Archive for March, 2009

I just got word that Feral is due to be released on 7th April, which I’m pleased about but now… PANIC!

There’s an awful lot about writing you don’t realise when you first start at this game. Like the promotion and the admin work and all that. At first you think once you’re past that one big hurdle of getting your story accepted, the rest is plain sailing.

It’s not.

You have edits, which can be the best thing in the world or the worst. The best because you get to go over the nuts and bolts of what you’ve written with your editor and see it polished up. With the right editor, that process is fantastic because you learn new ways of doing things (or you get smacked around the ear-hole for your bad habits – I still try and sneak ‘em in ). Or it can be the worst thing in the world when you’ve got three lots to do, your evil day job, the phone going, the baby screaming and the housework piling up.

Once the edits are done though, that’s where the crunch really comes for me. It’s the promotion. Something I loathe but know I have to do. You see, I am quite happy to remain in my little cave and write. I venture out to play with photoshop or blog. I seem to be totally lacking the ‘LOOK AT ME’ gene required for sucessful self promotion. I have NO clue half the time what to write in promo ads and my standard instinctive reaction is to write more stories and just go, ‘here, have something to read instead!’ :S

So, if anyone sees a spare ‘look at me’ gene wandering around, pin the little buggar down and mail him to me would ya?

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

… and ordered a dance pole. Yup, I said dance pole. As in pole dancing.

I’ve always wanted to have a try at it but I was very self conscious even thinking about it. After all, I have the grace and sex appeal of an arthritic duck… there is NO way I’m capable of the sexy sultry moves you see in videos and whatnot. I’m not the kind of woman many would call sexy I don’t think. I certainly wouldn’t, not unless your idea of sexy extends to jeans and a shirt or more utilitarian clothing. Although today, I am being rather feminine. I actually wore makeup and *shock, horror* heels!! But usually, practical is the way to go for me. Hell, I even carry a damn multi-tool in my handbag! (and random other stuff that mum’s tend to collect – spare dummy, spare toddler knickers, random toys, a pink crayon, lipstick)

And the whole nearly naked thing? We are not even going there. Between the scars, the stretchmarks and the tattoos appealing without clothes I am not. I would, however, make a damn good roadmap.

But, I went anyway. I have these fits. I think about something, often for a while. It nibbles away at me, then I have to go do it. Pole dancing was like that. I found a class and went along. Alone, pretty much, although I did know another girl from another exercise class who put me onto it. I’ve never been bothered about going alone to things like this. I’m somewhat of a loner at times and I actually prefer to go do something I’m unsure of by myself. Basically if I make a prat of myself I can walk away, I’ve never got to see those people again etc etc.

So I went to pole class. And, you know what? It was FUN. It’s not all skinny youngsters in tight lyrca like you get in step. The average age seems to be late twenties and up (which at somewhere in my thirties suits me) and at least one of the other women has kids. It’s just the class, no one wandering in and out and it’s like being a kid again… you know when you had climbing frames and could hang upside down for hours AND pull yourself back up again. Nowadays I’d call that a curlup and it’s along the same lines as torture.

But this was different. It’s not like an exercise class because you’re trying to concentrate on getting your legs and arms in the same place, as well as getting the turn… oh, and hanging on too. That’s real important! I tend to forget that bit sometimes and land in a little heap at the bottom of the pole.

But I’m getting there, I can *just about* do two basic turns. I can lift myself (for about three seconds) and I can curl up either side of the pole (and cling for dear life). The problem I find is not enough time to practise each new movement, because we’re moving onto the next and the next.

Soooooo, the solution. Buy my OWN!!! I ordered it yesterday and it’s arriving later or tomorrow. Mr Carter is of course all for this although I’m sure he’s thinking skimpy underwear and high heels and a LOT of grace I simply don’t possess. Boy is he gonna be disappointed!!

I’ve noticed I start off a lot of posts with ‘ugh’. It very much describes my feelings today. Why is it that when you have a busy day, THAT’s the night you lie there in bed with your eyes shut kidding yourself you’re asleep? My mind was racing like mad so I eventually gave up at half five and got up (which is my usual writing time) and buggared if I could keep my damn eyes open then!! Com’on life, that’s just so not fair!!

LOL. So I’ve spent today pootling and writing something for a game with a friend. As I’ve said before I love writing with people and this friend is a favourite to write with. One day I swear he’s going to get sick of me but, until that happens, I’m just gonna bug him to write with me.

So, brat is finally potty trained I think. It’s been a fairly easy ride I think, especially when compared to some horror stories I hear. But I made the decision to wait until she was ready, arguing with various relatives with the ‘soandso was potty trained by six months’ (gotta love your families well meaning attempts to undermine you haven’t you?)  and it seems to have paid off. Brat does things when she’s ready, not before, and any attempt to push her usually results in frustration and much pulling out of hair (mine).

So mainly waffle and some boring paperwork today. I’m playing around with the next scene in my epic rewrite of EarthWarden (epic only for my procrasination) and I found a new cartoon to read!! You gotta read the adventures of Ebenezer and Snooch, it’s hilarious!!

http://www.twolumps.net/

I finally finished Sunlight & Slavery. Which I’m really pleased about. Like most stories I had a little bit of a block in the middle and I always hate a story when I’ve just finished writing it. But looking back when editing it I’m rather pleased with the story overall.

I was mooching around on the stock sites looking for a possible cover image. It’s only just been submitted but, hey, a girl can think ahead can’t she? … and I found this one…

I kinda like this one. It’s nothing like the initial image I had when writing the story which was this…

But obviously I can’t use this one so the search was on for a different one. And it’s giving me the right ‘feel’ to match the story although I’m not overly sure about the pink. I’m not a pink person, although Brat has decided without any prompting that pink is of course mummy’s favourite colour because she’s a girl. (It’s not, it’s purple but you try and explain that to a three year old!!)

I’m trying to make more of an effort to blog. Since I tend to go through spates of it where I blog everyday (sometimes more than once a day) and then spates where I don’t blog much at all. Actually it usually happens when I’m in the middle to the end of writing a story, once I get past a certain point I seem to loose track of everything else and I’m ‘must get words on page, must get this scene finished’ etc.

Not so good when brat wanders up and goes ‘Mummy no work anymore’ :S and I realise that, although I’m around, she’s pretty much been left to her own devices. Which is when I start getting up at stupid oclock and writing so I spend time with her in the day. Which leads to a lack of sleep as I don’t go to bed earlier and… yeah, if anyone noticed the ends of my books are a little… odd? That’s why.

So, we haz the sick at the moment. Mr C has been laid low with a sinus and chest infection and I’m pretty sure I have one two. My lungs feel like they did the other month when I had a bad infection. It was one of those ones where everyone had it and the doc’s were saying fluid and rest, it’ll go away. Guess what? It didn’t. Then I got a bollocking from my doctor because I was a day or two off hospital with it. So… tell us it’ll go away and to get on with things and it doesn’t? Go figure. I couldn’t work it out either.

Which means I have to get brat up early and get her ready (NOT fun if she’s not ready to go out) then go hurry up and wait in the doc’s reception. Which should be fun, Brat’s potty training atm so every couple of minutes we have to go sit her on the toilet (not to wee, she’s just fascinated with the whole flushing the loo and washing her hands bit but… you know… you gotta go do it in case she DOES need to go).

Ugh, should shower now. See you later with more tales from the seriously sleep deprived side.

After much swearing and threats of dire retribution I’ve beaten publisher into submission and created this month’s newsletter. *looks at it and shakes head*I hate publisher.

Enjoy though!

March 2009 Newsletter (219)

… I’m crap at blogging. As a rule I have a very short attention span, something flashes and I’m alll ‘oooh shiny’ and I’m off again. Especially here on the interwebz. I’m surprised I get it together enough to write, although, I must admit sometimes I actually have to turn off the wifi to actually make myself stay in word and not flit about browsing.

We’re finally done with Knight’s Woman!! Woohoo!! Doug and I put the last few sentences in last night and we’re looking at a first draft of about 45k I’m so impressed and it’s been wonderful writing something that long with someone else. Writing tends to be a fairly solitary occupation so to have someone (or a group of someone’s) to write with is fantastic. They understand that you’re not mad because you know more about the people that live in your head than you do about yourself and that, yes, it is perfectly normal to have conversations with yourself using different characters. They might not understand my habit of getting up at 5am to write (something viewed with equal incredulity by writers and non writers alike) but I never claimed to be sane. Actually I always tell people I’m as batty as a fruitcake.

So… Knight will be in self edits and we’ll be polishing that baby up this week. Sunlight is right at the climax of the story and I can see the finish line so I’m fairly bouyed up today.

Thought of the day: Luxury is sitting on the toilet without talking to a toddler’s pink rabbit being held around the corner.

I may have talked about this before. I can’t remember, it’s early here and I’m working on the necessary coffee intake to get through the rest of the day. But images and writing… I lurves a good image. One that has something about it which sparks off the creative process.

This image for example…

… there’s just something about the pose, the look in the guy’s eyes and the way he’s holding her which does it for me. The look screams ‘Mine’. This is the picture I’m using as a visual springboard for the story I’m writing at the moment, Sunlight & Slavery, about a Gargoyle and the woman he falls for. For me these two are just perfect for the lead characters Kunckles (from Moonlight & Magic) and Neri.

Or how about Knuckles ‘little brother’? This image is just perfect for a man about the town, smooth talking gargolye (yeah, I’m on a gargolye kick at the moment)…

Yum *looses it for a moment drooling* I think I’m going to have a LOT of fun writing that one

Sunlight should be finished sometime this week and I’ll be posting unedited excerpts soon!!