The Z Files ~ Cathy Ryan ~ Aquarius

Welcome to The Z Files, in which writers/bloggers show how the characteristics of their star sign influence their work; contributors were invited to treat the subject as seriously, cynically or lightly as they like.  You can see links to all posts about other signs at the end of this one.

Being careful not to splash it everywhere, here is the third water carrier of this series:  Cathy Ryan, fabulous photographer, book blogger and audio book junkie, is here to tell us about how she relates to her sign of Aquarius.  Cathy's book reviews are informative, balanced and well thought out, and she also posts the most amazing photographs on her blogs, of places she visits (link at end of post).   Yes, and she's a dog lover, too!  

Here's what Cathy has to say about her sign:

"Aquarius is symbolised by the water carrier and ruled by Saturn and Uranus. The water represents life and spiritual energy currents. Opposing personal traits can go from shy and sensitive to outgoing and progressive, caring to detached, happy to help but remaining uninvolved emotionally. Most likeable trait is friendliness."

  
"My birth date puts me on the cusp of Aquarius/Capricorn so my Aquarian tendencies are probably somewhat muted by those of Capricorn. Definitely not an exhibitionist or particularly unconventional and if I seem aloof or remote, I have been accused of that on more than one occasion, it’s a throwback to the self-conscious shyness of my youth, or perhaps because I’m in my own little world and don’t see people when I’m out and about! I’m sometimes guilty of remaining uninvolved emotionally, it's a sort of defence mechanism."

"The quiet and sensitive Aquarian is a better fit than the quirky, individual and exuberant. I’m people orientated and social but also like my own space and company sometimes which is why I enjoy blogging, I think - it’s a good mix of both worlds. Dogs play a big part in my life and even though they’re reliant on me, I don’t feel having a dog interferes with my freedom, which is all important to some water carriers. The dodgy ankles Aquarians can be afflicted with might be a problem though!

Some famous Aquarians ~ Tom Selleck, Paul Newman, WS Maugham, Alice Cooper, Charles Darwin…and now me ;-)"

It's never a bad time for a picture of Paul Newman!

  
....and here are two people who (according to DuckDuck Go Images) are Tom Selleck and Alice Cooper! Hmmm.....Not sure what sign Robocop is.  Will have to look it up :)

Sorry, I just went off track in an unpredictable fashion - must be all that Aquarian influence!  Here are two famous water carrier writers with whom Cathy might feel in tune:

Especially for Cathy because she loves crime fiction ~ 
Aquarian writer Ruth Rendell

 ....and you don't get much more quirky than Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland!

You can follow Cathy on Twitter, then see all her reading choices and wonderful photographs, on her excellent blog, Between The Lines

Next up: A Chick Lit Cancerian!

Previous Posts (click name to see post):
Leo and Aries: Terry Tyler and Julia Proofreader
Leo: Anne Goodwin, Alex Johnson
Gemini: Shelley Wilson,
Aquarius and Capricorn: Nicky Black
Aquarius: Lynda Renham 
Sagittarius: Katrina Mountfort,
Cancer: Mark Barry,
Virgo: Barb Taub
Pisces: Sacha Black
Scorpio: Jenny Twist
Taurus: Valerie Poore

The Z Files ~ Lynda Renham ~ Aquarius

Welcome to The Z Files, in which writers show how the characteristics of their star sign influence their work; I instructed contributors to take the subject as seriously or as lightly as they wished!  Links to other posts can be found at the end of this one.

Dancing over to my blog in pink wellies, a flat cap and a wonderbra (please see her Amazon page HERE!), the very charming Lynda Renham, a proper off-the-wall Aquarius in the nicest possible way!  Lynda is the first of five (so far) chick lit authors, and a hugely popular one ~ again, please refer to Amazon page :)

So, Ms Renham, how is it for you?

"How does being an Aquarian affect my writing? The fact that I am batty most certainly impacts on my work. In fact I would go as far as to say I am more than a bit batty."

Batty Ms Aquarius with her chick lit heroes?

  

"I write in my writing room which is also known as The Beach Hut. It has the feel of the beach when you enter. Or maybe I just imagine that. I have never used a desk. I sit with my legs up on my writing couch, which I like to imagine is a chaise longue and I then dream away and tap out my ideas. I have my cat at the end of the couch and music blaring through my headphones and me singing along at the top of my voice. When I wrote ‘Fifty Shades of Roxie Brown’, my most recent novel, I was singing ‘I’ve Put a Spell on You’ on a loop. This is sometimes very disconcerting for the parents who deliver their kids to the local village school next door. I also have a tendency to forget about dinner so that when my poor husband comes home there often isn’t anything to eat.  He is terribly understanding, thank goodness.  Many of my characters are a bit batty too."

"My blog certainly reflects my quirkiness. It’s full of fun and strange things. I discuss all kinds of things on there and I am very open. In fact some readers have said I’m an open book." (link to blog later) 

I agree that Aquarians are very friendly and unprejudiced. I have a fab relationship online with my readers and they help me a great deal when I am promoting a new novel. 

I don’t think I am unreliable, except maybe getting a book delivered on time.  Far thinking?  If writing about Christmas in July is far thinking, then that’s me."

It was the whole picture of Lynda in her 'Beach Hut' that confirmed the batty Aquarian-ness to me (I write at my desk, facing a wall, in silence).  Do have a look at Lynda's 'full of fun and strange things' blog HERE and follow her on Twitter, too!

Now, I have two more Jan/Feb born writers to make up the Holy Trinity of Light Romance Royalty with Lynda...

... water carrying New York Times bestselling author of 

The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot....

.... and the Aquarian High Priestess of Chick Lit ~ 

Helen Fielding (she's the Bridget Jones lady, in case you don't know!)

Up Next: Pisces

Previous Posts:  

Leo and Aries: Terry Tyler and Julia Proofreader

Leo: Anne Goodwin

Gemini: Shelley Wilson

Aquarius and Capricorn: Nicky Black

Sagittarius: Katrina Mountfort
Cancer: Mark Barry

Virgo: Barb Taub

The Z (Zodiac!) Files: Nicky Black ~ Aquarius and Capricorn

Welcome to my new feature The Z Files, in which writers show how the characteristics of their star sign influence their work... I gave the instruction to treat the subject as seriously (or not seriously) as they liked!
Links to previous posts are listed at the end.

Why Aye, today it's a canny pair of bonny lasses from up The Toon... er, sorry about that.  Ahem!  I'm delighted to introduce Julie and Nicky, who together make up the writing team Nicky Black.  I got in touch with Nicky after reading their gritty Geordie drama The Prodigal which I enjoyed very much; you can see my review HERE with links to both Amazon sites.

 Julie blonde and Nicky black!

Okay, so Nicky is Capricorn and Julie is Aquarius....

...how has this combination affected their working relationship, and how did The Prodigal come about?  This piece is the longest I've received, by far,  (partly because there are two of them, of course!), but I've only chopped it down a little bit because it's most interesting :) 

Nicky: "Since there are two of us in Nicky Black it makes it a little less straight forward as you can imagine, but it really made me think about how much Julie and I have in common, how much we don’t and how that makes us a brilliant team.  Also, when I look at the list of Capricornian traits, I wonder why I have any friends at all...:)."

(Note: that's only the bad ones...

...let's look at it more positively!)

"I think as writers and friends, we share some of the characteristics of both star signs, but we are clearly individuals."

"I met Julie when I was about 28 and she was in her early 40s (I’m 47 now, but don’t tell anyone...).  She was, indeed friendly but chose her friends with care and certainly didn’t suffer fools gladly.  She was a community worker, and her humanitarian and unprejudiced empathy with people living in riot-torn estates was clear to see. I’d known her for several months before she casually told me over a cup of tea that she’d written a movie, as if she were buttering bread for sandwiches. The screenplay was called ‘Heads’, and I asked if I could read it. I read it and I loved it.

In awe of this amazing writer, and being a determined and ambitious Capricorn, I took up her challenge to work with her to get the movie made. She knew I was a hard worker, meticulously organised and not in the least ‘arty-farty’.  In 1998 we set up Hard Place Productions (based on a Fringe play Julie had written and directed called Between and Rock and a Hard Place).  

We can both be self centred, and are both most definitely independent.  We both gave up our jobs (okay, that’s batty) to try something new.  In the end, ‘Heads’ didn’t make it, but my goodness we had some laughs. "

"I began to edit Julie’s work.  She liked my ruthless ‘red pen’ and honesty.  And in 1999, she shoved a writing competition in my face and said, ‘you could do that, Nicky.’ I dismissed it pessimistically and though I was thoroughly sceptical about the whole charade, I came second in the competition.  And that’s how it all started. I wrote some short pieces for the Live Theatre and started taking being a writer more seriously, but never thought I could make a living out of it, so a hobby it remained.

Julie began writing for Hollyoaks and Casualty, but her ambition was always to be original and produce her own work.  The Prodigal was commissioned by Granada in 2001.  She would write ten pages, and I would read and edit.

Sadly, again, time moved on, ITV regions ended and the producer moved on to other things. The Prodigal gathered dust. Julie, stubborn to the core when she wants to be, refused to let the option run on and on and bought it back from ITV with a view to selling it to independent producers." 

"By 2006, never satisfied with my income, I’d moved to London for my day job and I forgot about writing all together.  Then about 5 years ago, my career going really well, director of a company, I sensed that typical Capricornian depression descending.  I needed something to do that would make me proud. 

 

Julie, too, was feeling a little down.  The Prodigal was going nowhere, another rejection.  ‘Why don’t I try writing it as a book?’ I asked.  I took the Prodigal by the (Capricorn!) horns and started editing - locked away, solitary for hours and days at a time.

So what’s next?  Well, I mentioned ‘Heads’ earlier.  It’s set on Valley Park in the rave era of 1989.  That’s all I’m saying for now, other than it certainly demonstrates the youthful outlook of a pair of old birds."

I am very much looking forward to Heads!  If you'd like to keep up with Nicky and Julie, you can follow Nicky on Twitter.

.... and I've chosen these writers of some reknown as typical examples of the two signs....

Cynical Capricorn, Douglas Kennedy (one of my favourites) ~ 

many of his characters embrace long periods of solitude....

... and independent and forward thinking Aquarian, indeed: Virginia Woolf

Up next, a Sagittarian lady with a few strings to her bow, followed by a sceptical Leo!

Previous posts:
Leo and Aries: Terry Tyler and Julia Proofreader
Gemini: Shelley Wilson