Good Deeds Year 2, Week 8

Welcome to my second Year of Good Deeds, a challenge I set myself during April 2013. I decided to do at least one Good Deed a day for a whole year.

During my week I’ll also being updating you on My Kindness Challenge which I’m also doing. I read about a new challenge to make the world a better place to live in. “Speak Kind Words, Receive Kind Echoes” see the inspiration on  The Kindness blog . During my learning process I’m donating money to charity for my slip-ups to make me work harder to achieve results. I earn no money from any of my book reviews, so having little to spare should focus my mind.

This week I’ve been doing the following;

June 8th – Am reading an ARC of Ignoring Gravity by Sandra Danby. Downloaded and promoted The Silence of Juliet Mann by Joanne Phillips a 45 page novelette with all profits going to The British Stammering Association.

June 9th – My morning of volunteering at school ticks of my Good Deed today. My name’s down to provide the  cricket teas this evening too. It tried very hard to rain but the cricket played on, picked up litter and did extra tidying in the clubhouse kitchen while I did the teas.

June 10th – A work morning. Such a lovely sunny day that I spontaneously stopped off on the way home at a countryside site and walked to Odiham castle. It was from here that King John road to Runnymead to sign the famous Magna Carta. Now just a flint ruin it is preserved for those like me who wonder at what it’s seen in the 800 years it’s been standing there. Picked up litter on my walk, I circled round along the Basingstoke canal watching dragonflies dancing round the reeds and crossed the field to the river Whitewater where there is a ford across a small road.

For everyone still at a complete loss as to the rules and language of cricket I’ve found a site and a book written by Mums which explains it all. All about Boys have written a book called “Stumped By Cricket – A mother’s translation” available for Uk and overseas deliveries.

June 11th – Just small good deeds today. Helped out a fellow author with a bit of advice this morning, agreed to read and review another book and of course there was my book review post and all my social media sharing.

June 12th – Today I sponsored some friends who are running a Race for Life in aid of Breast Cancer. My friend survived her own battle with the disease and now runs in aid of others. Finished reading two books today Some People Prefer Hotels, Motorhome Novices Tour Cornwall by Nigel R. Hicks and The Silence of Juliet Mann by Joanne Phillips

Good deeds received; My friend dropped the oldest child home after the college bus broke down in town.

June 13th – A lovely ending to another glorious summer day. The village cricket green is awash with families all enjoying the sun while the lads play cricket. Shared my food and comfy cushion with friends but fell off the kindness wagon, so must donate to my charity pot. Drafted up my book reviews for the August editions of the magazine’s I write for as copy deadlines are near due to the upcoming summer holidays.

June 14th – Finished reading Dispassionate Lies by Eileen Schuh and began reading The Mystery Box by Eva Pohler. My book post today was for a lovely group of ladies who put together over 50 short stories, Flash Fiction and Drabbles, well worth a read, here is the link to “Suppose” http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5cw

Good Deeds Year 2, Week 7

Welcome to my second Year of Good Deeds, a challenge I set myself during April 2013. I decided to do at least one Good Deed a day for a whole year.

During my week I’ll also being updating you on My Kindness Challenge which I’m also doing. I read about a new challenge to make the world a better place to live in. “Speak Kind Words, Receive Kind Echoes” see the inspiration on  The Kindness blog . During my learning process I’m donating money to charity for my slip-ups to make me work harder to achieve results. I earn no money from any of my book reviews, so having little to spare should focus my mind.

This week I’ve been doing the following;

June 1st – Today the two local magazines that I write book reviews for uploaded their online versions, so I sent out my promotional post and tweeted and e-mailed the authors who had books featured. Any appreciation you feel for the book review features can be e-mailed to the editor alex@fleetlife.org.uk or alex@ehd.org.uk Here is a link to my post http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5eS

June 2nd – I’m getting better at the kind comments if I don’t rush into a conversation, but stop and think about my reply first. Today was my morning helping out at school, the first Monday back after a week of school holidays. Finished reading Gypsy by Cynthia Harrison and sent off my review.

June 3rd – Stayed on at work today and did some extra filing that I hadn’t been asked to do, but which needed doing. Went straight on to read book 2 in the Travelling Girls series by Cynthia Harrison and finished reading Sweet Melissa in one evening.

June 4th – Sent off my review for Sweet Melissa and began reading A Gunman’s Destiny by Randy Mixter. Went to see my parents and sorted a couple of computer queries. Thought I did pretty well with my kindness challenge when Mum talked about all the latest village goings on.

June 5th – Sent off my review of A Gunman’s Destiny. Went into town and bought a shirt at a charity shop rather than brand new, for a fancy dress party we are going to in a couple of weeks time. Met friends and now I need to add a £1 to my charity Kindness pot, let my mouth run away with me again! But I am learning from it.

June 6th – Had my hair cut today and left tips for the lovely ladies. Oh Goodness!  A kindness challenge! Once we’d covered my weekend and holiday plans the conversation just waited to be filled with a good moan. I had to dodge several pot-holes in the conversation and tried to disappear into my book, but eavesdropping on other clients was interesting, most were failing in areas of kindness. Am reading Archer of the Lake by Kelly R Michaels.

My son has 6 cricket matches in the next 7 days so think of me will you;

CHEF – “quick get in the car, I forgot to turn the vegetable off before I rushed to pick you up from school, I was trying to get dinner cooked early” Rally drives out of the car-park on two wheels!

TAXI DRIVER – Late to match, abandons car in a great space, later realising the front windscreen faces oncoming hard cricket balls when hit for a 6.

WASHER-WOMAN – Tries hopelessly to get grass and mud stains out of cricket whites, sends son off in “nearly whites”

SUPPORTER – Sits dutifully on the side-lines for 2.5 hours, freezing as the sun goes down and the wind blows. Misses all of son’s best moments because I was either chatting to someone else or secretly reading a book behind large dark glasses and feigning interest in the game.

LISTENER – Dutifully nods and makes appropriate noises to the post-match blow-by-blow analysis which lasts all the way home and for the rest of the day or night with rest of the family joining in. Not expected to make any useful contribution as calling the Umpire the “Referee” and asking why they didn’t use the “off-side ruling” doesn’t go down well.

BEST MUM THERE IS  – Replying to all the e-mails from the team managers, providing cricket teas when asked, finding the obscure village cricket pitch on an old fashioned paper map when Google gets lost, making sure there’s a fresh drink in the bag for each match and taking out the stale bottle days later. Washing all those sets of whites in time for the next match and being there for when things didn’t go too well.

June 7th – Finished reading Archer in the Lake and sent off my review. Rain this morning meant cricket was cancelled, we had a game last evening at a picturesque village cricket green out in the English countryside with warm sun and a win for our team. The sun came out this afternoon and I went for a lovely walk this evening and picked up litter along my way.

 

Good Deeds Year 2, week 6

Welcome to my second Year of Good Deeds, a challenge I set myself during April 2013. I decided to do at least one Good Deed a day for a whole year.

During my week I’ll also being updating you on My Kindness Challenge which I’m also doing. I read about a new challenge to make the world a better place to live in. “Speak Kind Words, Receive Kind Echoes” see the inspiration on  The Kindness blog . During my learning process I’m donating money to charity for my slip-ups to make me work harder to achieve results. I earn no money from any of my book reviews, so having little to spare should focus my mind.

This week I’ve been doing the following;

May 25th – Finished reading Fallen for Rock by Nicky Wells and sent off my review. Will be starting The Birr Elixir by Jo Sparkes next. Have agreed to read and review two more books, Fairy and Blood: Lilac by William Crisel and Archer of the Lake by Kelly Michaels. Cricket was cancelled this morning so my chance to lend some plastic cups out as a good deed was scuppered. So it’s all book good deeds today.

May 26th – Continuing with my big book edit of my own book to make it a much better read. I’m procrastinating too much, but when I do sit down and get on with it I enjoy myself mixing with all the characters again. Finished reading and sent off my review of The Birr Elixir by Jo Sparkes Today I’m reading Derek’s Good Relations by Mac Black. We have the in-laws coming for tea, this will be a big challenge for my kind comments because they love a good moan and have a lot of negative talk. Perhaps I can find a lovely reward for myself if I make it through, there’s chocolate in the cupboard! Hmmm!

May 27th – The baby birds have flown, (we had a camera in a bird-box and watched as a blue-tit laid 7 eggs and raised her young) but sadly nature has been cruel, Magpies have seen the flight and at least one has bitten the dust. I’ve been out to chase them away but they have their own young to feed.

Picked up some litter this evening.

May 28th – Finished reading Derek’s Good Relations by Mac Black. Sent off my review. Picked up some litter whilst out for a walk. The kindness challenge is going well this week, it helps that we haven’t been out for a couple of days.

May 29th – The June issue of Fleet Life has been delivered today. My book reviews are on page 6 this month. The on-line version will be out shortly, meanwhile the following books have been featured; Tall, Dark and Kilted by Lizzie Lamb, The Black Hours by Alison Williams, The 20’s Girl, The Ghost and All That Jazz by June Kearns, Saving Our Pennys by Roy Dimond and Jeff Leitch and Black Rose by Jenna Ryan.

Bumped in to a friend in the supermarket and practised by Kind words challenge. Rose to the challenge when my brother phoned wanting accounting work started and completed before tomorrow, definitely one needing special care with the kind words.

May 30th – An opportunity to help out a friend in need today, with a broken car and a child in hospital we are able to pick up her son and take him to cricket.

Have just written the book review drafts for the July issues of Fleet Life and Elvetham Heath Directory. Just awaiting the June editions to go on-line.

May 31st – Finished reading Fairy and Blood: Lilac by William Crisel and sent off my review. Went out for afternoon tea with friends and took flowers for my hostess. Tested my kind words challenge again this afternoon. May have to put a £1 in the pot! Am now reading Gypsy by Cynthia Harrison.

Good Deeds Year 2, week 5

Welcome to my second Year of Good Deeds, a challenge I set myself during April 2013. I decided to do at least one Good Deed a day for a whole year.

This week I’ve been doing the following;

May 18th – Any one who is now a regular follower of my Good Deeds will know that last week I read about a new challenge to make the world a better place to live in. “Speak Kind Words, Receive Kind Echoes” see the inspiration on  The Kindness blog . So me being me, I decided to give it a go, starting small I managed 24 hours, then moved on for another 24. I had a couple of wobbles in my first 24 hours and 3 failures today (For each slip up I’ll put a £1 in a jar for charity) First my Mum came over with all the gossip from the family, village and local community and that’s a BIG hazard for me, all that lovely gossip about people and their failings topped with a good moan about the family. I caught myself partaking in a bit of negative moaning – there goes a pound I thought, then another slipped off my tongue opps! Next I went and commented on an e-mail having another moan,  another pound in the pot. It’s certainly a challenge!

So whilst struggling with the new challenge I’m still doing the Good Deeds, gave books to Mum and Mother-in-law today. Went for a good walk this evening and picked up loads of litter.

May 19th – A morning helping out at school, then a lunchtime walk and litter picking. Ending the day with sending along cakes and biscuits for the hungry cricket mid-match snack. Kind comments all the way today but I did become very aware of a potential area where I can slip up. It’s easy to forget myself when I’m casually chatting and relaxing with the family and I need to be very mindful of my words.

May 20th – The lady I work with has had a shoulder operation, so today I got lots of paperwork out for her so she doesn’t have to lift heavy files when she returns to work tomorrow. This evening I had a long walk around a playing field and picked up litter. I managed another day of only kind words, it’s easy to fall into old habits without realising it. A couple of times I definitely had to turn comments.

May 21st – Met Alison Williams for a coffee today, she has been editing my book and guiding me in the right direction. Have put £2 in my charity pot for my failures on the “Kind Words” challenge during our meeting. (Mentally noted the stumbling block I need to work on) Good Deeds received Alison kindly paid for my beverage.

May 22nd – Finished reading A Woman’s Choice by Annie Thomas and sent of my review. Annie is kindly going to take part in a guest author interview for us in June. I’m finding my kindness challenge really hard to change my old bad habits, but I’m going to keep going.

May 23rd – Am reading an ARC of The Lost Centurion by Monica La Porta. This book is due for release at the end of May. Sent a thank you letter. Agreed to read and review The Birr Elixir by Jo Sparkes.

May 24th – Sent off my review of The Lost Centurion and moved on to reading Fallen For Rock by Nicky Wells. Today I posted a piece about book genres on the blog and opened up a discussion on what you feel about the Young Adult and New Adult genres, click here to join in. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5dq

My book review today was for Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada. Hailed as a modern classic this book reveals a resistance inside Berlin during the war years. I posed a question for the readers on this post too. From what you know and have read about the war years, can you believe that people were fighting from within? Click here to read more http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-55M

My kind words challenge is definitely easier when I don’t meet many people, so I’m obviously more successful when I’m relaxed at home with the family. My challenges seem to be when I’m with extended family, friends and new acquaintances. I need to think about if this is because I portray a slightly different persona amongst them? One where I act how I think they expect me to, or I act to a formula which has previously proved popular?

So what do you think about this new challenge, am I asking too much of myself?

Year 2, Good Deeds Week 4

Welcome to my second Year of Good Deeds, a challenge I set myself during April 2013. I decided to do at least one Good Deed a day for a whole year.

This week I’ve been doing the following;

May 11th – Last week’s sick child has kindly passed me the germs, so I’m slumped on the sofa, but I can still read. Have finished A Change of Heart by Adrienne Vaughan and will write the review up tomorrow. Accepted another book for review, A Woman’s Choice by Annie Thomas. Posted my weekly Good Deed update with lots of links and plugs for various people, that’s really all I can manage today.

May 12th – Written my book review, delivered a birthday card and present and picked up litter. Social networking has lots of plus points when you can only croak at people and you look and feel like something the cat dragged in. No one can see me and I don’t have to verbally speak to anyone, hooray! Pass me another box of tissues will you? About to start reading Suppose by Kathy Steinemann

May 13th – Still struggling to get my voice back. Picked up litter today. Baby birds seem to have doubled in size, still can’t get a long enough glance to count them to make sure they all hatched, they are just a bundle of fluffy moving objects with big open mouths every-time a parent arrives, who then obscures the view from the camera, so frustrating! I bought some live meal worms to put out for all the parent birds who might be grateful of one easy to find meal. But then I found the larvae wriggling out of the container and descending into my garden, hope they don’t devour all my lovely plants! Checked on my Bumble bee box to see if it had any bees in residence, found snails, earwigs and a family of Mice! So the garden is definitely full of livestock.

May 14th – Going to be reading and reviewing The Lost Centurion by Monica La Porta due out at the end of May. Posted a letter and picked up more litter.

May 15th – Agreed to read and review “Fallen for Rock” Nicky Wells soon to be released latest book. Also said I’d review the next book from Randy Mixter called “A Gunman’s Destiny” due out at the end of May. Picked up some litter. Am reading “The Manila Strangler” by Steven Donahue Good Deeds received a fellow author bought a copy of my book today as a thank you for reading and reviewing her book, made my day!

May 16th – Picked up litter. Found a great post on The Kindness blog about speaking only kind words and turning your life around; Speak Kind Words, Receive Kind Echoes sounds a really good idea, every time you find yourself saying something mean and negative you have to pay out $1 or £1 depending where you live. The money will soon add up unless you make a positive change. Any one up for it? I’m going to start my own challenge and donate my money to charity. First I’m going to try 24hrs from 5pm UK time. It’s frightening we all pass on bad news and gossip much more readily than good news, but does gossip  and band mouthing others really make the world a better place?

This week the lovely Alison Williams has been having a look at my book in terms of editing. I’m the first to hold my hands up and say that the whole writing a book and self-publishing bit was absolutely brilliant and now I’ve learnt all about how I should have approached it. Stay with me folks, I need to pledge a commitment to sorting out the book and making it a lot more pleasant to read. Stop all the procrastinating and get on with it. So you heard it here on the blog, there will be a second edition, I’m going to look forward to making all the necessary revisions. (See, positive self talk, no dishing myself – can’t afford it!)

May 17th – Oh my goodness, it’s 7pm and I’ve just realised I’ve completed my first challenge, 24 hours saying only kind things. It’s not been all plain sailing, I had 2 wobbles and it nearly cost me money, but I changed my sentences ending on a positive note. I was quite quiet at one time when I chose not to join a conversation which was only negative. Now for another 24 hours! I’m reading A Woman’s Choice by Annie Thomas and today’s book review was for the first book in one of my favourite series The Wardstone Chronicles by Joseph Delaney.