Maddie Moon on Writing and other stuff

Playing Catch Up

2009-03-21T12:57:00.001-07:00

Gosh, I am such a rubbish blogger, aren’t I?

Anyway, the postman brought me a lovely treat this week, a copy of Janet Gover’s new book The Farmer Wants a Wife. Especially lovely, as although it was on my ‘to buy’ list, I actually won the book in a competition run by Nell Dixon on her blog to celebrate the launch of her new LBD book, ‘Animal Instincts’. I love LBD books (and if you’re not familiar with LBD, then all I can say is ‘where have you been!?’) I’m really enjoying Janet’s novel, so many thanks to both Nell and Janet for the treat.

Some writing news of my own (at last, I hear you say), I have stories in these two publications this week:

Shame about Best stopping fiction, just when I’d sold them my first story too after a few (cough, cough) years of trying! Sigh, it’s not the first time that’s happened, I’ve seen out the fiction in a few magazines now. Not that I’m paranoid or anything. Anyway, I’m really pleased with the lovely illustration in Best. It’s a thrill too to be in the Weekly News alongside stories by two of my writing buddies, what an honour!

And continuing the me, me, me theme, I sold a coffee break tale to My Weekly this week.
So all in all a good week that makes up for all these weeks of blanket rejections and brown envelopes from the VAT man and tax man.

And it looks as though the sun will be shining for Mother’s Day tomorrow. Ooh I expect I will be spoilt rotten by the kids, but perhaps I ought to go and give them a gentle reminder just in case... What about you, anything exciting planned?

Blogging Bother

2009-03-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

Ooh, we’ve had a bit of trouble this week. Not from me, I might add, but from the other blogger in the house, the teenage boy. He’s been an enthusiastic and conscientious blogger for some time now with a merry following of, ahem, teenage girls. I knew there had to be something in it for him.

I took a bit of interest in the early days, but haven’t really followed his blog for some time now because it’s a bit like reading your son’s diary; you know you’re going to end up learning something you really didn’t want to know.

Anyway, in short, the teenage boy has turned into Piers Morgan with less discretion and ending up getting his knuckles rapped by Head Office of the well-known charity shop he volunteers for after divulging details of a little wheez going on behind the scenes. Then he vented about something at school which didn’t go down too well in some quarters so again there was a lot of fur flying and what can only be described as a colourful verbal exchange.

It would have been okay if he’d kept his blog anonymous, but of course it was linked to his facebook account, twitter and the six o’clock news bulletin. He suddenly became a ‘wanted’ man.

Much to his disgust, ‘what about free speech?’ he’s been heard exclaiming, his blog has had to go underground and he’s not very happy about it all. Ah, the joys of technology, eh?

Still, a couple of good things have come about since he started all this. A while ago someone left a comment on one of his posts saying they liked his writing style and would he like to contribute an article to their website, an American funny tales site, which he duly did. (Mother goes off in a sulk as no one has ever asked her if she’d like to contribute anything anywhere) And he’s been bitten by the writing bug, spending hours locked away in his bedroom writing short stories. Should I be worried about this peculiar teenage behaviour, I wonder? Still, he could be doing worse things up there, I suppose.

So, are you a lone blogger in your household or are there others amongst you?

Just a quickie

2009-02-28T15:09:00.000-08:00

I was determined to keep to my resolution, so at the eleventh hour….

This week….

One short story written.

Three stories submitted.

One story rejected.

Number of words written on novel – big fat zero.

Books bought – One – I Can Make You Thin by Paul McKenna (If it works I’ll post a photo of me in all my new svelte loveliness.)

Things given up for Lent – Three – Chocolate, cakes and biscuits.

I’ve tried in previous years to give up just one thing like chocolate, but then have fallen foul of a mischevious biscuit disguising itself as plain old boring and then finding, when I’ve taken a ladylike bite, it has a scrummy chocolate filling. Most frustrating, so for that reason all those scrummy things have been banished this year.

Things baked – 16 – Nigella’s scrummy, if jaw-aching, breakfast bars – peanuts, cranberries, oats, coconut and condensed milk. Very definitely not a cake though. Do brioches count as a cake, I wonder? Croissants? Pain au raisins? I can see I will need to do a little research on food classifications over the coming weeks.

So did you give up anything for Lent and, if so, how’s it going?

Now, where was I?

2009-02-21T08:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry about that, I slipped out the front door to pick up a few groceries and got a little waylaid. Like you do. It was a life-enhancing few months, but I’ve come to realise that true happiness lies not in wild abandoned nights with swarthy young men, but in domesticity and the school run. So here I am.

Thankfully, George is very forgiving; the accountant, tax man and vat man, less so, but after a bit of sweet-talking on my part, I think I pretty much have the demands of the men in my life under control now.

On the writing front, I may have mentioned a while ago, that I was about to start on the second novel. I’ve done a lot of mentioning to anyone who might listen, but not very much writing. One idea flits into my brain and takes up residence and then the other idea muscles in on the whole scene so I’ve been doing a lot of dithering. In a reckless moment, I’ve had a few of those recently, I rejoined the RNA so it would be a good idea to get going on the novel soon. Any minute now, in fact.

Novel No. 1 is out there, but I suspect is being treated with cold cruel contempt. When it next comes home with its tail beneath its legs, I may wrap it under the duvet for a couple of months for some much needed tlc.

The short story writing is going well, though. I’ve written a few since Christmas and have been busy submitting, that always make me feel better. My February 20th resolution is to blog at least once a week, that can’t be too difficult, and to catch up with everyone else’s blogs.

Thanks to everyone who asked about me. When we get together for that coffee, I’ll tell you all the juicy, eye-popping, glorious details about those missing months.

Good Habits

2008-10-27T05:15:00.000-07:00

That’s what I’ve been trying to get into. I went on a course last week. Sadly not a ‘how to write a bestselling novel’ course or even ‘how to write an averagely good novel’ course or a ‘sell more short stories’ course, but a ‘learn how to be a better driver after having had an accident’ course.

I had a very lovely letter from the local constabulary offering me a place and asking me not to be offended (humph) and suggesting that I would really enjoy it and it was up to me, I didn’t have to attend, but if I didn’t they’d see me in court (cue evil laugh).

I was a little nervous about the whole thing as a friend had been on the same course and she told me that after the classroom based theory stuff you were let loose on the roads with a trainer observing your every movement. Scary. Still I needn’t have worried as I met some lovely people and it was extremely worthwhile and enjoyable and the driving, through the Buckinghamshire villages, on sunny autumn days was much better than I could have anticipated. My lovely lady trainer was very encouraging and I got to share the car with a very fit, in every sense of the word, young policeman who wasn’t there in a professional capacity, but in a ‘must take more care on the roads’ capacity.

So if you are a road user, please take it easy out there. I heard lots of sobering statistics. There are a lot of idiots out there (no not me silly!) and it’s really not worth getting heated and wound up behind the wheel. I let everyone cut me up now and just smile sweetly. Stay safe!

In other news, as newsy people say, Google Alerts notified me that a passage from one of my short stories, which appeared in an anthology a while back, has turned up in a Media Studies Intermediate exam paper this year. Cool eh? The poor candidates had to read my piece and then plan a media product inspired by the passage, mentioning target audiences and other technical media type stuff. I’m just glad I didn’t have to do it. I wouldn’t have known where to start.

Half-term’s here all ready? How did that happen? I still haven’t got into the swing of things after the summer holidays and now I’m having to wind-down again.

Helllooooo!

2008-10-19T12:29:00.000-07:00

Is there anyone there?
It’s awfully quiet around here. Where have you all been?
Me? I’ve been under the duvet. That lovely man from the BBC, Robert Preston, Economic Supremo, who only has to open his mouth for the markets to go crashing to the floor, said the other week that if the recent government bail-out didn’t work we should all turn off the lights, get under the duvet and not bother coming out again. Well I like to be at the front of a trend and I don’t need much telling, so that’s where I’ve been.

Hmmm, it did get a bit lonely and boring under there after a while and the kids were looking awfully hungry so I popped my head up late last week and everything looked much the same, apart from this lovely surprise waiting for me!

An award from the very lovely and extremely talented Tam and the equally lovely and very knowledgeable Womagwriter. Thanks!

I now have to answers the following questions with one word answers (could be tricky).

1. Where is your cell phone? Handbag
2. Where is your significant other? Reading (as in Berkshire, not as in newspaper)
3. Your hair colour? Natural Warm Auburn (it does say on the box)
4. Your mother? Stratford-upon-Avon
5. Your father? Laughing in a heavenly pub somewhere
6. Your favourite thing? Dog
7. Your dream last night? Muddled
8. Your dream/goal? Novelist
9. The room you're in? Living
10. Your hobby? Writing
11. Your fear? Small furry scampering things
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
13. Where were you last night? Sofa, SCDing
14. What you're not? Logical
15. One of your wish-list items? Can’t think of anything!
16. Where you grew up? Hemel Hempstead
17. The last thing you did? Bathed
18. What are you wearing? Dressing gown
19. Your TV? Friend
20. Your pets? Spotty
21. Your computer? Crutch
22. Your mood? Contemplative
23. Missing someone? Dad
24. Your car? Classy as in E, soon to be replaced with a bicycle
25. Something you're not wearing? Knickers
26. Favourite store? Borders
27. Your summer? Great!
28. Love someone? Always
29. Your favourite colour? Yellow
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? A week ago last Thursday

Now I'm off to write my 100 lines, 'I must try harder with the blog, I must try harder with the blog,....'

Back into the Groove

2008-09-29T12:32:00.000-07:00

Well, not exactly, but I thought if I said it aloud and wrote the words down here on my blog it would give me the necessary shove in the right direction.

Ooh what a misog I was in my last post. Sorry about that. Don’t know what came over me, well I do really, but I’m so over all that now. And there’s only a certain amount of wallowing one person can do, isn’t there? I don’t think I’ve quite reached my personal limitation, but I’m nearly there.

The nits are on the retreat. I think.

The rejections have been turned around and are on their way back out there again.

Okay, so the economic black hole is growing larger by the minute, but I’ve taken on board all your spiffing advice and have gone into denial about the whole thing. I mean there’s not a lot I can do about it anyway, so why worry!

And today I finally got down to starting the re-write on IYCSTH. Hooray! At last! I was feeling a bit like the little girl at the back of the class, staring out of the window, not having a clue what was going on or what she should be doing with everybody else scribbling away frantically in front of me. But slowly things have fallen in place and now I have a vague idea of the direction I should be going in. Promising, huh?

Things are definitely a lot cheerier this end. Oh yes.

I hope things are cheery your way too.

Doom and Gloom

2008-09-17T22:49:00.001-07:00

Gawd, isn’t the news depressing at the moment?

Last week we were all worried about the possibility of disappearing down a man-made cosmic black hole, this week it seems more likely we’re all going to be sucked down an economic black hole. Really though, it’s all very unsettling and I’m just wondering when someone is going to step in and say, ‘Enough!’ and restore a bit of calm and confidence. Soon, I hope.

And, I’ve had three womag rejections so far this week.

And, at this early stage in the school term, the nit comb has already had to put in an appearance.

And, I’ve had my report back from the RNA.

Still, things could be worse, that’s what I always say.

I'm back!

2008-09-03T09:42:00.001-07:00

We went here:-

and here:-

and I did a bit of lazing around here:-
For someone who's not really keen on the whole holiday thing, I had a jolly nice time!

It's good to be back though and to hear such good news buzzing around blogland, Cally's fab agent news and all the story and article sales I've been reading about on everyone's blogs. (Sorry I would do the whizzy link thing, but photos and blog links in one post is asking a bit much.)

Anyway, I'm feeling inspired by all the good vibes and today I've sent out a short story and a competition entry. Kids back at school too so yay and boo in equal measure. Good to get back into some kind of routine, but not so good to say goodbye to those long lazy days!

Bucket and Spade packed!

2008-08-22T11:44:00.000-07:00

I'm off to Chianti country tomorrow for a little of La Dolce Vita and hopefully some sun, too!

Will be back in a week or so.

See you then!

Mamma Mia!

2008-08-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know I’m the last remaining person in the whole wide world to see this film, or at least it seems that way judging by the number of people who’ve asked me recently if I’ve seen it yet, but today, finally, my moment came. Yay.

I loved it. A friend told me it was a really happy, feel-good film and I agree even though I spent almost the entire time blubbing through it. Can’t wait for it to come out on DVD to watch it all over again. And again.

Continuing the Scandinavian theme, I sold another story last week to a new market there, new to me at least. This was all thanks to a writing friend from Australia who I’ve met through this blog. Like me, this lovely lady writes short stories for the women’s magazines and her stories appear frequently in Aus and the UK. We realised that our stories had appeared alongside each other and so we’ve been chatting about all things writerly and all things not so writerly. She kindly gave me the details of the Scandinavian mag so I’d like to say a huge, public thank-you to my newly found friend for being so generous.

Can’t believe that the summer holidays are almost over. Only just over a week to go and then the kids will be back at school. That's so sad. And you know what it also means? Christmas can only be around the corner. Aarggghhhh!

Waving!

2008-08-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

My hectic, tightly-scheduled routine, the one that involves dropping the kids off at school, dashing home, checking my emails, making a coffee, checking my emails, catching up on everyone’s blogs, writing my blog, thinking about writing something more substantial, checking my emails, having another coffee, more catching up on blogs, checking my emails etc., has gone out of the window with it being the summer holidays.

Instead, I’m taking a well-earned rest.

We did go to see Kung-Fu Panda last week which I can’t really recommend unless you love pandas, kung-fu or you’re under the age of 10. If you can tick all three boxes, you’ll love it!

I have been doing a lot of thinking though. And thinking is good. Slowly, the characters and plot for the second novel are coming together. I’ve had some corkers of ideas, normally in the middle of the night, but they haven’t seemed quite so cracking in the morning. But there is one idea that’s becoming increasingly persistent, so come September I’ll be exploring that one a bit further.

Impulse buy of the week is a pair of these

Apparently, they “improve muscle tone, burn calories, strengthen and tone muscles in the feet, legs, buttocks and stomach” to name just a few of their many benefits. They even come with a warning label that says, “has the potential to increase muscle activity in terms of duration and workload. We recommend that the fitflop be used progressively to avoid excessive muscle soreness.”

I am nothing if not sensible in my fitness regime, so I’m wearing my new purchase while keeping my feet up as I watch Emmerdale. I really don’t want to overdo it.

Watch this space or the space occupied by my legs, buttocks and stomach. Things will definitely get better!

Tales from the Country

2008-07-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

I was visiting my mum yesterday and had to nip outside to grab something from the car. As I opened the front door and stepped outside, a furry headed creature with inquisitive eyes looked up at me from beneath my car on the driveway.

Oh my goodness. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not fond of small furry creatures of the scurrying variety. So I stepped backwards into the house and closed the door to reconsider my options. Then I realised the thing wasn’t that small nor was it scurrying, but happily sauntering. So what was it? The element of surprise threw me. It was definitely not a rat, a mouse or a squirrel, far too big for that and far too relaxed.

Being a very brave bunny, I eased open the door again to see the thing still there slinking across the grass. It looked like a ferret to me, but then I’m not really up on my wildlife and you don’t get ferrets wandering around the countryside, do you?

I called my mum and Lizzie and they both looked at it from the window and made a collective sigh of ‘awwwww!!’ followed by, ‘what is it?’

I tell you, it was an absolute beauty, all golden silky hair coiffured to perfection. It looked as though it had just had come out of the salon. It was too big to be a stoat, not weasly enough to be a weasel, so I think it must have been an escapee ferret.

By the time I’d found the sense to get my camera, it had become bored and wandered off into the back garden and no doubt the fields beyond. It wasn’t spooked by my presence at all and I’m sure if I’d invited it in, he would have happily obliged, but memories of dear old Richard Whiteley’s encounter with a ferret were high in mind.

I know I should get out more, but really it was sooooo exciting and made my day!

Reminded me of when I lived in a block of flats and came home from work one day to find a frog sitting on the stairs blocking my way. I mean, it wasn’t that big a frog, but there was no way I was going to get past it. I did what any self-respecting girl about town would do and screamed, before running down the stairs and knocking on my neighbour’s door. He duly came to my rescue and moved the frog on. I suppose in a novel it would have led to a romantic encounter, but sadly not in this case.

Maybe I should have kissed that frog. Who knows where that could have led.....

A Good Week

2008-07-25T03:06:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely day yesterday. I went off to Brighton for the day to meet some friends from my online writing group. We are an international bunch and one of the members was over from Canada so it was great to meet her for the first time and to see some of the others again.

We had a fish and chip lunch on the seafront (well you have to really, don't you), a walk along the length of the pier, a cup of tea in the park outside the Royal Pavilion and lots of lovely chat, writerly and otherwise. It was a truly fab day.

In other news, I finally got the synopsis written. After all the terrific advice I received on here, I had no excuses really, although it did take me much longer than I anticipated! I must admit to a warm glow of satisfaction on finishing; 2 x A4 pages and ticking all the relevant boxes, or so I thought.

Then I read the RNA checklist for submissions. I know, I know, any sensible person would have read it before attempting their synopsis. I quickly realised my 2 pages had to be whittled down to 1 page. Aargggh!!

Anyway, it's now done and I have two versions of the synopsis for anyone who might want one!!

Two sales this week as well, one to the Weekly News and one to TLFF. Hooray!

Off now to set up the newly acquired paddling pool in the garden as I think today could be the day, before it per, per, persisently rains all weekend.

Have a good one!

That End of Term Feeling

2008-07-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a hectic social whirl here lately; concerts, discos, picnics and fetes. Don't kids have busy lives these days? I've been pretty in demand too ferrying them around the countryside.

Roll on Wednesday though and the last day of term and then we can look forward to six weeks respite from that whole morning lunchbox, homework, pe kit torment and the trials of the school run.

Note to self: remember this year to check that all lunchboxes have been removed from school bags so there are no nasty surprises waiting for us early in September.

Anyway, Stop Press, I have my own social engagement tonight. I'm going out for dinner as it is, I've just learned, my anniversary today. Oof. A card appeared late afternoon, rather tellingly, on the other great love in my life, my laptop. That was a nice surprise.

I don't know about you, but I find this whole writing lark makes me a little bit forgetful, distracted, away with the fairies. Either that or it's my hormones or my age. Possibly a combination of all three?

Have a great weekend!

Snop-sees

2008-07-13T04:14:00.000-07:00

This is a notice of intent.

I will write my synopsis this week. Today even. At least I will start it today.

I've thought about it long enough. Written it in my head a dozen times over, but the actual act of applying words to paper is proving a trifle difficult.

Basically I don't know where to start. I suppose the beginning is as good a place as any.

Yes, I will do it. I've told you now. There are no excuses. I simply have to write it now.

Any tips, anyone?

My Weekly - July 12th issue

2008-07-09T13:34:00.000-07:00

What do Helen Mirren, Womagwriter and I share in common? Ha ha, we all appear in the latest issue of My Weekly. Okay, some of us more prominently than others, but hey, even so!

Lovely to receive my contributor's copy today and great to be alongside a fellow blogger.

I reckon that has to be worth 78p of anyone's money!

Game, Set and Match

2008-07-03T01:59:00.001-07:00

Aw, shame about Murray.

I had a moment's pang, but to be honest I've been rooting for Nadal from the start. He's a fine figure of a man, isn't he? I had a text from a friend at the beginning of last night's match asking 'had I seen his muscles?' Well, really, I could see nothing else. I think they must build them differently on the continent.

George just shakes his head in dismay, but I've told him I'm at a funny age....

Things got even more exciting afterwards with the start of Marco Pierre White's new TV series. The love interest in IYCSTH is based loosely, oh okay then, quite muchly, on a certain tempestuous, flamboyant, michelin-starred chef so I was watching with a professional eye.

That reminds me I should be moving on with the edit of the novel. I have a sickly child at home today but she's snuggled up on the sofa at the moment so I might just be able to squeeze in an hour or four on the computer.

Btw, George's new name for me, Blogger Blodwyn. It's quite sweet really, isn't it?

Me, Me, Me, Me, Me Meme

2008-06-26T11:51:00.001-07:00

The Lovely Leigh tagged me for this fun meme.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Huffing and puffing, I was eight months pregnant.

Five things on your to-do list for today:
Walk the dog
Start on edit of Chapter 8
Go to my Mum’s, take her shopping, go for lunch.

Phew, that’s quite enough for one day, I like to pace myself….

What are three of your bad habits?
Impatience
Jumping to conclusions
Not tightening the tops on bottles and jars (I’ve told George it’s hardly a hanging offence. I mean, what’s a bit of ketchup between friends?)

What would you do if you were a billionaire?
Buy a Mercedes s-class coupe, a villa in the Italian Lakes, a designer wardrobe, drink pink champagne every day and retire to live a simple life.

What are some snacks you enjoy?
Chocolate
Cashew nuts
Crunchy peanut butter on French bread

What were the last five books you read?
The Yorkshire Pudding Club by Milly Johnson
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
Carrie by Stephen King (in progress)
Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella (in progress)
The Body Shape Bible by Trinny and Susannah (I’m a vase, apparently, as if I didn’t have enough problems!)

What are five jobs you have had?
Paper Girl
Model (That’s got you wondering, but my lips are sealed!)
Secretary
Book-keeper
Software Trainer

Five places that you have lived?
London
Paris
Milan
Tokyo
New York ... Well maybe, if you ask me in another 10 years time…

Erm,... Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire.

Well, now I’ve confirmed what a boring and pedestrian life I’ve led, I tag Tam and Honeysuckle for some more interesting answers

Resting

2008-06-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

The beast, that is the manuscript, is still staring at me accusingly and I've been sitting on my hands, chewing my fingers (although not at the same time) and trying not to give any thought to the re-write. Instead, I wrote a short story and even got out the ironing board at one moment, but thankfully it was a short-lived moment.

Because that's what they say, isn't it? You should leave your manuscript to 'rest' for a while before attacking it with the red pen. But why, I wonder? It's not as if it's going to get any better on its own, improve with time by the mere fact of being left alone, like a red wine that matures nicely with age. I'm sure, if pressed, I could pretty much recite my manuscript word for word (well, not really, but I do know it pretty intimately now) so it's not as if I'm going to come back to it in a few weeks' time and the whole thing will be a complete surprise to me.

So, I have taken all that learned writerly advice on board and discarded it. Ha ha! I have a reckless streak, don't you know? And armed with my red pen I am going to get scribbling.

So there!

Btw, I have been a very bad blogger this week and haven't really been visiting anyone, but am looking forward to catching up with all the news over the weekend.

Have a good one!

And they all lived....

2008-06-15T03:16:00.000-07:00

Happily Ever After.

The End.

Ah, were there ever two words more satisfactory to type into your manuscript than those!

Yes, I've....

finished.

finito

finis.

Okay, so I'm struggling now, but you'll get the gist.

I've printed it out and it's sitting staring me, an unwieldy beast.

The hard work starts here, I guess.

TGI's Friday!

2008-06-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

My dreary, drudgy week only got worse, I'm afraid.

On Tuesday morning, on the school run, I had a car accident involving two other cars. Thankfully and miraculously, no-one was hurt, but oh my goodness, it was pretty scary and only this afternoon have I stopped wobbling. I had my two kids with me, there was a taxi driver involved and a school minibus with three kids inside. Just cannot get out of my head all those horrid 'what might have been' thoughts. Shivers!

For this reason, I'm looking forward to a dreary and drudgy weekend with no moments of high drama!

On a brighter note, and something that's gone a little way to make me feeling better, I had a sale today to a Swedish magazine (it's rapidly becoming my favourite magazine in the whole wide world). However, if there are any other editors out there, willing to whisper sweet-nothings in my ear, such as 'we'd like to buy your story,' I could be easily swayed....

Wishing you all a peaceful and drama-free weekend.

Normal Blogging Service

2008-06-09T08:37:00.001-07:00

will be resumed soon. It's just that I have lots going on at the moment. Nothing untoward, only dreary, drudgy, life getting in the way kind of things.

The sun's shining though. Yay!

Sniff

2008-06-02T04:55:00.000-07:00

I waved Lizzie off this morning as she and her classmates took off in a coach to deepest darkest Wales for a week.

Quite honestly, I think Year 5 is a bit too young to be gallivanting around the countryside and if it were up to me they'd have to be at least 18 before they could spend a night away from home. Still, she seemed quite excited at the prospect.

We've spent about four days packing. Not only did she need all the gear that a girl needs for this kind of thing, but the school asked if they could take a 'Tudor' outfit as well for an authentic visit to a castle! Who thinks these things up?? As if it's not stressful enough, they then ask us to turn into Jane Asher type figures and whip up a historical costume or two.

Actually it wasn't too bad as the school had a Victorian Day the other week (they have a liking for this kind of thing) and with my history pre the 1960s being a bit hazy I decided that the Victorian costume would do very nicely thank you as a Tudor costume. Perfect!
I'm sure no one will see the join.

Hmmm, it will be a long week. I expect she'll have a good time. Chews on nails nervously.

In My Garden

2008-06-01T06:05:00.001-07:00

The Rhodedendron bush is looking mighty pretty.

The creature encroaching from above is this:-

An Aracucaria Araucana, more commonly known as a Monkey Puzzle Tree. So called, apparently, because it would puzzle a monkey to climb one!

It's a monster of a tree at about 60ft tall.

When we were looking to move a few years ago we viewed loads of houses but couldn't find the 'right one.' At the end of a day viewing and discounting a number of properties we drove past a house that had a small and perfectly formed monkey puzzle tree in the front garden. I said to George, 'Oh, find me a house with a monkey puzzle tree and that will be the one!' I can't think what possessed me to make that comment.

A few days later we received details on a property that George immediately said he wasn't interested in. The agent persuaded us to go and have a look as he said the front didn't really do the house justice. As soon as we walked in we both really liked the feel of the house and when we went to look in the back garden, George turned to me and said, 'there you go, there's your monkey puzzle tree!'

Spooky eh?

A Room of my Own

2008-05-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

George has gone. At last. He's moved out. Well, he and his office paraphernalia, and you would need to see his paraphernalia to believe it, have moved into the garage. So we now have a spare room which won't be very spare for long. The wallpaper's been stripped and the carpet's been ripped up and tomorrow we'll be painting it a nice deep red colour. The room which was the office will from now on be known as 'the quiet room.'

I had to stress the words 'quiet' and 'room' to Kit who I found in there today with his electric guitar and amp, swooning, 'this would make a great room for band practice.' No, no and no.

There'll be a couple of cosy armchairs, bookcases, standard lamps and, just possibly, a radio, but that's all. I can't wait!

Some good news to end the week. A short story sale to a Swedish magazine. Yay! I've been racking my brains for something suitably celebratory to say in Swedish, but have drawn a blank. Ikea or Abba really don't do it! Suggestions on a postcard please...

Happy Birthday....

2008-05-26T05:20:00.000-07:00

to my Mum who's 80 today!!!!! She won't be reading this, but I just wanted to send her lots of cyber hugs and wishes for a lovely day. We had a 'bit of a do' yesterday with all the family with lots of champagne, a swanky meal out, and tea and cake to finish the day off, with lots of laugher and a few tears thrown in too, so I'm sure she'll be taking the opportunity to recover today.

The other exciting news is that my god-daughter had a baby daughter last week called Phoebe. Yay! I can't wait to meet her. What better excuse for buying all things cute and pink?

It is raining persistenly here, perfect Bank Holiday weather. Really, I'd love to be outside doing all things gardenly, but instead I'm having to curl up on the sofa with my laptop, endless cups of tea and slices of birthday cake. Life's tough at times.

Interesting discovery of the day - Tescos now sell chocolate white mice in a packet. Yummy they are too!

Finally, I am slowly mastering the art of standing on one leg and my Wii Fitness age is now a more respectable 46. Still not great, but at this rate I'll be in minus figures sometime very soon!

Hope you're all enjoying the remains of the Bank Holiday weekend.

Whose good idea was that?

2008-05-19T14:52:00.001-07:00

The long-awaited and much anticipated Wii Fit arrived today.

I must admit to a moment's smugness when I stepped on to my new friend to be told that my BMI is within the ideal range. An excellent start.

Then I had to do a little test to work out my Wii Fitness age. Oh yes. Bring it on. With a BMI within the ideal range my fitness age was certain to be equally impressive.

After a little bit of puffing and panting, under the watchful gaze of the two small people, the machine gave its verdict.

My fitness age is......

67!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sixty-seven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'd have been miffed with 47, but come on, 67.
Really, someone must be having a laugh somewhere.
And it's certainly not me.

Humph, I have a little way to go yet in reaching my optimum physical condition.

Things can only get better, I guess.....

Number crunching

2008-05-18T12:28:00.001-07:00

Well, I made it to the 55,000 word mark which was my target for the week, so that's given me a little warm glow of satisfaction.

I've realised for a while now that the first draft of my novel will come in at about 10,000 words under the 70,000 I originally planned on. I think I peaked too early, the story of my life really. Not that it matters because once I've got stuck into the second draft and expanded on a few of the scenes which at the moment are really only sketches, I'm sure I'll be closer to the 70,000 than the 60,000. I know, strictly speaking, that's not the way to do things. All those writing books tell you to cut, cut, cut in your second draft, but I'll be add, add, adding. I can't be the only one, surely and I mean, you can't do everything by the book, can you?

The publisher's guidelines that I'm aiming for requests 60,000 - 80,000 words so I've got plenty of leeway either way.

It's very exciting getting towards the end. And sad too having to say goodbye to all my scrummy characters. I'm just tying up all the loose ends at the moment and giving them a suitably Happy Ever After ending. I'm really desperate to get it finished now, but next I'm going to write a short story for the SAF blog.

Other news, something's going drastically wrong on the dieting front. Yesterday's weigh-in showed I hadn't lost any weight at all this week. Nought, zilch, nada. I can't really understand where I'm going wrong. I suppose it must be on the eating too much and not exercising enough front. Yeah, that would be it. Anyway, it's pretty demoralising knowing you've deprived yourself all week and having nothing to show for it so I reacted like any sensible level-headed person would and stuffed myself silly yesterday.

The elusive Wii is apparently winging its way to me tomorrow so I'll start with a vengeance again then. Watch this space.

I hope you all have an inspiring, productive and sunny week ahead.

The Wanderer Returned

2008-05-13T13:18:00.001-07:00

in one piece and relatively unscathed, which was a bit of a relief as it was very hot, wasn't it? Perfect barbecue weather which is what we did in his absence, but not really trekking around the countryside weather. I admit I had my worry beads out at times. They have that little bit at the back of their neck that's a bit vulnerable and I know he's 15 and 6'2" tall, with size (say it quietly) 14 walking boots, but you still worry don't you? Anyway, he was buzzing when he got home and raring to go on the next one in July.

Hmmm, I wish I could say the same. I'm hardly buzzing. I blame the lovely weather, it's far too distracting. Still, I said it here first, I will get to 55,000 words on the novel this week and then, and only then, I can make a start on my next short for the SAF blog. There that's fighting talk for you.

Blogging is like...

2008-05-09T04:28:00.000-07:00

exercising. You leave it for a day or two and you're doomed. So no excuses. I haven't been blogging nor have I been exercising.

I have been trying to purchase a Wii Fit though, but you can't get them for love nor money in these parts. I am clearly destined not to be thin and lovely.

Drastic measures too, I am on a diet. Grump, grump, grump. There's nothing like getting your summer wardrobe out to realise that something more than a little light toning is required. So I have been depriving myself, my stomach has been grumbling in protest, I could have sworn I'd thrown at least a few pounds off, I even feel thin, but alas the scales tell me this morning I have lost one little measly pound. Not good.

And I haven't been writing either. Aargh. I really must get my bottom into gear.

Today's job though is to sort out a few bits and pieces for Kit. He's off on a Duke of Edinburgh practice expedition tomorrow and handed me a kit list this morning. It has 94 items on it, here are just a few of them.

Essential - Life Threatening - Map Case
Important - Health Threatening - Talcum Powder, Elastic Bands
Imporant - Risk Management - Spare Underwear
Comfort - Mallet, Scouring Pad

The mind boggles! I wouldn't mind but he's only going for a jaunt around The Chilterns. Hopefully the sun will shine on them all and the blisters will be kept to a minimum!

Love is.....

2008-05-02T05:28:00.001-07:00

.... a special package received in the post.

George was placing an order with Amazon yesterday and asked me if there was anything I would like (silly man). Having just discovered the wish list, I told him I'd put a couple of things on there and to surprise me with a little something. Lovely man that he is, he went and ordered them all. Aww.

I had to buy Writing the Breakout Novel after Deb's rave review and Mothernight by Sarah Stowell was a recommendation from another blog, but whose I can't remember. Reading other people's blogs is a dangerous activity as far as book buying is concerned, but thank you whoever you are. The Edna O'Brien novels are two of my favourites and I'm looking forward to reacquainting myself with them after my original copies were lent to a friend (you know who you are!!) and never quite found their way back.

George doesn't read fiction, but is as much a bibliophile as me. His choices were Google SketchUp for Dummies and Guide to the Wiring Regulations: IEE Wiring Regulations (BS7671:2008). Hmm, not quite my cup of tea, but whatever floats your boat, is what I say.

Continuing the book theme, here's a book meme. Thanks for the tag Jumbly-girl!

1. Pick up the nearest book -The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Ablom

2. Open to page 123 - These things are never easy, are they? There's only a couple of lines on page 123 so move swiftly on to page 124.

3. Find the fifth sentence. Found it!

4. Post the next three sentences. 'It is just before 4 am. No point in going back to sleep. He waits until his breathing subsides, then slowly rolls off the bed, trying not to wake his wife.'

5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you. I think most people have done this one and I'm always a bit bashful about tagging other people in case they don't want to play (I love being tagged, in case you were wondering) so I tag anyone who would like to have a go.

I hope you all have a fabulous bank holiday weekend!

A Sale!

2008-04-30T08:31:00.000-07:00

I had a letter today, one of the thin interesting types, rather than the 'oh no, I recognise that writing' types from My Weekly. They're buying a story from me. Yay! I was pretty chuffed as this is my first sale to them after a few, ahem, attempts to crack them.

I'm celebrating with a jaffa cake.

Time for tea?

2008-04-26T06:03:00.001-07:00

Inspired by Calistro and Helen's recent experiences, I dropped my car off today for a service and armed with my brand new notebook, went off in search off a coffee bar so I could sit and do writerly things. Sadly, with no Costa or Starbucks in sight, I had to make do with Sainsbury's, where the coffee machine was out of order and had to settle instead for a cup of tea. No bother, nothing was about to deter me. Not even the hoo-haa going on front of house because only two members of staff were in, the chef and disgruntled lady on the till.

It was ever so good. Lots of rumblings of discontent from the customers, complaints to the management, supervisors being called, talk of other staff being pulled off the main check-outs to help out in the cafe, but apparently this was a non-starter because you need to be specially trained for the cafe. It was riveting stuff, watching as a customer came along expectantly clutching his tray, hoping to order a coffee, settling for tea, and then being told his full english would take 45 minutes. Poor lady on till would explain, customer would grumble, go off muttering and then another unsuspecting customer would come along and the whole process would start again.

Half-an-hour in and I hadn't doing any writing, only a lot of nosing and ear-wigging. Management came to my rescue and put up a notice explaining the difficulties so everthing quietened down and I was able to make a start on what I was supposed to be doing.

An hour and a half later and I had a story written, a whole one. What a result! Next time I'm heading for Borders but I have a feeling it won't be half as exciting.

A Well Kept Secret

2008-04-24T14:33:00.000-07:00

I visited my Mum today who lives just outside Stratford-upon-Avon. We did our usual, moseyed on into town, did some shopping, which as far as my mum is concerned involves a quick whizz around the M&S Food Hall, stopping only to pick up a few tops in assorted colours on the way through the women's department. The tops will stay in the carrier bag until next week when she'll have decided that they'll have to go back and we'll exchange them for another selection of cheerily coloured tops. We're well versed in this routine.

Then we went off for lunch and foregoing our normal haunts, of either the M&S Cafe or Edward Moons, we went instead to the garden centre which made a very pleasant change.

That's where I picked up a brochure about Stratford's Literary Festival which is taking place next week. They kept that quiet. Ooh, it does look enticing and now I'm desperately trying to wangle a way of getting to one of the events. I've discarded my first idea of abandoning the family for a week, staying with mum and going to them all, as I'm supposing that might not go down too well with George and the little people, but maybe I could get to one of the workshops. There's one with an author and an editor from Mills and Boon on Wednesday afternoon, but then again if I go to the workshop with Katie Fforde on Thursday morning, then I could dash along to the talk by agent Antony Harwood in the afternoon. In the hour's break between the two, I could nip into Jones and try on these shoes I spotted in the window. Now that sounds like a very sensible idea. Must see what I can arrange tomorrow.

Back to the same 'ole

2008-04-21T05:45:00.000-07:00

The kids have gone back to school today. You’ll notice I resisted the urge to put a woohoo in there. Actually I adore having them home, love those long leisurely mornings tramping around in our dressing gowns/pjs/boxer shorts without the rigmarole of fixing lunchboxes, unearthing p.e kits, managing coursework deadlines that loom unexpectedly from the shadows the very morning said piece is expected to be handed in, the dreaded school run. Oh, how I’ve missed it all, NOT, but the downside of having them home is that I don’t get very much done. I mean things are pretty lax around here at the best of times so any deviation from the normal routine means everything falls into a further state of carefree neglect, apart from, of course, the intensive, hands-on mothering bonding stuff at which I am very good.

Besides, back to back episodes of the ‘The Suite Life of Zack and Cody’ assaulting me from one direction and something loud and indecipherable booming through an amp from the other, isn’t exactly conducive to the old creative writing lark. Well, that’s my feeble excuse for not having achieved very much this last fortnight.

So it’s been rather nice to have the house back to myself this morning and I’ve managed, you’ll notice, to drag myself up to the 50,000 mark on the novel. Yippee! The finishing line is within sight. Okay, so it’s not a sprint, more a long-distance dawdle, but I can definitely see the flag waving me home. It means too I can start on that short story that’s been persistently banging away in my head for the last week or so.

I’m wondering how Lizzie’s getting on today. She was intent on wearing, for the first time this year, her gingham summer dress because, of course, we are now in the summer term. The fact it was blowing a gale around these parts wasn’t going to deter her. I waved her in to school, watching as the wind whipped around her little bare knees. Brrrr. She’ll be back in trews by tomorrow, I predict.

Short and Sweet

2008-04-15T14:58:00.000-07:00

Debs has tagged me for a short and sweet memoir. Choose six words to describe myself.

Vivacious
Witty
Brilliant
Gorgeous
Skinny
.... and sadly, Deluded

Now, I tag Tam, Tom Foolery and Moondreamer

Antsy in my Panties

2008-04-13T11:08:00.000-07:00

Oooh, I'm feeling really antsy at the moment. I want to write short stories, but I can't! I've got a couple of really good ideas jostling for attention, but I've had to consign them to my imaginatively named 'ideas' document for attention at a later date. I HAVE to plod on with this novel or at least get beyond the 50,000 mark before I can write another short, so I've told myself. I set myself these little targets, it's pathetic really. I'm not one of those people who can work on a number of things at the same time, flitting easily from project to project. If I get distracted by a short it takes me ages to get back into the flow of the novel. And even when I'm flowing I don't go incredibly fast.

It's Christmas in my novel and I'm having a White one. Deep and crisp and even. Impassable roads. Hunter boots. Twinkling lights. A romantic reunion. Hot toddies. A goose. The full works. And I'm loving it. That's the wonderful thing about fiction, isn't it, you can create scenes exactly the way you'd want them to appear in real life.

Talking of which, for a little bit of light relief and essential family bonding, today we went bowling, at which I am very bad, and then to see 'The Game Plan.' It wouldn't have been my first choice of film, but it was Lizzie's. Kit opted out at the last moment as I think he may have seen the trailer. George nodded off in the middle, which was understandable as it was a bit slow going to begin with. It got better, but not much, although Lizzie loved it, which was the main thing. Job done. I couldn't really recommend it unless you are under 10 or a huge fan of 'The Rock.'

Still, we are now consoling ourselves with Foyles War which is very comforting tv fodder.

Midweek Mutterings

2008-04-09T14:28:00.001-07:00

Did anyone see Cecelia Aherne on Loose Women today? She's written seven books, one of which has been made into a Hollywood film, is blonde, pretty and still only 26. Yes, I really warmed to her...... No really, she seemed very down-to-earth, funny and charming. Despite myself, I liked her. I'm just glad she doesn't live next door.

It's half-term here so we're in the midst of a chill-fest. I always feel a bit guilty that I haven't planned anything, exciting or otherwise, but they say kids thrive on a bit of boredom, don't they? I hope so. One of Kit's friends has gone to Japan, another to Italy and another to America so I'm sure a wet week in Bedfordshire seems a little bit tame in comparison, but we did get to the dentist today. Hey-ho. We sure know how to live. Tomorrow we're going to London to do something, although what, we're not quite sure yet.

I thought I'd mention, for the want of anything else to mention, a short story competition I saw in the May edition of Woman and Home Magazine. The theme is Passion (ooh er) and the word count is 2,500 words with a closing date of 23rd May 2008. First prize is £1500 plus two VIP tickets to the Costa Book Awards, dinner in London, hotel accommodation etc. Unfortunately, the comp is only open to writers who have not had fiction published in a publication with a circulation of more than 5,000 so that probably excludes most womag writers, but for anyone else it sounds to me like a good one. If you're interested you need an entry form from the magazine.

Enough Said

2008-04-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

We have these kind of conversations in our house too....

What Kind of Puppy?

2008-04-03T01:20:00.000-07:00

Oh dear, I rather fancied myself as a Saluki or a Red Setter, but a Boxer??? They've obviously seen my nose, tch!

You Are a Boxer Puppy

Energetic, playful and good with kids.

You've also got a wild spirit that can't be trained or tamed.

What Breed of Puppy Are You?

Carrots and all things beginning with 'C'

2008-04-02T07:40:00.000-07:00

Culinary tip of the day: Caraway seeds are not interchangeable with coriander seeds when making carrot cake muffins.

You’d think they would be though, wouldn’t you? I mean they both begin with C, both have seeds in their name and as I was right out of coriander seeds and found a full jar of caraway seeds at the back of the cupboard, I thought a little bit of improvisation wouldn’t go amiss.

Hmmm, I won’t be doing that again. Very pretty they looked, with their soft cheese icing on top and carefully placed walnut, but totally inedible, which isn’t good.
I remembered too why I hadn’t made a carrot cake concoction in a long time. It’s so blooming’ time consuming, all that grating of carrots with a few slithers of fingers thrown in too. Never mind, cooking, like writing, is a learning experience. Well, it is for me, at least.

I did get round to trying Nigella’s Jumbleberry Crumble recipe from her Express book. Basically you throw some frozen summer fruits into an individual ramekin dish, stir in a bit of cornflour and sugar, sprinkle on your previously prepared crumble that you’ve pulled out from the freezer and whack into the oven for 15 minutes. (Did you notice I turned into Jamie Oliver there?)
Yummy, yummy.
Quick, easy and impressive.
Remember, I’m easily impressed, but then again was so my friend who was my guinea pig.

Oh dear, I’ve started baking again. And poring over cookery books. It can only mean one thing. I’m on a diet.

Shameless Self-Promotion

2008-04-02T03:06:00.001-07:00

Gosh, doesn't time go quickly in blogland? Over a week since I last posted, how did that happen?

The Lovely Leigh tells me that the latest edition of Fiction Feast has one of my stories in. Yippee! I’ve not seen a copy yet, but will hunt one down in the next day or two. I’m guessing they’ll have changed my title, ‘Carry on Camping,’ as I don’t think they’ve kept one yet. I can only think that I must be pants at titles.

Anyway, the story is a twist. I love reading and writing twists, but it’s not always easy to come up with the ideas in the first place. This one I lifted, I mean I found my inspiration from a recent tv ad., and another story I’ve just written came about after seeing another tv ad. Corrie plot lines and other soaps/dramas are a good source of plots too and I’m always watching with one eye on whether or not I could use anything in a story. What better excuse for watching lots of lovely tv, one of my favourite occupations.

A really good book about writing twists that I can recommend is ‘Creating a Twist in the Tale by Adele Ramet.’ It was written in 1996 so obviously the market information is out of date, but is still has lots of really great advice and helpful tips. I know I read it in one sitting when I first picked it up from the library a few years ago and was inspired to try my hand at some twists. I managed to track down my own copy which I still like to dip into every now and then.

My favourite twist story of all time is Roald Dahl's 'Lamb to the Slaughter.' Oooh, I'm getting all nostalgic about 'Tales of the Unexpected' now. Cue music, cue embarrassing dancing in the kitchen. Good job, I'm on my own. I've got all the series on DVD, but I know the twists now! Wouldn't it be great to see some new ones?

How many drafts?

2008-03-25T05:34:00.000-07:00

I’ve noticed from reading other writers’ blogs that a lot of people are working on their second, third and fourth drafts of their novel and as I’m not even nearing the end of my first draft, this always makes me feel slightly giddy. I was hoping that when I reach the end of the first draft most of the hard work will be done and it’ll just (!?) be a case of fine tuning, quite intensive fine tuning, admittedly. As I type this, I can imagine you all shaking your heads muttering, ‘poor deluded woman.’

I know the first chapter needs a bit of a re-write, there are plenty of sentences that will need smoothing out and polishing and I’ll need to check very closely for inconsistencies in the plot, but I haven’t really scheduled a window (as they say) for a complete re-write!

So I was pleased to read on Susan Hill’s creative writing course last night that she only ever writes one draft and then edits that into the final manuscript. She says if she gets stuck on a novel and finds it’s not working then she would rather ditch it and start on something new. Me too.

I must admit that’s the way I work on short stories. I tend to edit as I go along so by the time I get to the end the story is pretty much in its final form apart from checking for typos. And despite trying to work differently on the novel by forging head and just getting the story down, it hasn’t exactly worked out that way. Despite all that good advice, I can’t help myself editing as I go along. Probably explains why progress is sooooo slooow.

As Susan says, I don’t suppose it really matters if you write one draft or seventeen drafts, as long as it works for you. Obviously if I should ever be so lucky for an agent or publisher to come along who says they want my manuscript re-written, then I would gladly do it standing on my head, but at the moment the plan is for just the one draft and then an almighty tidy-up at the end.

How about you?

Words of Encouragement

2008-03-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

I had a little pep talk from George the other night of the “if you spent as much time cracking on with your novel as you do messing (he didn’t actually use that word, but you get the gist) about blogging, you’d have the novel knocked out by now,” variety.

Ah, bless, he means well, but he does have a tendency to deal in only black and white. No grey areas for him.

Anyway, it got me thinking and a-wondering. I’ve set my word target for the novel as 70,000, but anywhere between 60,000 – 80,000 words would do. I’m at the 44,000 word mark so I have a little way to go yet. Now this is a good one to try. If you’re at a loss for a suitable means of procrastination then why not count up the words in your blog. I did, thinking it would only be a few thousand words and it’s actually 17,000. Ohmigod! That’s 17 short stories. Or 44,000 + 17,000 = aaargh, the novel within spitting distance of being completed. Bugger, bugger, bugger. I hate it when he’s right.

It’s a bit depressing isn’t it? And that doesn’t take into account the vast amount of time I’ve spent reading other people’s blogs. But then again, I’m not sure I would have got this far if it wasn’t for the blog. I started it as means of motivating my writing, setting myself targets and getting more done and it is helpful to look back to see what progress I’ve been making. I just wonder where I’d be progress wise if I hadn’t been ‘messing’ about on the blog??

So what do you reckon? Blogging, an absolute necessity for a would-be-writer or just a time-waster?

Not Again!

2008-03-12T07:24:00.000-07:00

That bloomin’ tooth-fairy! I don’t know what she’s like down your way, but round here she’s pretty damn unreliable. Lizzie lost a tooth at school yesterday, brought it home in a little brown envelope and left it under her pillow for the fairy to do her stuff. I think I went a funny colour when Lizzie mentioned over her bran flakes this morning that the tooth fairy hadn’t put in an appearance. I wouldn’t mind, but that’s the second time it’s happened here.

I explained to Lizzie that sometimes, if the TF is having a very busy night collecting zillions of teeth, she can’t always get around to seeing everyone, but would always, without fail, come on the second night. She gave me one of those contemptuous, withering looks so practised of nine-year-olds. Anyway, I’ve just noticed that Lizzie has left a note for the tooth-fairy, along with her tooth, asking for her name. I suspect she has plans to report her to a higher tooth-fairy authority.

Millie, her of the spotty coat and floppy ears, is equally unimpressed with her new healthy eating regime. The vet did say he used to think if you left this food (white pellets) out for long enough the dog would eventually eat it, but he’s since realised that some dogs would rather starve than eat the stuff. I think Millie falls into this second category.

She won’t starve just yet though. Yesterday she had half a Doctor Who Easter egg along with the foil wrapped chocolate discs inside. I blame Nanny. It was she who bought Kit the Easter Egg with the little button on the front of the packet that emitted a suitably dalek-sounding “Exterminate” when pressed. Yes, I know it’s too early for eggs, but it’s true what they say about picking your battles, especially with teenagers, and this one just didn’t seem worth it. Although the one about leaving half eaten eggs where the dog could get them was!

Those subs I was chasing? Three hadn’t been received, more likely fallen down the back of a desk, and could I send again, two have gone off to some mythical god-like editor creature and two were rejected on the grounds that although they were well-written and enjoyable, they were a little morally dubious! Ah well, back to the drawing board then.

Superstitious Nonsense

2008-03-07T14:51:00.000-08:00

I picked up the Telegraph this evening and thought I'd have a go at the Sudoku puzzle. I went through a phase a couple of years ago of being mildly obsessive about doing them. Thankfully it was a short-lived phase.

Anyway, things being slightly less-than-exciting here tonight, I poured myself a glass of wine and turned my attention to the puzzle (a moderate one) as I do like a bit of a challenge. It was all going so well until a little voice in my head said, rather loudly, 'if I can complete this puzzle then I will get the novel finished and find a publisher.'

'Course it was all downhill from thereon in. What started out as a relaxing pursuit turned into a frustrating, pen-chewing, stressful few hours. And no, I didn't get the wretched thing finished.

Aaargggh! Still, it's all nonsense, right?

Chasing Subs?

2008-03-06T14:06:00.000-08:00

Generally I don't because I feel if you query a story that has been sitting with an editor for a while and they're hassled for an answer, then there more likely to say no rather than making the more considered and right decision which would be a 'yes, please send invoice immediately,' response. So, as a rule, I tend to let my stories find their own way out there and wait for them to come back in their own good time.

BUT,I was going through my dwindling list of 'stories out there' today and realised I have seven or eight stories outstanding from June and July of last year and to be honest, I've been missing them a bit. So today I've sent a couple of emails to editors asking, very politely, if they wouldn't mind terribly, if they could possibly, if it isn't too much trouble, tell me if they are still considering these stories. Bad move, I know.

I'm expecting an avalanche of rejections into my inbox any moment now. Still, at least I'll be able to send them off somewhere else and start again that whole lovely long process of waiting for a reply.

A Busy Bee

2008-03-04T13:07:00.000-08:00

There was me going on about how busy I'd been when Moondreamer and Tom Foolery came along and awarded me this lovely badge.
I will accept it with grateful thanks and endeavour to be busier than ever on writing the novel. Thanks for the inspiration.
I will pass this award on to Caroline who is the busiest bee I know.

Setters and Vets (Sorry, best title I could come up with)

2008-03-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling a bit traumatised as I've been to the Royal Vet's College today. That in itself wouldn't be so bad as they have very swish, swanky new premises and the Vet man I see is very charming and attentive, but the fact that I have to take the mad setter with me somewhat takes the shine off it.

Millie has very sore ears and skin. She's been suffering for a while now and has road-tested pretty much all antibiotics and steroids known to dog and man.

It was our third visit today and Millie has cottoned on to the fact that charming and attentive Vet man has a dark side and has a strange compulsion to stick pointy probes down painful ears.

How many vets does it take to restrain one setter so that one vet can examine said ears? Five, plus one traumatised owner who was slightly overcome by all the yelping, crying and general distress. I was asked at one point if I'd like a glass of water or if I'd like to leave the room (presumbably before they expelled me), which was a bit disconcerting as I was trying, and obviously failing, to be very brave for us both! Anyway, we've come home with another hundredweight of pills, injections and creams. And to add insult to injury, Millie is now on a special diet of non-meat, non-soya, non-anything cardboard discs.

I now call her our 'million-dollar dog' as the combination of dog and charming, attentive Vet man seems to be a very expensive business and as I wasn't wearing red shoes, standing on one leg and hanging out the window when I took out the insurance policy, it would appear we're not covered.

Still, every cloud and all that. My next novel will feature a charming and attentive Vet person. The ideas were forming in my mind as I sat there. There were some extremely gorgeous, lovely, clever girls and guys there today and, although Millie wasn't saying so, we are both very grateful for the kindness and caring they showed to two highly-strung, overwrought and emotionally charged girls.

Murder Most Famous

2008-03-03T01:48:00.000-08:00

This new BBC series has six celebrities competing to win a publishing contract for a murder mystery novel, with Minette Walters overseeing and judging the contestants. Apparently, they'll be set daily writing tasks such as mapping out plots etc, and then one of the would-be-writers will be eliminated at the end of each week.

Hopefully it will have some useful pointers for writing a novel, any novel, from scratch.

It starts at 1.30 pm today on BBC 2 (what a strange time! Do they really think that aspiring novelists are hanging around the house watching daytime tv? Mmmm, well they've got me pretty sussed then!)

So it looks like I'll have to take a long lunch break today if I want to fit in Loose Women and Murder Most Famous. Busy, busy, busy, that's me.

The Names they are a Changing

2008-02-28T08:43:00.003-08:00

Many thanks for all your very helpful suggestions re; my names dilemma. Spurred on by your lovely comments, I had a grand re-naming ceremony yesterday which, in as far as social occasions go, wasn't that memorable. You didn't miss much because it was all over in a matter of seconds, not time enough to get out the tea and biscuits. Still, it served its purpose.

My characters are hanging on in there, under their new guises, with no noticeable adverse effects, yet.

I know it's not the proper, writerly way of going about things, but then I'm learning all the time. And next time, yes there will be a next time, I will do everything properly. I will plan, make copious notes, detailed character profiles, charts, diagrams, all those things the 'how to write a novel' books tell you to do before you even write Chapter 1, instead of doing it the way I've been doing it - making it up as I go along.

The only downside to these new names is that my story now has a few interesting, if slighty iffy sentences in there:-

she whimpered pathetiBeth as its tongue did a good job
washing blowing in the Rosieze
he could persuade his Maitre D in London to magiBeth conjure up a table

The dog's name had to be altered too which I hadn't really wanted to do because it was a perfectly good dog's name but too similar sounding to the heroine's new name and that would never do. Oh, and the village, I noticed, was suffering from something of a dual personality having changed its identity and county in the middle of Chapter 5.

Yes next time I will do lots of planning and making of notes even though I suspect it's very dreary and time-consuming. It would be worth it to end up with something that makes sense rather than my incoherent ramblings.

Name Calling

2008-02-26T05:39:00.000-08:00

I'm currently reading 'Going Dutch' by Katie Fforde. I've read a few of her novels now and have always thoroughly enjoyed them. I love a good light-hearted romance with engaging characters in a believable and interesting setting, and Katie seems to excel at these type of stories. My favourite is Highland Fling which is a really good romp that I can highly recommend.

I must admit though I'm struggling to get into this latest one and it's all because of the characters' names. The story centres around two women, a middle-aged woman called Jo whose husband has left her for a younger woman, and a twenty-something called Dora who has just walked away from her upcoming marriage. The thing is, in my mind, the names should be the other way around, I just can't get used to the idea of a young woman called Dora. I've only ever known old 'Doras,', she says, risking upsetting all the Doras out there, but sorry, that's just the way I see it.

Admittedly I've only just started this book and I'm sure once I get into the story and get to know the characters better it won't be a problem, but it's made me realise, again, how important it is to find the right names for your characters.

It's bugging me because I know the two female characters in my novel haven't found their proper names yet. The hero's name is rock solid and sorted, but the two girls' names I've been struggling with since I started this story. In the end I had to pluck two reasonably okay-ish names out of the air, otherwise I'd still be staring at a blank screen with only the words, Chapter One, written at the top.

I feel a mammoth 'find and replace' session coming on, but then I'm wondering if the whole story will shift somehow because my characters will have had a change of name. How will this affect them? Will they start behaving differently? I know I should have this sorted by now, but.....(goes off mumbling, Sophie, Amy, Emma, Annie). I'll know them when they come to me.

Does anyone else have this problem or is just me?

Bright Lights, Big City

2008-02-22T01:40:00.000-08:00

Half-term here so there's been little progress on the novel this week, although I did manage to write a short story which has now gone on its merry way in three directions around the world. I love it when a story pops into your head, almost fully formed, just there for the writing. And that feeling of completing it and sending it out there is just soo satisfying.

I think I've reached a plateau as far as the novel's concerned. I blame the Lovely Leigh. I didn't know there was such a thing until she mentioned it, but if there's some tortuous writing process to go through then I don't want to feel as if I'm missing out, do I? My problem, I feel, was that I was so focussed on reaching the halfway point of the novel that I completely overlooked that there would be another half to write once I got there. Durr. Anyway, I'm all plateaued out now and next week I must really get my bottom into gear and move the whole thing forward.

We went to London for the day yesterday. I love London. Kit loves London. George hates London, but then he works there so that's understandable and Lizzie was decidely underwhelmed by the whole thing. Lizzie would be content to spend the entire holidays at home, pottering. She is so like me.

Anyway, we didn't do very much. We had lunch in Old Compton Street, did a bit of celebrity spotting while we were there, saw James Nesbitt and Tom Conti, not together, I hasten to add, I don't want to start any malicious rumours, and then we had a mooch around Covent Garden. A very nice day, but I was completely knackered when I got home. I'm not sure how people manage to do a full day's work there as well as negotiating the travelling bit.

One rejection this week from Woman's Weekly. 'Too predictable.' Sadly, their rejections are too for me.

Fiction Feast

2008-02-15T13:02:00.000-08:00

The March edition is out now and I have a story in there on Page 32. So please if you see a copy then give me a wave! I also sold them another story this week, so that was a bit of good news.

I know it's all me, me, me, me, me, but who else would I tell? I don't always mention it to my family or friends because they'd only look at me as if I've told them I've just put the bins out.

Is there anything more thrilling than spotting an editor's name in your inbox, well especially when it's Norah's as she doesn't reject by email. But even a rejection by email seems so less brutal than finding your sorrowful envelope boomeranging back onto the doormat.

On that subject, I had three rejections this week. One from Yours mag, one from a Swedish mag and one from an Australian mag. Bit of an international theme going on there, I am universally rejected don't you know.

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T06:02:00.000-08:00

I hope you're all having a positively pink Valentine's Day and have received your heart's desire through the post today. No? Oh well, there's always next year, isn't there? I know, I know, rampant commercialism at its worst, but you have to play the game or else you'd feel, well, it just wouldn't be the same, would it?

Anyway, I had a very nice card from George and a bottle of pink champagne which was very gratefully received. And I gave George a very nice card and a bottle of pink prosecco (yes, I know I'm a cheapskate but I'm afraid I can't run to the price of champagne) so that just goes to show that after all these years we are still on the same wavelength. Ahhhh. That's our evening sorted then, we'll both be blotto on the sofa long before Emmerdale's finished.

And the Award for...

2008-02-12T02:30:00.000-08:00

Technical Excellence in Blogging goes to ...... Ah, you see, it's never gonna happen, is it? Well, not to me, it's not. I've tried, honest I have, but some things are simply beyond my limited capabilities.

The lovely Moondreamer (ha, ha, I have mastered that one now) tagged me for a picture Meme which looked a lot of fun, but despite my best efforts it just didn't come together. After a short (!!!) amount of time spent on it yesterday, Kit came in from school and pointed me in the right direction but even when I had Photobucket and Blogger speaking to each other, it all ended in a right fine mess. Humongous photos of Sydney Opera House covering my entire screen. The whole thing's now sitting sulkily in my drafts folder waiting for me to return to it when my patience levels are a little higher and, more importantly, Kit is at home to do it for me.

And the Award for Best Written Sex Scene goes to ...... No, I think I'll be missing out on that one too. It's so hard, isn't it? I meant the writing of said scene, but I'm sure I've had my heroine muttering those immortal words to my hero, so you'll understand why I'm struggling.

I've written a few romantic shorts in my time, but I've never had to get down to the so-called nitty-gritty. Trying to get the required amount of emotion in, the necessary oohing and aahing and the mention of essential bits without making it sound like a technical manual, comical, downright ridiculous or all three, ain't easy!

I've been writing my scene with one eye closed so that I don't have to read it back again. It's pretty cringeworthy which doesn't bode well, does it? I can understand now why some authors end their love scenes with a chaste kiss at the bedroom door. Still, I will overcome.

Maybe I need to do some more research. Does anyone know of a wild-haired, wild-eyed, generally wild 3-Michelin star young chef who would be willing to assist? I have my notebook ready.

The halfway point

2008-02-08T03:38:00.000-08:00

Can you just cast your eyes to the right and have a butcher's at my word count meter. Oooh, what a lovely squidgy fat round number that is, 35,000 words, halfway there! I'm hoping the coming down the hill the other side will be a lot quicker than the trudging up. All I need really is someone to give me a little push and I'll be running, arms open wide, to the bottom where I'll land flat on my face in a heap of papers and coffee cups. I can't wait!

The surprising thing about this project is how much I'm enjoying it. Is that allowed? I'm not sure why but I'd thought it would be a real chore, probably because my previous attempt at writing a novel was, but this time around I'm really enjoying the characters and their story, even if I am working at a snail's speed.

Other writerly news - 3 rejections this week from the lovely Weekly News and I can't even reach for the chocolate as I've given it up for lent. Still, I am compensating in other departments, namely the crisps and french bread with peanut butter areas, so all is not lost.

Did you watch Ashes to Ashes? Ooh, Gene Hunt, they don't make men like that any more. It's great, over the top, yes, but that's what makes it such fun. My era really, so I love all the eighties references. Kit loves it too, but of course a lot of the one-liners are lost on him.

And, a fancy that moment, I was watching the news afterwards and there was a politician on there called Madeleine Moon. Ooh er, fancy that!

A New Mantra

2008-02-04T14:28:00.001-08:00

"Don't underestimate what you can get done in 10 minutes." Brilliant, eh? Okay, so it may have been Maggie Thatcher (or her daughter or the cleaner) who uttered these words, but we won't hold that against a perfectly reasonable quote. And such a sensible suggestion too, I'm not sure why I didn't adopt it into my routine earlier.

Writing and its associated activities, checking emails to see if an editor has been in touch, blogging (of course), checking out all the other blogs on my growing list, checking emails to see if a friend has been in touch, popping over to Facebook in the hope that it might actually make sense to me one day, browsing the Boden spring collection online, checking emails for junk mail, googling ex-boyfriends, checking emails for any sign of life (takes a big breath), well, it's all very time-consuming. (That was a very long sentence, wasn't it?)

And every day it catches me out. I get to about 2.45 pm and suddenly remember I have two children, a dog, a house and a husband. The house is in exactly the same condition as it was over seven hours ago when dear family went on their merry way apart from the additional collection of mugs congregating next to the laptop. And dear family will be returning shortly and expecting to see evidence of some kind of motherly, wifely input.

This is where the 10 minute rule comes into its own. I'm always better up against a deadline and with the stopwatch set to go, in ten minutes I can:- unload the dishwasher, clear breakfast things, reload dishwasher, empty washing machine, refill washing machine, wipe down kitchen tops, pick up yesterday's papers and deposit in recycling bin, throw three duvets in the air and hope they land in the general intended direction and refill dog's water bowl. Impressive, huh?

Okay, it's unlikely that my house will be featuring in Homes and Gardens anytime soon, but it goes someway to creating a sense (a very small sense) or order. In fact, I am so enamoured by this new scheme that I may do something very radical and incorporate two 10 minute cleaning sessions into my day.

Just imagine what I could get done in that amount of time. Gosh, I'm feeling positively saintly at the thought.

Fabulous Feb!

2008-02-01T12:25:00.000-08:00

Goodness, it's almost a whole week since I last blogged, where did that week go? I'd like to say it ran away from me in frenzy of activity, but it didn't really, it slipped away in between the mulling things over and the gazing out of the window, essential writerly activities.

Anyway, it's good to get January out of the way, isn't it? February has so much more going for it, Pancake Day, Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day, plenty of good excuses for over-indulging and blowing the diet. Again.

Exciting news of the week was the arrival of the paperwork for the New Writers' Scheme from the RNA. A nice green form, a membership card detailing writers' events and a self-adhesive label for sending off manuscript purposes. Did I mention I was easily pleased? Now I'm desperate to send my manuscript off, so it's a shame it's not even half-finished. Progress is slow, but I'm getting there. I will get there if it's the last thing.....

The last day of the month inspired me to send some more stories off, nine in total for January, mostly old stories but including one new one written. Yay.

I had some good news last night. A sale to an Australian mag for a 3-page story for their next fiction special. Particularly pleasing as the story had been rejected twice before by the same mag., under different editors, so it was third time lucky for this one.

Anyway, you must excuse me now because I have a date with a glass of Pinot and Hugo Speer.

It's all about me!

2008-01-26T13:08:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to Leigh for tagging me for this Meme.

The small print: Link to the person that tagged you. Post the rules on your blog. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on his/her website.1.

1. My favourite meal in the whole wide world is ham, egg and chips which we have every Saturday evening. They have to be proper chips though, none of those healthy eating oven jobs, accompanied by a bottle of sparkling wine and, if I’m feeling very decadent, a bag of Revels. This routine is only interrupted if by any weird chance we are invited out. Which we aren’t. Often. But if we are, I spend the entire evening thinking ‘I wish I was at home eating my ham, egg and chips, watching X-Factor/Ant and Dec/Strictly Come Dancing (please delete as appropriate).

2. I cannot, for some reason, pronounce properly these words.
Wales which on my lips sounds like wows and Pale Ale which comes out as pow owl. I spend my life trying to avoid saying these things, which isn’t as difficult as it may seem.

3. My mum, dad and two brothers are true cockneys, having been born within the sound of Bow Bells. Sadly they moved out of London before I was born so I was afforded the great opportunity of being born in Hemel Hempstead.

4. I attended the Lucie Clayton Finishing School. If you should need to know how to glide around a room with three books on your head or how to get out of a low-slung sports car, I’m your gal.

5. I have two long scars on my shins from where I fell head first down the escalator at Euston station on my way to LC (see above). Those deportment lessons were wasted on me.

6. My all-time favourite song is Jimmy Mack by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas which fills me with complete joy every time I hear it. The soundtrack to the film of the novel (my novel, silly) will be this song. Goes off singing ‘Jimmy, Jimmy, Oh Jimmy Mack, when are you coming back.’

Now I tag...looks like everyone I know has already been done, so I tag anyone else who’s reading and who would like to have a go. It’s great fun.

A Lesson in Grammar

2008-01-25T09:24:00.000-08:00

My apologies for the somewhat frivolous nature of my last post. Here, as promised, is something more writerly.

Today’s lesson:-

The Preposition

Herb is getting along in years and finds that he is unable to perform sexually. He finally goes to his doctor, who tries a few things but nothing seems to work. So the doctor refers him to an American Indian medicine man.

The medicine man says, 'I can cure this.' That said, he throws a white powder into a flame, and there is a flash with billowing blue smoke.

Then he says, 'This is powerful medicine. You can only use it once a year. All you have to do is say '123' and it shall rise for as long as you wish!'

The guy then asks, 'What happens when it's over, and I don't want to continue?' The medicine man replies: 'All you or your partner have to say is 1234, and it will go down. But be warned--it will not work again for another year!'

Harry rushes home, eager to try out his new powers and prowess. That night he is ready to surprise Joyce. He showers, shaves, and puts on his most exotic shaving lotion.

He gets into bed, and lying next to her says, '123.' He suddenly becomes more aroused than anytime in his life ... just as the medicine man had promised.

Joyce, who had been facing away, turns over and asks, 'What did you say 123 for?'

And that, my friends, is why you shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition.

Mistresses

2008-01-24T03:46:00.000-08:00

Are you watching this BBC Drama on Tuesday evenings? I think it's fabulous. It's about four women friends whose lives are touched by the consequences of infidelity. There's lots of sophistication, sex and seduction, which is just what's required on a miserable January evening. After all, a girl's got to get her thrills somehow. And I think it probably is the kind of programme that appeals more to women than men. George wanders in occasionally, looks at all the sassy shenanigans on screen and declares it, 'a load of old toot,' before wandering out again.

It hasn't spoilt my enjoyment that I've been able to guess how the plot is going to unfold. I mean it was pretty obvious that Siobhan would fall pregnant by her lover as hubby is sadly infertile. But can she really pass the baby off as her husband's, oh my goodness, what a dilemma.
I guessed that the mysterious phone calls to Trudi would be from a woman, her dead husband's lover. I'm sure there's a child lurking in the background too. And what about her new love interest? Hmm, I'm not sure about him. He doesn't give me a warm feeling, at all.
And K-k-k-k-katie? Oh dear, she's heading for a fall, isn't she? Her career, her secret, it's all going to come out and then what?
The lovely Jessica is just having too much fun all ways around. I think she'll realise the error of her ways and renounce her good-time girl tendencies and settle for the real thing, love, but with the girl or boy, who knows?

The actresses playing the four lead roles I think are fab. The men perhaps a little more shadowy. Sarah Parish is wonderful, soo beautiful, her face is so expressive. But my favourite is Orla Brady who plays Siobhan. Another great actress and again so beautiful, but the reason I love her so is that I've just found out she's older than me. How can that be?

You're wondering what this had to do with anything, but I have to admit to a sad affliction which paints me in a shallow and superficial light. I'm in the habit of googling the names of actresses, tv presenters to find out how old they are and if I should discover that they're older than me, well, I can't tell you how happy that makes me feel. The other weekend I was watching Goldie Hawn in a film, Housesitter, thinking how good she looked and then just had to work out how old she would have been at the time. 47!, as you asked. That made my weekend.

I'm not sure why I get such a thrill out of doing this. I realise it's unlikely that I will wake up on my 47th birthday and find I've morphed into Goldie Hawn or Susan Sarandon or Sharon Stone, but for some inexplicable reason, it gives me a little hope.

Anyway, Mistresses, catch it if you can, it's great.

And next time I will write something a little more worthy and learned.

PS. Linda Lusardi in Dancing on Ice, she's nearly 50 and is flitting around like a fabulous fairy in the shortest of short skirts. Now where did I put my skates?

A minor setback

2008-01-22T14:33:00.000-08:00

I was reading a book in bed last night (I won't say which one), but another from the Little Black Dress range. I enjoy these stories, they're light-hearted, fun and entertaining and as my own w-i-p is in the same genre, it's helpful to see how the authors handle the plot and characterisation. Well, I was enjoying this particular chapter where the guy takes the girl back to his flat for the first time, when it dawned on me that the whole thing seemed horribly familiar. With a sickening realisation, I knew exactly how the whole scene would unfold, how the characters would act, what they would say and what would happen in the end. How did I know all this? Because it was MY scene. Mine! Not someone else's. One I'd spent ages perfecting, allowing myself the tiniest glow of satisfaction when I'd put the finishing touches to it.

And now, someone else (no names, no pack drill) has beaten me to it and written the exact same scene (only they've written it much better than I could ever have hoped to have done) and worse still they have had theirs published. Grrrr. How dare they!!!

So now when I send off my manuscript, if I should ever finished the wretched thing, and the Publishing House will be wondering on offering me a two-book deal or a five-book deal, they'll think, 'oh no, we can't' because she's a Little Miss Copycat and I'm not. It's just so unfair.

So now I'm thinking, 'predictable,' 'well-worn theme,' 'no surprises,' 'sadly, we've seen this before.' Ha, ha, I've heard them all before.

Back to the drawing board then.

Miserable Monday

2008-01-21T06:16:00.000-08:00

If you're wondering why you're feeling quite so peed off it's because today is, apparently, the most depressing day of the year.

It's all to do with the weather, Christmas debt, broken New Year's resolutions, boredom setting in after the Christmas frivolities, low motivation etc. Actually, I was feeling pretty chipper until I read that in the paper.

Fitting then, I suppose, to have a rejection plop into my inbox from Best.

Things can only get better ....

Millie Misbehaves

2008-01-21T04:03:00.000-08:00

This is my dog.
Her name is Millie.
She is an English Setter.
She is 3.5 years old.
She is very beautiful
Hmmm, that's about as good as it gets really, because in all other respects she is a poor excuse for a dog.
She's like a highly-paid supermodel, utterly beguiling to look at, but unpredictable, unreliable and prone to bouts of outrageous behaviour.
Things got off to a bad start at puppy training classes when the trainer, wishing to demonstrate how to reprimand a wayward setter puppy, picked her up firmly and noticing my stricken face, said, 'Don't worry, in 30 years I've only been bitten twice.' Ouch, better make that 3 times, then. In fairness to Millie, she hasn't even attempted to bite anyone since.
After 3.5 years she has just about mastered the sit and down commands, if a large morsel of meat is waved by her nose at the same time. But the 'come' command is completely beyond her capabilities. Getting her to come in from the garden or from one room to another is a Herculean task and often results in me having to put her on the lead to budge her from her spot. Last time I let her off the lead in a public place I didn't see her for two hours.
We have road-tested every anti-barking device (apart from electric shock treatment) known to man and dog, and let me tell you here, none of them work.
I couldn't possibly list all her foibles or the scrapes she has landed in because it would amount to a whole book.
Funnily enough, I've met a number of people while walking Millie who've said, 'Oh, I used to have one of them,' laughing knowingly, while an obedient, faithful retriever or lab. stands beside them. That tells me everything.
At the lowest point in our relationship (the dog and me), George came home one day to find me a sobbing, quivering wreck vowing that I couldn't go on.
Now George is a practical man and if there is a problem, there must be a solution. Within days, Millie was booked into boot camp for dogs. Three weeks intensive training in the Welsh hills would transform her into the perfect dog. Or so they promised. You would not believe how much it cost. (God, we have done some stupid things in our time.) I'm sure the four of us could have had a week in the Maldives for the price. It took us six hours to get there, Wales that is, not the Maldives. They were very professional, sent us daily bulletins of Millie's progress and it all sounded very promising. Hmmm, I think they must have seen us coming.
When we collected our newly transformed dog, she walked marginally better on the lead for at least a day or two, but in all other respects she was the same dog. 'A complete nightmare,' was the trainer's valued opinion. Yes, yes, yes! She was, she still is. It was worth all that money to be told that.
Since then, our relationship has settled into a new level of understanding. She does exactly what she likes and I let her get on with it. It seems to work for us.
And she really is very beautiful.

A Meme.

2008-01-18T03:51:00.000-08:00

How exciting! Leigh has tagged me to do this meme (I'm still pondering on the word). Is it meme as in me, me, me? You can tell this is a new one on me. I'm usually the girl at the back of the playground who never gets picked for the sports team, but here I am. Thanks, Leigh!

What's the last thing you wrote?
A twist-in-the tail short story.

Was it any good?
That wouldn't be for me to say.

What's the first thing you ever wrote that you still have?
A piece of prose we did in class about an animal we loathed. Mine was on swans.

Write poetry?
I have written one poem. And it was published. How impressive is that? Actually, it wasn't, but it sounds good, doesn't it?

Angsty poetry?
No.

Favourite genre of writing?
Women's contemporary romance.

Most fun character you ever created?
Mr Ernest Allington, a funeral director with murderous leanings.

Most annoying character you ever created?
Kev, an ageing media executive, who turns to sushi, combat trousers and string vests in a bid to reclaim his youth.

Best plot you ever created?
I'm still working on that one.

Coolest plot twist you ever created?
It involved a deception, a vasectomy and a pregnancy.

How often do you get writer's block?
I try to avoid it.

Write fan fiction?
No.

Do you type or write by hand?
I type, it's so much quicker.

Do you save everything you write?
Yes.

Do you ever go back to an old idea long after you abandoned it?
Quite often. I come up with lots of ideas for short stories but can't always get beyond the second paragraph. I'll go back to them, sometimes months later, and it'll seem easier to get over the hump.

What's your favourite thing that you've written?
A short story about a woman watching from a window a scene unfolding in the street.

What's everyone else's favourite story that you've written?
I don't know.

Do you ever show people your work?
Not my family. I belong to a great online writers' group and I post my stories on there for crit., before sending them out. Honk, honk.

Did you ever write a novel?
Not a whole one. I've had a few false starts.
The novel I'm working on at the moment I'm determined to finish.

Ever written romance or teen angsty drama?
I try to write romance, although I think I'm probably in need of a little more hands-on research.

What's your favourite setting for your characters?
English country villages, think Midsomer Murders.

How many writing projects are you working on right now?
Just the novel with the occasional foray into short stories.

Do you want to write for a living?
Where do I sign up?

Have you ever won an award for your writing?
Umm, let me think about that one..... No.

Ever written something in script or play format?
Only at school with my best friend. We had to record our play onto cassette and just remember the drama teacher having a fit of the giggles at the appearance of the two-legged donkey.

What are your five favourite words?
Would you like a drink?

Do you ever write based on yourself?
All the time.

What character have you created that most resembles yourself?
Probably the one about the uptight, possessive mother.

Where do you get ideas for your other characters?
All sorts of places, but a lot from tv soap operas, the school run, the supermarket. It's such fun people-watching.

Do you ever write based on your dreams?
I've written a couple of short stories based on dreams. I've also dreamt a couple of corkers that have sadly flitted away by the time I've come round.

Do you favour happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers?
I'm quite partial to a cliff-hanger. Will she, won't she?

Have you ever written based on an artwork you've seen?
No.

Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?
Have you read my blog?
Not really, although I am particular at final draft stage.

Ever write something entirely in chatspeak? (How r u?)
I have difficulty sending a text message.

Entirely in L337?
Ask me another!

Was that question completely appalling and un-writer like?
It could well have been.

Does music help you write?
No, it's a pleasant distraction though.

Quote something you've written.
I know a thing or two about reptiles, having dated a few in my time.
Barry was the first, an archetypal lounge lizard in his shiny suit and overpowering after-shave, I met him in my local nightclub. He patrolled the bar as if he owned it, his eyes alighting lasciviously on every female who entered the room.
(Sorry, it was the first thing that came to hand.)

Well, that was fun. I think I'm meant to tag someone now, but sadly, I don't think I have anyone to tag.

Oh, Mr Postman

2008-01-12T11:49:00.000-08:00

where are you? There's a deathly hush from the RNA, although thankfully they have cashed my cheque which is a bit of a relief as I had a minor panic that it may have bounced. I suppose it must take a long time to process the paperwork, mustn't it? That would be it. And it's not as if I have a novel to send them nor even half a one, but if I had I would be champing at the bit to get it sent off. Still, patience is a virtue and all that so I'm sitting on my hands and ignoring the urge to jump on the postman every time I see him!

I've not had any rejections this week either. I know, I know, they're all going to land on the hall mat with a heavy thud on Monday morning. In fact, the only correspondence I have had are the 102 missives from the 'nasty taxman' as he is affectionately called in our household. Quite frankly, I don't much care for his tone. I know he's working to a deadline, but, huh, so am I!!!! I'm putting aside his letters to deal with at a later date, the 30th January at the earliest.

The only bit of brightness in the post was a copy of this week's Weekly News which has one of my stories in. They seem to carry three stories a week now which has to be a good thing.

I have decided I will write a short story this week. There I've said it now. Really, I will....

Writing Groups

2008-01-11T15:16:00.000-08:00

In a bold move, I’ve joined a new one this week. You know, a proper one, not a cyber one, with real people who meet up in the real world, a pub actually, so there's a bonus! I'm not by nature a group-joining person. Ever since walking into the hubbub of the Brownies, it would be a few years ago now, I've never felt really comfortable in a group of more than 3 or 4 people.

Anyway, this week's group was fun, if a little excruciating. I hate that bit of introducing yourself, saying, 'I'm Maddie, I'm writing a romantic novel,' as if you're confessing to an addiction to crack cocaine or having murdered your granny or something worse. Still, they were all very welcoming and nodded with, knowing smiles, at my hesitant declaration.

The reading out thing was a bit of a trial. With a quavering voice and all ears upon you, it brought back traumatic memories of English classes where we all had to read a passage aloud from a book. I was invariably one of the last to read and by the time they'd got to me I was almost ready to expire with fear. Anyway, I’m a grown-up now so I’m able to deal with these things in a grown-up manner. A glass of wine or two makes the whole thing a tiny bit more manageable.

Worse still than the reading out is the listening to others reading aloud. Not that I don’t enjoy hearing other people’s work, I do, but I’d much prefer to be able to read it off the page. I’m not very good at listening and digesting, I’ve decided. My mind tries to stay focused, but invariably it wanders off onto more mundane matters like, ‘Is there anything in the cupboard for the packed lunches tomorrow?’ ’Did I remember to feed the dog?’, 'Are the couple standing at the bar married or are they in the middle of some illicit tryst?’
And coming up with something intelligent to say afterwards, and slightly more constructive than my usual, ‘aw, that’s lovely,’ isn’t always easy, either.

But I survived it, enjoyed it and they haven’t black-balled me yet, so I’m looking forward to the next time.

Back to school

2008-01-07T11:21:00.000-08:00

tomorrow so I suppose today was the ideal time for Kit to mention he had Food Tech. homework. 'What's that then?' I asked, blithely. 'I need to make a yule log and photograph it.' Oh joy!

I had to try it too, blowing the diet for the umpteenth time this year, because he needed to make a note of my comments. Hmmm, I think it's perhaps best I don't repeat them here.

Another resolution?

2008-01-05T11:49:00.000-08:00

I've decided that I really ought to add another resolution to the list, 'to stop buying any kind of reading material,' unless it's absolutely essential. Like Hello. Or Ok!

Today Writing Magazine and Writers'News turned up in the post. In town, I picked up the latest Fiction Feast, WW Fiction special and Woman and Home because it had a free paperback with it. I wouldn't mind but I already have the most humungous pile of paperbacks waiting to be read next to my bed and at this rate they'll probably get an airing in 2010. That's an awful lot of reading. And if I'm reading I can't be writing which isn't a good thing.

Anyway, Jane Wenham-Jones' article in Woman's Weekly FS made me smile. In it she gives some of the writers' tips mentioned in her book, Wannabe a Writer? Yes, I've read that one too! This I could really relate to, "You'll get tired and dispirited, fed-up with friends chortling, "Ha,ha, ha, have you been published yet?" (When you have, they'll change it to "Ho, ho, ho, have you sold as many as JK Rowling yet?"

Aaarggh!!! Like JWJ, I've lost count of the number of times people have said to me, 'Oh, so you're going to be the next JK Rowling.' I feel like answering, 'oh yes, when I've finished emptying the dishwasher, walked the dog and done the school run, that's what I'll do. I'll rattle off a novel or seven and be the the next JKR!'

If someone tells me they're going to bake a cake, I don't expect them to be the next Nigella Lawson or if they're going to start a business, I don't assume they'll be the next Richard Branson. So why is this a standard response when I tell people I'm writing a novel?

Well, at least I'm in good company with Jane Wenham-Jones.

Anyway, I'd better got off my high horse and get back to all those lovely books.

It'll be all downhill from now on

2008-01-02T08:01:00.000-08:00

but at least the New Year has got off to a good start with a sale to Norah at Fiction Feast. Yay! There's nothing quite as inspiring as a sale and I'd really love to write some more shorts and get them out there, but I can't. I have to bash on with this novel. Even if it's not very good. And there's always the thought that first novels rarely get published and this is only a practice run, along with probably the 2nd, 3rd and 4th attempts, but I will feel very, very happy if I can just get one finished. So that's what I must do. And then I'll have plenty of time to write some more shorts. Later.

Diet has not gone well today. I was doing okay until I had one choccie from the celebrations tin, and then another, and then.... well you know where one chocolate leads and it' not a good place.

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T12:01:00.000-08:00

It's kind of exciting, isn't it, looking forward to the year ahead and all the possibilities and opportunies ahead? A bit like putting a blank piece of paper into the typewriter or opening up a new document in Word (hmmm maybe not, that's when it all goes wrong for me).

Resolutions, I think, are best made on our behalf by those closest to us. I can think of plenty for George and the kids, but sadly my suggestions have not been met with a great deal of enthusiasm on their side. So I'll put mine here instead as they're refusing to play ball.

1. I will finish the first draft of B2B. Really, I will...
2. I will then do lots of re-writes.
3. I will send completed and polished manuscript to the RNA. I hope. They've not actually responded to my beautifully filled out application form and I'm now wondering if my cheque has bounced (don't ask!).
4. I will write 12 new short stories, ie, one a month, but in reality I won't start writing the shorts until B2B is complete, so will probably end up as 12 in one month.
5. I will sell 15 short stories (not necessarily the ones mentioned above.) I still have quite a few old stories walking the streets.
6. I will lose a stone in weight. (Ha,ha).
7. I will be less stressy with the children especially on the school run.
8. I will learn to 'rise above it all'.

Well, that all sounds simple enough.

Is it safe to come out yet?

2007-12-29T01:10:00.001-08:00

I hope you all had a good one and everything went as smoothly as these things can. I always think Christmas is a bit like childbirth, there's a lot of huffing and puffing at the time, gritting of the teeth and utterances of 'never again,' but with the passing of time you can look back with a glow of fondness and think, 'hey, it wasn't that bad,' and you just remember the good bits.

Most successful present in our house was the harmonica Santa popped into Kit's stocking. 'It's awesome,' apparently. What with the electric guitar, it proved to be a noisy Christmas chez nous, with frequent refrains of 'NOT IN HERE!' from George and me.

I had some lovely pressies including a huge pile of books which was exactly what I wanted. Although I've now realised I must have every book written on how to write a novel and have read pretty much all of them, so something's not quite working for me. If only there was a book on how to apply bum to chair and to hit keyboard letters in the right order, then I think I'd almost be there.

I even managed to get a few (very few) words written over the holiday.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-24T01:44:00.000-08:00

Isn't it great to get to Christmas Eve knowing that you haven't got to go out again and that everything, bar the cooking, is pretty much done. Mind you, having said that, poor George is currently doing battle with all the other last minute shoppers, in search of a red cabbage. You couldn't get one for love nor money in our little market town. Jamie Oliver has a lot to answer for.

Anyway, have a fantastic time, stay calm, don't fall out with the rellies and enjoy.

Romantic Novel of the Year

2007-12-20T02:30:00.000-08:00

The longlist has been announced by the RNA and you can find it here.
http://www.rna-uk.org/index.php?page=article&id=113
(I do wish I knew how to do that fancy thing of hiding a web address behind a label. I'm sure it has to be really simple.)
Anyway, I'm ashamed to say I haven't read any of those listed so can't really comment on who I think should be the winner. But I am very pleased to see a title from the Little Black Dress imprint, The Chalet Girl, which is on my Christmas list.
I have a huge pile of books next to my bed waiting to be read and hopefully I'll receive some more for Christmas, I just wish I could find more time to read them. I seem to be a couple of years behind everyone else when it comes to books and am only just reading 'Anybody out there' by Marian Keyes, which I'm not finding as engrossing as I hoped.

Anyway, that's something to look forward to over Christmas after everyone's been fed and watered. Sofa, books, a glass of something sparkling in hand and I'll be a Happy Hector.

Hairspray!

2007-12-17T10:12:00.000-08:00

No,not a follow-on to the last post, but the show, 'Hairspray', which we went to see on Saturday to celebrate Kit's 15th birthday. It was great, very colourful, great songs, a really happy, sunny show. We came out singing and do-wapping all the way home.

I'm becoming really twitchy because I'm getting no writing done at all at the moment. Isn't Christmas time consuming? I did have a rejection today from the People's Friend for a story they had previously rejected, but I'd changed it a fair bit and sent it off again, ever hopeful. They must take one look at my stories and think, 'oh god, not her again!'

As my hairdresser predicted, I am feeling traumatised about my hair now. It was a bit of a novelty at first, but now it's just plain awful. Brassy, bright and orangey. My mum's comment today on seeing it for the first time, 'Hmmm, you do look a bit like a fallen woman.' If only I had someone to fall with.

Hair!

2007-12-14T14:22:00.000-08:00

I have a fairly gung-ho approach to my hair and have experimented with a range of colours and styles in the the past, but as Kit said today when I collected him from school, "what on earth possessed you to do that?"

I know exactly. It was the young female apprentice at the hairdressing salon I frequent who has the most amazing coloured hair. A rich, vibrant, burnished red that shines with health and ripples over her shoulders like a mermaid's. I suppose I should mention too she has an angel's face, a lithe body and must be at least twenty years younger than me. What was I thinking?!

So this morning I was a very subtle soft auburn with a few carefully placed lowlights and now I am the brightest red imaginable. I could only really laugh when I looked at myself in the mirror. It didn't help that my hairdresser said as I left, "see how it goes, if you're really traumatised by it come back in and we'll see if we can take it down." If I wasn't traumatised before, I was when she said that.

Anyone got a hat I can borrow?

Word Count Wonder

2007-12-13T02:05:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Leigh I have a new word count widget which does exactly what it says on the tin and is simple to install and use.
It comes in a lovely range of colours and is available at all major retailers. No only joshing you can find it here!
http://www.leighforbes.co.uk/wordcounter/index.html

Thanks again Leigh.

Who brought Christmas forward?

2007-12-10T14:16:00.000-08:00

There it was sparkling invitingly on the horizon, something to be anticipated with fondness and then, without warning, wham, it's almost upon us.

I like Christmas, really I do, and cannot understand people who witter on saying how much there is to do, how stressed they are, how many parties they have to go to (I should be so lucky) and what a general chore it is. It's only a day for goodness sake.

And then I woke yesterday at some unearthly hour and thought, OHMIGOD Christmas!, and had a minor panic attack under the duvet. I've been wittering on about it ever since about everything there is to do.

It's not so much the Christmassy things, writing the cards, putting up the tree, they're the fun parts, it's the sorting of the house. Six months of neglect has taken its toll and it needs a major tidy-up. Life really is too short for housework.

We've gone Scandinavian with the tree this year, only because I happened to be in Ikea and picked up a load of tree decorations. It looks very rustic, natural and log-cabinish. Kit's first comment was 'where's the tinsel, it doesn't look very Christmassy?' and I think I have to agree. I've a feeling the shiny baubles will be out again any day now.

Back to the fingers and toes

2007-12-08T15:10:00.000-08:00

I knew it was too good to be true. My word count widget is kaput. I hope it's not an omen as the words on the novel have seemed to come to a stop too. A temporary blip, I'm sure. I did try looking for another one, but have decided you need a degree in computer science to do all that faffing about required to get the thing to work. I will resort to the old-fashioned method, 21,560, 21,561....

Little Black Dress

2007-12-07T03:07:00.000-08:00

have revamped their website and it's definitely worth taking a look if you're into chicklit.
http://www.littleblackdressbooks.com/
Also the Book People have a great deal on a collection of LBD books. Twelve for £12.99 at www.thebookpeople.co.uk. A great xmas present as I have helpfully pointed out to George.

I've bitten the bullet

2007-12-04T14:49:00.000-08:00

and sent off my application to the Romantic Novelists' Assocation for the New Writer's Scheme. It's a bit of a leap of faith (can you tell I'm partial to the odd cliche, but I feel it's better to offload them here rather than in the novel) as it means I simply HAVE to finish this novel now and submit it to them for a critique by August of next year.

They only accept 250 members a year under this scheme so I was worried that if I waited until I finished the novel there would be no places left.

I'm not sure why but I feel ridiculously excited at having sent my form off. I'm easily pleased, me.

The diet starts here!

2007-12-03T05:25:00.000-08:00

I was standing in my undies this morning, getting dressed, when Lizzie said, unprompted, 'I don't mind that you're chubby, Mum, it just means that you're more cuddly.' I beamed for a nanosecond before digesting the enormity of her words. Chubby? Cuddly? Who was this insolent child talking about?

This came after a conversation with George at the weekend where I mentioned, again, how, in another life, I would like to be a tap dancer. Normally, George suggests that I join a tap dancing class, but he misses the point. I don't want to be middle-aged woman learning to tap dance in a church hall. I want to be a fit, gorgeous, young thing tapping away on a stage to an admiring audience. So definitely another life kind of thing.

George didn't suggest classes on this occasion. He just said, 'but you haven't really got the physique to be a tap dancer, you need to by sylph-like.' Hmmm, he just doesn't get it, does he?

Anyway, I've come to realise I have a self-image problem. In my head, I'm positively sylph-like, but I think the reality falls a little short. I wonder if I can lose two stones in three weeks.

What would you like to be in another life?

What could be better?

2007-12-01T04:20:00.000-08:00

I've just picked up the latest copy of Woman's Weekly Fiction Special,the Christmas edition of Fiction Feast and My Weekly Christmas Special. So that's my weekend sorted then. I'm going to settle down with a nice cuppa for a good read.

Fiction Feast has one of my stories in too so that's a bonus!

Widgets

2007-11-30T08:56:00.000-08:00

I've got two new ones!

A word meter so I can see how far I've progressed with the novel.

And a stats counter to show how many visits I've had.

So now I'm completely depressed. I'm nowhere near as far forward as I should be and I'm a proper billy-no-mates too! Maybe I should have cheated and put the start number as 138.

Good Friday

2007-11-30T05:02:00.000-08:00

I woke up to a sale from That's Life, Aus, for a story that's done the rounds and then some. In fact, this mag., under different fiction editors, has rejected it three times, but I had a soft spot for it and thought I'd try it one more time, so I'm really pleased. And they only took six months to reply! Patience is a virtue and all that.

I haven't written a new short story in a while. There's nothing as inspiring as a sale, so maybe I'll see if I can get one done before Christmas.

Reading between the lines

2007-11-29T05:33:00.000-08:00

I think I'm becoming a little obsessive in my reading habits. I've heard that some writers don't like to read books in the genre or style of their own work-in-progress in case they inadvertenly copy, or are influenced, by the material.

It's the opposite as far as I'm concerned. I'm reading and re-reading books, analysing the style, the opening paragraphs and random sentences in finite detail to see if I can glean any tips. I've started blurting out sentences to George like 'six adverbs in two paragraphs, how did she get away with that?' I look at the beginnings to novels to try and discover what it was that inspired an agent or publisher to take it on. I've been examining speech tags to see how authors handle dialogue, how they manage a change in scene, how much attention they give to setting. Even more sadly, I take sentences from books and imagine how they would look on my computer screen if I'd typed them in. Oh god, that really is sad!

If I come across the magic answers I'm looking for, I'll let you know.

Time for some fresh air, I think!

Take a Break Winter Special

2007-11-23T10:05:00.000-08:00

Check it out because of course it's a great mag., but also because I have a story in there! I picked up three copies in Tescos today, one for me, one for my mum and one for m-in-law. As I was hoping, the cashier asked 'do you really want 3 copies?' and so I had a writerly moment where I said, 'oh yes, I've a story in there, don't you know,' with a flick of the hair and a broad grin. I didn't really, but I felt like it.

I get such a thrill out of seeing one of my stories in a magazine. I can't imagine what is must feel like to see your own book published.

No News

2007-11-22T14:30:00.000-08:00

means there's no news really. I haven't been ploughing on with the novel as I should have been, I've been dabbling at it in-between cake making (christmas), shopping (christmas) and birthday planning for Kit. I fell over too, I slipped on a magazine George had left on the hall floor!, and cut open my leg and heavily bruised both arms which in itself wouldn't have been too bad, but I felt really rough afterwards, like I was going down with a heavy dose of flu. Better now, although George's ear is probably still aching.

Still on target to hit the 30,000 word mark by Christmas, but I really need to put in some solid work in the coming weeks. My intention is to join the Romantic Novelists Association in January with a view to submitting my completed novel for a full critique around about March.

A Sale

2007-11-13T14:23:00.000-08:00

To the Weekly News for a story that they asked me to re-write from 1st person to third person, so I'm pleased about that! It's a story already published in Australia. I like it when a story earns its keep!

The novel is coming along slowly. Don't ask about the word count, too few for my liking, but still on course to meet the targets I've set.

Life seems pretty busy at the moment, lots going on with the kids and various things to attend to which takes me away from actually getting down and writing, but then I guess that's par for the course.

Good Post

2007-11-06T05:26:00.000-08:00

It makes a change to get something nice through the post rather than bills, junk mail or worse still, rejections. Today I had a copy of an Australian magazine which has a couple of my stories in. I'm looking forward to sitting down tonight and having a read of all the stories.

I'm re-reading Octavia by Jilly Cooper at the moment. I read all the books in the series when I was about 20. I loved them then. They're all light-hearted, romantic romps, full of fun and outrageous characters. I know they say Bridget Fielding and Marian Keynes kicked off the chick-lit trend, but I think JC had a hand in it too. Even though the book seems a bit dated, I'm still enjoying it as much this time around. I'm reading it with one eye on her style, plotting and pacing to see if I can pick up some tips along the way. She makes it look so easy! If only....

What's in a name?

2007-11-04T15:15:00.000-08:00

I've been bashing away on the novel under its working title of B2B, knowing that I would have to come up with something infinitely better at some stage. And it has. It just popped into my head yesterday as I was mulling over the next chaper. Of course, I couldn't possibly mention it here because someone might pinch it and use it and then that beautifully designed book jacket I've pictured in my head will come to nothing. Okay, so what's wrong with delving into the realms of fantasy,you have to have your dreams, don't you?

This week I really must knuckle down. I will send out the recently returned story from WW and send to Australia and TAB. I will make a start on the story for the bench competition in Writers News and I will do 3,000 words on the novel.

A Fab Night!

2007-11-03T05:10:00.000-07:00

How could I forget - we went to see The Producers at MK Theatre last night. It's Kit's favourite film and he's watched it too many times to mention, so when we realised it was coming to MK, we couldn't not go! We went for a meal first at Zissi's and then saw the show. It was brilliant, really funny, great songs and just a hoot really. Additionally, George had ordered a bottle of champagne for the interval so it was a really memorable evening. Suprisingly too, I got away without a hangover this morning.
Catch it if you can, the show that is, not the hangover.

Grammatical errors and typos

2007-11-03T03:43:00.000-07:00

Apologies for them all. I've just read some of my entries back and noticed a few howlers and did consider going back and changing them, but then I wouldn't do that in a diary, would I, so I won't do it here either. Hopefully, you'll still get the gist of what I'm going on about.

A rejection this week from WW. Seeing my number of stories out there slowly dwindling is a little disconcerting especially with no new stories being written, but any time I do have is being spent on the novel. Not enough time recently I'm afraid, but I will still be ploughing on. How is that you can read your work one day and feel excited about it and think this is quite good and then the next day you read it and think what a load of cr*p.

Just over the 15,000 word mark now.

Half-Term Update

2007-10-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

What a rip-off Madame Tussaud's turned out to be. If you're thinking of going, don't! The queues were immense, which we expected, it's hugely expensive to get in and when you do finally get in, it's completely chaotic with hordes of people pushing you out of the way so they can get to have their photo taken with a wax model. Very underwhelmed by the whole thing. Having said that, the kids enjoyed it and I had to take lots of photos of them with Ant and Dec, Steven Spielberg etc, so I did my own share of pushing and shoving.

Families, who'd have them??!! I'm feeling very cross with myself because I met up with some of mine at my niece's 21st birthday party on Saturday. My SIL, who I've had a flaky relationship with to say the least, was there with my brother (not the parents of the birthday girl.) Now the last time I saw them was when they came to me for a party in the summer and to cut a long story short I thought they behaved very rudely which I found embarrassing. I know I can be a sensitive soul and wondered if perhaps I was over-reacting, but THREE other people mentioned their behaviour to me, so I know it wasn't me. This came after a number of other trivial incidents, but for me this really was the final straw. But when I saw them on Saturday I was so surprised at my own reaction to them. I could barely talk to them and felt so much anger directed towards them. Of course, they would have picked up strongly on my vibes and now I regret it. I feel that they now have the moral high ground whereas before it was all mine! Also, I regret showing them how angry I did feel. George is always telling me to rise above it, but that's often easier said than done.

Stardust

2007-10-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

We went to see this film today. I wasn't sure what to expect as I'd read mixed reviews about it, but was very pleasantly surprised. Thought it was an excellent tale, with a good plot, a great cast, some really funny bits, scary bits, something for everyone in fact. If you haven't already seen this, I'd definitely recommend it.

Not sure how much I'll get done on the writing front this week as it's half-term. We're off to Madame Tussaud's tomorrow!

Risottos/Part 2

2007-10-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

I was really upset that Kit had come home in such a state on Wednesday that I was all for him swapping courses. I asked him yesterday if that's what he wanted to do and he said, 'No, I love proving people wrong. I'll stick at it and show her (his teacher) what I can do.' What a star! He obviously doesn't take after me.

Today his Food Tech. teacher caught him in the playground and actually apologised for being so rude to him in class, but she did advise him to practise chopping some onions at home! I'm pleased that she recognisesd she hadn't handled the situation correctly and Kit feels much better about it all having had an apology.

Writing stuff targets
End of October - 15,000 words
End of November - 22,500 words
End of December - 30,000 words

Risottos and Teenage Sons

2007-10-18T03:02:00.000-07:00

Kit chose as one of his options for Year 10, Food Tech. Now this wasn't the most obvious choice for him as he's never really done any cooking before, but his Mother thought it would be a good idea as all boys should know how to cook, shouldn't they? And he does love his food. Now Kit it is very academic, but is not very practical and he would be the first to admit that his hand/eye coordination skills are poor. Consequently, he's finding the subject quite hard as he's a lot slower than most of the other boys, who all seem to be budding Jamie Oliver types or have parents who own restaurants.

Yesterday, he had a practical and had to make risotto. Now, I know from experience that it's not the easiest think to cook as you have to stand over it the whole time and stir. Well, because the new newly appointed teacher didn't know how to turn the gas on on Kit's workstation he had to make his risotto in a microwave!!! What is the point of that.

I feel really cross about it and will probably have a word with the teacher about it because she keeps making comments about Kit's lack of ability and how he needs to practise at home. I'm even wondering as it's the first half term whether he'd be better switching to another course like Business Studies which would probably suit him more.

Sticking points

2007-10-18T02:51:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I should have taken the advice of all those 'how to write a novel' books and done a lot of background work and research before plunging recklessly into Chapter 1. The thing is, I'm not a great one for planning. I know what I should have done, wrote extensive character profiles, an outline, chapter headings, but hey I'm in my mid-forties now. I haven't got that long!

I'm realising that doing it my way, seat of the pants style, let's see where this chapter takes us, is that quite often you get stuck down an alley without knowing which way to come out. I have now sucuumbed and written the briefest of outlines and am hoping this will keep me on track somewhat.

Word count, approx 12,000.

I've had one rejection this week from the Weekly News and a great idea for a story for the bench competition in Writers News, although I'm not really sure when I'll be able to fit it in.