Another Tag From Nell

Morning All --

I've received another tag from Nell for a list, so here it is:

Current clothing - grey lace camisole, black PJ bottoms, waffle robe, pink pig slippers (immature: maybe... comfortable: very much so)
Current hair - Iridescent brown (apparently) with blonde streaks, from the use of a "personally placed harmonized highlights" dye kit. Kirbigrip holding back one side.
Current mood - Nesty (thinking about all the stuff I want to buy for/do to the house), content (house to self for whole day for writing purposes, and all tidying and cleaning was done yesterday).
Current refreshment - Strong Whittard tea with sugar, but it's gone cold.
Current annoyance - Snitty, arrogant eBayers.
Current avoidance - Going outside in the icy, blustery wind.
Current smell - Apricot hair conditioner.
Current thing you ought to be doing - Getting dressed, not drooling (*still*, even after over ten years) over Billy Warlock in old Baywatch re-runs.
Current things on the wall - Big cream/sepia print of flower, black and white pic of an idyllic French village.
Current IM - Usually Nell, but not at the moment.
Current jewellery - None. I took it off when I went to bed last night.
Current book - Most Wanted Woman by Maggie Price.
Current worry - The usual -- money!
Current celebrity - Er, Billy Warlock, if he still counts as such. Will have to go to IMDB and see what he's up to these days...
Current obsession - Buying home style magazines.
Current love - The Bloke.
Current longing - To afford the summer holiday we really want.
Current disappointment - Not being able to afford that holiday.
Current lyric in my head - Baywatch theme tune.
Current favourite book - The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman.
Current favourite movie - Madagascar "Hoover Dam! We're still in New York!".
Current wish - That Nell's book, The Cinderella Substitute, wins the Joan Hessayon Award.
Current desktop picture - Scene of an empty hammock between palm trees on Hawaii. No Sawyer in sight, unfortunately.
Current plans for tonight/weekend - To get on with next chapter of my contest entry, then later to cook an organic king prawn and asparagus risotto!

So, with that, I won't blabber on much longer as I should really get dressed and get on with my work. Hope you all have had a nice weekend.


Just finished reading: The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella which, along with a yummy candle, Nell gave to me as a prezzie when we met :)

Running Up That Hill... And Then Some

Apologies to Kate Bush.

So I've wreaked havoc on the original chapter one, plus some bits of original chapters 2 and 3. I now have a revamped chapter one which is now... over 6,000 words! More than a quarter of my whole limit! Waah!

I think I'll have to trim the C-by-C even further. I suppose it's nice to see my word meter hike so far up so quickly, though...

Umm...

... I, er... didn't *really* spend the last forty-five minutes since my previous "I'm getting on with work" post redecorating my blog template... Really...

*nervous laugh*

And your time staaaaaaarts..... now!

So today I begin slashing through the old story for submission to the Moonlit contest. I have about 25,000 words to get through so I don't expect I'll finish it today, however, I'm being optimistic. I'm starting a new word count bar so you can all follow my progress!


Just finished reading: Second Chance Hero by Justine Davis; Deep Blue by Suzanne McMinn

Deadlines and Schedules and Plans, Oh My!

I don't know why I feel bad for not having posted on my blog as much this year. It's not like I'm letting down paying subscribers! But still... I apologize. If anyone reading this happens to care...

We've been really busy at the office since New Year. Somehow we have about 7 books all due to be delivered to their publishers in the same time period and so there is plenty panicking about and lots of editors' corrections to type. Endless piles of "To Do" appearing on my desk and having to chop and change between books has been a little trying and not too conducive to good moods, but it's better than it was.

I haven't got much further with editing my own book. As it stands I have made on-screen changes to four chapters, but I'm putting it aside for a month or so now anyway, so I can work on my entry for Moonlit Romance's "Falling in Love" contest (see Nell's blog for details). The deadline is the end of March. I'm reworking a story I started writing about three years ago which got to 5 chapters and then died a quick death! I had a plan of how the rest of the book was meant to go, but the pacing wasn't very good at all and it was a real beginner's effort. Anyway, I've already written a rough chapter-by-chapter plan for the contest entry using the old stuff. Next up I have to go through the 5 chapters I'd written and rip out anything that I can use for the new version. Then write the rest. Then edit. Then read. Then edit. Hopefully this will all fit into the schedule well enough to allow me not to miss the entry deadline!

And so I finally met Nell the weekend before last (I think...). It was really exciting following the sat-nav directions to her house, spotting her road sign, looking at each house as we drove slowly past, waiting to see her number. She made Bloke and I feel welcome straight away and although I am always very nervous of being in the houses of people I don't strictly "know" (remnants of panic attacks), I felt really comfortable at Nell's very quickly. She was sure her house was a mess but it WASN'T! I also met the "belles" (her three girls) and they were all lovely and polite and were all wearing clothes I would have killed for had I been their age! We are already planning to meet again in April for a shopfest at a designer outlet near me. She almost hyperventilated when I told her there was a Jimmy Choo shop :) Anyway, it's a shame Nell doesn't have a picture on her blog, but you can all see what you're missing out on by looking at this picture, because Cynthia Nixon reminds me a lot of her:




Just finished reading: Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine

Edit, Edit, Edit

Yes, I'm still here, doing editing and more editing. I've now got through chapters two and three, though they now also amalgamate all of chapter four, because I've been upping the sizes of the chapters and cutting all the crap I don't need. It's feeling a lot better for it already.

I've now changed my plan... I'm no longer going to submit straight to Silhouette once I've finished editing. Instead I am going to send the book off to the RNA's New Writers Scheme. I joined in January and part of my membership fee covers an expert critique of one of my manuscripts (in this case, the *only* one). This gives pointers on strengths and weaknesses and how to improve my writing for publication. I know it means I have to wait longer (part of me is dying to get the book out ASAP to see if Sil. wants it) but I think this way I am giving the book a better chance. Hopefully.

In other news, am v. excited about this weekend as bloke and I are going away for a night and our hotel is not far from Nell's house. We finally get to meet! Yaaaaay!!


Just finished reading: Clint's Wild Ride by Linda Winstead Jones