A Titanorak in Belfast...

Hello all.

Would you like to see where I've spent the last few days? You would! Excellent.

We had the most amazing time in beautiful Belfast. It's such a fabulous place, and inhabited by the friendliest people too!
As a birthday treat for our wee lad--the biggest Titanorak on the planet--we took him to the birthplace of the Titanic, which is currently in the throes of a HUGE regeneration.
Titanic Belfast is simply mind blowing. If you're planning a visit, be sure to allow a whole day rather than the recommended two hours. Oh, and wear a pair of comfortable shoes.
As an added bonus, we even got to see Titanic's little sister, the SS Nomadic, which is the closest you'll ever get to standing on the deck of the White Star Line's most famous ship.

SS Nomadic

White stars are everywhere.

Titanic in Airfix kit form.

Nomadic and her big sister!

It's in the genes...

Take a look at this...

Two pages of Arthurian romance penned by my six-year-old daughter. I must admit, I was a little concerned when she went to 'arthers' chambers (that's King Arthur to you and me!) but it all ends well.

I can't believe her word count today is higher than mine!

The Randomizer Has Spoken...

 ... The winner of the $15 Amazon Gift Voucher is...

jillbaker***1

Congratulations, hon. If you send me your preferred email address I'll get your prize to you asap. Happy spending!

**Image: Frederick Waters Watts:The Old Mill Stream Cottage**

And the name of the next book is...

Word count today... 1534. (An enormous haul for a tortoise writer like me. :D )

I've been so wrapped up in my scribblings that I completely forgot to pick the winner of last month's subscriber give-away. See? I told you I wouldn't bombard you with lots of emails. 

Okay. Here's what I'll do. If you haven't already signed up for my (infrequent!) newsletters and you fancy the chance of winning yourself a $15 Amazon voucher, you have until MIDNIGHT tonight (Blighty time) to do so.  njlayouni.net

As an added incentive, I'll be revealing the official title of my next release (formerly known as the-book-with-no-name.) But keep it to yourselves because this is exclusive subscriber inside information. The rest of the world will have to wait a while longer. 

Keep an eye on those in-boxes (and  junk folders if you haven't added me to your address books) and I'll see you soon! 

Good luck!

Today's word count: 1479

Good evening, all. How was your day? I've been super busy as always, and I've almost finished the second draft of Anselm's book, AND I have a title for it... at long last! The Book With No Name is nameless no more.

Not that I was really worried about it. Authors all work in very different ways. Some of them choose the title before they even begin work on their story. Others (like yours truly) wait for a title to come to them, and it always does--usually at the eleventh hour!

Fact: Right up until a couple of weeks before its publication, 'Tales of a Traveler:Hemlock' had the working title of 'Martha and the Goldilocks Man.' It's true!

In other news, my wee lad has a birthday at the end of this month and, as some of you may be aware, he is totally 'Titanic' crazy. (I now know 'that' song off by heart, and I can hear Celine Dion's gentle warbling even while I sleep.)

Anyway, when we asked our boy if he wanted a party to celebrate his special day he said 'No. I want to go to the Titanic exhibition... in Tennessee (!!!)'  Although it looks an amazing place, we eventually managed to talk him into somewhere a little closer to home.

Now all I have to do is book the flights and tickets and start preparing my purse for the 'Titanic Gift Shop Experience!'