Writing | Bridget McNulty

The Wonder of Whiffling.

// August 20th, 2009 // No Comments » // Blogs, Inspiration, Writing

In the mood for something a little light-hearted this Thursday?

Check out this hilarious and wonderful website – http://www.thewonderofwhiffling.com/
It’s the website of a new book all about extraordinary words and phrases in the English language, and I think it’s simply delightful.

Here’s an extract:

Office Jargon

July 24, 2009 by Adam Jacot de Boinod

The workplace seems to conjure up so many images of which some are easier to grasp than others:

seagull manager – a manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, shits all over everything, and then leaves
swallow the frog – to tackle the hardest task possible
push the peanut – to progress an arduous and delicate task forward

Have you come across any new ones?

Sweet Life.

// July 9th, 2009 // No Comments » // Blogs, Diabetes, Writing, travelling

That’s the one I’m living… But also the name of our Round-the-World with Diabetes blog.

Get it? Sweet. Life.
Hehehe…

I’m going to be hanging out there more and more as the trip gets closer, so I thought you might like to come hang out too. Think of it as a second living room. I’ll mainly be writing about travelling and diabetes and preparations and all that, but I’ll make sure to keep the same flavour as this blog.

Of course, I’ll still be writing about life, love and everything else right here until the beginning of September, when we leave for our trip. So keep visiting!

Today’s blog post over at Sweet Life? The 5 star lifestyle…
Come and visit! www.justtheplanet.com/sweet-life

The bend in the road.

// June 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // Inspiration, Life (and the living of it), Prince Edward Island, Writing

I’m still up to my ears in Anne of Green Gables (somehow having seen where she lived makes the books spring to life with the greatest of ease!) and I found a quote I wanted to share with you last night..

Anne is talking about how the path of life is not always straight, how sometimes there’s a bend in the road and try as you might you can’t see past it. I think we like to pretend that we always know exactly where we’re going, but there are definitely times in life where the road has a bend and we just don’t know what will happen next. Here’s what Anne and her dear friend Mrs Allan have to say about it:

They’re talking about Anne going to college, and Mrs Allan says, “Well, I should like to see you go to college, Anne; but if you never do, don’t be discontented about it. We make our own lives wherever we are, after all…. college can only help us to do it more easily. They are broad or narrow according to what we put into them, not what we get out. Life is rich and full here… everywhere… if we can only learn how to open our whole hearts to its richness and fulness.”

“I think I understand what you mean,” said Anne thoughtfully, “and I know I have so much to feel thankful for… oh, so much…”

Isn’t that lovely? To recognise that even if your life isn’t going the way you want it to right now, it’s all about what you put into it. And we all have so much to be grateful for…

How diabetes changed my life:

// June 22nd, 2009 // No Comments » // Diabetes, Inspiration, Life (and the living of it), Writing, travelling

That’s the theme of the story I wrote for Real Simple magazine in July last year. It was called ‘Sugar Rush’ and it was about how being diagnosed with diabetes made me reassess my definition of success, and start living the life of my dreams.

And… It just won the South African leg of the Novo Nordisk 2009 Diabetes Media Prize! Which is a huge honour. And makes me very happy because it means it’s going through to the international leg of the competition, and so am I! They’re flying me to Vienna in September for a 4 days diabetes conference. Fantastic!

I’m going to try and copy the article below (let’s see how web-savvy I really am – turns out, not that web savvy! You can click on it and download it, but not too sure how to make it a PDF in the blog post). I just read it for the first time in almost a year, and I have to say I’m rather pleased with it. I managed to capture the mood of how I feel about this subject, and I think that’s all any writer can ask for…

Sugar Rush

Have you got a spice for life?

// June 6th, 2009 // No Comments » // Inspiration, Publishing, Writing

Kind of like a lust for life, but spicier!

Then check out this great website, Spice4Life, specifically aimed at women who want to succeed…

And while you’re there, check out the profile they did on me – http://www.spice4life.co.za/bridget-mcnulty.asp

Spicy!!

Aisha: a podcast from Strange Nervous Laughter

// May 15th, 2009 // No Comments » // Downloads, Strange Nervous Laughter, Writing, podcast

Would you like to meet Aisha?

She’s a beautiful, dreamy soul, walking around with her head in the clouds…

“The fourth chapter from Strange Nervous Laughter, a novel by Bridget McNulty, in which we meet Aisha, a girl wrapped up in her dreams who chooses not to face reality…”

Click here to download the MP3 from Strange Nervous Laughter, a novel by Bridget McNulty ...

Strange Nervous Laughter

Listen to the MP3 online!

Aisha from Strange Nervous Laughter, a novel by Bridget McNulty

International First Love Day!

// May 15th, 2009 // No Comments » // Blogs, Love, Writing

Today, the 15th of May 2009, is the first official International First Love Day. A day to celebrate first loves, innocence, what it is we first fell in love with, and the beauty of love in all its forms.

Are you ready for a large helping of love?

Check out these blogs from all over the world for their International First Love Day contributions:

* Mold-a-Rama-Rama – http://moldarama-rama.blogspot.com/

* Reluctant Runner – http://www.reluctantrunner.net

* Awesome Fabric from South Africa – http://awesomefabricsfromsouthafrica.blogspot.com/

* The Misinterpretation of Dreams – http://amandasaunders.blog.com/

* Bianca Baldi – http://www.biancabaldi.net/blog.php

* Naturally Nina – http://www.naturallynina.com

* La Vie a Vernelle – http://vie-vernelle.blogspot.com/

* Brendan McNulty – Web 3.0 – http://www.brendan-mcnulty.com/

* Kathleen Ingraham – http://www.kathleeningraham.com

* Being Brazen – http://www.beingbrazen.com

* The Naked Redhead – http://www.thenakedredhead.com

* Rumble – http://rumble.sy2.com/stories/blue_afghan.html

* Sprig – http://sprig.co.za/

* Bridget McNulty - http://www.bridgetmcnulty.com

The Blog Tour continues!

// May 12th, 2009 // No Comments » // Blogs, Links, Reviews, Strange Nervous Laughter, Writing, book launch

Yip, today I’ve trotted over to Book Patrol, a haven for book culture, on the second stop of my Blog Tour. Check it out at http://www.bookpatrol.net/ where you’ll find out all about capturing the essence of Durban in Strange Nervous Laughter.

Book Patrol is a fabulous site for anyone interested in books and bookish things… why not make yourself a cup of tea and settle in for some quality reading?

As if the Powers That Be on the Internet knew that today was the day my book officially hits bookshelves in the USA (or virtual bookshelves on Amazon.com – check it out!) Strange Nervous Laughter is also making guest appearances in a couple of other places today…

* The Portfolio Travel Blog has written a fabulous book review on Strange Nervous Laughter, all about how it’s a good idea to judge books by their covers (I love it!)

* The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has featured Book Patrol’s article on Strange Nervous Laughter (yes, you read right, the Post-Intelligencer online newspaper!)

* The Arizona Central website has listed Strange Nervous Laughter as one of their Fiction Books to help turn pages of Summer 2009. Great stuff!

Aaaand next month I’m going to be appearing on this lovely blog, in France! http://lafeecoriandre.blogspot.com/

YAY! What a lovely way to celebrate…

Celebrity news :)

// April 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // Life (and the living of it), Publishing, Writing

Every so often, I get just the faintest inkling of what it would be like to be a minor celebrity….

Like now, for example.

Check out the May issue of Shape magazine for an article I wrote on the space between mothers and daughters, ‘Fuelled by love’. I wrote about 4 pairs of amazing moms and daughters who have done cool things together (including my mom and I, even though our plans to skydive were foiled by clouds!)

Then in the May issue of O, the Oprah magazine, (the SA version) there’s an article on Blogging that lists me as one of the best Humour Blogs (who knew??) and my fabulous sister-in-law Dagmar as one of the best Crafty Blogs, and my very funny friend Megan as one of the best Lifestyle Blogs (scroll over their names to get to their blogs, for some reason the word doesn’t change colour when it’s hiding a link!)

And then, as a result of that article, in which I give a few tips for blogging, I’m going to be on SAfm on Wednesday! (For those out of South Africa, it’s one of the best national radio stations, tagline: “For the well-informed”, don’t you know!) On Nancy Richards show, between 1.30pm and 2pm. Listen in!

So all in all, I’m starting to wonder where my entourage of minions is… Any volunteers??