Thoughts Opinions & Memories | But I Smile Anyway...

April 26 – Flash Fiction – A Fish Tale

27 Apr 2018 34 Comments

by Ritu in #CarrotRanch, Fiction, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #CarrotRanch, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Charli Mills, Fish Tail, Flash Fiction

Charli’s prompt this week:

April 26, 2018, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a fish tale. It can be about fishing from any angle, about those who fish, or what might be caught. Go where the prompt leads.

I’m sorry, but a silly take from me this week!

Fish’N’Chips

“Oh, he’s going to be so excited!”
“Fish will finally have his Chips with him!”
Voices filtered through the water, reaching Fish as he swam around in his little tank.
What on earth were they going on about? Why was he going to get excited? Who Chips?
Just then, the water rippled and he came face to face with Chips for the first time.
Great.
“Let me just get this straight,” he said, “this is MY tank, and-“
Chips opened her mouth into a coy O shape and let loose a flirtatious bubble stream…
“-I think I love you!”

https://carrotranch.com/2018/04/26/april-26-flash-fiction-challenge/

Five Minutes With… Ritu from But I Smile Anyway @PhantomGiggler #Blogging

27 Apr 2018 4 Comments

by Ritu in Guest Posts, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Guest Visit, Shelley Wilson

I’m visiting over at Shelley’s Wilson’s blog Motivate Me Now, if you fancy a little visit!

via Five Minutes With… Ritu from But I Smile Anyway @PhantomGiggler #Blogging

Realistic Costs – Opinions Needed #AmWriting

27 Apr 2018 24 Comments

by Ritu in #AmWriting, RiNoWRiMo, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #AmWriting, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Publishing Costs

It’s that time… I need to be realistic and start thinking about budgeting for the nitty gritty of this novel…

#AmWriting

If I go down the Self Publishing route there are lots of extra costs, which I assume a traditional publisher would normally cover…

I am fortunate enough to have a few people on hand who, when the time comes, are willing to be beta-readers for my novel, but there is more.

proof reading
editing – in it’s various forms
formatting
cover design – Chris, I know you are there!

I tried to research and came up with a wealth of conflicting information, so I have some questions for you writers out there…

1. What kind of budget do you recommend setting aside for editing and formatting your book?
2. What have been the average rates you have paid for editing?
3. Do you have recommendations?
4. My book is at around 84,000 words at the moment. It’s romance, contemporary fiction… what do you think I may pay?

So many things to consider!

I really appreciate all the input you have given me so far!

Three Day Quote Challenge – Day 2

27 Apr 2018 16 Comments

by Ritu in Challenges, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Ernest Hemmingway, Three Day Quote Challenge

I was nominated by the lovely Sidra of the blog The 7 Of Us, to take part in the Three Day Quote Challenge.

The Rules :

1) Thank the person who nominated you
2) Post a quote for 3 consecutive days ( 1 post each day )
3) Nominate 3 bloggers each day – I’m sorry, I’m a rebel, but I shall leave this open to you all!!!!!

Now, if you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know I have taken part in this one several times as I love a good quote!

Favourite quotes were used up the first couple of times, so I decided to theme each challenge.

This time I am going with Ernest Hemmingway and his words of wisdom.

Image result for writer's quotes ernest hemingway

I hope to God this isn’t always the case!!! After 18 years writing that first draft, I’d hate to have to spend another 18 getting it better! I may be publishing posthuomously!

Remember: If you fancy having a go, please do, and link back to this post!

Oh, and while I’m at it, just a quick reminder that the Annual Blogger’s Bash Awards voting closes on Monday, and But I Smile Anyway has been nominated for Best Overall Blogger, if you fancy popping over and voting! You just need to click here.

#WritePhoto – Splash!

26 Apr 2018 42 Comments

by Ritu in #WritePhoto, Fiction, Poems, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #WritePhoto, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Memories, Pond, Splash

Sue’s #WritePhoto Prompt this week:

Well, this photo sparked some memories!

Sashaying around the house, 11-year-old Ritu was so proud of the new boots her parents had bought her.
She felt so grown up, so in fashion – something she had rarely been in the past. Actually, the boots had been given to her a few weeks back, and she had debuted them at her school residential trip, at the disco, along with her rainbow coloured dress.
Oh yes, so on-trend was Ritu!
They were the boots of her dreams, grey suede pixie boots, with a slight slouch to them. Ritu had never owned something so ‘cool’!
Today, they were visiting some family, and she was looking forward to showing off the funky footwear.
It was a beautiful sunny day so Ritu, her brother and cousins were playing in the garden. The boys played football – obviously – and the girls wandered around chatting.
Splash!
Stupid boys! They’d kicked the ball into the pond. Ritu couldn’t let the young ‘uns risk getting the ball out, so off she went, heroine extraordinaire, to rescue the situation.
Bending over she reached out to the middle of the pond to gently coax the ball towards the edge of the pond…
Even bigger SPLASH!
Ritu was sat in the pond, dripping wet, amongst the frogspawn… then she remembered her beautiful boots!
Ruined!

Based on a totally true event as I was growing up.

I never did wear them again, despite my mother doing some amazing rescue mission to make the boots wearable again… I just kept on smelling frog… (actually, I think I imagined a fishy smell that wasn’t really there…) Those poor boots… and poor me with frogspawn all over me!