So the year seems to be speeding up already. January is almost over, I'm four weeks in to my course with Barbara Samuel, work has gotten over the post Christmas quiet time with a vengeance, Connex are cancelling trains all over the shop and the days, to quote Calvin & Hobbes, are just packed.
The weekend involved much reading, not so much of the beach due to last minute appearing head cold. Baby admiring and catching up has been duly postponed to this weekend. There was other stuff, stuff that is classified as very good stuff, fantastic stuff even, but more on that at a later date.
So now it's working out the writing for the year. A plan and all. Wolf number 2 seems to be demanding attention. It would be helpful of it to let me know a bit more about what it's about but I have enough to get started. There is apparently a bad guy bigger and badder than the bad guy in number 1. Given that in the writing of the bad guy in number 1, I managed to creep myself out several times, I hate to think what number 2 villain is going to be like. Sometimes you have to wonder about the girls and the subconcious.
January 30, 2007
January 26, 2007
There be comets
The weather finally co-operated last night and I got to see the comet. Not as big and bright as it was earlier but still a real live comet with a long, long tail that flickered in and out with the misty night. Much more impressive than Haley's comet which was around when I was about 15. And looked like a teeny, tiny fuzzy cotton ball through a telescope. Very disappointing after I'd grown up hearing my grandmother talk about seeing it when she was a kid and it being a huge ball in the sky.
The universe is full of cool stuff.
PS Happy birthday to the orange cat. In the last year you lost teeth, lost anal glands, got to be a grumpy bucket head twice, hurt your tail, slept through the night maybe 6 times (most of those when you were on drugs), threw up on my carpet quite a bit, yowled even more than that, purred like a bandit a lot, shed hair on my clothes whenever possible, followed me round, stalked the fence, yelled at the backyard, harrassed the grey cat, warmed my lap, nibbled my nose and provided hours of entertainment. All in all, a cat's job well done.
The universe is full of cool stuff.
PS Happy birthday to the orange cat. In the last year you lost teeth, lost anal glands, got to be a grumpy bucket head twice, hurt your tail, slept through the night maybe 6 times (most of those when you were on drugs), threw up on my carpet quite a bit, yowled even more than that, purred like a bandit a lot, shed hair on my clothes whenever possible, followed me round, stalked the fence, yelled at the backyard, harrassed the grey cat, warmed my lap, nibbled my nose and provided hours of entertainment. All in all, a cat's job well done.
January 24, 2007
100
Blogger informs me this is my 100th post.
I could do something exciting like 100 random thoughts for the day or something but my brain is kind of fried.
So I'll leave you with just a couple before I stagger off to nuke something for dinner and then write.
1. Weather is contrary. How do I know? Because:
a) Australia currently has the brightest comet in the sky at night for forty odd years. I have
a wip that involves people trying to film a new comet. Do you think the weather will
co-operate and let me see the darn thing. Nope. Nada. Perfectly fine days then like a
miracle a bank of clouds will appear at sunset to obscure my view; and
b) I'm going down to the beach this weekend to hang with my friends. It's been lovely and
warm, if not outright hot the last few weekends. Forecast for Saturday? 20 and raining.
2. It's always fun to go into a bookstore and see your friend's book on the shelves. For the Aussies, particularly Melbournians, if you want a copy of Keri's Full Moon Rising in paperback and you just can't wait until April for the Aussie edition, you can get it at Of Science and Swords which, btw, is an excellent bookshop. Lots of good fantasy and SF, including a large selection of urban fantasy. Just what I needed to load up for the beach, or maybe lounging on the couch given the beach might not be an option. I got Circle of the Moon by Barbara Hambly, Matriach by Karen Traviss and Dead Man Rising by Lilith Saintcrow. Much too look forward too. And then hopefully, Dymocks will have Anne's The Perfect Kiss next week! So many books, so little time.
I could do something exciting like 100 random thoughts for the day or something but my brain is kind of fried.
So I'll leave you with just a couple before I stagger off to nuke something for dinner and then write.
1. Weather is contrary. How do I know? Because:
a) Australia currently has the brightest comet in the sky at night for forty odd years. I have
a wip that involves people trying to film a new comet. Do you think the weather will
co-operate and let me see the darn thing. Nope. Nada. Perfectly fine days then like a
miracle a bank of clouds will appear at sunset to obscure my view; and
b) I'm going down to the beach this weekend to hang with my friends. It's been lovely and
warm, if not outright hot the last few weekends. Forecast for Saturday? 20 and raining.
2. It's always fun to go into a bookstore and see your friend's book on the shelves. For the Aussies, particularly Melbournians, if you want a copy of Keri's Full Moon Rising in paperback and you just can't wait until April for the Aussie edition, you can get it at Of Science and Swords which, btw, is an excellent bookshop. Lots of good fantasy and SF, including a large selection of urban fantasy. Just what I needed to load up for the beach, or maybe lounging on the couch given the beach might not be an option. I got Circle of the Moon by Barbara Hambly, Matriach by Karen Traviss and Dead Man Rising by Lilith Saintcrow. Much too look forward too. And then hopefully, Dymocks will have Anne's The Perfect Kiss next week! So many books, so little time.
January 21, 2007
Noice
Had some good news yesterday. My experimental, different for me, what the heck am I doing, wolf book has finalled in the Romance Writers of Australia Single Title and Loving It comp. Yippee. The final judge is Shauna Summers, so I'm very pleased.
It's still out there in the ether doing some other comp rounds and the agent query thing but it's nice to find out that other folks like it too.
Fingers crossed this is the beginning of a trend.
It's still out there in the ether doing some other comp rounds and the agent query thing but it's nice to find out that other folks like it too.
Fingers crossed this is the beginning of a trend.
January 20, 2007
Steam heat
In keeping with my 2007 indulgences and resolutions I had my first shiatsu massage yesterday. Which was interesting because bits of it were a lot stronger than I'd expected shiatsu to be but I feel fab today so I guess that's the point. Plus I got to have a girly lunch playing with skin care at Dermalogica and scored some samples and a discount voucher so facial here we come. So far the verdict on their stuff is two thumbs up. Especially as the info session was free and they didn't sell anything on the spot, none of this booking fee redeemable on purchase stuff that most places have. Plus the skin seems happy. I still love my SKII facial essence and masks but their moisturiser didn't quite work for me, so I'm trying this instead.
I even had a free sauna courtesy of Melbourne's suddenly tropically steamy weather. Ridiculously humid even though it wasn't that hot. Today it's a bit cooler but less humid. And it has been raining on and off for two days which is excellent. Apart from the places getting floods.
And now, in the interests of progressing the resolutions, time to go work on advancing those progress bars!
I even had a free sauna courtesy of Melbourne's suddenly tropically steamy weather. Ridiculously humid even though it wasn't that hot. Today it's a bit cooler but less humid. And it has been raining on and off for two days which is excellent. Apart from the places getting floods.
And now, in the interests of progressing the resolutions, time to go work on advancing those progress bars!
January 18, 2007
Blue for Blue
So, the bro has a blog about books and comics etc that deal with superheroes or people doing super stuff...it includes straight super heroes, your super spies like Bond, James (omg Daniel Craig is hot) Bond, and your vampire slayer type stuff.
His romance category was very sad and consisted only of an old Nora Book...Night Shadow or Night Shield (I get it mixed up). So I have been giving him suggestions for other romance stuff, which given his particular interest, has leant heavily to the paranormal end of the genre.
In the course of our IM conversations I've have smacked him for his tendency to call romance porn.
Now what is pornography vs erotica vs romance is a sliding scale and different folks will have different value judgments on this. And many wiser heads than mine have attempted to define these things. But for the education of the bro, here's my definitions.
Pornography. Is all about sex. No-one particularly cares who the characters are, the characters probably don't care who the characters are. You don't care what happens after the sex. The sex is the point.
Romance. The relationship is the point. There's a happy ever after (HEA) ending. You should believe the characters will be together forever. Without the HEA, it's technically not a romance. You follow the characters over the course of the story and care about the relationship between the hero and heroine or heroine and heroine or hero and hero depending on what floats your boat. There can be sex. But it's not the point of the story. Romance can range from Betty Neels to steamy, steamy, steamy but it's the relationship that should give you the satisfaction at the end. As a huge, sweeping, massive generalisation, a lot of guys don't get romance. That's okay, a lot (again, I'm GENERALISING) of girls don't get hard SF. Or aussie rules. Or maybe guys get distracted by the sex...they can be easily distracted by that ; ) If you're a guy who loves romance or a girl who loves hard SF and aussie rules, then that's good too!
Erotica. Sex is still the point but you should be at least interested in the characters and the story. There doesn't have to be a happy ever after.
Erotic romance/romantica. Will have a LOT of sex. In probably more than the average permutations. The plot probably revolves around the sex to a fairly significant degree. But there will be a relationship (though again this is open to some unusal permutations...menage a trois which don't occur often in straight romance, multiple partners...(Gail Dayton has a cool Luna series with polygamy) and despite all the sex that relationship still should have a happy ever after and the achievement of that HEA is still the satisfying thing.
That's my take. Others have different views, I'm sure.
His romance category was very sad and consisted only of an old Nora Book...Night Shadow or Night Shield (I get it mixed up). So I have been giving him suggestions for other romance stuff, which given his particular interest, has leant heavily to the paranormal end of the genre.
In the course of our IM conversations I've have smacked him for his tendency to call romance porn.
Now what is pornography vs erotica vs romance is a sliding scale and different folks will have different value judgments on this. And many wiser heads than mine have attempted to define these things. But for the education of the bro, here's my definitions.
Pornography. Is all about sex. No-one particularly cares who the characters are, the characters probably don't care who the characters are. You don't care what happens after the sex. The sex is the point.
Romance. The relationship is the point. There's a happy ever after (HEA) ending. You should believe the characters will be together forever. Without the HEA, it's technically not a romance. You follow the characters over the course of the story and care about the relationship between the hero and heroine or heroine and heroine or hero and hero depending on what floats your boat. There can be sex. But it's not the point of the story. Romance can range from Betty Neels to steamy, steamy, steamy but it's the relationship that should give you the satisfaction at the end. As a huge, sweeping, massive generalisation, a lot of guys don't get romance. That's okay, a lot (again, I'm GENERALISING) of girls don't get hard SF. Or aussie rules. Or maybe guys get distracted by the sex...they can be easily distracted by that ; ) If you're a guy who loves romance or a girl who loves hard SF and aussie rules, then that's good too!
Erotica. Sex is still the point but you should be at least interested in the characters and the story. There doesn't have to be a happy ever after.
Erotic romance/romantica. Will have a LOT of sex. In probably more than the average permutations. The plot probably revolves around the sex to a fairly significant degree. But there will be a relationship (though again this is open to some unusal permutations...menage a trois which don't occur often in straight romance, multiple partners...(Gail Dayton has a cool Luna series with polygamy) and despite all the sex that relationship still should have a happy ever after and the achievement of that HEA is still the satisfying thing.
That's my take. Others have different views, I'm sure.
January 16, 2007
Hot
It's hot. Damn hot. Not helped by bushfires cutting powerlines and killing the air con on and off.
Hopefully it stays on tonight so I can have the fan. Otherwise there'll be lots of cranky people tomorrow. And I'll be writing by hand in the dark. I can't read my handwriting when I write with light so who knows how this will end.
Stay cool, people.
Hopefully it stays on tonight so I can have the fan. Otherwise there'll be lots of cranky people tomorrow. And I'll be writing by hand in the dark. I can't read my handwriting when I write with light so who knows how this will end.
Stay cool, people.
January 12, 2007
Thwarted
It's been one of those weeks. You know the kind - you hear about something that sounds cool but hey, it's not available in Australia. The library doesn't have the books you want. The bookstore doesn't have the books you want. The music store doesn't have the cd you want. Google and email decide they don't want to play. You buy an icy pole for the first time in ages and it manages to burst out of its wrapper and fall onto filthy concrete before you get a chance to eat it. You get sick. It's too hot to sleep. One of those weeks. The kind that makes you want to eat chocolate and doughnuts and stay in bed. Maybe something's gone retrograde. If so, I wish it would stop and go back the way it should!
Grumble. At least I've managed to write a few pages. Not many but a few. It's something. And the week is over work-wise so hopefully I can start over today and have things go right. We'll see. I'm going to buy a new desk today...it had better be in stock!
I hope your week was better than mine!
Grumble. At least I've managed to write a few pages. Not many but a few. It's something. And the week is over work-wise so hopefully I can start over today and have things go right. We'll see. I'm going to buy a new desk today...it had better be in stock!
I hope your week was better than mine!
January 07, 2007
Fat and happy
No, not me. At least not the outer me. But the girls in the basement or the muse or the flow or the inner artist or whatever you want to call them. That's what I want them to be.
To further that aim, I'm doing a course with Barbara Samuel on looking after that side of yourself. You can read more about it on Barbara's blog. But anyway, I was out today doing some homework when I came across this:
I think she's great. She's round and calm and strong and completely satisfied. She's knows stuff (I mean, look at the size of the head). She's got what she wants. Exactly my goal for the girls.
So now she's sitting with my other writing icons, watching over my desk and reminding me of what I'm aiming for. Fat and happy. Sounds good to me!
To further that aim, I'm doing a course with Barbara Samuel on looking after that side of yourself. You can read more about it on Barbara's blog. But anyway, I was out today doing some homework when I came across this:
I think she's great. She's round and calm and strong and completely satisfied. She's knows stuff (I mean, look at the size of the head). She's got what she wants. Exactly my goal for the girls.
So now she's sitting with my other writing icons, watching over my desk and reminding me of what I'm aiming for. Fat and happy. Sounds good to me!
January 05, 2007
A cool way to start the day
I have to say when Ms Keri rocks, she rocks hard. Check this out...the paperback of Full Moon Rising has been out a week and it's 101 on the USA Today bestseller list! Because it's a great book that's why...so go check it out if you're into the paranormal. Or even if you're not.
It will even be out in Australia and the UK in paperback later this year for those of us not in the US.
Go Keri, go Keri, go Keri.
My friend is a best seller. That's pretty cool. I mean, I've met some best sellers before but this one I get to read her stuff before anyone else and she reads mine and I've eaten chocolate with her, partied with her, shared a room with her in various locales and watched her work damn hard at her writing. Success couldn't happen to a nicer gal!
If I had a LJ I'd have to say my mood was mucho chuffed : )
It will even be out in Australia and the UK in paperback later this year for those of us not in the US.
Go Keri, go Keri, go Keri.
My friend is a best seller. That's pretty cool. I mean, I've met some best sellers before but this one I get to read her stuff before anyone else and she reads mine and I've eaten chocolate with her, partied with her, shared a room with her in various locales and watched her work damn hard at her writing. Success couldn't happen to a nicer gal!
If I had a LJ I'd have to say my mood was mucho chuffed : )
January 03, 2007
Something's not quite right
I'm back at work. Which involves me having to get up earlier than my lapsed-back-into-natural-nocturnalness holiday self appreciates. And said self really doesn't appreciate it when I arrive home to find my cat lying on the couch, apparently watching the tennis on TV. Orange cat, please stop stepping on the remote or I shall send you out to work!
And now that the air con has cooled down my house, time to move the butt and do some exercise.
I know, it's good for me. Grumble.
And now that the air con has cooled down my house, time to move the butt and do some exercise.
I know, it's good for me. Grumble.
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