oh what a beautiful morning

Sorry for the Oklahoma, I saw Hugh last night in X3. Good stuff. And Chris and Robbie are coming to town....mmmmm.

To steal an exercise from Barbara Samuel....

Today in Melbourne it's a beautiful, crisp, sunny winter morning. The sky is a brilliant blue that would fool you into thinking it's summer if you couldn't feel the chill. The sort of day we don't get many of once winter settles into its stride.
It looks warm but the air is cool enough to make my hands and face feel slightly numb as I walk, despite the fact I'm sweating under my raspberry pink parka vest. Everything smells clean, faintly icy.

At the vet's, there's a fearless tiny black kitten who is firmly focused on stalking and killing her toy ball, leaping and bounding like a miniature panther, only pausing when she leaps into her water bowl and gets her paws wet. She doesn't even blink when dogs who must be twenty times her size decide to bark and snarl at her. She's got her eyes on the prize. She's my new role model. She reminds me of a black cat I used to own. I'd love to take her home with me but I think the votes of the grey and orange inhabitants of my house would be firmly negative.

Walking back, parrots and magpies chase each other through the gum trees and every thing is bright and sparkling. The grass is still wet with dew and gleams in the sun. In summer the way I walk is lined with gardens full of roses and other flowers to stop and sniff. There aren't many things blooming at the moment - odd patches of colour from the camellias and lavender and daisies and native flowering plants - and some trees still hanging on to the last of the autumn reds and oranges. But all the plants look lush and green - contented somehow as if they are taking a well-deserved rest to curl their toes into the earth and wait for spring. Everyone out walking is smiling. It's that kind of day. I wonder what else it will bring?

I have a lot to do today. Last day of my week off. I've had a great week, writing and shopping and lunching with writer friends. I've worked hard. But I've played too. The sort of week that confirms that I really do want to do this. This life suits me. Suits my rhythms. So I need to be like the black kitten. Fearless in pursuit of a goal. Dreams make life richer, brighter. Make every day seem sparkly like today. So why not chase them?

Happy pouncing!

I'm back

Well, mostly back. My stomach still seems to be on NZ time. I keep getting hungry two hours before meals. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be back to normal.

We had a fab time at Kara. Once we got there. Two of the girls had a bit of a flight cancellation drama so, instead of a nice leisurely drive up from Auckland on Friday afternoon, we had a long haul through friday peak hour and the wild NZ rain in the dark Friday evening. Of course, being intrepid romance writers, we made it in the end. Even if we were expecting an orc attack at any moment at one stage. It was that sort of trip. The trip home was much less eventful. Though there were feral chickens. My flight even left slightly early, made up time on the flight and landed early. The other two got stuck again. Obviously they didn't appropriately appease the flight gods or whatever.

Daphne and Robyn (and Keith) were lovely and full of wisdom and insight. Plus they revealed the recipe for a Ruby Tuesday to complement the cowboys that became the evening drink of choice. Plotting works well with added butterscotch schnapps apparently. And pineapple lumps. Though the scales this morning suggested butterscotch schnapps and pineapple lumps do not further one's weight loss goals. Back to the exercise grindstone for me. If I wake up.

The cats were even glad to see me. Mainly, I suspect, because I am keeper of the heater. And it is COLD here. It was warmer in NZ! But there has been lots of smooching and purring and instant occupation of my lap when I sit down so maybe they missed me too. The grey cat seems to be perking up a bit now that we've played with her medication dosage which is good. Only perking up has so far translated to destroying a cushion and strewing the house with shredded foam rubber. Nice. Lucky I have the trusty Dyson.

NZ is very beautiful. This is the first time I've gone beyond surburban conference centres and I'm keen to go back and see more. I'm sure Aragorn is lurking there somewhere : ) If not, there's plenty of breathtaking scenery to discover. Particularly if I go with the girls and have more adventures in navigation.

I even managed to solve the story issue that was stopping me in the wip, so have been editing and seeing where I'd gone slightly askew storywise for the last day. Now it's time to go forward again. I wonder how many pages I can do in five days?

The morning report

For some reason I have the Lion King in my head this morning. Hakuna Matata and all that. Who knows why?

Anyway, I am back from taking the grey cat to the vet for yet more siphoning of the liquid gold in her veins so we can see how her various exotic diseases are doing. She is not happy about this and is currently hiding behind the bookcase in the spare room glaring at nothing in particular but saving extra ferocious ones for me if I dare to check on her. She'll be fine in a few hours. Especially now she's had breakfast. Cats don't understand fasting. Lots of WTF? and WHERE THE HELL IS BREAKFAST? looks this morning. Followed by a nice dose of "If you put me in a cage I will yell and tell everyone all about it". Note to the grey cat - everyone has a care factor of not much. Except that dog who thought you were interesting (who was v.cute - a maltilier named Mr Darcy, all white with some faint apricotish-coffee coloured patches from the cavalier side, who apparently lives with his sister Lizzie so nice to see Jane Austen alive and well in the suburbs, even if it is a slightly incestuous take on it).

So anyway, that's my morning. I'm about to do some exercise then write. Goal today is 11 pages. Cos I like 11 that's why.

The rest of the day will be housework, a trip to the shops for a new camera battery and other supplies for my trip to NZ (6 more sleeps, almost there), and unfortunately some day job work. At least it's sunny, if chilly.

Hakuna Matata.

A good weekend

Take one copy of Madam Mirabou's School of Love (great book, beautiful cover, Barbara Samuel rocks).
Add a second dose of Temaraire and the dishy Captain Will in Throne of Jade (Naomi Novik rocks).
Season with a crit session, including the consumption of far too much chocolate.
Stir in more episodes of Mr Darcy is a spy (aka Spooks)
Top with 16 pages written today (see, miracles do happen).

There was even exercise and sleeping in.

Earlier in the week there was new Sharon Lee and Steve Miller too.

What more can a girl want?

PS Happy Mother's Day to all the mum's out there (particularly mine because she rocks and no, I'm not biased : ) )
PPS Have a great trip Ms Keri. Romantic Times will be a blast and we're looking forward to the pics.
PPPS 11 more sleeps until Kara. Wheee. Off to NZ, land of kiwis, hobbits and pineapple lumps.

Brrrr

Melbourne has decided that winter is here. It's FREEZING.
Good weather for snuggling up with Spooks DVDs (Mr Darcy is a SPY!), good books and a blanket.
Unfortunately, I ran around most of the weekend instead. The 40th wedding anniversary went very well, good food, good wine, good times.
Though a busy Friday and Saturday has equalled not too much on the writing front. And today I was zonked so have only managed a few more pages. But I'm almost through another chapter and getting some snippets of what happens next. So things will hopefully keep flowing along.

19 more sleeps to Kara and NZ!