Final Draft Fun.

image

Hey guys, so I'm *almost* finished the final draft of 18 Kisses.  I left Dublin and went home to Naas for a month to stay with my parents and brother while I was completing it.  My Mam's on holidays from work and thus is spoiling me rotten by cooking me dinners and listening to my final draft dramatics.

Being deprived of sleep and eating too much sugar and revising thousands of words a day can do strange things to a person. I thought I'd share some of the exchanges that have gone on around here in the past month, before I forget them!

I will talk to you all on Wednesday when I WILL BE FINISHED!! :)


My Dad (as we're driving up to Dublin): Could you not have done this last week?
Me: No, I have to observe Grafton Street at 10.15 a.m. on a non-bank holiday Sunday morning.
Dad: Right so.

Liam (on seeing all the empty packets on my desk): So, are jelly tots like your cocaine or something?
Me: ...yes.

Mam: Do you want me to get you more jelly tots or have you enough?
Me: More jelly tots!

Me: Liam, give me the name of a cool band!
Liam: You really need to start paying me for this...

My Mam and I on a research venture, standing on a farm gate, looking out into a field -
Me (very loudly): Could you bury the body there?
Mam: Yeah, definitely.  That'd be the perfect place for it.
Me: Is it not too obvious?
Mam: Ah no, nobody would find it there.
Me: ... I really hope nobody's listening to us.

Me:  Something smells.
Liam: It's you.

Mam: Are you okay, Laura?
Me: My keyboard is only typing symbols. I need to use my desktop.
Mam: Are you going to try fix the laptop?
Me: No, that's what it wants.

(at various times throughout the past week)
Dad: Are you okay? You look pale.
Mam: You look very pale.
My Godmother: Gosh, you look terrible.
Liam: You look like death.

Me: No sleep till 60k! *fist punch*

Mam (on hearing the fake crying coming from my writing room): Why are you crying, Laura?
Me: Because of all the words.

Vampire or Werewolf?

image

A few weeks ago, myself and two friends were sitting outside, enjoying the sunshine.  After we'd discussed more important things, the conversation naturally turned to boys.

"I don't know if I like him anymore... I think he's too much of a vampire."
"Yeah, he totally is.  You don't want a vampire, you want a werewolf."
"Definitely.  I need a werewolf."

My friend and I carried on this conversation for a few more minutes, while our other friend looked at us like we were insane.
"Hold on..." she said.  "Do you guys... divide men into two groups? Vampires and Werewolves?"
"Yes..."
*a few seconds of awkward silence*
"That's genius," she said.  "It's SO true."

The theory came to us after we'd watched Twilight on DVD a few times.  Now, I LOVE Twilight, but I'm not a big Edward fan, I totally prefer Jacob. We gradually started to notice similarities between Edward and some of the boys we'd come in contact with, and hence labelled them vampires.  Now, if you're on Team Edward, like some of our other friends are, you might actually want a vampire.  But we are on Team Jacob, so we want werewolves.

Vampires are guys who:
Over-analyse things (they make a giant deal out of little things, and talk about these things for hours.)
Do things that are annoying/crazy, then try to say that you are the cause of their behaviour (like when Edward leaves Bella alone for months, and tells her he only did it because he loves her. Whatever, Edward!)
Are over emotional to the point where it gets annoying.
Get possessive and seem to take a major disliking to your other male friends.
Sparkle at inappropriate times.
etc.

Werewolves are guys who:
Are much less draining than vampires.
Say what they mean, and do not play mind games.
Don't make a big deal out of little things.
Don't feel threatened by your friends.
Don't wear shirts very often.
etc.

But beware, because as well as your obvious vampires and werewolves, you will also find vampires masquerading as werewolves.  They will appear laid back and cool and totally not crazy, until you get to know them, when you'll find out that they are in fact more Edward than Jacob.

Take for example Rory's boyfriends from the awesome T.V. show The Gilmore Girls.  Dean would be your typical vampire.  Jess would be your typical werewolf. And Logan would be your typical vampire disguised as werewolf ("If you don't agree to marry me, I'm going to break up with you" is a line straight out of the Edward Cullen Guide to Dating.)

So, in my group of friends, the whole vampire/werewolf thing has kinda stuck. Do you subscribe to the theory?! :)

Thoughts for a Thursday

"You can love someone so much...But you can never love people as much as you can miss them." 

— John Green

Off I go, again!

Hey peeps, I'm taking another Internet break, this time to finish off the final draft of my second book (exciting!). I find it useful around deadlines to turn off my Internet and phone and basically detach myself from civilization, so I shall talk to you all in two weeks' time! Hope you're enjoying your summer so far :)

Mr. President?

I’ve been a fan of Senator David Norris since I was a teen. My Mum used to record programmes for me when he was on television, my Dad would ring me if he was on the radio and I'd even cut out and keep some of his interviews from newspapers. I rarely talk about current affairs or politics here (I find teenage fiction way more interesting...), but since I listed Senator David Norris as one of my heroes in my biography on this website, I thought I’d share my thoughts on him.    

For my non-Irish readers, Senator David Norris is a civil rights campaigner, Joycean scholar and was Ireland’s first openly gay politician. In 1988 he took a case against the State, which led to the decriminalization of homosexuality in Ireland. He is currently seeking a nomination for the 2011 Irish Presidential election. I would love him to be Ireland’s next President. Over the past few months he has topped several opinion polls but his campaign has also suffered knock backs, and it’s still not certain if he’ll secure a nomination.

Leading candidates often get the hardest time, but I think some media outlets have been particularly harsh on Norris -  dodgy poll questions, overly dramatic headlines, things being dug up from years ago that had either already been explained or are certainly not shocking enough to deny him a nomination. I suppose this kind of thing is to be expected in any election and I don't think any of it has that much of an effect on his supporters. I can understand why some people would be concerned, especially the way in which certain things were unveiled, but I didn't read anything that would change my opinion of the Senator. It seems that the real difficulty David faces is actually securing a nomination to allow him to run for President. I think if he does so, then he'll find he still has a huge amount of support from the Irish people.

The role of President of Ireland is mainly a figurehead position (the real power lies with our Taoiseach), but considering this I think it’s even more important to have someone like Norris in the position. Some people feel he’d be wasted in a figurehead role, but on the contrary I think he would be fabulous. Having somebody outspoken and super intelligent and enthusiastic representing our country is exactly what we need right now. We need a boost, and electing David Norris as President would give us that. 

I’ve also heard some people say that David is too radical and we need a less outspoken person representing us internationally. I think what Ireland needs right now is to be the life and soul of the party, not the guy sitting in the corner looking grumpy. 

A few years ago I was on a date, and was asked the question, 'What person, dead or alive, would you most like to have dinner with?'

     ‘David Norris!’ I said excitedly, without a second’s hesitation.  

     ‘Why do so many people love him?’ said my date with a sigh. He probably soon regretted asking, as I’m sure I prattled on for ages. But the list of reasons why people love David Norris is vast. He’s intelligent, he’s witty, he’s enthusiastic, he has campaigned and continues to campaign tirelessly for human rights, he’s stylish, he is charismatic and he answers every question with honesty (avoiding the art of skirting around the issue that so many politicians have perfected).  On that same date, I said if Senator David Norris ran for president, it would make my year. That probably makes me sound rather boring, but I wasn’t exaggerating. I’ll admit I’m not the most informed person when it comes to Irish politics. I enjoy researching topics before I vote on anything, but in general when a lot of politicians speak I find myself zoning out. But when Senator David Norris speaks, he has people in the palm of his hand. He makes me laugh and gives me hope and he just seems to always talk sense. 

While I don’t think it should be the focus, I do think that having an openly gay President would be pretty amazing. I think it would be an absolute triumph for David Norris to be first citizen of a country where less than 20 years ago it was a crime to be gay. Above all, what David Norris stands for is equal rights. Maybe I’m naive but I think his election would help the fight for marriage equality. For a start, the fact that same sex couples can’t marry in this country would go from being discriminatory and unfair, to also downright embarrassing.  

I hope David Norris gets a nomination and I hope he becomes president. Ultimately, I think it would lift the spirits of the nation. Obama visited us earlier this year, with his rock star persona and infectious enthusiasm and inspiring words. And although he gave us a boost, it wore off. We have our own political rock star, and I think he should be living in the Áras. 

But regardless of whether Senator David Norris secures a nomination or not, he'll always remain a hero of mine. 

*update August 2nd* Senator David Norris has ended his presidential campaign, after it became clear that he would be unable to get enough support from government members to secure a nomination. A missed opportunity for Ireland, I think. But as the Senator said himself in the speech he made today, quoting Samuel Beckett: 'Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.'


*update September* Due to enormous public support David decided to re-enter the race and has successfully secured a nomination! Woo! Vote Norris Number 1 :)