I'm baaaack!

And it's Monday. phhhhht!

Ah well, can't have everything. Managed to get a good start on a 'hungry trees' story (I seem to have issues with murderous trees at the moment - I'd better cut down on the cider and try something else!) I'm wavering on the voice of the narrator so that will need to be tidied in edits as sometimes he comes across as a normal 17-year old and sometimes as if he's swallowed a dictionary!

Sun is shining, I'm indoors wanting to be outdoors, but, nose to the grindstone and off to do more work.

Temp in office: 24.3˚C (and we can't open the windows!)

On Nano: None, I'm boring today.

Mood: Okaaaay.

Brief return...

and then I'm off again!

I'm taking annual leave for the rest of this week. One's chum has a job interview tomorrow morning (for her own job bizarrely enough, and at an ungodly hour of the morning as well which seems a bit cruel and unusual) so once that's done we will be consuming chocolate, taking the dogs out and basically having a bit of a jolly.

I've got a couple of shorts (flash/ drabble pieces) ticking over in the back of my mind that I want to tease out, and yesterday I had (what I thought was) a great first line. (Bathtime is just full of inspiration!) So that's all jotted down and waiting for continuance.

I have had great difficulty reading in the last couple of weeks, re-reads or new books. I just can't concentrate. Where I have managed to read a couple, instead of taking me 2-3 hours as per usual, I've been taking 2-3 days. And not caring! It's just not right. I hope I'm not going through another down phase. The last one lasted for about three months and it was awful - I didn't read anything, didn't buy any new books. Maybe my brain just needed a rest, but it was quite - distressing is too harsh a word, but it was along those lines. (Although, one book I did manage to read was Ray Bradbury's Zen in the Art of Writing[1877741094]. Lots of mini-essays & very good).
I shall visit my papa this weekend, so perhaps the quiet at his house (and lack of interruption) will help. We shall see.

Enough whining! The sun is out. I'm off this afternoon, and there is work to be done.

Hej, hej.

On Nano: Nothing - it's still in my locker.

Mood: Lergified (again!), but relatively positive!

Submission, and the holidays

Okay, I subbed (yesterday) to Mytholog - a drabble piece for their Summer issue. Closing date is 14th of May so I just need to wait and see what they say.

And...the holidays are here! Term paused last week so no late night tonight (yay!) or next week; and the little darlings will be back the week after. But in eight minutes I will be off for five days! And one of them is my birthday! (I won't say which one, suffice to say I'm still in my thirties.)

On the NaNo: Nothing. Absolute silence.

Mood: Happy, happy, happy!

Rejection!

Had a rejection from Mslexia about my flash piece 'Car Park' so I shall have to check out some other markets to submit it to, as well as work up a couple of new pieces and submit them around.

In other news: I've got Broadband - sort of. Had to get a wireless adaptor because the phone line and computer are in two completely different rooms and the ethernet cable's too short. The BT setup won't recognise the adaptor so we're supposed to set up a wired connection first and then go to wireless once that's done (although obviously the problem with the wires means we can't do this).

However. The (Belkin) wireless adaptor found the Broadband Hub no problem and connected to the Internet. So we are and we aren't connected if that makes sense? Or we are and we shouldn't be? Perhaps we need a little man to come out and have a look to make sure we haven't mucked something up.

Ain't technology grand?

On the Nano: Every little thing counts by Janus Stark

Mood: (Temporarily) confused by tech

del.icio.us

Okay - I've added the writing links (from one computer) to my del.icio.us space (I hadn't realised I had so many either) and I've modified the tags as well. I've got some links on another computer to put up there, and I haven't included all of the author links because that list is huge, but at least I'll be able to access the sites from wherever (whereever? where-ever?) when I need to.

Haven't done any more on Mirror of Andras - need to do some more on that tonight as I've had an idea for a slightly different direction to take it.
Mood: Tired, but ok

On Nano: Beyond the Pale by The Mission

Quote!

Just had to put this quote up - I came across it on Marjorie M. Liu's blog. If you haven't already, read Marjorie's Dirk & Steele series. Wonderful paranormal stories with new twists on the paranormal theme.
Start at the beginning with Tiger Eye

Go. Read. Enjoy.

"If I lose the light of the sun, I will write by candlelight, moonlight, no light. If I lose paper and ink, I will write in blood on forgotten walls. I will write always. I will capture nights all over the world and bring them to you." --
Henry Rollins

On Nano: Taking Over Me by Evanescence

It's Friday!!! Yay!

Well, Friday has landed - and I'll be going home in just over 2 1/2 hours. No work this weekend! I've managed to read a couple of books this week, as well as write more on the Mirror of Andras short story. It's going to need monster edits when it's done, but it's better to acknowledge that now than have it preying on my mind. Otherwise I'll end up editing and re-editing what I've written without getting any further forward. :(

In other news: Samhain Publishing has just got RWA recognition, so congratulations to Samhain and all of its authors!

Mood: Pretty damn upbeat y'all!

On the Nano: Right Here Right Now by Fatboy Slim

Three columns or not?

I'm trying to decide whether it would be a good idea to add in an extra column to the blog so there isn't so much scrolling to be done, or to try another template or ...I don't know. I've gone to a couple of sites - one lauding the joys of doing it in px and the other of doing it in %. I've saved a copy of the existing template so I can alter with (relative) impunity (and I can always remove the edits if it all goes pear-shaped) but still - there's always that moment of panic when you do something to your blog/web page and things disappear or go squiffy.

I may try it tomorrow.

Sidebars

Okay! I've tidied up the sidebars a bit and added in a few more blogs etc. that I visit (I haven't put the blogroll from Bloglines on there because that would be insane - I really need to pare them down a bit!)

It's Friday!!! Yay!

I want to work on my flash piece (150 words) and also a short story (3,000 words) this weekend - get them written up and then into editing. Then I will start up with the bears again - I haven't been ignoring them but other stuff came up that I needed to get submitted so... back again.

I read, on Wednesday, Linnea Sinclair's new novel Games of Command and it is fantastic. The characterisations of Kel-Paten and Sass were great, but I have to say that Kel-Paten stole the show as he struggled with his burgeoning emotions for Captain Tasha Sebastian; emotions that, as a cyborg, he shouldn't have. I really felt my heart clench when he thought he'd lost everything and this is certainly going to be a favoured re-read along with Gabriel's Ghost, An Accidental Goddess and Finder's Keepers. Secondary characters were interesting, and the furzels were great. For a review that's more articulate than one from me try here. But basically: Go, read, enjoy.

Want to learn more about Linnea and her books (yes, you do!) go to her website here - she's very kindly put some free short stories up for people to look at as well.

Mood: Upbeat

Listening to: L'Esprit des Gabriel from the Da Vinci Code

Books I've read...

I will be updating this area (and the blogs area too) when I have a moment. I've got a lot on at work catching up after knackering my back, and I haven't been reading much new material lately (buying - yes; reading - no!).

Instead I've been re-reading some of my comfort reads. You know the ones - you don't have to concentrate too hard and they leave you feeling as if you've had a great big hug, you're wrapped in a warm blanket and you've just drunk a huge mug of hot chocolate (that didn't make you feel sick) all at once. Which would probably be really messy if you did it all at once in real-life but as this is just a metaphor* it's ok. No spilt hot chocolate or first degree burns.

*Who knew that there were so many elements to the metaphor - we won't go into when I last did grammar but I'm sure we didn't cover all of these then.

Flash in the pan?

I've lately been sucked into the joy-of-flash. Flash fiction that is.

I've entered two pieces in the Binnacle ultra-short competition, submitted one short piece to a magazine and now I'm working on 3 short pieces (well, really one short at 150 words and 2 ultra-short at 50 words apiece) for another writing competition that closes on Friday.

Considering the fact that I have problems finishing longer (i.e. novel-length) pieces, is the allure of flash the fact that it is so short and therefore it's rather difficult not to be able to finish a piece? Although shorter, it is certainly no easier to write as you are condensing as much of the essence of the story as you can into that brief collection of words and I find I have to remind myself that just because I, the writer, knows something - it doesn't always come out in the writing itself.

For example:

your character sends a radio signal to the sun, which takes c. 8.19 minutes to get there. (You just know I looked that one up don't you?) In your flash piece you may refer to that without taking the time (or using the word count) to explain that when your character says "Eight minutes there and back again, but how long between?" he's referring to the there and back again time of the signal and that he's wondering how long it will take the machinery at the other end of the signal to act on the instructions.

I know that's what I mean, because it was running in the back of my mind at the time I wrote the piece - but I've found that with flash pieces (especially those that come in under 200 words) that if it needs explaining (and my writer friends felt it did!) then you should leave it out/ change it - because in short pieces you don't have the 'room' to explain and a WTF?! moment half-way through a 150 word piece is not necessarily a good thing! (I've also found that, short pieces or not, it's extremely useful to have people you trust to ping ideas off as they can point out those WTF?! moments so you can check whether you want to leave them in or not).

I am enjoying writing flash and the feeling of achievement that finishing and submitting them creates can't be denied.

Even if they don't get selected for anything, even if they don't make a shortlist or warrant a 'thanks for your time' - the act of completing and submitting has done wonders for my self-confidence.

I can do this. Next time it'll be for something a bit longer, and the time after that for something longer still.

Mood: Productively happy

Listening to: Kelly Clarkson - "Behind these hazel eyes"

Binnacle Ultra-Short Competition

I've entered two pieces into this competition: Last Light and Homecoming.

It was quite a challenge, because each piece had to be no more than 150 words in length, and trying to get everything relevant condensed into such a small amount of words took some refining. But I'm fairly happy, and I submitted something!!! OMG. Closing date is the 15th of February and then announcements in May so I'm not going to stress about it; just carry on with the Bears.

Mood: Upbeat

Listening to: X-Men III: The Last Stand

What kind of fae am I?

What type of Fae are you?

Business Plan

I'm unpublished - but even the unpublished should have a business plan which, like a set of goals/new years resolutions, lists what you plan to do in a given year but also (following PBW's guidelines) you break it down into monthly/weekly/daily goals as well as estimating your annual budget. Which does make it appear more manageable as you don't just have - write novel!!! There's an actual (reasonable) plan to guide you through. (It's about time I had a reasonable plan to work from!)

Starting as I mean to go on (even though it is already halfway through January) I wrote mine out today and also managed to (slightly) exceed my daily wordcount. If I can keep that up, then I can meet my goals with about 2 months to spare for editing, query writing etc. (All things being equal - nothing going pear-shaped and all that)

Mood: Quietly confident

Listening to: Sandy Thom's "I wish I was a punk rocker"

I'm baaaack!

Well. After a rather nasty fall down the stairs in October which culminated in an injury to my coccyx and a pained inability to sit down for long (especially on office/computer chairs) I am now back at work and better able to sit down. If I'd had wireless broadband and a laptop I could have posted from the sole armchair that didn't cause me absolute agony, but, I didn't/don't so - long absence and here I am.

New Year's resolutions to follow when I've got a moment.

Tardis image

Gearing up for NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month is nearly upon us again.

For those of you not in the know, participants aim to write 50,000 words or more of new material (i.e. starting a new book) between the first and last days of November. Boards/forums and sign-up takes place in October and there's a fair amount of chatting going on already!

I'm giving it another go this year (always a bridesmaid etc. but maybe this year I'll get the garter instead of looking after the mad relative in the corner!)

Click here to register and join in the madness! (err... I mean fun of course heh heh heh)

Interview with Cindy Hwang from Berkley

Go to the Running with Quills website to read an interview Jayne Ann Krentz did with Cindy Hwang, Executive Editor at Berkley Publishing Group. In this interview she talks about the rise of the paranormal, why it's hot and what some of the sub-genres of the paranormal genre are. Cindy also lists a few of her authors.

So, have a look. See what you think & add your 2p!


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On the me front - I've mostly been doing tours and presentations for new students coming into the University (when they turn up, that is) and consequently I feel absolutely knackered and can't quite believe that I've got another three-and-a-half days before I can have a lie-in -- which I probably won't get anyway because I have to get up to let the dogs out and if you're awake enough to get up and let them out, you may as well get dressed and take them for a walk as well. Right? Well. That's what they think anyway.

Mood 1: Knackered!

Mood 2: Knackered!

Listening to right now: Moulin Rouge Soundtrack - Disc One

Reading : Jenna Starborn by Sharon Shinn (and I will update my "I have read" list - it's on the to-do list I have, but it's not near the top)

Eureka!

Well - I've been having a few problems with one of my main characters in WIP1 (no working title as yet) because her motivation for being where I want her to be seemed a little spongy to say the least. However, on my way home the other night I had a blinding epiphany (aka a stray meme) and realised I'm giving her too much backstory at the start of the book - blah blah blah (reader falls into a boredom induced coma) and that I needed to start it straight in and cut her off from everything. On her own, bit of a lost fish - really needs to find who she is, not who she's dutifully been for the past 15 years.

I actually feel as if forward motion is once again possible (as opposed to hamster on a wheel motion).

So. Progress. New outline but from a better starting point and it's better for her character.


Mood: Excited

Weather: Raining

Music: Necromantic Overtures by Bill Efting

Oh, yeah - I also need to update the books read bit in the sidebar. I think I'll redo it so that the books I read, and the books I re-read are in separate sections. We shall see. I'm away at the weekend, so it'll be next week sometime before I'm likely to get to it.

Romance Diva's Erotica Industry Q&A 19th-21st Sept

NB: If you're not already registered with Romance Divas you'll need to do that before the event, because you'll need to request access to the Steamy Workshop after registration - it's not automatic.

So come along and join in the fun and get some of those burning industry questions answered!


Ready to learn from the Pro's?

Please join us at Romance Divas from September 19th - 21st as we host some of Erotic Romance's hottest names!

This free question and answer session will be held in the Divas Steamy Workshop section of our forums. Because of the adult themes and language, this workshop will be limited to our members who are 18 and older. Click here to visit out our Steamy Workshop and make sure you have access before the event begins!

Our confirmed guests include :

Erotic Romance Authors: Eden Bradley, Joey Hill, Shelley Bradley, and Sunny

Agents: Jessica Faust and Laura Bradford

Editors : Treva Harte of Loose ID and Raelene Gorlinsky of Ellora's Cave.

Contact Karen if you have any questions prior to the event.

Writers, readers, fans, and anyone curious about one of the fastest growing segments of romance are welcome. Be sure to join us to ask these industry professionals your most burning questions, and learn from their suggestions and advice!

permission to forward granted



Mood: Excited!