Is it really already Friday? Phew. Time to catch up with our weeks in 7 Quick Takes.
~1~
This week, at least for me, has been one of promotional work for Reading Uni. Wednesday and Thursday were photo and film promotional shoots which will end up on the website and possibly the prospectus; whereas today and tomorrow are the official open day, so I’ve been helping out and working for those.
~2~
I’m still here, in old castle Wantage. Every day, another person moves out of the hall, and it’s a sharp reminder of how close we are to our contracts expiring completely. I have to make the most of my last two weeks as a student-in-hall. But I’m also madly excited to be moving into a house with other Christians, where we’ll have the opportunity for group prayer and spiritual activity.
~3~
I’m still catching up with editing/polishing – have been good these last couple of days with two chapters per day, and hopefully, I can work on querying early next week before I move out and the end of June. I didn’t anticipate it would take me this long, to be honest, but exam break aside, I’m coming back to chapters I’ve not seen in months and they have been unacceptable. So, the editing side has been stronger than the polishing in some places.
~4~
Nevertheless, I am still enjoying the story, and the world baits me with more to add to characters, including a under-2K-words vignette from Andrew Costello’s point of view.
~5~
I’ve been doing some research for my Steampunk fictions, and there were a lot of etiquette rules in the day that now seem barmy. For instance:
“It is customary, according to the codes of etiquette, to call all hours of daylight morning and after nightfall evening.”
As found, along with multiple pieces of etiquette points about who calls when, how to behave, and what to leave, on avictorian.com. Victorian dance etiquette is also fascinating for me as a modern/vintage/swing dancer.
~6~
I’ve also been doing more cooking, now that my catering contract has run out. I enjoy cooking for myself – trying out different styles and flavours that are useful for my time-constraints, tastes, and health.
~7~
Like so: chicken on a bed on leeks and celery. The seasoning was a sweet chilli ready-pack from Colman’s. And really yummy, too.
Alexandrina Brant 