There are several stories about Mary’s death, including that she was discovered to be wearing a wig to cover her grey hair (surely not a surprise given that she was 44). The most touching is that a small dog was found to have been hiding in her clothes, who afterwards refused to be parted from his owner. Perhaps Mary had clung to the dog as a comfort. It might go some way to explaining her reported grace and steadiness on the block, even managing to joke with her executioner.

Elizabeth was furious that her privy council had disobeyed her order and threw the councillor she had entrusted with the warrant into prison. For Mary, however, Elizabeth’s regret came too late.

And this:

Unfortunately both trips to the Alps resulted in a nasty cold, one of which haunted me over Christmas, the other is still haunting me now. Some of you might think this serves me right, galavanting about in the snow.. I secretly agree with you.

With one thing and another, it has been a bit of a slow start to 2013. Creatively, it’s been an incredibly slow start to the year. So, to kickstart 2013, I thought I’d come up with 13 Aims for 2013. Here they are:

1) Learn to more confidently use the manual settings on my SLR.

2) Join an art class.

3) Finish draft 2 of my 2011 NaNoWriMo novel.

4) Write draft 2 of my 2012 NaNoWriMo novel.

5) Plan and write a novel for NaNoWriMo 2013.

6) Get back in the habit of writing everyday – join in with ROW 80 for inspiration.

7) Join a Yoga or Pilates class.

8) Travel to a country I’ve never been to before.

9) Volunteer for charity work.

10) Eat more healthily but learn to cook more exotically.

11) Try something completely new.

12) Read read read.

13) Have more fun.

At the end of 2013, I’ll come back and let you know how I’ve done on each. Now, what are your aims for 2013? If you have your own blog, why don’t you join in and post up your own aims (remember to come back and post the link!). If you don’t have your own blog, why not post in my comments and let me know what you’ll be aiming for this year?

To honour the anniversary of the death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91), here is the most beautiful and moving of all his incredible compositions: Lacrimosa from the Requiem Mass.

For those of you taking part in NaNoWriMo for the first time, here are the top five things I learnt last year:

1) Plan, Plot and Prep: Write a basic plan, even if it is only one sentence. If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know which path to take? Having a plan will also help you on days when you feel lost or like your creative juices have run dry. If you haven’t done one yet, don’t worry, there is still time. Last year I re-wrote my entire plot on day three. Given that I’m feeling slightly uncertain about the plan I’ve come up with for novel #2, I suspect I will end up doing so again.

2) Bum In Chair: Make writing your priority, just for one month. Forget the laundry, it’ll wait. If you feed your family on ready meals for a month, who cares? Big Picture, everyone. This is your month for putting your writing first. Everything else can wait. Conversely, try not to freak out about the Big Picture. 50,000 words seems like a whole lot of words when you’re sitting down on November 1st. The trick is to just concentrate on each day as it comes, 1667 words at a time. If something comes up that really can’t wait and you miss a day, or several days, don’t panic. Just keep moving forward.

3) The internet will steal your novel: All writers have a common enemy: procrastination. If procrastination is the devil, the internet is his Mephistopheles. Say your character talks about their holiday in Spain but you’ve never been, don’t fall into the trap of thinking ‘I’ll just google some information on Spain, it’ll only take a few minutes‘. It won’t. It never does. Before you know it you’ll be watching bull fights on youtube and your time will be up. Never look anything up. Got that? Never. If I come across something I need to research I write [Research]. Just like that. Then I write the scene without the fleshy details or I move on to the next part. Believe me, if you let it the internet will reach up and grab you. You’ll wake up in twenty years and think ‘what happened to that novel I wanted to write?’ and you’ll know the truth, the internet stole it. If you have trouble keeping off the internet, make the NaNoWriMo website your homepage for November to focus your attention.

4) NaNoWriMo is not a whipping tool: NaNoWriMo is a brilliant inspiration to write but don’t use it as a means to punish yourself. You’ll come across people who say ‘I wrote 5,000 words today’ or ‘I’m already at 40,000!’ on day three. If you are one of these people, I’m extremely jealous, but this isn’t how I work. I chisel away a little each day. Try it, it’s much easier than setting unrealistic goals for yourself and then punishing yourself when you “fail”. If you fall behind, just keep going, every word you write is a step forward. This is also why I believe in 3a) Give yourself lots of little treats along the way. A chocolate bar when you have finished your day’s writing, a dram of whisky, whatever floats your boat. It’s only for a month, and you’ve worked so hard, give yourself some love.

5) Writing Buddies: Develop a support network. There are loads of supportive people on the NaNoWriMo site, which is why I’d always encourage participants to join up. The forums are teeming with wrimos on hand to encourage others, offer advice and help one feel less lonely. Try as well to get someone in the real world on your side, whether they are participating or not. Having someone else at home to field questions about the laundry pile, or better still to take on some of your chores for the month, will make a world of difference. I also found it invaluable having a friend in-the-know who called me once in a while to see how I was doing, or who I could call in times of need. Someone who would calmly talk me down from the ledge and remind me of why I decided to be a writer in the first place and that ‘it isn’t 50,000 words, it’s 1667!’

Loving this print on Etsy.com – click for link

To those doing NaNoWriMo, leave me a comment and let me know if you’ve got any tips or tricks, or if you just want a buddy. To those ROWers who aren’t participating in NaNoWriMo, good luck with your goals and I’ll try and pop by your blogs to say hi during the month. Meanwhile my blog may be on the quiet side for the next few weeks, but don’t let that fool you: I haven’t forgotten you.

A beautiful example of Jacobean architecture and packed with treasures of all sorts, Hatfield is definitely worth a visit. Our impromptu trip there a couple of weeks ago caught me without my camera, so these pics are from my iPhone instead. The sculptures are by Xavier Veilhan and were on display in the West Garden.

Taken for Sweet Shot Tuesday, to find out more visit Kent Weakley’s blog.

*All photos taken with iPhone

My Return to ROW80:

I know, I’m a few days late in joining ROW80 Round 4, but better late than never, right?

I last posted a check-in during Round 2 and had been looking forward to joining in with Round 4, so I sat down yesterday to write up my goals. I almost didn’t post them however, after a debate began between some sponsors and fellow ROWers about whether we should include non-writing goals in our check-ins and whether we should post our goals at the end of normal blog posts. As I primarily see ROW80 as a fun tool to inspire/encourage myself and others to write (and to live healthy and full creative lives) the idea of ‘rules’ and ‘misdemeanours’ had me questioning whether I still wanted to participate in ROW80.

Thankfully Kait Nolan, the creator of ROW80, posted up a wonderful blog post today which has brought me back to ROW80. I love that she is so open about us having fun with our ROW80 check-ins and I look forward to reading other ROWers blog posts in the next 80 days. I knew I loved ROW80 for a reason!

If there are any writers out there who are looking for a writing challenge that will help keep you motivated and will provide a great sense of community, I couldn’t recommend ROW80 more.

Now, on to my goals:

1. Write

I’m doing NaNoWriMo again this year, which means I’m getting myself ready this month. I have plotted a new novel but something is still bothering me about the storyline. Hopefully I can work out what that is and fix it before November. Meanwhile I’m busy doing some research, which includes books on Jousting in the Elizabethan age (I know, it’s been done to death in novels, but I love it).

2. Read, read, read

Like most writers, I love to read (although sometimes I take this a bit far and read when I should be writing, hmm). I am going to aim for one book a week. At the moment I’m reading Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon and Jamie and Claire are currently with Dougal, visiting the Mackenzie tenants.. *please don’t tell me what happens!* I hope to have finished by the weekend and can select my next book.

3. Photography

I lost some of my confidence taking photos due to some insensitive comments from others during the summer but I’m determined to get back on the horse. I am learning, I mustn’t expect my photos to be professional quality immediately. I have only been taking photography seriously for less than a year. I will give myself a break and get back to taking photos for fun, which, after all, is the best way to learn.

4. Eat, Pray, Love

Life is about balance, and this is especially true of writers. There are many writers who can drink, stay up all night, eat unhealthily and not exercise. Most of the time, I’m not one of them. I need balance, I need to eat right, take time out for myself, exercise and spend time with my husband and doggy. During this time I’ll be aiming to create heathy habits for myself, especially when it comes to eating and exercising. If I have any interesting breakthroughs or bumps in the road, I’ll be sure to blog about them.

5. Blogging

I have been a little slack with my blog recently. I keep thinking of great things to blog about but finding time to sit down and write the posts is a big stepping stone. I will make more of an effort. I hope to post check-ins on Wednesdays and one other blog post each week. Let me know if you have any requests!

Fellow ROWers, please leave a comment and let me know how you’re getting on!

Montrésor is a wonderful mixture of home and museum, relaxed in it’s atmosphere and the owner’s treatment of visitors is trusting. We were able to wonder at leisure, take photographs, encouraged to ask questions but not watched. The castle houses a rich, intriguing and amusing collection of artefacts, books, paintings and objects. I will let the photographs tell you the rest.

Berthe Morisot by Edouard Manet, 1873.

The above, housed at the Cleveland Museum of Art, is of the painter Berthe Morisot by her brother-in-law, Edouard Manet. Berthe glances nervously towards the artist, her hair dishevelled, her lips parted as if caught in mid-sentance, her body hiding beneath the dark embrace of her winter coat and muff. I love this painting of Morisot, though it is only one of many which Manet painted of her.

For those who’ve never heard of Morisot, here is a brief introduction: Morisot was a French Impressionist painter, one of the best known female artists in the late 19th century. Yet she is still relatively unknown to the public compared to the pillars of Impressionist art: Cezanne, Degas, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir and Sisley. I would like to see this altered.

Morisot was lucky for a woman born in the 1840s, her family allowed her to pursue painting as a career. She and her sister, Edma, studied under Camille Corot in Paris. She had already been exhibiting for several years by the time she met Edouard Manet. He was to have a great impact on her career yet she was also to play a largely uncredited role in his: it was Morisot who introduced Manet to the Impressionists and who encouraged him towards plein air painting. Manet’s painting would never be the same again. Nor would his family, as a year after the above was painted, Morisot married Manet’s brother, Eugene. They had a daughter, Julia Manet, whose memoir, Growing Up With The Impressionists, gives fascinating insight into the workings of the Impressionist group and the lives of it’s members.

Morisot’s paintings are some of my favourite Impressionist pieces. There are many exhibited in the National museums of the world. Next time you spot one, let me know!

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