“When I look up at the night sky, and I know that, yes, we are part of this Universe, we are in this Universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the Universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up—many people feel small, because they’re small and the Universe is big, but I feel big, because my atoms came from those stars.” - Neil DeGrasse Tyson [x]

Originally posted by Emma Maree Urquhart on EmmaMaree.com

I HAVE AN INTERNET CONNECTION AGAIN.

I HAVE SO MUCH TO CATCH UP ON.

GOOGLE READER (330+ blogs by you lovely writers and blog friends). PINTEREST (I am trying not to get into it, because I have too little time as it is, but I am failing). POTTERMORE (I tried to use it on my phone internet connection and was really disappointed by all these images. Then I found out they moved and decided to leave it until I got a proper connection again.) GAME OF THRONES (Season 2 Episodes 3 + 4).

OH AND THAT WRITING THING I DO.

I missed you, internet. It is good to be back.

Originally posted by Emma Maree Urquhart on EmmaMaree.com

I was very kindly nominated by Kirstyes for the Versatile Blogger Award! The rules for this award are below:

1. Tell you all seven random things about myself
2. Nominate 15 bloggers for the award

I thiiiink most of the blogs I follow have done this, or similar awards at least, so I'm going to skip out on nominating -- but if you haven't done it and you'd like to, be all means do and drop a link to your version in the comments.

7 Things You Didn’t Know About Me:

(Unless you know me in real life, in which case you probably already know all of this.)

1. I hate the sound/feeling of nails scraping. Someone scratching at polyester trousers, or filing their nails, urrrrgghhh. It makes me cringe. And if I have a rough nail and it gets caught is something, it’s the WORST.
2. I love the smell of coffee, but I can’t stand the taste. The worst part is, I brew a great cup of coffee and have really high standards when I’m making coffee. So I make sure the other half Dave has the best cups of coffee I’m capable of making.. and then he goes and brews himself an instant cup instead. Siiiiigh. =P
3. Washing dishes makes me angry. Really angry. For some reason, the simple act of washing up can throw me into a PMS-level fury. I can counter-act it by blasting rock music because the power of rock ‘n roll ‘n terrible kitchen dancing conquers all, though.
4. I am almost always cold. And if I’m not, then I’m probably already wearing a hoodie and a cardigan or fleecy pyjamas.
5. I have a muscle weakness in one eye which wrecks my depth perception. In football, volleyball, basketball my main strategy is always ‘hit it with my head’ because I only pick up on the ball when it’s about to hit me. On the bright side, it makes me a good goalie... but a terrible basketball player (I’m too short for the game anyway).
6. I am extremely oblivious. I daydream a lot and don’t pick up on a lot of things unless they’re pointed out. Dave has managed to get me a few presents just by walking off to buy them while I’m talking to a friend, counting on me to not realise he’s holding a giant teddy bear or carrying a plastic bag full of gifts. It always works.
7. Goldfish unnerve me. My sister kept a few of them, and their short lifespans terrified me and made me paranoid that I’d turn round and they’d be dead. So now I don’t like goldfish because THEY ALWAYS DIE.

I have more than a few ‘quirks’, but don’t we all?

Originally posted by Emma Maree Urquhart on EmmaMaree.com

The house move is in progress! HELLO BLOG PEOPLE. I MISSED YOU SO MUCH.

I’m going to be  fairly quiet on the Internet until the new house gets a broadband connection, but I’m trying to keep connected in whatever ways I can using my work lunch breaks or mobile phone tethered internet.

But on the bright side – the new house is lovely! I am literally 80 seconds away from the beach, and two minutes from the river. When walking the dog in the evenings, I get to face the shiver-inducing sea breeze and the bright, sprawling stars over the ocean. It is AMAZING. I love living in a seaside town.

The beach and nearby houses. Photo by Eglos/James Logan

The houses in this part of the town have so much history! Some (rather short) fishermen and their families lived here in times gone by, so the roof and doorways are low and all the houses seem to be built as close as possible to the water.

Now, I’ve got lots of work to do until this move is done – managed to get almost all the stuff moved out, but there’s a lot of cleaning still to take care of. Hopefully I’ll be back online soon.

I hope everyone’s April is going well. Writers, I hope your WIPs are speeding along -- and if you're currently on submission, keep in mind that the Strange Chemistry Open Door Month is just around the corner.

Originally posted by Emma Maree Urquhart on EmmaMaree.com

Last night, there was some heavy, heavy snow across Scotland. This morning, it's still here -- and there's a good 3 inches of it. Something about the grey skies through the night and my gotta-wake-up-early-to-walk-in-the-snow panic meant that I woke up quite confused...

• 01:00. I should probably get some sleep.
• 01:30: Oh man, hold on, I need to write this idea down....
• 02:30: WHY CAN’T I SLEEP. D:
• 02:45: zzzzzzz
• 06:00: ALARM WHY ARE YOU GOING OFF IT’S NOT 07:00 YET.
• 06:01: IS IT DAYLIGHT SAVING’S TIME.
• 06:02: I JUST GOOGLED IT’S NOT DAYLIGHT SAVING’S TIME
• 06:02: zzzzzzz
• 06:30: I’M UP I’M UP I’M UP
• 06:31: zzzzzzz
• 06:45: I’M UP I’M UP I’M UP
• 07:00: *sleepy brushing of hair and finding of the winter clothes*
• 07:12: I’M RUNNING LATE AAAHHHHH GOTTA JET
• 07.13: tromp tromp tromp through the snow.
• 07:24: oh wow. work is kind of quiet. and there’s people still clearing the car park
• 07:25: wait what I’m doing here I don’t start until 8.

Oh dear, oh dear. I'll see you lovely lot at the end of my shift, time to get to work.

Originally posted by Emma Maree Urquhart on EmmaMaree.com

This image was drawn by Sekra, and I have a sneaking suspicion she had a look right into my life because HELLO THIS IS ME. I even have that Batman t-shirt... but I lack the awesome haircut. I want short hair but I think I'd suck at pulling it off, I'm very much a 'wake up and run a brush through it' person when to comes to hair styles.

March has been insanely difficult and I can't wait for it to be over. Some of my relatives have been in hospital. Moving house is ridiculously complicated and tiring. We've been understaffed at work. I'm facing a lot of biiig changes I need to make to my writing WIP, and I just want to run the other way and hide in a corner because large-scale revisions are hard. AND I'VE RUN OUT OF MILK FOR TEA.

But on the bright side: I had an awesome dinner party with my friends last night, I saw The Hunger Games, and I'm incredibly lucky and have some of the best friends this shy geek could ever ask for.

I just can't wait for things to get back in order so I can relax. In the meantime, I'm going to go outside and get some fresh air, sunshine, and milk so I can make so much tea.

Originally posted by Emma Maree Urquhart on EmmaMaree.com

Originally posted by Emma Maree Urquhart on EmmaMaree.com

Today, for their Road Trip Wednesday question for bloggers, YA Highway asked: What would your memoir be called?

Oh, sweet, time for my ego to briefly shine - I've got this one planned out already. I'm a long way away from being 'memoir' level interesting (not enough excitement and adventure yet, and definitely not enough explosions and high-speed chases), but when I do I've got the title prepared:

Eight-Legged Demons.

See also: my imaginary band name. I actually have an expansive roster of imaginary bands that pop out throughout my stories.
See also: I keep over-thinking this and worrying about how awkward a word 'Legged' is. Leg-ged. Ugh. WHY ARE YOU SUCH A TERRIBLE WORD. But as of yet I've been unable to find any word to replace the infernal 'legged' without destroying the imagery.

The title is a nod to both inner demons and my arachnophobia. Frickin' spiders, man. I just can't handle them.

Originally posted by Emma Maree Urquhart on EmmaMaree.com

Yesterday I went off to Inverness for wonderful adventures with my best friend Josh, including trying out Yum! Cafe in Inverness... which was, believe it or not, Yum! Their Mac 'n cheese was amazing, with a strong dose of cheese and a nice mustard tang, and their Belgian waffles were fresh and delicious.  The smoothies were too pricey for my tastes, especially with the cheaper Fuel Juice Bar in nearby Eastgate, but the mango smoothie did have a great tropical flavour. But that didn't really matter, because the service was fantastic and the staff were really friendly.

Today's been a lot more business, and I've been burning through the to-do list:

• Got two loads of washing done (woo, housework!)
• Sorted out the mountain of folded clothes
• Packed two boxes full of books to prepare the study for an impending, unwanted move of house. (The reason why I wasn't in a great mood on Friday.)
• Picked three nice houses up for rent in the area to view.
• Made Oreo truffles. Someone made these at work, they were delicious, and when I saw how simple the recipe was I had to give it a go:  Just bash the hell out of some Oreos (I used a mortar&pestle, but a tenderising mallet would work, or a food processor) and mix it  with cream cheese until it sticks together smoothly. Then roll into a ball and refrigerate. You can dip the truffles in chocolate afterwards for a nicer look, but it doesn't add much to the taste. I don't usually like using cream cheese in baking but it gives these biscuit-y truffles a great texture.
• Canceled my T-Mobile contract and got the PAC code so I can move onto a cheaper sim-only contract. The customer service advisor was Welsh, which made me feel ever so guilty when I had to reject the deals she offered. How can I say no to you when you sound like you're from Torchwood? I don't like phoning people up for these sort of things, but they weren't aggressive or pushy about keeping me there... just disappointed. Which, when it's a nice Welsh lady, might be worse.
• Roasted a gammon joint for dinner (with extra left over for Dave's night shift meals).

And now I'm off to watch Being Human, and hopefully I'll grab more time for packing or writer-y work tonight. Hope you have a good Monday, guys!

Originally posted by Emma Maree Urquhart on EmmaMaree.com

I've been tagged by Colin D Smith to answer 11 fun questions! And then I think the idea is I make up 11 questions and ask people to answer them back?
Hm, alright, let's go:

Which fictional character would you love to invite over for dinner?
Oh jeez, this is a tough one, because you said 'character' singular. You cruel person. ;P It would have to be The Doctor, of Doctor Who fame.

Think of one person you aren’t able to see for whatever reason (distance, availability, etc.) you would love to meet up with. Who is this person? This can be a famous person, a relative, a literary agent–anyone, as long as they are alive.
Neil Gaiman, or Gerard Way. Tricky one to narrow down - I think meeting Neil would be wonderful at any time, whereas meeting Gerard Way runs the risk that he'd be stressed out/worn out and wouldn't have the time to answer stupid questions from me. But I think I'd still have to risk it, and pick Gerard.

Which “classic” novel do you think least deserves that title?
I honestly can't think of anything to put here. While there are a few classic books I find a drag to read, I understand why they're classics. I haven't been able to finish 'Northanger Abbey' but I'm aware that Jane Austen was a subversive, sarcastic and kick-ass lady.

If you could be any historical figure, who would that be and why?
We're talking very recent history since he only just died, but this guy's obituary is the most amazing thing I've seen today. He attempted suicide by jaguar, was a pirate, rowed across entire oceans, and was generally the closest thing we've ever come to an action-movie-star adventurer.

Where in the world would you most like to visit, and why? Japan, shortly followed by Canada. I have a desperate need to see the world, but no funds to do so. ONE DAY, WORLD. I HAVE PLANS FOR YOU.

If you were a crayon, what colo(u)r would you be, and why? Blue, because I loved that moment where you pulled out the blue crayon and it was time to SCRIBBLE ALL OVER THE SKY.

Let’s pretend you have J. K. Rowling’s bank account. What’s for dinner tonight? Fresh-baked focaccia bread with oil and vinegar, steak (cooked rare, by a hired cook and by a hired cook I probably mean Dave or Josh) and chips, and Croquembouche for dessert.

Coke or Pepsi? Coke! Vanilla coke, or coke zero.

Tea or Coffee? Tea! Black tea (Tetley, Scottish Blend or Twinings English Breakfast) with milk, to be specific.

Think of your favo(u)rite band or song from the 1960s or 1970s. What/who is it? David Bowie's Hunky Dory.

When you get (or got) “the call” from an agent, who will be (or was) the first person you will tell (or you told)? Dave, because he'll roughly understand what in the world I'm talking about. Then my parents, then the blog.

The next stage of this is to come up with 11 questions to tag other blogs in. But I'm kind of worn out tonight and a lot of the blogs I follow have already done this so I'm going to skip that. But, if you haven't yet done this challenge and would like to, let me know in the comments and I'll draw up some questions.

Na-night readers, I hope the upcoming work week treats you well.

Originally posted by Emma Maree Urquhart on EmmaMaree.com