Drag

Is today dragging or what?

Perhaps its because I'm at work with no work to do. I'm twiddling my thumbs. I'm all blogged out as far as reading goes.

I really should spend time writing, but with my head so full of cold I just cant think straight.

I'm so looking forward to an easy weekend. I'm going to make a raspberry and chocolate pavlova tomorrow night. I'm actually going to make two, one for Saturday night when we have friends over, and the other for Mother's Day. I've never made one before but it seems easy. Whip eggwhites, add sugar, bake, cool, add topping, eat.

I normally dont bake... Only because of laziness really, and the complete lack of interest I have in desserts. Its quite odd actually. I thought I was such a sweet tooth, but that really only applies to chocolate. And I mean just straight chocolate - not chocolate flavoured things. Pah. Choc flavoured things are fakes. Give me the real creamy chocolatiness of proper brown gold above any 'flavoured' thing any day!

...But I am going to bake tomorrow, mainly because its the first friends we're having over for dinner since moving into our new flat, and because I know they like pavlova (merengue!). I'm so looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to receiving a package from my Mum tomorrow. I think she has sent me socks. Mums - Damn fine creatures, eh!

Right, well, I'm going to try to fill the rest of my day... only two hours to go...

The Cold Writer

I am full of cold. Sniffling and miserable.

TFIF (I dont thank God for anything!)

I'm having an easy night tonight, though I have to clean the house. I probably shouldn't drink, but I have two whole bottles of Jack Daniels and Captain Morgan and I dont want them having a party in my cupboard without me. Perhaps I'll just drop in for one or two, then pass out early.

On the writing front -

Oh my, have I been lazy! I keep trying to live by the same excuse of 'just moved house, life a mess, cant possibly write right now'... but the truth is is that time is relative and like anything juicy you can always squeeze one last drop out. There is enough time in the day. I just have to recognise it.

Poor Jerry has been gathering dust since I pathetically failed Nano last year, and I even had a hard time remembering what my damn Nano novel was about.

I've been lurking and absorbing all the info still being churned out in the blogosphere, and have occasionally left a comment or two, but generally I've been living under the radar.

I will get back to writing. I will. I must. I want to. I really want to.

I really dont want to be full of cold. *sniffle*

I also really want a decent damn job. And one within publishing so that I can stay close to my love. I hate working in crap industries that I have absolutely zero interest. I'm temping with a property company at the moment. They 'interviewed' me for the permanent position and asked the horrid question: 'Why do you want to work in property?'

rant rant rant (I've removed what I originally wrote coz I just realised if anyone at work googled my name it could come up and that wouldn't be at all good!)

Hmm... What has got into me? I wonder if its a full moon...

Grrr

Bloomsbury sux.

An agency has put me forward for a job at Pengiun though.

Fingers crossed.

Where Am I?

Here I am.

I'm still here, lurking on the net. Watching. Reading. Learning.

My enthusiasm for this blog thing has fizzled a bit, but I'm getting more settled in my new house, and we've just bought a new computer, so once I get sorted with a permanent job then I'm sure I'll snap out of my wanderings and will post something more like I used to.

I'm so excited about our new computer. Its big and fancy and it actually WORKS! Its my first time with Vista, and it seems ok. Not sure there was anything wrong with XP, but there ya go. My lap top, after crashing three times in one week, has been reloaded again and if I can manage to get myself a wireless router without parting with any precious £££ then I'll have it connected to the internet as a backup (where I can download to my heart's content without affecting the speed of the new computer - or without opening it up to viruses!).

The house is all but done. We've got curtains, but no poles to hang them on. This should be rectified by the weekend. All the fixtures and fittings are on the walls etc, except for a bathroom shelf, and the new massive mirror is being delivered next Tuesday. All we have to do now is find some bedside tables, a sofa bed for the spare room, and some dressing table type drawers or shelves that I can use by my bedroom mirror without taking up too much space.

So. Normalcy has pretty much returned. Except on the job front.

I'm working at a property consultant place doing very little work! I'm a secretary to the valuations department, but all of last week I just sat there twiddling my thumbs. It got quite boring as there is only so much surfing on the net you can do without going crazy, but at least they were paying me. I squandered the time when I could have been using it as writing time. Ah well. My muse is still on holiday.

I'm waiting to hear back about an interview I attended on Tuesday. If I get the job then I'm going to be over the moon. I hope they call soon. If not by 4pm then I'm definitely calling them! Mustn't be pushy, but hopefully I will be seen as 'enthusiastic and proactive' though I think I'll come across as pathetic and desperate. I'm sure they'll consider me though, they didn't pass up on publishing Harry Potter like every other publisher out there. Thats right. Its Bloomsbury publishing. I didn't call them. They called me. Thats got to be a good sign, right?! I put my CV out there for a job that I was in no way qualified to do, but they called me up anyway to interview me for another position. Hoorah.

Fingers crossed.

Waiting... waiting... waiting for that call...

ONLINE!

Finally. Got the internet set up at home! I think its a bit shaky, but it seems to be holding for now.

If only I had the time to spend surfing...

No Time

Back from Oz. Moved into new flat. No internet connection yet. No job. No writing done.

BUT...

No worries! Things are starting to settle down and I'm going to try to get the internet set up at home by early next week. Just bought a load of new furniture today. Hooray. Only got to paint, change the carpet, and fix the tv to the wall and we're set!

I'm so looking forward to things going back to normal. I'd even welcome a boring rut! I haven't had a chance to read any blogs or anything in the last month, let alone devote any time to writing! Ah well. Mustn't rush things. Stress is a funny thing, and I'm going to try to concentrate on relaxing and not worrying about the things I'm not doing but should be.

I got about four bottles of Jack Daniels for Christmas... thats a good start! People know me so well!

Australia

Finally moved into our new house on Friday December 14th!!!

Then jetted off to Oz for two weeks from December 20th.... Ahhh.. the summer sunshine!

Its nice to see the folks etc and be able to get online. Hopefully my bro can fix my computer so when I fly back to the UK I can get online at home.

Then I've gotta find another job, dammit! At least I've got a week's work experience at Penguin Publishing.. Fingers crossed that they take me on full time.

Update

The days keep dripping past like a leaky tap, and I'm still homeless. Martin and I are staying in a little holiday cottage (set in the delightful Kent countryside), which is lovely. Its frustrating, though, that we're having to live out of suitcases and we wont have enough time to settle into our new house before we go away for Christmas.
Hopefully we will exchange and complete on our new house before we go away, anyway, so that we can at least have the keys and partially move in.
Its taken over four months so far. We first viewed the house on the 29th July, and had our offer accepted on the 30th.

I haven't had time to get my computer up and running again, and I haven't written anything more on Jerry because there isn't much room left and I've got no where to download it to! So, book-wise I'm lagging. I've started reading 'Eats Shoots and Leaves' which is quite enjoyable. I absolutely adore grammar. I'm hoping to be able to master it one day. I'm still fumbling with it, and it frustrates me so much!!

I came up with a spiffing new book idea!! I know, I know I should finish what I've already got started, but I just cant help it. The ideas just keep pouring into my head!! I'm going to keep the title secret for a while, until I can develop the plot some more. I'm going to keep the plot secret too... just because. Its a special project that I want to keep quiet about until its fully fleshed out. I will give one hint about it though....... It contains elements of time travel. (Its set in modern day, but has a touch of the fantastic about it).

I'm feeling a little bit perplexed. I feel myself leaning towards writing fantasy themes into modern settings, rather than my favourite genre of pure fantasy (dragons, myth and magic! Not demons, vampires or YA stuff, but your classic Tolkein fantasy!). Perhaps thats not the writer I'm supposed to be. I'm still going to stick with it, though. I'm not going to give up on my 'Cloud People' (temporary title) book until I've finished it, shopped it around for about ten years, pulled it apart and re-written it, shopped it around for another ten years, used it as a level under my crooked table, shopped it around some more, and then finally used it to wipe my arse with.

Anyway. Must get on. I will return to writing in the New Year, when I start my week's 'work experience' with Penguin Group UK (YES!). Fingers crossed that they give me a full time job!!!

Re-Pitch For My Fantasy Novel

I dont know why I'm playing around with pitches. I suppose because I'm avoiding having to do any work!

[Title]: Children of the Ether, Book 1

The Kingdom is in turmoil. King Enyard has ensured that his people will subsist the Breaking through a pact made with the mysterious Ethereans, but the dragon wars are weakening the Kingdom’s defences and many are turning their favour towards his charismatic brother.

Ellusia has grown up as the bane of her people. She was the first to survive since the Breaking, and is struggling to keep secret the consequences of the pact her father made. When her brother is killed she must decide between loyalty to her father and her people before the Kingdom tears her and itself apart and falls from the sky.

Re-Pitch

I think I can do better...

Elena Kinsella is on the brink of having the perfect life. Moving away from her controlling Nan, and on the verge of love she becomes the victim of a serial killer, but quickly discovers that there is more to death than it seems...

With the help of a few kindred spirits Elena sets out to discover who her murderer is; and when her best friend becomes the next target she must find a way to stop him before her time runs out.

Hmm.. not sure. I'll keep tweaking it, I think.

Fleeting Life

This is my pitch for my novel Fleeting Life:

Elena Kinsella is on the brink of having the perfect life. She has just moved out from under her Nan’s controlling power, into her own flat, and has spied a future love interest in one of her customers at work. Unfortunately, she becomes the victim of the local serial killer, and quickly discovers that there is more to death when she realises that no one can see or hear her unless she wills it.

Forced to watch the world carry on without her, with the help of a few kindred spirits, Elena sets out to discover who her murderer is before her time runs out. While watching and waiting she falls for James, the handsome customer she met on the eve of her death, and when her best friend becomes the next potential victim Elena must find a way to save her friend, and James, before its too late.

The first draft was finished last November... I'm trying to work up the energy to get back to it.

Comic Relief

Dear IT Support:

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in the overall performance, particularly in the Flower and Jewellery applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 un-installed many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5 and then installed undesirable programs such as: Football 5.0, Rugby 4.3 and Cricket 3.0.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs; it simply crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, to no avail What can I do?

Signed, Desperate

-----------------

Dear Desperate:

First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an Operating System.

Try entering the command: C:/I-THOUGHT-YOU-LOVED-ME to download Tears 6.2, which should automatically install Guilt 3.0. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewellery 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

But remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0, or Beer 6.1.

WARNING: Beer 6.1 is a very nasty program that will create Snoring Loudly.

CAUTION: Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law. This is not a supported application and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. I personally would recommend Hot Food 3.0 and Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck, IT Support ------------------

Meltdown

I've got one hell of a weekend coming up.

Gotta finish packing and make trips to the dump on Saturday morning. Also got to take almost everything we own to Big Yellow Storage (which means writing out an inventory as well), by sundown on Sunday.

Then on Monday or Tuesday (will find out which day it'll be on Saturday) I've got to be present while some dudes and a big truck come and take away all our furniture that we dont want (two sofas, tv cabinet, two sideboards, coffee table, kitchen table, tumble dryer, and mouldy bed), for a price! Then I've got to dump the rest of our bits and pieces at Big Yellow before going to work.

Tuesday I've managed to organise a cleaner to do the carpets without me having to be present! Then Tues night we gather all our luxuries etc and go to the little holiday cottage I was able to book, and hopefully still be able to go to the pub for silly Tuesday (our weekly chill-out night at the pub!).

Wednesday I've got to meet the inventory clerk at the old house and try to convince her that we haven't ruined the house, and then I give her the keys! Done!!!

Then its just wait wait wait wait wait wait and wait some more until we exchange and complete on our new house. Hopefully we'll exchange today or on Monday which would be fucken great. It better all happen before December 20th, anyway, coz we're off to Oz for two weeks and we'd like to have a home to come back to!

Moving house is a fucking nightmare. Especially so if your tenancy on your stupid rented house expires before you can move into the new place. They all assured me we'd be in the new place before November. I'm pleased that I never fucking believed them because they are all WRONG!

Nanowrimo? Fuck it. I quit this year. No time to even think about scratching my arse let alone writing a novel. I'll aim to have it done by my birthday in April.

Dead Computer With A Silver Lining

Computer crashed yesterday.

Lost everything on it since May.

Including my nano book. BUT - I haven't yet deleted it from Jerry so all is not lost!
Photos, however, are a different story. We had uploaded most of them to Facebook, but a majority of them are gone.. including our anniversary trip to Dublin.

*sigh*

I hate computers.

On the upside we did manage to get two tickets to see Led Zeppelin! This, however, could possibly have been a hoax because as soon as we bought the tickets the computer crashed. But it seemed legit. It was all through ticketmaster etc. Ah well. We shall see!

I haven't written a thing since last week. I'm woefully behind. I feel like the retarded kid in school who is encouraged to run the marathon but ends up looking like the mutant Toxic Avenger gallumphing slowly down the track with all horrified eyes of the audience glued on me like dried fish guts.

No news on the fucking house move either. Two queries still outstanding. One is imminent, the other depends on how fast Sevenoaks District fucking Council get off their fat arses are send the required documentation.

I hate waiting on other people.

I need lots of JD when this is all done. Bucket loads!!!

Stressed With a Capital 'S'

House moving sux.

Our rent agreement is due to expire next Wednesday.. ie 9 days! and we have yet to exchange and complete on our new house due to useless fucking solicitors not picking up their fucking phones and calling each other even though they know its urgent. Why they cant sort out queries over the phone, by email or fax, I have no idea... but I must say they are definitely not worth the bullshit price they charge when they cant get simple queries answered.
The estate agent, vendor, and I all feel like we're match-makers, each of us trying to coax the other into phoning directly rather than writing fucking time-wasting letters.

So, its likely we'll be homeless in 9 days. We've got to spend out on getting all of our furniture taken to the dump, as its not really saleable, and I dont want to be bothered with trying to sell the shit anyway. We've decided that we're going to leave the freezer at the property, because it costs to dispose of fridges and freezers. When we throw the bed away we wont have anything else to sleep on... but anything is better than the mould infested piece of shit we've got at the moment.

So, I'm not really a happy bunny at the moment. I should be spending my time immersed in my Nano book, but this morning on the train I just could not face it (I also had to run for the fucking train again this morning due to some pretty fucked up traffic).

I've no idea what my word count is. I haven't uploaded my words from Jerry for days, but either way I'm pretty sure I'm still under 20k.

I've cancelled the piano lesson tonight, coz I'm just not in the mood. I've been giving myself headaches from clenching my jaw all day every day. I've been on the phone to the estate agent daily (three times today so far) trying to chase up where this house move stands, and I've got so much stuff thats urgent at work as well, so I'm feeling a little stretched thin.

I also had the hangover of hangovers yesterday. Which still seems to be lingering, even now.

I sooo need a holiday.

Nanowrimo aka Disaster-wrimo

I'm sooo behind!

I should be over the 20k mark by now, but I'm still floundering at around 13k. (Haven't updated my word count thingy yet)

I'm not too disappointed about it though. November is bloody stressful, but I am writing every day. I manage to clock out about 1000 words every morning on the train, so I'm slowly and steadily moving along - which is great!

But... 1000 words a day only equals 30k at the end of November, so I'll be 20k short. I'm not going to beat myself up about it, because unlike last year I'm paying more attention to the quality of the work. I've also had to slow down a bit because I dont have it as completely planned out like last year's Fleeting Life was. Writing a fantasy novel is a lot more tricky than I thought. So many things to think about. And I've only decided on three of the characters' names. So I've got many characters called Boy 1 Boy 2, Old Servant, Younger Servant, Queen, Captain, etc. Naming them will have to come later.

After some helpful comments I'm going to add 'No Plot, No Problem' to my Christmas Wish List. I'm also going to re-read Robin Hobb's farseer trilogy once November is over. The reason for this is because its written in the first person, and I've never seen that before in a fantasy novel... and I'm trying it. I must be crazy, but its too late to turn back now.

So, anyway. I may not win Nano this year, but I'm still steadily pumping out words, and I'm happy with that. As long as I'm happy, all is good!

Doctor Who!

We interrupt this Nanowrimo with a special report on Doctor Who!
I went along to the signing on Oxford Street, HMV store, on Monday the 5th. I used my last day of holiday that I have left until April. I didnt get there in time to be one of the lucky 300 people that got a wristband in order to get their DVDs signed, but I went along anyway to see if I could get a sneak peak at him! I managed to take loads of blurry photos, and made friends with a fellow Aussie and David Tennant fan, which was nice.
After the signing I waited like a real crazy geek in the alley way to watch him exit the side door. I managed to get a lovely glimpse of him as he rushed out and into his car - and he looked straight at me!! I could have died right on the spot! Haha!
I'm such a dork! Although I like to consider myself a stealth geek. Not geeky looking, but if you analysed me a little and discovered all my secret obsessions then you'll see I'm as geeky as hell!
One of the signees was this squat greasy-haired woman who had a beard! Yes, a beard! It was horrible!! I pity poor David and Freema who had to sit through the signing with such repulsive creatures coming up and slobbering all over them! I'm glad I kept my cool and didn't shout out or act insane. I was merely casually loiting in the HMV store, and then casually loitering in the alley way. At least, thats what I tell myself!

I saw Alice Cooper that day too! I had a cup of tea in Starbucks in Borders Bookshop and he was there signing copies of his new book. There were less people there than at the Doctor Who signing so I was able to get closer and get a better pic.

Ouch!

I crashed and burned with my pitch on the Bookends blog.

The response was:

Uff da! Too long. My first concern is that your first paragraph makes absolutely no sense to me. You’re dropping in a lot of information that I probably don’t need to know at all at this point and that only confuses me. In fact, the second doesn’t help much either. What’s the real conflict here? When does the story really get going? Does it start moving at the Breaking of the World or the pact with the Ethereans? Is it about Ellusia or about her father? I think you need to clarify exactly who the protagonist is and what the conflict is. It seems to me your pitch is more along the lines of, “Ellusia Carver has led a protected and spoiled life as princess in her father’s Kingdom high above the clouds, but when civil unrest hits and her brother is killed, Ellusia is forced to leave her protected world to battle the beasts so many tried so hard to keep her away from.” Or something that would be of course much better then that. I think you get the point though.

Ah well. Back to the drawing board.

Nanowrimo... Here We Go!

I am so not ready.

I am so not prepared.

I am so going to fail miserably!

I've got a rough outline and about a quarter of the chapters all planned out, but I'm just not mentally prepared for this. I barely have any time to fit it in what with moving house this month, and going to the gym, and being lazy... but I suppose like last year's Nanowrimo I will most likely do all my writing while on the train in the morning on the way to work.

I'm going to try to be more methodical in my approach to it this year and try to write a constant amount of words each day as a base minimum so that any extra words are a bonus (but cannot be classed as granting a day off).

We shall see how it goes at the end of November.

Its currently half way through the first day and I haven't written a word. The hubby has a lot of Facebooking to do tonight (his profile magically disappeared last night... It wasn't me!) so hopefully I'll be able to get my days worth of words down while he's doing that. Thank God I've got Jerry to type on, coz hubby will be using the computer.

The Pitch

Last week I had the urge to sum up the book I'm going to write in November (very bad working title of 'Cloud People'), and I happened to wander over to Bookends and saw the Perfecting Your Pitch post. So, I added my pitch to the comments section, along with 130 others.

Mine is the Seventeenth.

I'm anxiously awaiting it being torn apart.

Since re-reading it I want to tweak it some more, but its not a bad start. It lifts a weight off my shoulders to have it written down like that, but until its torn apart I'm not really sure how I feel about it. I think it needs a more catchy sentence stitched onto the end.

Anyway. For my own information here it is:

Fantasy Novel (Untitled)

Ellusia Carver is the first child born that has survived, since the Breaking of the World. Her father's Kingdom is suspended high up in the clouds with the aid of the Magicians of Tove while the world below them boils in a turmoil of dragons and fire.

The Kingdom is in civil unrest and the King's brother is gaining more favour as he steps up his search for a safe place to settle their fragile land. The King, however, wants to reach upwards and develop the pact he entered into with the Ethereans, who saved his daughter’s life, but at what cost? In the middle of this Ellusia is growing up isolated and confused. When her brother is killed she becomes the sole heir to the throne of a Kingdom that is turning against her.