging your novel (not something I plan to do, incidentally) but what I do intend is to keep writing and writing, and writing – one way the article suggests is to post “promises” on your blog of things to come and it’ll somehow make you keep to it, because it's in the public domain... For such a long time I was someone who loved to announce, “I’m a writer”, but actually looking back now, I can admit, I didn’t do that much regular writing...

The 2nd "Moon Crater" Fiction Decisions Poll

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# "Big brother’s got keys and I got Jackson Cannery!" # Ben Folds CGAllan is keen to give YOU the chance to decide how the story of his novel turns out! It's back and it's as big as before - it's... The 2nd Moon Crater Fiction Decisions Poll! Since the 1st Decisions Poll... back in October 2006, I've been using that poll's results as I continue to write the newest parts of Moon Crater, as well as changing details regarding the two main characters of Billy and Jo while I go back over existing chapters - true to my word, I'm going to use all of those results in my story and stick to them - the choices you helped me make late last year are already having a bearing on the plot of Moon Crater and now I'm giving readers another chance to help shape the world of my novel...

Spring cleaning! March news snippets...

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# "Gonna get dressed for success, shaping me up for the big-time..." # - Per Gessle The weather is gloriously bright (but cold) today as I look out of my window at work, past the 1960s brickwork of the adjacent building and on upwards into the blue skies of the changing seasons... I've been getting into the spirit of spring this week and have sprung into action to some much-needed overhauling of one of my blogsites... (NB - addendum 2012 - the following blog links are now broken links but the stories contained on them all now appear at: http://www.findthemissingreel.com )

An anachronistic his story?

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# "We didn't start the fire - it was always burning since the world's been turning..." - Billy Joel I’m a real “geeky fan” of whatever TV show or series of books I get into... I always need to know the small details of characters' back stories and always get caught up in the "extra media" that comes out to accompany the main work that got me into a particular storyline in the first place. If it's not sci-fi stories that I'm "into", then, it's historical adventures and whenever I read or watch these kinds of stories I tend to obsess about timelines and how this world fits into our real established history, be it Elizabethan times, the Napoleonic era or even the early 20th century...

February's quickie news bits

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# "Careless talk, I don't believe what they say..." - Billy Joel Just a brief update on a new and exciting venture I've launched to link in with major changes I'm planning for probably the end of March time for this blog in particular. (If you're a regular reader here, you might have guessed it already) Yep, I've set up another new blogspot! You may remember a post here around last June time I did about very short short stories: A blatant Roxette rip-off! Well, I've been knee-deep writing the longish middle chapters of Moon Crater recently and started thinking about those mini-epics that can tell all-encompassing stories in only a few lines... And so because I want to write more of these soon, "Teeny Tiny Tales" has been born: http://www.teenytinytales.blogspot.com (NB - addendum 2012 - this page of tiny tales is now featured here: http://www.findthemissingreel.com/miniepics/ )

Ways to beat an all-too-early mid-life crisis...

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# "We know of an ancient radiation. that haunts dismembered constellations..." - John McCrea Recently, I've been pondering on exactly where that sort of "primal urge" comes from for we humans to want to make journeys to places that are so ancient and connected to all our pasts...

Get in for the trailers before the main feature begins!

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# "If dreams are like movies, then, memories are films about ghosts..." (Adam Duritz) I love film trailers... If I'm ever going to the cinema with friends I think I'm a bit awkward when I say that we absolutely must be in the screen and sat down comfortably, popcorn and drink already purchased, before the previews for upcoming films start. For me, it's all part of the cinema-going experience. (And with the cost of a cinema ticket now, it doesn't seem as if you're getting your money's worth if you don't see the trailers too!) Film trailers in themselves are like mini-movies - a lot of the time they admittedly include scenes that aren't actually in the film they're previewing - but I'm definitely a trailer addict. I remember going to Saturday morning screenings at our local Odeon cinema in Newcastle with my brother when we were younger, and more than the film we were going to see, we would be itching to see the trailers of future re

A 2006 Review & 2007 sneak peak preview!

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# "Turn the clock to zero, boss, the river's wide, we'll swim across - started up a brand new day" - Gordon Sumner Happy New Year, everyone! So, how was your Christmas holidays, then? I saw lots of family and mainly had a restful time - this was a sort of "forced" rest due to the fact that I had a chest infection which I'm still feeling the effects of even now, but it was a rest nonetheless... This respite over the holidays also helped me to think back across the last year and take stock of my writing efforts thus far through my blog, whilst still looking forward to what I hope to achieve in this new year. So in an effort to encourage me on towards new writing goals I want to set down in this post a sort of review of the past year and a preview of the shape of things to come in the hunt for the Missing Reel in 2007...