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London Film and Comic Con

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

Ok so let me just start by saying it was the best day ever and all of the photos have already gone up on my instagram if you feel like having a little look…

 

So we woke up at 5.30am in the morning to get ready- and we weren’t even going in a costume… 5.30am is an evil time in the morning! So anyway we got ready and left at around 7.30 ish and arrived just over an hour later to find a massive queue. It took about 20-30 minutes to get into the venue, luckily the people we were near in the queue were really nice and we had a lovely chat till we got inside.

Going inside it just seemed like a massive expanse, this was my first time at Olympia in London, but it was both of our first times to Comic Con. We did a bit of exploring and worked out the lay of the land, worked out where everything we wanted to see was. We saw some people doing autographs, we then found the photo booths, followed by finally deciding to go and explore all of the many stalls.

It was brilliant we went around and saw lots of cool stuff we couldn’t afford to buy yet. There were bags and gadgets and sparkly jewelry and notebooks… Oh the notebooks… I could have spent hundreds on notebooks alone!

We saw amazing cosplays… I got a photo with a guy dressed as Nick Fury, and one with Deadpool. Got my photo with a Tardis. The other half got a photo with a guy dressed as The Night King and one with Chewbacca. He got a photo with the Optimus prime truck and the Tardis. We ate hot dogs for lunch which were overpriced and under-delicious. The mark up on water felt a bit like extortion. But that is London for you.

We brought a couple of books, and the author signed them, exciting stuff. So I have yet to read them but I have a feeling that I am going to really enjoy them from the brief blurby bit. We ended up walking away from the stand with Moroda and Palom by L. L. McNeil. It seems almost impossible for me to say no to buying a new book, so of course I had to. But it is in my to read pile but it has jumped the queue… its now right up at the top.

So whose autographs did we go for? I got Daniel Gillies autograph towards the last 15 minutes of the day (he is a lovely chap). The other half got autographs from Isaac Hempstead Wright who was really nice and friendly. The other half also got Vladimir Furdik’s autograph too, so as you can see a massive Game of Thrones fan too. If we had had the money I think we would have got quite a few more autographs for sure.

We got our photo taken with Matt Smith which was an awesome end to the day, even if he was an hour behind schedule bless him. I got a photo with Aiden Turner too! Which was great.

Safe to say we were on a geeky high for about a week. We want to go again, so hopefully one day we will get that chance, and I totally think next time dressing up will be in order! I am thinking Skye from Agents of shield. But that won’t be for a long old while yet unless a miracle happens.

Author Update (September 2018)

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

What happened in September?

Well after my last Author Update I got engaged, went on holiday and spent a small fortune on knitting wool! One of those things is most exciting though. I promise there will be a post all about the engagement.

That new schedule? Well with all the fun crazy things going on I have to admit that I haven’t followed it but I intend to get back to it I promise. I am trying at least. With the holiday I had all these good intentions to write and all I did was have lots of fun. But I am going to try again. It is worth it.

I have now officially re-started trying to get healthy again simply because the diet theory failed for me I think having fun and getting healthy will make all the difference especially with winter coming. It is easy to feel very down in the winter so I am hoping to really change that feeling.

What am I watching on Netflix? Well, to be honest, I am still watching Pretty Little Liars again I am dying to watch the Originals new series but I am trying to be a bit more disciplined wit my time.. Out side of Netflix the other half and I have now finishedwatching the Agents of Shield which is awesome and even binge watched all the dvds of The 100. It makes me want to do a lot more cool stuff… It gives you that warrior feeling.

I am still knitflixing but that should come as no surprise. Currently working on a spiral knit blanket. I am sure I will post some pictures when it is done…

I better get writing some post’s about the holiday so I will leave the traditional plugs here…

So Darling Daughters is OUT NOW , so for those of you wanting to get your hands on the ending… here is the link for Darling Daughters!  OUT NOW!

The Diary of Elliot Parker  Ninety-One to One hundred and Twenty!  OUT NOW!!!

Or if you want the whole collection in one neat and tidy book, here is the Pre-Order link for the Complete Collection! Releasing 13th October 2018

Nothing changes here in terms of throwing plugs in for my amazon books on my author page… I haven’t lost my hope just yet.

May luck and adventure be on your side!

ARA

xxx

The new project update

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

Not much luck a week on either. I have had more rejections. But that is ok. Because I believe in what I am writing for the project. It is an important thing for me to just focus on the joy of it and not all the no’s because to be honest, getting published and finding an agent or whatever, that will make no difference in how much I love writing. Sure it would be a great bonus, but at the end of the day I didn’t start writing because I thought getting published would make or break my life. I started because I am passionate about it and I wanted to write stories that inspired me.

I post on here, I write stories on here because I love it.
I spent a few years writing and building this blog, not for fame and glory, because I assure you, there is none of that, no money in it. I built and wrote this blog for the pleasure of it. The joy of writing should always be what pushes you forward to write.
So why am I trying to get this story published? I mean really, does it make any difference to the story? Will it change how I write? Probably not. When I really think about it, this story was never for this purpose. I started writing this story for the site and I made that commitment. So I suppose I will start to post it soon. But It will be a seven book series regardless. I wanted to write something I enjoyed writing and I will keep doing that. I am going to keep pushing forward on a story I believe in. I will keep writing it, and in time, when I am ready I will begin to show you what has got me so fired up.
In the meantime, I am writing as often as I can in my schedule and I am going to keep looking to get this piece published.
I can only live in hope but I will keep you updated with what will end up happening with The Dollhouse.
May luck and adventure be on your side.
ARA
xxx

The Diary of Elliot Parker

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

.: Entry One-Hundred and Twenty :.

My name is Elliot Parker. Life is beginning to change, really change. I have been making more of an effort to feel good and do more things that make me happy. That sounds strange to me still. Doing what makes me happy means that I am also being more selfish in what I find acceptable. That means that, I have been walking away and standing my ground when I need to. At work I am more considering what is right or good for me. Now that means being less of a “yes” girl when it comes to overtime or favours. It means saying “no” more often.

It means that my relationship with Clover has degenerated and disintegrated a lot now. Honestly I haven’t responded since she didn’t even bother to read the message that said I wasn’t well enough for a last meeting and she basically said she wasn’t going. Didn’t even bother to read my message at all. Hence why now I don’t bother responding to the odd selfie she sends of herself, I just leave her to it and leave her on read. I don’t see the point.  Life has become much quieter and a little less dramatic. I am sort of glad that she bailed so “spectacularly” for dinner with Dyl and I, it makes it easier to confirm my suspicion. She only hits me up when she wants something, like her birthday presents that was the last time I saw her and the first time I had seen her in ages. So I would guess she will only bother with me close to Christmas when she wants presents again.

My name is Elliot Parker and I am certainly proud of myself. I stopped self-destructing when it comes to relationships I no longer seem to be self-sabotaging. Things with Dyl seem to just keep getting better, getting stronger. I love him and I can’t imagine my life without him now. I know when he asks, I will say yes. There is no way I think I would ever be able to say no to him when he asks. Imagining a future together feels like fun and excitement.

I feel like more recently I have started to practice my deliberate creation again. This morning I meditated and just let it take me where it wanted to lead. I am making a conscious effort for positivity. Sounds like a simple solution right? Being positive. So perhaps for one last time. Let’s go on a little rampage, for old time’s sake.

My name is Elliot Parker. I am a deliberate creator. I am brilliant at creating my experience. I know that I am creating ease in my life. I am allowing myself to feel good. I am releasing all that does not serve me. I take pleasure in my manifestations. I have chosen this experience. I have chosen this life, this place, these people that I interact with. I have deliberately chosen the world that I live in. I have created my financial stability. I have created my financial prosperity. My abundance is growing exponentially and I am great at managing my money. Money is something fun, it is ease and freedom. Money flows easily and consistently. It is easy to have more than I need. This feeling of ease around money is fun and abundant and serves me well. I like being in charge of my experience. I appreciate that I manifested Dyl in my life. He is wonderful and incredible and kind and funny and gentle and loving and I appreciate his existence in the universe. I appreciate that he loves me and I love him and there is no resistance between us. I love that Dyl and I share our lives and allow our experience to be fun and exciting.

I am enjoying my experience. I am creating a career that is a vocation for me. I am creating a career that increases my abundance of time, of money and of fun. I am creating a career that doesn’t feel like work, I am creating a career that feels like fun and freedom and I am ready for it. I am ready as I am now in this time and place to enjoy my new vocation with ease and acceptance. I am ready for the next stage in my work life that will bring all that I need and desire in my life. I am ready to evolve again and find a new way of living that feels wonderful. I am open to enjoying my career growing, I am open to enjoying the fun and inspiration as my career blossoms. I am loving the feeling of expanding my world. I am bringing more money and more time in my life to just enjoy myself. Work no longer feels like work.

I am enjoying this fun, free, prosperous experience. I am enjoying my time “off”. I am achieving new unchartered waters of happiness and fun. I am enjoying writing this rampage because it feels so good to acknowledge my natural wellbeing. I am enjoying making new things and reading new things and watching new entertaining things. I am enjoying in partaking in creating my own entertainment. I am enjoying these words. I am feeling the value of this rampage. I am feeling the value of knowing what I desire. I am feeling the value of knowing what I have manifested is pleasurable. I am enjoying this experience. I am ready to say yes to all that is wanted. I am better at holding my attention to what is wanted than I have ever been before. I am eager and excited to enjoy my experience.

I am ready to move forward to new adventures. I know that this is the start of something new and exciting and incredible and there is no such thing as an ending. Nothing ends, it is always a beginning; new, old or unseen there is always a new day a new moment and our desires are never ending there is no ending to the wonderful things that we are manifesting and bringing into our experience here together.

The Diary of Elliot Parker is OUT NOW here is the link for Ninety-One to One hundred and Twenty!  

Or if you want the whole collection in one neat and tidy book, here is the Pre-Order link for the Complete Collection! Releasing 13th October 2018

The New Project…

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

So I know I will never be the first person to say this, but rejection sucks.

So even though I am a big fan of Abraham Hicks and the law of attraction and I totally should not be talking about the what-is-ness I have something to confess.
I have sent off something to agents and publishers. Something that started to be a “for the website” piece of work. That was all it was going to be. Something exclusively for the website. But that didn’t really go to plan. I wrote a couple of chapters and thought “hey I really like this” so I kept writing on and about five chapters in I realised I was wrong. Sure it was sort of an impulse thought, because as you know, I had originally intended to find a publisher for the “big project” but lately I haven’t been working on that or re-editing it because I wanted to write some more for the website. But as I wrote more for the website, as I wrote more of this project for the website, that is designed to be a series, I realised that I loved it. Like, I looked at what I had written and thought “holy crap this is some of my very best work” and so I thought, could this have a bigger life than what I can give it on the website. So with that thought in mind my next thought was, “should I think about not posting it to the website straight away, could this be something worth being published.”
That is how in one short night I ended up writing two chapters, a synopsis on the quick fly and a quick cover letter. I then started to just send off to one agent and then another and another. A week later I had collected three rejections. Three “no’s” closer to a “yes” I suppose.
And it is really hard to not get caught up in the rejection. Wondering if I should really be doing this. The answer is yes. I have to take a risk on myself because this one piece has been the most fun to write in a long old time. It happens to be a fun idea, it feels like some of the most fun I have had writing in a while. I have called the series The Dollhouse. It has a meaning down the line. But I do love writing it. It is nice to write something a little flirty and sensual. Sure it will never be a fifty shades type deal. I don’t want to write or rewrite something like that, no matter how many times people tell me I should. I don’t want to be using something that doesn’t inspire me, I don’t want to follow my non-writing Nana’s advice and write a “bodice ripper”. I think it is safe to say by now that you all know that isn’t exactly my style. I know they say sex sells, but why can’t flirtatious ideas and sensuality be something that sells? With a heavy element in the fantasy realms.
So sure this is my first hurdle, a week of rejection will get closer to the yes I want.
I am sure writing a synopsis drives every writer who has ever had to write one mad. It drives me mad for sure. I hate doing them. But that is just part of the process.
So I suppose given that I will probably post a bit of The Dollhouse series soon just to show you what it is that got me so excited and pumped up enough that I thought “wow I could have a shot with this”, I could perhaps tell you a little about it.
The Dollhouse is a series where there is a dual narrator. It will have two leading females. One who is “good” and one who is “bad” but I am hoping it won’t be that black and white. I want it to challenge the idea of good and evil and the battle of it. I want it to be fun and flirty because that is what it feels like when I write this project. I feel the fun and flirty-ness of the story even if it is ultimately what is good and evil and how do you quantify what is the proper path.
Writing is something that you have to love if you are going to believe in yourself enough to let other people read it. I don’t have to love myself to write. I have to write and then I get that bit closer to loving myself. It is showing myself that self love of doing something I enjoy. Fantasising. It took a long long time for me to stop keeping these fantasies and stories to myself and to start writing them down. That felt like such a giant leap at the time. Putting my thoughts to words that make these worlds and stories I dreamed of real. It felt like a risk at first. Now it feels like the biggest risk is not believing in myself enough to pursue it and keep writing and keep putting myself out there.
So I suppose I will have to let you know what happens the more I keep putting my writing out there and giving it the best shot I can give it.
May luck and adventure be on your side.
ARA
xxx