I invited around 70 writers/bloggers to write a piece about how typical they are of their sign, and how its traits affect their writing life ~ if at all...
Has your favourite writer been featured yet? Links to all previous posts at the end of this one :)
The Z Files' second Novelistas lady ~ the bossy one, says Valerie-Anne Baglietto :) If this is true, she can blame it on her birth sign ~ Taurus (well, if she's anything like my Taurean husband....). Val is a writer of 'modern, grown-up fairy tales, because someone has to and it might as well be me'. I love that! You can have a look at her books HERE.
Let's see what Val has to say about her Taurean writerliness ~
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| The grown up fairy tale writer in her Cinderella Coach - every girl should have one :) |
Locking Horns?
A Taurean Writer Tells All
A Taurean Writer Tells All
"In many ways, I can be quite bullish when I want to be. So I
suppose that fits in perfectly with the Taurean profile.
I’ve been writing professionally in one capacity or another for nearly two
decades, with the typical highs and lows of any creative career. Bullheaded
determination has kept me going.
My element is supposedly the earth – a practical sign. I’m
ambitious but realistic. I’ve got three children to orbit around, so I don’t
work to ridiculous deadlines that would have me tearing out my family’s hair as
well as my own. My writing has to fit in with everything else, wedged in
between dog-walks and school-runs and frequently finding myself buried in a
laundry avalanche. But stuff gets done, and books do get written, so this life
works well enough for me at the moment."
"Taureans are persistent. We can endure. I set myself goals
and tackle them slowly but steadily. I’m stubborn (ha, yes!) and strong-willed.
I know I’m a perfectionist, which is useful when it comes to editing but not so
good when I grind to a halt in the middle of the first draft, fixating over the
‘perfect’ word to end the ‘perfect’ sentence. I still haven’t learned to just
get the story down and worry about the second draft later. Like a bull about to
charge, all I seem to be doing is obsessively stamping my hoof in the dirt,
over and over again.
Apparently Taureans can be quite diplomatic and peace-loving, with an eye for beauty. Hmm, not something I’d necessarily associate with a bull, but O-K. That does sound like me. I believe I’m known for being diplomatic when I’m keeping order among the other members of Novelistas Ink. And even though I do have a red-hot temper when provoked – my Latin temperament, I think, as well as the bull in me – I like to quickly make up and move on. I’m not comfortable with grudges.
Apparently Taureans can be quite diplomatic and peace-loving, with an eye for beauty. Hmm, not something I’d necessarily associate with a bull, but O-K. That does sound like me. I believe I’m known for being diplomatic when I’m keeping order among the other members of Novelistas Ink. And even though I do have a red-hot temper when provoked – my Latin temperament, I think, as well as the bull in me – I like to quickly make up and move on. I’m not comfortable with grudges.
I also write contemporary, adult fairy tales set in
picturesque villages, so I guess that’s the ‘eye for beauty’ part right there.
Gritty, urban and bleak? Sorry, not me.
So in essence, in some things I’m quite grounded like my earth sign, but in other ways it’s very obvious that my head is occasionally in the clouds! Perhaps, in fairy tale fashion, this bull sometimes magically transforms into a giraffe…?"
I think we can safely say that Val is fairly typical of her sign...if you've looked at her books at the link above, you might like to follow her on Pinterest HERE and on Twitter HERE.
So in essence, in some things I’m quite grounded like my earth sign, but in other ways it’s very obvious that my head is occasionally in the clouds! Perhaps, in fairy tale fashion, this bull sometimes magically transforms into a giraffe…?"
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| (Just an excuse for a picture of giraffes because I think they're so beautiful!) |
I think we can safely say that Val is fairly typical of her sign...if you've looked at her books at the link above, you might like to follow her on Pinterest HERE and on Twitter HERE.
Now, which famous Bull writers should I choose to join Val?
I've gone for he of the similarly fantastical, Terry Pratchett...
...and a lady who stubbornly said 'no more novels' after publishing one in 1960, but published her second in July 2015 ~ Harper Lee, of course!
Coming Next: a charming French Gemini!
Previous Posts:
Leo and Aries: Terry Tyler and Julia Proofreader
Leo: Anne Goodwin, Alex Johnson
Aries: Cynthia Harrison
Gemini: John Privilege, Shelley Wilson
Aquarius: Cathy Ryan, Lynda Renham
Sagittarius: Rachel Amphlett, Wendy J Lennox Katrina Mountfort
Cancer: Katie Oliver, Mark Barry
Pisces: Maria Savva, Sacha Black
Scorpio: Robert Leigh, Catherine Hokin, Jenny Twist
Taurus:Valerie Poore
Val, you had me at fairy tales! Great post and lovely to read more about you. I shall be checking out your books asap. P.s: Does the Cinderella Coach come in any other colour? ;-)
ReplyDeleteHaha, thanks Shelley! I wish I owned that 'coach'; it was ingeniously designed with mirrors, on the other side it was a pumpkin. Took my daughter to see it in the Disney Store in London when they were promoting the Cinderella movie. Bliss for both of us!
DeleteVal, you and me both on everything here! I didn't mention the diplomacy bit in mine, nor the aversion to gritty, urban and bleak, but I'm with you there too. Most people don't believe me when I say I have a flaming temper, but only when pushed very hard, and like you, it's over very quickly. Nice to compare bullishness with another Val, and I'm so intrigued by the grown-up fairy stories, I shall now have to read one!
ReplyDeleteHi Val! Thank you! Lovely to meet you too. I think being diplomatic also means we have to deal with a lot of the stuff other people don't want to handle, but I do try to be tactful about it. As for 'bleak', too much of that in the real world, I don't want to be guilty of dragging it into my fiction as well. Maybe that's the Taurean eye for beauty? When it comes to my temper, I think people who know me well have learned not to provoke me - apart from my middle child, who's a maverick anyway ;-)
DeleteHaha, my youngest is like that - a maverick and a Scorpio with a sneaky sting. We had a good laugh about it recently :) I agree about the beauty aspect. It's probably also why both my novels are set in the 60s and 70s...
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