Haven't blogged for ages again, I mean, so thought I'd better check in just to prove I'm still alive. heh.
Sooo what's been happening... lots of family stuff and children's birthdays, not so great news from rellies in the UK which is upsetting, and trying to get organised so Christmas doesn't rush up on me when I'm all unprepared, which is my normal MO!
Writing wise I am still wading through the last 40 odd pages of my Mod X. On the good side though I did manage to cut 21,000 words from the original - so now I'm 2k under the line's word count.
Two more fabulous agents requested partials of Kill Lil last week so I'm in a constant state of nervous excitement. More nerves than excitement if I'm honest but who wants tmi?!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Tagged & Tickled
Thank you Amanda for tagging me! And here we go...
To help other writers by providing access to a repository of information, all drawn from personal experience, I am to list five things not commonly known about me. If my personal experiences prove interesting to writers out there, published or unpublished, they are free to contact me to draw from my vast wisdom.
1. I was 8 months pregnant and at the christening of my dh's neice. I consumed 5 helpings of trifle (what can I say, it was delicious?) Towards the end of the afternoon I started to feel a bit... full. The indigestion got worse, we went home. Did I need to go to the hospital, concerned dh wanted to know. Nah, I assured him, I was fine and besides it was World Cup year and he wanted to watch the match. Went to bed. Settled down. I decided I needed to go to the hospital. hehe. Ended up losing all that lovely trifle (over the doctor. he was not impressed) and having an emergency C section. Aah sweet memories!
2. I've had 23 inches of intestine removed which is why I have to graze constantly on such goodness as chocolate, latte and pastries (er, well because stuff goes through me more quickly, see, and leaves me all empty and hungry?)
3. When I woke up after having my gall bladder removed, my dh was at my bedside. He gazed lovingly into my eyes and said, 'Guess what?' I began to sniffle with emotion, sure he was about to tell me how dearly he adored me. He raised his hand and showed me a plastic tube. 'The surgeon gave me your gall stones to take home!'
4. When I was a child I went to watch Crackerjack and got to go up on stage at the end of the show and meet the stars. All I remember is being told 'DON'T CROWD MICHAEL ASPEL!' I was so traumatised I completely ignored him after that!
5. It doesn't matter how many times I watch it, every time I see that clip of the baby elephant peeing and poo-ing all over the Blue Peter studio, I end up weeping with laughter. In fact I'm sniggering now as I type!
A note from Sharon, the creator of People Collection posts: "PLEASE LEAVE THE FOLLOWING IN ALL ‘PEOPLE COLLECTION’ POSTS:Remember that it isn’t always the sensational stuff that writers are looking for, it can just as easily be something that you take for granted like having raised twins or knowing how to grow beetroot. Mind you, if you know how to fly a helicopter or have worked as a film extra, do feel free to let the rest of us know about it :-)"
I tag Monica and Nell!
Sara has also tagged me, so will be back soon with more marvellous... er.... moments!
To help other writers by providing access to a repository of information, all drawn from personal experience, I am to list five things not commonly known about me. If my personal experiences prove interesting to writers out there, published or unpublished, they are free to contact me to draw from my vast wisdom.
1. I was 8 months pregnant and at the christening of my dh's neice. I consumed 5 helpings of trifle (what can I say, it was delicious?) Towards the end of the afternoon I started to feel a bit... full. The indigestion got worse, we went home. Did I need to go to the hospital, concerned dh wanted to know. Nah, I assured him, I was fine and besides it was World Cup year and he wanted to watch the match. Went to bed. Settled down. I decided I needed to go to the hospital. hehe. Ended up losing all that lovely trifle (over the doctor. he was not impressed) and having an emergency C section. Aah sweet memories!
2. I've had 23 inches of intestine removed which is why I have to graze constantly on such goodness as chocolate, latte and pastries (er, well because stuff goes through me more quickly, see, and leaves me all empty and hungry?)
3. When I woke up after having my gall bladder removed, my dh was at my bedside. He gazed lovingly into my eyes and said, 'Guess what?' I began to sniffle with emotion, sure he was about to tell me how dearly he adored me. He raised his hand and showed me a plastic tube. 'The surgeon gave me your gall stones to take home!'
4. When I was a child I went to watch Crackerjack and got to go up on stage at the end of the show and meet the stars. All I remember is being told 'DON'T CROWD MICHAEL ASPEL!' I was so traumatised I completely ignored him after that!
5. It doesn't matter how many times I watch it, every time I see that clip of the baby elephant peeing and poo-ing all over the Blue Peter studio, I end up weeping with laughter. In fact I'm sniggering now as I type!
A note from Sharon, the creator of People Collection posts: "PLEASE LEAVE THE FOLLOWING IN ALL ‘PEOPLE COLLECTION’ POSTS:Remember that it isn’t always the sensational stuff that writers are looking for, it can just as easily be something that you take for granted like having raised twins or knowing how to grow beetroot. Mind you, if you know how to fly a helicopter or have worked as a film extra, do feel free to let the rest of us know about it :-)"
I tag Monica and Nell!
Sara has also tagged me, so will be back soon with more marvellous... er.... moments!
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Two Weeks Notice
MySpace admin sent me a warning the other day which totally cracked me up. They'd discovered I hadn't put my right age on the profile (so who's to say I'm not really 100 years old then?!)
Anyway, I got slapped wrists for pretending to be older than I am and got two weeks to put it right. yeah okay! I got the impression they thought I was under 18 ( and I understand the reasoning, protecting under age users etc...) however how on earth can they really police it?
But it reminded me of the time when I was 16 and pretended to be two years older in order to get into see an X-rated movie. Ha. Catch me doing that now! That led on to me remembering the numerous Friday lunchtimes when my friend and I used to get happily plastered in local wine bars (I think I might have just given away how ancient I am!) before staggering back to work. And we were NEVER asked to show any ID before being served. At least, not until we went out celebrating my friend's 18th birthday when, for the first time ever, we were actually legal - and had to prove it. My friend was livid!
Anyway, I got slapped wrists for pretending to be older than I am and got two weeks to put it right. yeah okay! I got the impression they thought I was under 18 ( and I understand the reasoning, protecting under age users etc...) however how on earth can they really police it?
But it reminded me of the time when I was 16 and pretended to be two years older in order to get into see an X-rated movie. Ha. Catch me doing that now! That led on to me remembering the numerous Friday lunchtimes when my friend and I used to get happily plastered in local wine bars (I think I might have just given away how ancient I am!) before staggering back to work. And we were NEVER asked to show any ID before being served. At least, not until we went out celebrating my friend's 18th birthday when, for the first time ever, we were actually legal - and had to prove it. My friend was livid!
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Things to Do
Omg. how totally cute is this cover? Look at that adorable little face!
I've been looking forward to reading the lovely Nell Dixon's Things to Do for ages. There's romance, suspense and laugh out loud moments as the heroine, Emma, gets herself deeper into trouble at every turn. I'm loving it!
As an aside, when Miss Snark ran her Crapometer for synopses a while back, this is one of the few that cracked her up!!
I've been looking forward to reading the lovely Nell Dixon's Things to Do for ages. There's romance, suspense and laugh out loud moments as the heroine, Emma, gets herself deeper into trouble at every turn. I'm loving it!
As an aside, when Miss Snark ran her Crapometer for synopses a while back, this is one of the few that cracked her up!!
Monday, October 02, 2006
Off the Planet
As if I didn't already know, I've now been stripped of any delusion that I harbour a shred of techno-savvy. For the last few days (feels likes months!) I've been building a website on FrontPage. Hmm. After about an hour of trying to open FrontPage, I emailed Amanda to ask her how.
She told me.
Yay! I opened the page and subsequently had to email the poor girl every half hour to ask her what to do next! A.R.G.H. During the last week Amanda's held my cyber hand and poured gin laden tea down my throat to calm my frazzled nerves. I bet she wished she'd never encouraged me to do the bloody thing now!
Because I have no wish to embarrass myself further, I'm going to cut a Very Long Story Short (will just add that building the site on FrontPage faded into rose tinted nostalgia when I tried to figure out the mysteries of Freeparking, Godaddy and transferring my pages into the folder! NIGHMARE CITY is all I can say!) and am desperately relieved to announce my new webpage is now up and working!
She told me.
Yay! I opened the page and subsequently had to email the poor girl every half hour to ask her what to do next! A.R.G.H. During the last week Amanda's held my cyber hand and poured gin laden tea down my throat to calm my frazzled nerves. I bet she wished she'd never encouraged me to do the bloody thing now!
Because I have no wish to embarrass myself further, I'm going to cut a Very Long Story Short (will just add that building the site on FrontPage faded into rose tinted nostalgia when I tried to figure out the mysteries of Freeparking, Godaddy and transferring my pages into the folder! NIGHMARE CITY is all I can say!) and am desperately relieved to announce my new webpage is now up and working!
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Claiming the Courtesan
Wow. I just had to share Anna Campbell's cover for her debut novel coming from Avon in April 07, Claiming the Courtesan. Is this dark and sexy or what? I think the Cover Goddess is excelling herself just lately!
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Phew
A couple of days ago I thought it would be a good idea to convert my blog over to the beta version. Umm, hello! Good idea not!
Okay I exaggerate. But my blog was in transit for two whole days! Two days when I couldn't log on and seriously thought it had got lost in the mysteries of cyberspace.
Thankfully, it finally arrived. And I have to say the people at Blogger are very nice and helpful, and whether it was coincidence or not within a few minutes of my third email to them this morning (Oz time) they had replied, said they'd looked into my account and the confirmation email was on it's way. In fact it arrived at exactly the same time.
So, I had a little play with the new features but haven't really worked them all out yet as I haven't a clue why some of the links and headings are odd colours. But to be honest I'm just so relieved I have my little blog back I'm not too worried about all the details!
Okay I exaggerate. But my blog was in transit for two whole days! Two days when I couldn't log on and seriously thought it had got lost in the mysteries of cyberspace.
Thankfully, it finally arrived. And I have to say the people at Blogger are very nice and helpful, and whether it was coincidence or not within a few minutes of my third email to them this morning (Oz time) they had replied, said they'd looked into my account and the confirmation email was on it's way. In fact it arrived at exactly the same time.
So, I had a little play with the new features but haven't really worked them all out yet as I haven't a clue why some of the links and headings are odd colours. But to be honest I'm just so relieved I have my little blog back I'm not too worried about all the details!
Saturday, September 23, 2006
OMG Halo Has a Cover!
Look at this fabulous cover! OMG it's absolutely perfect! I was so excited by Amanda's news I dragged my youngest daughter over to upload the pic for me!
Can't wait for August 2007 when You Had Me At Halo finally hits the shelves! Hooray!
Monday, September 18, 2006
Tweaking
The lovely witches are reading through Kill Lil again which is no small thing considering it's a hefty 402 pages in TNR. Eek! I've been through the whole ms once over the weekend, tweaking as per suggestions from Sara and I'm hoping to have this baby out the door on Wednesday.
Fingers crossed!
Fingers crossed!
Friday, September 15, 2006
Good News Friday
Hooray. I'm so excited. A top NY agent just emailed and asked to see the full of Kill Lil. That's after having read the partial, so I'm stoked to know she likes my voice so far! And I only posted it off to her a month ago.
So now I'm off to read it (again...) and see if there's any more polishing/editing/tweaking that needs to be done. Hopefully there won't be too much, since I've gone through this ms sooo many times during the pre-submission process.
In other good news - I got my acknowledgement letter from Mills & Boon today for the Modern Xtra I sent them a couple of weeks ago. I was getting a bit paranoid, thinking my sub had got lost in the post but thankfully not. The editor ref is Sha, and being nosy I went and had a poke through the archives on eharlequin to discover who she is!
So now I'm off to read it (again...) and see if there's any more polishing/editing/tweaking that needs to be done. Hopefully there won't be too much, since I've gone through this ms sooo many times during the pre-submission process.
In other good news - I got my acknowledgement letter from Mills & Boon today for the Modern Xtra I sent them a couple of weeks ago. I was getting a bit paranoid, thinking my sub had got lost in the post but thankfully not. The editor ref is Sha, and being nosy I went and had a poke through the archives on eharlequin to discover who she is!
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Pink Heart Society
There are some weird people out there. People who bash Romance because it has a Happy Ending. Well duh. What's so bad about that? I like reading books with happy endings. In fact I try to avoid books that I know are gonna make me cry since I hate feeling depressed - but that doesn't mean I bash books where everyone dies at the end. Or in the middle. Or even at the start (unless it's a romance. Then I'd get cranky).
It's the same with chick lit. I think that gets as much negative press as romances and why? Because they are hugely popular and masses of people (okay, probably masses of women) read and enjoy them. But is that any reason to look down noses?
Well. So I'm gonna say it here and now. I love reading romance. All types of romance. Historical, contemporary, hot and steamy (can't wait for Anna's book to hit the shelves!!) or tender and sweet and every flavour inbetween, including paranomal and time travel. I also happen to love Stephen King (he hooked me on my honeymoon. No, I am NOT going to say anymore about that... heh) where characters frequently die horrible deaths, and Tess Gerritsen (ditto), so it's not that I'm averse to bumping off fictional characters. Just depends on my mood at the time.
So, in honour of all books category, the Pink Heart Society was formed, and if I wasn't such a techno-dunce I'd put the little dancing pink heart up here on my blog. Unfortuately whenever I tried copying the code all it did was make the font go wonky. Sigh. As soon as I either work it out, or bribe my daughter to lend me her brain, I'll put it up.
Update Hooray! the lovely Ally Blake pointed me in the right direction and now I have my very own dancing heart on my blog!
It's the same with chick lit. I think that gets as much negative press as romances and why? Because they are hugely popular and masses of people (okay, probably masses of women) read and enjoy them. But is that any reason to look down noses?
Well. So I'm gonna say it here and now. I love reading romance. All types of romance. Historical, contemporary, hot and steamy (can't wait for Anna's book to hit the shelves!!) or tender and sweet and every flavour inbetween, including paranomal and time travel. I also happen to love Stephen King (he hooked me on my honeymoon. No, I am NOT going to say anymore about that... heh) where characters frequently die horrible deaths, and Tess Gerritsen (ditto), so it's not that I'm averse to bumping off fictional characters. Just depends on my mood at the time.
So, in honour of all books category, the Pink Heart Society was formed, and if I wasn't such a techno-dunce I'd put the little dancing pink heart up here on my blog. Unfortuately whenever I tried copying the code all it did was make the font go wonky. Sigh. As soon as I either work it out, or bribe my daughter to lend me her brain, I'll put it up.
Update Hooray! the lovely Ally Blake pointed me in the right direction and now I have my very own dancing heart on my blog!
Monday, August 28, 2006
The Boss's Convenient Bride
The Boss's Convenient Bride
I had a lovely surprise in the mail the other day, a signed copy of Jennie Adams debut Silhouette Romance book, The Boss's Convenient Bride, which I won at the Clayton's Conference a couple of weeks ago.
This is such a lovely, feel-good romance, and left me all warm and tingly as Nicholas gradually realised he felt a whole lot more for Claire than simple old lust. heheh. Don't you love to see a hot guy suffer? Claire is more than a match for her boss, although she does have to contend with a right pain of a sister who manages to screw up all her plans. Well, almost! And the epilogue had me sighing with a big happy smile on my face.
This is a September release in North America, with Jennie's Her Millionaire Boss hitting the shelves the following month. Unfortunately us Down Under have to wait until November for that one!
I had a lovely surprise in the mail the other day, a signed copy of Jennie Adams debut Silhouette Romance book, The Boss's Convenient Bride, which I won at the Clayton's Conference a couple of weeks ago.
This is such a lovely, feel-good romance, and left me all warm and tingly as Nicholas gradually realised he felt a whole lot more for Claire than simple old lust. heheh. Don't you love to see a hot guy suffer? Claire is more than a match for her boss, although she does have to contend with a right pain of a sister who manages to screw up all her plans. Well, almost! And the epilogue had me sighing with a big happy smile on my face.
This is a September release in North America, with Jennie's Her Millionaire Boss hitting the shelves the following month. Unfortunately us Down Under have to wait until November for that one!
Friday, August 25, 2006
Bye Bye Pluto, Bye Bye
So, just like that, poor old Pluto is no longer classified as a planet. Instead of seven planets in the solar system we now have eight, and a new category of 'dwarf planets'.
Well, duh. If scientists can do that, I don't feel at all bad making up my own fantastical universes where the sun and moon inhabit the sky at the same time whenever the fancy takes me. Actually, I never have felt bad about doing that, but I have to say I do feel a bit weird about having the planet Pluto demoted like that.
But times change. When I was at school I was taught dinosaurs became extinct because they were too big, slow and stupid to survive (umm wake up call... they survived for how many millions of years on earth before they were wiped out? And humans have been around exactly how long by comparison...?)
This of course has nothing to do with writing, and the title has nothing to do with Pluto and everything to do with me playing Bye Bye Baby by the Bay City Rollers this morning. I guess I am feeling kinda nostalgic. By the way, anyone remember the BCRs?!
Well, duh. If scientists can do that, I don't feel at all bad making up my own fantastical universes where the sun and moon inhabit the sky at the same time whenever the fancy takes me. Actually, I never have felt bad about doing that, but I have to say I do feel a bit weird about having the planet Pluto demoted like that.
But times change. When I was at school I was taught dinosaurs became extinct because they were too big, slow and stupid to survive (umm wake up call... they survived for how many millions of years on earth before they were wiped out? And humans have been around exactly how long by comparison...?)
This of course has nothing to do with writing, and the title has nothing to do with Pluto and everything to do with me playing Bye Bye Baby by the Bay City Rollers this morning. I guess I am feeling kinda nostalgic. By the way, anyone remember the BCRs?!
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Slave to Sensation - Nalini Singh
This is a brilliantly cool idea for online book promotion - see below!
I am participating in a blogging experiment hosted at dearauthor.com. To enter the contest, put up this blurb, image, and trackback and you are entered to win the following prize package.
$200 Amazon gift certificate
Signed copy of Slave to Sensation
New Zealand goodies chosen by Singh
ARC of Christine Feehan's October 31 release: Conspiracy Game
You can read about the experiment here and you can download the code that you need to participate here.
SLAVE TO SENSATION Nalini Singh Berkley / September 2006
Welcome to a future where emotion is a crime and powers of the mind clash brutally against those of the heart. Sascha Duncan is one of the Psy, a psychic race that has cut off its emotions in an effort to prevent murderous insanity. Those who feel are punished by having their brains wiped clean, their personalities and memories destroyed.
Lucas Hunter is a Changeling, a shapeshifter who craves sensation, lives for touch. When their separate worlds collide in the serial murders of Changeling women, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities…or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation.
Excerpt
I am participating in a blogging experiment hosted at dearauthor.com. To enter the contest, put up this blurb, image, and trackback and you are entered to win the following prize package.
$200 Amazon gift certificate
Signed copy of Slave to Sensation
New Zealand goodies chosen by Singh
ARC of Christine Feehan's October 31 release: Conspiracy Game
You can read about the experiment here and you can download the code that you need to participate here.
SLAVE TO SENSATION Nalini Singh Berkley / September 2006
Welcome to a future where emotion is a crime and powers of the mind clash brutally against those of the heart. Sascha Duncan is one of the Psy, a psychic race that has cut off its emotions in an effort to prevent murderous insanity. Those who feel are punished by having their brains wiped clean, their personalities and memories destroyed.
Lucas Hunter is a Changeling, a shapeshifter who craves sensation, lives for touch. When their separate worlds collide in the serial murders of Changeling women, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities…or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation.
Excerpt
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Featured Attraction
Well, yum. The hero of Julie's debut M&B Modern Extra, Featured Attraction, is hot, funny and totally irrisistable. And did I mention hot...?
Besides having a little accident while *ahem* cooking dinner (for some weird reason my family thinks it's slightly warped to read in the kitchen - who knew) I had to escape to the bathroom to finish reading about Jack and Kitty. Hey, no way was I going to leave myself hanging after they managed to lock themselves in a deserted movie theatre with only popcorn, chocolate covered raisins and multi-flavoured condoms for company (and I wasn't disappointed there...waggles eyebrows)
I loved the way Jack dug himself into a bigger and bigger hole (at times literally!) and oh yeah what's with this John Cussuck thing going on?!
Can't wait to read more of Julie's work, and hopefully not so belatedly next time!
Besides having a little accident while *ahem* cooking dinner (for some weird reason my family thinks it's slightly warped to read in the kitchen - who knew) I had to escape to the bathroom to finish reading about Jack and Kitty. Hey, no way was I going to leave myself hanging after they managed to lock themselves in a deserted movie theatre with only popcorn, chocolate covered raisins and multi-flavoured condoms for company (and I wasn't disappointed there...waggles eyebrows)
I loved the way Jack dug himself into a bigger and bigger hole (at times literally!) and oh yeah what's with this John Cussuck thing going on?!
Can't wait to read more of Julie's work, and hopefully not so belatedly next time!
Saturday, August 19, 2006
The Gladiator's Honour
I've just finished reading Michelle Styles's The Gladiator's Honour, her debut Mills and Boon Historical Romance, and wow. What a fantastic book. I absolutely loved the tortured Valens, cruelly sold into slavery and gladitorial combat, and really felt for him as he battled to win back his honour and family name. Julia Antonia, his Roman noblewoman heroine, is torn between loyalty to her father, and love for Valens. In ancient Rome a match between a patrician and slave is forbidden, and towards the end of this story I was completely choked up.
The Gladiator's Honour has received rave reviews, and yesterday won the Cataromance Historical Romance award - congratulations, Michelle! And who better to present the award than the divine Orlando Bloom?!
Michelle's next historical is A Noble Captive, and I'm really looking forward to reading it.
Next on my tbr pile is Julie Cohen's debut M&B Modern Romance Extra - Featured Attraction - which also won the Cataromance award yesterday. I'm hoping to hide from the family tomorrow so I can finish it in one sitting!
The Gladiator's Honour has received rave reviews, and yesterday won the Cataromance Historical Romance award - congratulations, Michelle! And who better to present the award than the divine Orlando Bloom?!
Michelle's next historical is A Noble Captive, and I'm really looking forward to reading it.
Next on my tbr pile is Julie Cohen's debut M&B Modern Romance Extra - Featured Attraction - which also won the Cataromance award yesterday. I'm hoping to hide from the family tomorrow so I can finish it in one sitting!
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Clayton's Conference
And what is the Clayton's conference I hear you ask.. well I will tell you. The Aussie RWA conference was held at the Gold Coast last weekend, but for those of us unable to attend there was... ta da... The Clayton's!
Julie Anne did a magnificent job of organising our online conference, with a Q&A session with Mary Hawkins on Friday and a workshop with Desire author Bronwyn Jameson on Saturday. Then on Sunday we had an online brainstorming session where we also fantasised about which author we were going to be when we grew up (Susan Elizabeth Phillips & Carly Phillips were mentioned - I'm sort of half way there with the surname, right?)
We had a short story competition which had to include the code word 'Amethyst', which I'm ashamed to say I didn't enter (must try harder). All the entries were amazing, the judging was a close call and we ended up with a three way tie!
Over the weekend we submitted chapters to be critted, and some of the girls have formed a new crit group. We drank heaps of cyber bubbly, scoffed a mountain of cyber (and in my case not so cyber oops) chocolate, and stayed up late chatting on messenger (good job my dh was away that weekend!)
Romance writers really are lovely. Several authors generously donated their books and critiques as prizes for our conference, and I won Jennie Adams debut novel for M&B Harlequin Romance, The Boss's Convenient Bride, and also Bron's 2006 RITA finalist, The Rich Stranger.
As a PS... I had no idea why it was called Clayton's and not wishing to appear a complete ignoramus at the conference I asked Amanda. Here's what she told me...
Julie Anne did a magnificent job of organising our online conference, with a Q&A session with Mary Hawkins on Friday and a workshop with Desire author Bronwyn Jameson on Saturday. Then on Sunday we had an online brainstorming session where we also fantasised about which author we were going to be when we grew up (Susan Elizabeth Phillips & Carly Phillips were mentioned - I'm sort of half way there with the surname, right?)
We had a short story competition which had to include the code word 'Amethyst', which I'm ashamed to say I didn't enter (must try harder). All the entries were amazing, the judging was a close call and we ended up with a three way tie!
Over the weekend we submitted chapters to be critted, and some of the girls have formed a new crit group. We drank heaps of cyber bubbly, scoffed a mountain of cyber (and in my case not so cyber oops) chocolate, and stayed up late chatting on messenger (good job my dh was away that weekend!)
Romance writers really are lovely. Several authors generously donated their books and critiques as prizes for our conference, and I won Jennie Adams debut novel for M&B Harlequin Romance, The Boss's Convenient Bride, and also Bron's 2006 RITA finalist, The Rich Stranger.
As a PS... I had no idea why it was called Clayton's and not wishing to appear a complete ignoramus at the conference I asked Amanda. Here's what she told me...
Claytons is/was a non-alocholic drink and the tagline
was 'the drink you
have
when you're not having a
drink' so anything that is claytons is
like a
pretend
thing, hence clayton conference. See, learn knew
stuff
everyday!
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Mr Gorgeous
I had a yummy surprise in my mailbox yesterday afternoon, in the form of Mr Gorgeous.
Okay, so it wasn't actually Mr Gorgeous in person, but his pic sizzles and looks very inspirational up on my wall next to the computer.
If you want a peek at this hot bod, check out Denise Rossetti's website (warning! hot stuff! Over 18 only!) He's the delicious hero from her upcoming Ellora's Cave debut, Gift of the Goddess. If he's the gift I'm next in line, hehehe. Ahem. Great review of him on Cover Snark, too!
Okay, so it wasn't actually Mr Gorgeous in person, but his pic sizzles and looks very inspirational up on my wall next to the computer.
If you want a peek at this hot bod, check out Denise Rossetti's website (warning! hot stuff! Over 18 only!) He's the delicious hero from her upcoming Ellora's Cave debut, Gift of the Goddess. If he's the gift I'm next in line, hehehe. Ahem. Great review of him on Cover Snark, too!
Monday, August 07, 2006
The Synopsis Has Landed
Why is writing a synopsis such a pain in the butt?
Over the years I've tried so many different ways of doing the thing, but none of them quite made sense to me. A couple of years ago Sara nudged me in the direction of Kathy Carmichael, and I have to admit after reading her brilliant workshop notes, a few tiny lightbulbs flickered in my brain. Yeah, only a few and they only flickered, but trust me, that's a huge improvement.
Sooo... last week it was time to tackle Lil. Urgh. I spent hours and managed one whole page. Yay me! I knew I should've struggled onward but since I felt like I'd just done ten rounds with a couple of Sumo wrestlers (not in a good way) I thought, 'Tomorrow!' (stop singing. You know who you are...)
I just find it really hard to know how much detail to put in. Too much emphasis on the relationship and it sounds like there's no plot. Too much plot and the relationship is buried. Double argh. I dtiched the sub-plots, excised all names but five (but they are Really Important Names...) and it came in at three pages exactly.
My lovely fellow witches gave it the once over and came up with ways to tighten and focus, which I duly undertook today, and I think it's okay. Sort of.
Here's hoping!
Over the years I've tried so many different ways of doing the thing, but none of them quite made sense to me. A couple of years ago Sara nudged me in the direction of Kathy Carmichael, and I have to admit after reading her brilliant workshop notes, a few tiny lightbulbs flickered in my brain. Yeah, only a few and they only flickered, but trust me, that's a huge improvement.
Sooo... last week it was time to tackle Lil. Urgh. I spent hours and managed one whole page. Yay me! I knew I should've struggled onward but since I felt like I'd just done ten rounds with a couple of Sumo wrestlers (not in a good way) I thought, 'Tomorrow!' (stop singing. You know who you are...)
I just find it really hard to know how much detail to put in. Too much emphasis on the relationship and it sounds like there's no plot. Too much plot and the relationship is buried. Double argh. I dtiched the sub-plots, excised all names but five (but they are Really Important Names...) and it came in at three pages exactly.
My lovely fellow witches gave it the once over and came up with ways to tighten and focus, which I duly undertook today, and I think it's okay. Sort of.
Here's hoping!
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Acting Your Age... or not...!
When my sister-in-law and I were sixteen, we'd look at Old People messing about and say, why don't they just act their age? Everyone knew you were totally past it by the time you hit thirty, so why were they pretending to be teenagers?
Ha ha. Guess what. I hit thirty and didn't feel Past It at all. In fact I didn't feel that much different inside from when I had at sixteen.
The other day it occurred to me that my eldest daughter is the same age I was when I became engaged to her father. I had a bit of a wibbly moment because how on earth did that happen? Has there been a rip in the space time continuum, flash forwarding me into the future? I mean, come on. No way can my own daughter be that old already!
See, I don't feel old inside (I'm ignoring the dodgy bits of me that wake up each morning feeling about hundred). My daughters have long given up being scandalised by my behaviour on msn (my god, you act sooooo juvenile! is one of the more polite phrases aimed my way) although my son cringes big time when I inadvertently use the word 'cool' in his presence. hehehe. Like I would do that on purpose?? After all, parents don't even know that word, so how can they use it?
No matter whether I'm writing a contemporary romance or one set in the far distant past, my protags emotions are still the driving force of the story. Will my gorgeous, sexy hero and kick ass heroine grow boring and staid in their older years? I don't think so. Age is definitely just a state of mind, and a lot of things don't change nearly so much as we think they will when we're in the middle of the angsty teenage years.
So how old are you inside, where it really matters?!
Ha ha. Guess what. I hit thirty and didn't feel Past It at all. In fact I didn't feel that much different inside from when I had at sixteen.
The other day it occurred to me that my eldest daughter is the same age I was when I became engaged to her father. I had a bit of a wibbly moment because how on earth did that happen? Has there been a rip in the space time continuum, flash forwarding me into the future? I mean, come on. No way can my own daughter be that old already!
See, I don't feel old inside (I'm ignoring the dodgy bits of me that wake up each morning feeling about hundred). My daughters have long given up being scandalised by my behaviour on msn (my god, you act sooooo juvenile! is one of the more polite phrases aimed my way) although my son cringes big time when I inadvertently use the word 'cool' in his presence. hehehe. Like I would do that on purpose?? After all, parents don't even know that word, so how can they use it?
No matter whether I'm writing a contemporary romance or one set in the far distant past, my protags emotions are still the driving force of the story. Will my gorgeous, sexy hero and kick ass heroine grow boring and staid in their older years? I don't think so. Age is definitely just a state of mind, and a lot of things don't change nearly so much as we think they will when we're in the middle of the angsty teenage years.
So how old are you inside, where it really matters?!
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