Leaving the past behind us...

Well, as a fine young meerkat once said, 'You gotta put your behind, in your past!'  But more importantly, a very wise old monkey once said, 'The past can hurt.  But you can either run from it, or learn from it.'  What have I learned?  Well for a start, not to trust anyone as far as you can throw them...  As far as work goes, that's all it is ever gonna be - there is no such thing as friends!  'Cos they will stab you in the back the minute they get a chance.  There are only a few exceptions to that rule, and they know who they are; there are some people that you truly connect with, and they are the ones who will stick by you through anything.  The others, not worth your time!  

But anyway, onwards and upwards so to speak.  I have decided to leave all the crap in November, and as of tomorrow it is a fresh start!  It's over.  I can now concentrate on the future and move on with my life; after I've picked up the last few pieces and worked out what I am going to do that is... But that is what the New Year is for!  A completely fresh start!  And I say, bring it on!!

*Quotes are of course, Timon and Rafiki from The Lion King - no copyright intended*

In other news... The new story is well on it's way now... There were two winners of the competition that was running on Angel's Facebook and they know who they are - they're kind of the only ones who took part properly!!  So their characters are being developed and they will find themselves in the acknowledgements when the book is published!  (Which I hope will be Spring/Summer time next year!)

If you don't already have your copy of The love that binds us then go check it out on Amazon now!  In January I plan to release the book as a whole with bonus material, and in a way that means you can buy it as a hard copy!  And I will even consider signing them for my close friends and family that have supported me every step of the way through this adventure!

Till next time...
Louby x

What is Disney coming to?!

*** SPOILER ALERT FOR MANY DISNEY FILMS - INCLUDING NEW RELEASES ***

Okay, I have to say it - the writers for Disney are getting worse!!  Talk about dark and upsetting.  I know Walk Disney wasn't exactly a saint.  There was plenty wrong with his films when you look back on them with an adult mind set, and to be honest it is quite worrying when you think that it is what we were exposed to as children, and are still exposing children to now.  

I mean, let us look at the facts...  The Princess stories taught us that talking to strange men was okay if they were handsome, and that you can fall in love with the first man you meet.  It wasn't until the more recent films; the likes of Brave and Frozen, that Disney made a stand about 'not marrying the man you just met' and proving that women don't need a man to find true love or to survive.  Personally, I loved the message in Frozen about there being other forms of love that are more powerful than that of a Prince and a Princess.  (I have a little sister, and I know that feeling of doing anything for her!)  
Beauty and the Beast displays a clear message that Stockholm Syndrome is acceptable; she falls for the Beast even though he is her captor.  The Little Mermaid taught us that it is okay to change for a man.  Snow White ran away to the forest and lived with seven men.  The Hunchback of Notre Dame told us that the nice guys never gets the girl, no matter how much he tries.
Many of the films are upsetting before you even get anywhere near the end... The death of Mufasa in The Lion King was

a devastating blow and I still don't think we have gotten over it.  The hunters that killed Bambi's mum made us all weep like babies, the death of Tod's mother and then the moment that Widow Tweed has to leave him in the game reserve was heart breaking, and the captivity of Dumbo's mother when she stands up for her son and tries to protect him made us all cry - and the song 'Baby Mine' still makes me tear up!  And slightly more recently - the beginning of Finding Nemo when the barracuda kills Coral...  Disney has a serious issue with parents clearly - how many do they have to kill off??
Another tear jerker is when Jessie sings 'When she loved me' in Toy Story 2.  Tackling the idea of abandonment in childhood toys... tell me; who still has their childhood teddy? I know I do - he still sleeps in my bed!
Let's review the bad guys too - how scary were some of them?!  Scar (The Lion King), Gaston (Beauty and the Beast), The Wicked Queen (Snow White), Jafar (Alladin), Ursula (Little Mermaid), Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland) - but let's be honest... the scariest; has to be Rasputin from Anastasia.  He frightened the living daylights out of me as a kid!!  No joke!
And to top off all of that - the sexual innuendos in the early Disney films were not exactly sparse!  Walt Disney was a strange man indeed.

*** SPOILER ALERT FOR NEW DISNEY FILMS ***

But the new Disney Pixar films seem to be taking things to a new level; they are just getting worse. More dark, more upsetting... What with killing off main characters... I absolutely cried my eyes out during Big Hero 6 - and I know that they brought him back to life in the end, but they still killed him off in the first place... You just don't do that!!
The in Home they led us to believe that they had killed Oh, and after the escapade with Baymax, we believed it!!
More recently, the storyline in general with Bing Bong in Inside Out was so upsetting, but then his self sacrifice to save Joy's life was enough to bring even the adults to tears!  

But to top it all off, we went to see The Good Dinosaur tonight... Oh my God, what an emotional roller coaster that was.  It was horrific... Somebody had taken inspiration from The Lion King and we had some parent loss again, then it was just accident after accident and the poor little dinosaur got injured so many times it was awful.  Then it had such an upsetting part in it that even the little lad sat behind us was absolutely sobbing his heart out.  And he was lucky if he was ten.  If it could effect him like that, imagine how me and Sammy were - in absolute floods!!!!!  No make up left job... It was heart wrenching!  

Disney are changing the goal posts and their films are getting more and more adult like - deeper, like Inside Out, scarier, more upsetting.. and what on earth is the idea of killing main characters - You just don't do that!!!

Anyway, rant over... all opinions are my own and not endorsed by Disney or any other company.  There is no copyright intended on anything I have said or quotes I have used, and the images are all pulled from Google Images - No copyright intended!

Apologies if I have offended anyone haha,
Louby x

Competition Time!!

Just a quick one... 

Over on Angel's Facebook Page there is a competition running for a chance to get your ideas for a character in the new book!  A murder mystery style story filled with supernaturals.  All you have to do is pop over to the page, pop your ideas in the comments and wait and see.  The winners will get their characters developed into the book, and get an acknowledgement when it gets published.  I also intend on making this one available to purchase as a hard copy - If you're really lucky, I will sort out signing them too!!
Competition will close on the first of December as it is getting to a point in writing where adding new characters would be difficult.  So get your ideas in quick for a chance to be included!!

So, go take a look... I can't wait to hear some of your ideas.  

For those of you who haven't yet got your copy of The love that binds us head over to Amazon now and get yours now!  Again, I'd always love to hear your ideas - pop back over to Amazon when you're done reading and leave a review, and of course feel free to leave comments on Facebook!



Till next time,
Louby x

Information Dump!

~~~  Halloween  ~~~

This year I did something very different for Halloween - 

Firstly I got to spend it with Dean :) I did something I've never done before, dressed up in a costume that I've wanted to do for years, and had an amazing weekend in Blackpool!  Thanks to Kimberley and Paul and The Bridge Inn Blues, we went to Blackpool for the weekend to go and see the Football match!  We saw Chesterfield play Fleetwood on Saturday afternoon :)  I can now cross something else off my never done list!!

After an epic coach journey we arrived in Blackpool and headed off for lunch (a belated Birthday party for Dean's 30th!)  We had a blast - cocktail making, party hats, lovely food and more cocktails!

Look at the concentration on that face!!

Later we headed into town for a night out - Blackpool Style!  The booze flowed freely and we made our way around some of the bars... Dean even made a friend in Roxy :p  (and he sang with her!)

On Saturday we dressed up for Halloween and headed over to Fleetwood for the match - my costume was one of my all tie favourites - Harley Quinn!  And Dean dressed up as Batman to go with me hehe!!  We had some lunch in a lovely little pub called the Strawberry Gardens and met Sid Little!!!  

Then only minutes after arriving at the grounds, I got hit in the face with a stray ball!!  Sod's law!  I think it knocked my last brain cell loose!  Was good though, and I even enjoyed it!!  

The Spireite's won one nil!  Even better!!

That night Dean and I went out to see the Illuminations (Awesome by the way!) we went to play on the pier, spend some money in the arcades, had a wander down the sea front - it was lovely!  Then we went back to the room and watched a scary film!  Well... I watched it - Dean snored through some of it!!

And Sunday morning before getting back on the coach in the early afternoon - We went for a lovely breakfast went for a walk around Madame Tussaud's!  We had a laugh, took some silly photos (I've never known Dean be so up for having his picture taken!!)  I can't believe how much it had changed since I was there at the beginning of the year!  New models, old ones gone or changed...  New sets and places to investigate!  

I loved the entire weekend!  It was exhausting and I made up for it in sleep for about three days... I was so lazy before work haha!

~~~  Bonfire Night  ~~~

I have done Bonfire Night in two parts this year.  On Wednesday I took Sammy to Clifton Park for the Bonfire, and we spent the night just me and her!  It was nice for some sister time!  We went on the Fairground rides - The same ones we always aim for of course - The Twister, the Crazywave and of course, the Waltzer!  And my God, the Waltzer nearly killed us!  The lads working it knew what they were doing and there were loads of them, so the cars never stopped spinning!!  Madness!!  We watched the Bonfire be lit, had sweeties from the pick 'n mix stall and watched the beautiful fireworks display before heading home to get warm!

Last night, I went with Dean to their family Bonfire night!  The bonfire there was everlasting - I've never seen so much stuff to burn, just when it was dying down, there was more to throw on it to warm it back up again.  I sat nice and close to the fire to keep warm!  And then after sparklers, there were fireworks!!  Rich took charge and there were loads, I thought it would go on forever :)  I don't know what it is about fireworks, but they make me so happy - I think it's the colours!  And the crackles, pops ad bangs of course...  They're just so expressive.

Right, I think that's about all folks!

Check out the competition running on Angel's Facebook page and get involved in the next book!

If you haven't already got yours, head over to Amazon and by your copy of The love that binds us - I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions!  Leave your comments on Angel's facebook page for a reply!

Talk soon,
Louby xx