Not Scripted or Perfect - Just Right
Christmas box - being picky it’s not perfect, I covered over the edges with tape and I could have made it better.
Today I lost my voice. Only I never realised until I turned up at my friend Ruth’s house this morning and started squeaking like Joe Pasquale. Oh, the joys of living alone and having no one to speak to.
All week I’ve been fighting off a cold, each day I’ve had different symptoms, yesterday was an earache and in the middle of last night I had a nose bleed. But I’m not after sympathy because I had such a fun morning, and thankfully felt well enough to enjoy it.
I’d gone to Ruth’s to film a video of us boxing up a stack of books for the Resolute Christmas Giveaway. It’s quite usual for authors to film an unboxing video, the first glimpse of your book in print is always so exciting. This was a reverse video of us packing a box for the lucky recipient of our prize.
Earlier in the week I’d spent time covering one of my many book boxes with Christmas paper. I even added a flash of shiny Resolute Teal to the mix. I was very pleased with my efforts and was rewarded with lots of lovely comments from my fellow authors when I shared the photos. It made up for feeling a bit grotty. At least I could say I’d spent some of my week being constructive and not just procrastinating.
Christmas is just over a week away, my house is a mess, I’ve not wrapped any presents or written any cards, but just look at this lovely shiny box.
Ruth and I set up our shot, a carefully placed Christmas decoration adding some festive cheer. We are not complete novices at this social media malarky. The video was recorded in one take too!
My voice holds out, Ruth says I’ve been working hard selling books. She is ready to jump in if it fails completely.
Still from the video - me sitting at Ruth’s feet, showing off my book before adding it to the box.
The video may not be completely slick and perfectly scripted. Ruth says all the books are signed and I disagree because most aren’t. When adding the little extras like tea bags and coffee, I say that I stole the coffee sachets from a hotel.
“But you didn’t steal the chocolates!”
“Of course not!” My squeaky voice reaches a whole new level, only heard by dogs and small children.
In the end what we come up with is a funny, natural conversation between friends, with all the slight imperfections left in. If we tried to do it again it would become stilted.
I know I am procrastinating again now as I type this. I really should be tackling the pre-Christmas housework, the dusting, hoovering, and clearing the dining table so we can sit and eat our Christmas dinner in the lovely dining room. But as a wise lady reminded me yesterday at the church coffee morning,
“It will all get done.”
And somehow, I will be ready for Christmas and if not, my family will forgive me for the things I haven’t done, because just being together is the most important part. And I shall just blame being poorly – there’s even video evidence that I lost my voice.
It took me ages to work out what to call this blog post. Today’s words are a bit random and rambling to be honest, not scripted or perfect but somehow just right! A reminder to go with the flow and enjoy yourselves, however you are feeling at this time of year.
Merry Christmas!