Where to from here

As those of you who follow me on twitter and facebook will know, I recently submitted the first draft of book number two "Mounted & Hung" to my publishers for their consideration.

I can't work out if this is more or less nerve-wracking than when I sent the first book off to them.

Less nerve-wracking is actually knowing the person at the other end, whereas I'm now paranoid that the level of writing in this book isn't as good as the first. But I think that simply is paranoia. Maybe because I haven't had to sweat so much blood on this book. That's not because I haven't cared, but simply because I learned so much during the first book and some of that has definitely stuck.

Only time will tell. But I will update you when I hear from Rebel.

I'm not sure if I'll be back on here this side of Christmas, and so I'd like to wish everyone a happy Christmas and a fabulous New Year.

Let's do this again in 2015.

Axxx

7 Lovely Facts Blog Tour

I’ve been tagged by Cat Connor in the 7 Lovely Facts Blog tour.

"The next blogger, on the tour is supposed to list seven interesting facts that case a new light on the blogger him/herself." And then they're required to share some blog links of blogs they read. The final act is to pick on someone else and tag them.

Hmmm, thank you so much for this, ah, honour, Cat. I hope to repay you one day. Ten-fold!

Thinking up lovely facts about myself, is counterintuitive. I stutter when asked to list my strengths in job interviews. Apparently making a good coffee doesn’t count.

 
But I’ll give it a whirl.
 
It would seem I’m generous. Well accordingly to my credit card statement I am. Shame shoes aren’t tax deductible like the charities I support. Unless? Note to self. Feature designer shoes in next book.
 
People tell me I’m loyal. But they’re my friends, they’re meant to say that. Aren’t they? What if they’re just being kind? Breaths deeply from paper bag before carrying on. What the hell, I’ll take it. I’ve still got 5 to go.
 
I’m kind to animals to the degree that Jasmine, my cat, damn near holds #1 spot in the household. I’ll also only eat free-range bacon, eggs and chicken. I’m not staunch enough to go vegetarian though.
 
While I’m a lazy arse when it comes to doing stuff for myself, I have endless energy when it comes to doing things for others. Witness the community of dust bunnies currently lurking behind the fridge.
 
I’ll share chocolate, right down to the last piece.
 
Two more! God forbid. Maybe I can split that one about Jasmine and bacon? Yep. That’s two in my world.
 
When people ask me to complete list thingees like this, I only bitch a little bit rather than tell them to bugger off.
 
Cat, you definitely owe me chocolate for this. Lots of it. On the upside, you now know I’ll share it with you.

Here are some blogs I read:

http://catconnor.blogspot.co.nz/
http://rebelepublishers.com/
http://www.wendywings.com/

I feel really guilty about tagging the next person (Oooh, I’m empathetic too. That makes 8 doesn’t it?) but I guess if I don’t, the Blog Tour will die. I therefore nominate Wendy Lester who’s currently got her plate full with an exceptionally early Christmas (due to family travelling over the silly season) and who’s also being kind enough to read an early draft of my novel “Mounted & Hung”. God forbid, now I feel really guilty!

So close I can smell it ...

Definitely feel as though I'm getting closer to This Girl's Abroad finally being out of my head and in the marketplace. I've made it to the "Coming Soon" page on the Rebel e-Publishers website and that has made it all feel very real.

I'm working on my bio and tidying up the synopsis for when the book goes live.

The bit I'm dreading the most is the head shot. I'm photo-phobic with a vengeance. Someone only has to produce a camera for my eyes to half close in readiness for blinking in time with the flash, my mouth drops making me look bloody miserable and I generally look as though rigor mortis is threatening to take over. Basically every photo looks like a passport shot.

I'm hoping the photographer is aware of all those tricks that help stretch out crows' feet, that flatten wrinkles and pummel crinkles. A bull-dog clip on the back of my neck might help. It's either that or wear a push up bra with enough padding that my boobs block out any age-related faults in my neck and jawline. Necklace! What necklace?

Thank god for friends who have amazing re-touching skills. I'm going to be so airbrushed that my head shot will look more like a painting than a photo. I'm going to be wind-tunnelled to hell and back.

Watch this space.

Paint on, paint off ...

Bit quiet on the writing front of late. Been getting the house ready for sale. This has meant a lot of time on the end of a paint brush. Unfortunately up the top of a ladder rather than in front of an easel. 

End is in sight though and then I'll be eager to write the scenes forming in my head whilst I've been bunging holes, sanding and painting.

On the upside, I did manage the almost final alts on This Girl's Abroad. That MS is now off for reading by three friends and formatting and proofing by editor.

Writing I'm talking about above is for the second book in the series.

Goodbye 2013 ...

2013 really has sucked something awful. Sorry to be so negative, but other than getting a contract for the book, it's been very bloody average.

I have great hopes that 2014 is going to be a lot better. Not that it would be hard to beat the year that was.

Hope everyone has a lovely Christmas Break. I'll be back on board in the new year, hopefully with a better attitude.

XXX

Boutique Accommodation ...

          Jennie’s relatives run a caravan park in a suburb called Sunshine. The girls can stay indefinitely, so long as they’re happy to pay the full going rate. The place is bloody miles from anywhere and has definitely seen better days, unfortunately a good thirty-five years before their arrival.
          Jennie’s cousin and his wife drop the girls outside the caravan that is to be their new home, then drive off leaving them to it. For all the interaction they’ve had with her, Nadene might just as well be a dummy.
          Sam looks at the peeling aluminium hulk in front of them. Any paint that remains has oxidised to a soft grey that matches the metal showing through. The rubber window surrounds are cracked and hard. They crumble at the slightest pressure, as she discovers when she pokes one experimentally. “Bloody Norah, is this for real?”
          “Maybe the inside is nicer?”
          By the time they’ve lugged their bags inside, they’ve used up most of the available floor space and are blinded by their own sweat.
          “I can’t believe how bloody hot it is in here.” Sam crawls over built-in furniture and suitcases so she can open every window in the van. When finished, she’s not sure it’s made any difference. If anything, it seems even hotter.
          Jennie pushes up on the skylight, only to have her hand smash straight through the fatigued plastic. It’s as tired as everything else in the van. The whole inside has a ‘baked’ feel to it. “There’s no way we can stay in here.”
          Sam looks at the assortment of desiccated insects in the bottom of the tiny sink. “On the bright side, at least we can be sure there aren’t any creepy crawlies in here.” 
          Jennie peeks over the safety of Sam’s shoulder. “I thought cockroaches could survive anything.”
          After peeling off their damp travel clothes and donning their thinnest outfits, they retreat to the communal kitchen hoping it will be cooler. It is, but the coolest spot is the tiled floor. They throw down a sarong to protect them from the fine film of grease and remains of many a sloppily eaten fry-up.

The RSI that is editing …

I've been putting off attacking the edits from Jayne at Rebel. Avoiding looking at the email, avoiding looking at the manuscript with all those notes on it. Yes, I did have painting to do (walls and ceilings, nothing artistic) but I still should have looked at them sooner. I'm only talking a couple of days here, but as someone who pounces on chores like this as soon as is humanly possible, this was a big delay for me.
 
I didn't realise how addictive they'd be. I decided to have a quick look at them this morning - next thing you know it's 5pm, I'm starving and my RSI is giving me hell. I had to put my foot down at 100 pages or risk not being able to work tomorrow because of sore wrists.
 
I've been pleasantly surprised that all the changes so far are stupid little things that I should have seen myself, plus some weird shit going on with the formatting. Every time an indent has decided to disappear, that's another click of the mouse. Those clicks add up. 
 
I'm sure there's some nasty edit waiting for me somewhere though. Something that will stop me in my tracks; one of those things that leads to changes all over the show. Then it'll be a case of going back to the painting for a few hours while I nut out how to deal with said edit.
 
The painting has been very therapeutic and a good way to free up my brain, allowing me to concentrate on things like the storyline for book number two. I've already got 50,000 words in a rough first draft on this one and I basically know where it's going. I also know that a few of the common changes in the first book will also need to be incorporated into the second. Better to know up front.
 
A lot of the changes in the current manuscript are to do with style rather than typos/grammar as such. For example I was taught that anything that is going to be in italics should be underlined to denote this rather than actually put in italics. I think this is a throw-back to the good old typesetting days and has now been ditched with e-book formatting in mind. Sort of mistake you only get told about once though.
 
For now, I’m off to rummage in the freezer for peas to slap on my wrists.