Writing Blog

Moving, not dead

2010-04-18T16:48:00.001+10:00

I have not updated here in a absolute age, mostly because this is a writing blog and writing, well ummm yeah, maybe I'll do some of that some day. Anyway, if anyone still reads this, I've moved house over here in an attempt to combine my personal blog and all things writing and other.

Here -> project: me

Australia Day

2009-01-26T09:10:00.004+10:00

Today is Australia Day, the birthday of my country. Well to be more exact, the birthday of white settlement in this country. To celebrate, I'm going to the Big Day Out - a rock festival full of kids but this year Neil Young is headlining!

Every time I go to the Big Day Out, I swear it's the last time ever. I'm getting too old for these kind of things. Then they have some act I just can't resist and I do love getting in amongst a big, sweaty crowd. This really might be the last one ever though since, if things go to plan (and who knows in these uncertain times) I will be moving to Japan this year.

I wanted to share the above picture of my favourite Australian treat - the neenish tart. Oh, it's a delight. I only found out last year that this toothsome treat was created in Australia. It's a pastry case filled with fake cream - it's most important that the cream is fake and not fresh. You can judge a neenish tart by the quality of the fake cream. It might be fake but it's got to be the right kind of fake. Included in the centre is a dollop of jammy stuff.

The thing that makes the neenish tart is the icing. It's not a neenish tart unless you have the two toned icing. It can be white and chocolate but my favourite is pink and chocolate, equally divided over the top.

I took this photo at my local bakery. Their neenish tarts meet all the criteria for awesome - firm and slightly waxy fake cream, the consistency of a stiff mousse, oozy jam, sickly sweet icing and a crumbly pastry.

But, damn them, they are closed today because it's a public holiday. That's Australia for you.

Work and out of work

2009-01-22T10:52:00.002+10:00

I've not been working this week. Monday started with a major "I have no source of income" freak out. On Tuesday I decided to get over myself and make the most of my free time. I don't have a job so whether I spend the days productively or whether I sit around crying about it like a lil bitch, it's all the same.

So I start my days by walking down to the local bakery and grabbing a coffee. I chat to the girls that work there while I flick through the paper, trying to avoid the gloom and doom about how we're all going to hell in a handbasket. I check the exchange rate. Ever since I decided to go to Japan last year, I check the $AUD to Yen exchange rate every morning. I try to work out if it's going up or down but there is no logic or pattern. It's just numbers.

I come home with my coffee. I write. I think about writing. On Tuesday I painted a wall. Yesterday I had a leisurely lunch. I have more coffee. I'm letting life sort itself out while I enjoy what I have right now.

Welcome 2009!`

2009-01-01T08:41:00.002+10:00

I didn't go out to celebrate the new year. Being in a strange city where I don't know a lot of people and that had scant public transport made it just so much easier to stay at home. Going out on New Year's Eve tends to be bollocks anyway - the worst night of the year to party.

So I listened to music and chatted to my sister online. Then I started writing. At 11.45, I realised I was 14,000 words into my new novel. I wanted to make it 15,000 before the end of the year. Except I can't really write 1,000 words in 15 minutes - I can't type that fast, I can't think that fast.

I managed to hit that 15,000 word target by 12.15 though! Yah for me!

If it's true that what you do on New Year's Eve influences your whole year (and I'm not really sure where that comes from) then that means lots of writing this year.

Happy New Year!

Work

2008-12-06T07:40:00.003+10:00

After not working since I got back from Japan, I've got a job but it's in Canberra (our nation's capital). I've only ever been there once, on a school trip when I was about 16, so it's going to be unexplored territory. I've got a feeling it's not going to be fun unexplored territory though, since Canberra is filled with pollies and public servants.

Canberra is renowned for being the only place in Australia where you can legally buy fireworks and porn. Now I've discovered they only sell fireworks in June! Funnily enough, I want the fireworks more than porn.

Hopefully all this working (and staying with friends) won't stop the writing.

Words

2008-12-01T15:23:00.002+10:00

After my angst ridden last post about not being able to write, I've actually started working on something. I got the idea about a week ago while walking. It's a story. I'm not sure if it's going anyway but it's amusing me at the moment and I'm actually working... writing slowly but surely, a crappy first draft.

Dry

2008-11-17T23:20:00.002+10:00

I've not written anything for a long time; I feel like I have nothing to say, no words to say it. I'm really hoping that part of me hasn't dried but is nesting in a coccoon somewhere ready to blossom into something wonderful. I walked through Borders today, resenting anyone who'd ever written anything. Tomorrow I might try to write something, anything... it's been so long, I've got to start somewhere.

In other life events, I got back from Japan last week. A bit shell shocked with the quietness and smallness that is Melbourne. It was two weeks bursting with adventures and fun and the making of precious memories. I have some photos on facebook.

Fun & Games

2008-08-09T07:42:00.002+10:00

I put in an Arts Council grant with the Australia Council so long ago that I'd forgotten about it. In order to be eligible for a grant as an emerging writing, you need to have 10 writing credits - short stories, articles etc. I thought I was well covered but I received a call from them the other day -- a lot of the articles I've written are considered 'lifestyle' so aren't counted. I had to come up with some other credits, quick smart.

I spend yesterday morning at work googling myself (which sounds so much dirtier than it is). I'm sure a whole heap of red flag sites came up on logs.

Anyway, I sent back an email with more details. I'm not sure if it's enough to get me over the line but I figure my chances of getting a grant are fairly remote anyway.

I've been reading a biography of Haruki Marakami lately. It's so the opposite of inspiring - more like a total freak out. Incredibly interesting though. The writer is one of his translators so lots of stuff about the actual translation process which I'm finding esp fascinating since I'm studying Japanese at the moment.

Review

2008-07-09T23:54:00.002+10:00

The ERWA site has a review up of "Yes, Sir: Erotic Stories of Female Submission" and the lovely reviewer, Angelika Devlyn, had this to say about my storie:

In "Ribbons" the buzz of submitting to a stranger, who remains an enigma throughout this story, is almost too much to bear as Lilly finds herself wrapped up in a scary, but exciting submissive role, where actions speak louder than words. Do choices have consequences? Ask author Katheryn O'Halloran.

Most awesome :D

Finally, some writing...

2008-06-25T10:48:00.002+10:00

I've not written a word for ages (not literally, but you know what I mean). I think I've been intimidated because when I got my laptop, I got a limited version of Office - like you can use it 30 times or something before you need to register it and I keep saving those times for important things like resume updates. I should just bite the bullet and register.

The other thing taking me away from writing is the preparation for my Japan trip. I've got to search important things like Ninja training (oh yeah, I'll surely be doing that) and learning the language and stuff.

So today, since I'm not working, I actually wrote. Still not real writing, just typing up a story that I lost the soft copy of when my old laptop died but I think it's a better story for having been retyped. I've tightened it up quite a bit.

Hopefully this will get the juices flowing, so to speak, and I'll be far more productive in future.

I love me

2008-06-01T12:05:00.001+10:00

More specifically, I love the me that once apon a time decided it was a good idea to email my novel and other writing to myself and save it in my web mail. I'd totally forgotten I'd done that until I found it last night.

I surely did a happy dance because that beats the hell out of retyping the damn thing.

Rain

2008-05-29T21:07:00.002+10:00

Woohoo - my story got an honorable mention in the Desdmona Sex In the Rain competition! Go me, I rock! You can read all the entries here. I've not had a chance to read the other winners as yet because my laptop died and I kinda figure it's not suitable for work reading.

I've got a shiny new laptop now so am looking forward to some fine reading, but also some not very fine retyping of old work! Oh yeah, I lost everything. My whole life is on a corrupt hard drive (and not metaphorically). And I know I'm total moron for not backing up (well I do have a back up but from about 3 years ago and some stuff in an email account and HARD COPIES!).

I'm sure this laptop with it's lovely newness (my last two computers were secondhand so I'm loving the newness too much) will inspire bigger and better work than those that are lost anyway.

Last and so not least, last week I got to meet the wonderful Heidi who is in Australia on hols.

Dusky Rose

2008-05-10T08:02:00.002+10:00

A while back, Sommer posted about the real stuff she uses in her stories. It got me thinking about the stuff I use from real life in my stories. Definitely not my sex life - that's all imagination *sigh*. One thing I do take from real life is a lipstick I used to wear. They don't make it any more and the whole idea of it no longer being available fascinates me much more than the product itself.

They put on makeup and carefully applied their favourite lipstick, Dusky Rose, from the Starlet collection at Coles. The Dusky Rose lipstick was one of their most treasured possessions because immediately after Lola and Emily discovered just how perfect this lipstick was, and how becoming to the fair complexions of their perfect skin, the bastards at Coles decided to discontinue it. Searches through racks of makeup at neighbourhood supermarkets proved fruitless but still, years later, when shopping in an unfamiliar Coles, they would scour the racks looking for it in case one remaining tube was still lingering, forgotten, somewhere in the world.

No photos because it's long gone.

In other, completely different news, I'm going to Japan in November. I'm about 300 shades of excited about this. My entire life, I've wanted to travel to Japan. Everything about Japan fascinates (well except the tea ceremony) and I'm going to explode with the excitement of it all. Did you know there is a department store in Tokyo that has a whole floor devoted to robots?
I'm sure there will be porn bought as well. Really kinky Japanese porn. Hoot! Might have to check about bringing that home through customs.

Train

2008-05-07T07:25:00.002+10:00

As I caught the train to work the other morning, a couple sat opposite me. She was English in the way that some people hold onto their Englishness even if they were never born there. She looked dry like if you touched her, she'd give off puffs of dust and face and powder and spoken in measured way like her words were controlled by war rationing. He looked younger than her but maybe wasn't, just better aged.

Her hand glide slowly over to him, resting on his thigh, within in millimetres of his. She stared out the window, at nothing in particular, as though the hand didn't belong to her. He stared ahead, his mouth set into a hard line. He didn't acknowledge her. He didn't take her hand in his. He didn't brush it away.

I could feel the weight of the hand between them. She stared outside; he stared ahead. Slowly, she removed her hand.

Research

2008-04-25T09:25:00.002+10:00

I was thinking today about how sex is the hardest thing to research. You can research the build up but the actual act is an entirely different thing. I can be lying there, with my writing brain switched on trying to capture the feelings, the thoughts, the physical sensations but then I realise something -- it's BAD SEX.

I can't have my writer brain turned on during good sex; the two things are mutally exclusive. Good sex makes my brain go mushy. Afterwards I've been told I've done things or said things I can't even remember. That doesn't make for good research, but it's a lot of fun.

I don't know how other people do it.

Anger

2008-04-11T23:29:00.003+10:00

I've been meaning to write about something for a while, something that pisses me off beyond belief.

A while back I picked up a copy of (Australian) Cleo. They had a 'cliterature' section of erotic literature so I turned to check it out. At the back of the section was a competition announcement. Woohoo! I thought. Got to get onto this.

I read some more - they said, they acutally said this - the prize is the "greatest prize of all" -- being published in Cleo!

WTF?

Really. The greatest prize of all is being treated like used cum rag! Yes I'm going to allow a major magazine to publish my work for FREE, for the glory of it. Just like they allow companies to advertise for free, like they let readers read it for free.

I can write 25 words for Cleo and win an overseas holiday or new wardrobe but if I write them a story, I get jack shit. Cleo, I want to punch you in the head.

Dirty

2008-03-11T13:37:00.002+10:00

I haven't been doing much writing in forever and, even when I've been writing erotically, I've been more engaged with things other than sex. It's fun to explore sexuality (and sensuality) without the full-on smut but lately I've had an idea for a story that's really, really dirty. Sex galore.

Of course, I should be writing it not thinking about it (or blogging about it). Best I get started.

More brags!

2008-03-03T18:29:00.001+10:00

My article Born to be Wild is up at the All Things Girl website. Yippee!

Yahs!

2008-03-01T07:09:00.003+10:00

My story, "Ribbons", is included in the very lovely Yes, Sir anthology. I got my copy in the mail yesterday - didn't expect it to get all the way to Australia quite so soon. I started reading it last night - the other stories, not mine. What a great collection. There are some fantastic stories by some very talented writers and very proud to be included among them.

Blerk

2008-02-16T13:42:00.002+10:00

I'm all about the slackness when it comes to updating this blog, so much so that I'm thinking of combining it with my other, more frequently updated blog and not segmenting my life. I'm not sure yet, segmenting can be good.

The good news is that I'm working for a month then I've got another contract for 3+ months and I've told them I can only work 4 days a week. I can't wait. I just have to ensure that I dedicate that extra day a week to writing not running and not shopping and not lazing around but actual words on paper/keyboard writing.

In the meantime, I'm working on a short story. I put together about half a page of notes that I'd scribbled down on the tram the other morning and gave them to my sister to read. She said it was pretty much perfect as is which is scary. I wanted to fill in the gaps but maybe sometimes it's better to leave the gaps unfilled.

Short Stories

2008-01-29T21:12:00.001+10:00

Lately I've been really getting into short stories - reading not writing. I've been rereading some Marukami then on the weekend there was an article in the paper on Raymond Chandler.

According to the article, a lot of the sparse style that he's credited with actually came about from his editor rather than his own writing style. There's a book that might be coming out with the original versions of some of his work. I find that kind of thing fascinating, seeing how a story has evolved, being able to pull it apart.

Goals

2008-01-28T08:12:00.000+10:00

I've been slacker than hessian underwear about setting any writing goals for 2008. Mostly because once I set goals, I'll have to work towards achieving them and all that kind of hard worky type stuff.

I feel like I achieved very little last year. Well in the second half of the year anyway. I can't really remember way, way back to the beginning of 2007 but I do think there was a flash of productivity there. Then I started having to drive a long way to work and all that driving seemed to sap the energy from me. Not even so much the time lost but the intense concentration involved. Or maybe that's just an excuse.

So this year I want to

submit at least one short story and one article idea a month
finish my damn novel that I've been working on forever. I want to get it finished and submitted and out of my headspace so there's room for new and exciting things.
write my whole new and exciting novel.

Simple yet effective goals.

Lost

2008-01-20T15:50:00.000+10:00

This week during my lunch break at work, I rewrote part of a short story I'm working on. I definitely did it. I can remember sitting at the table, eating my magically delicious Chicken Satay Salad and flicked through an article in Men's Health on weight training then, feeling guilty about wasting time, pulled out my notebook and started writing. I'm almost sure I can even remember the notebook I wrote it in.

Suddenly, in my head, they have become the most wonderful, scintilating words ever written. They were perfect and said everything I wanted to say in just the exact way I wanted to see them. They painted a picture that would make you weep. You'd forget everything you'd ever read before because the pure sparkle of these words would annilate all that's gone before.

I think this because I can't find them. I can find the notebook I thought I used but not the words. They are lost forever and nothing I ever write will come close to capturing that feeling. Of course, if I do find them now, somehow the magic will have worn off.

Frustrations

2008-01-13T14:27:00.000+10:00

I've been avoiding the bloody thing for months - hiding under the table or running out the back door whenever it gets close - then the other day I decided to 'nad up and have one final review of the damn novel then work my arse off trying to get it published.

So I printed out the first hundred or so pages and forced myself to read the words that I've edited so many hundred times I can almost recite them. The first page is a slog then it gets easy, then I'm checking the time and realise I've got 10 minutes to get to the physio! I'd been so engrossed, I'd lost the whole afternoon.

A very good sign indeed.

Except now my printer is being a total tempermental anusface and won't print me the last 200 pages. It's evil and vile and trying to drive me insane. And it may well be replaced shortly by something younger and prettier.

Desire

2008-01-07T07:07:00.000+10:00

One of my short stories is online at the new and very fabulous Lucrezia Magazine.

Slack?

2007-12-15T12:32:00.000+10:00

I was about to post about how I've been so slack over the past few months and wrote NOTHING but I remembered I actually managed about 15,000 words last month for Nanowrimo so that's not too bad. I'm not sure if I want to finish it or not - I thought doing something different like a horror story would be fun but it's much harder than you think.

Why is writing so damn hard?

Good News and Bad

2007-11-20T16:56:00.000+10:00

Good news = I've got two short stories coming out soon, one online and the other in an anthology. More details when things are all finalised.

Bad news = months ago I entered a short story contest put on by my local council. I never heard back from them until recently. Apparently all the entries have been complied into an anthology published by the local paper. I received an email advising me that the book was available and that I could purchase a copy for $25. I smell scam, big time. I never gave any authorisation for them to publish my story, I never signed a release. There was no monetary compensation, not even a free contributors' copy of the book. It seems a lot of the entrants are livid, as well they should be.

Nanowrimo

2007-11-01T21:24:00.000+10:00

I decided the other day I'm doing Nanowrimo this year. Since I've not written a damn thing in months, I need to jump start my writingness and it seemed like as good a method as any. I've also decided that since I don't really care too much about writing anything usable or reworkable, I'm totally writing something I'd never normally do. So I'm writing a big, demented bloodbath of a horror story. There will be clowns and there will be violence.

All Things Girl

2007-09-02T12:48:00.000+10:00

One of my short stories has been published at All Things Girl- a wonderful site put together by some amazingly creative women.

ps. it's not smutty so you can read it at work :D

Money

2007-08-19T09:22:00.000+10:00

Recently, as part of my writing course, we were asked to submit work for the annual student anthology. I considered it for a while then read the details. The process worked like a competition, you paid a small reading fee and the winner won a cash prize - fair enough, except that if you don't win, your work could still be published with no fee or payment. In effect, you would be paying to have your work published. I don't truck with that. I know it's a student publication and they don't have a lot of cash to throw around but to me that just makes it worse - it's creating a precedent for students/writers to publish without payment.

I hate the idea of not being paid, I hate the idea of writing solely because you love it - I love my day job too but wouldn't be turning up everyday without the dollars, I hate the idea of being so eagar to get something published that you give it away.

Not that I expect to make scads and scads of cash. Let's be realistic here. If you work out the payment I've gotten for some of my stories based on an hourly, well people working in third world sweatshops would mock me.

It's the principle, not the amount. When I'm paid for my work, my work is given a value. Not that I'd never, ever give my work away and not that I've never ask myself for writers to submit work without payment but I do believe that if someone is making money from my writing, some of that should be passed back to me. I don't think that's so crazy.

Slow Period

2007-08-07T22:09:00.000+10:00

I haven't updated in ages because, to be frank, I've not been writing. A few things here and there but nothing much at all. My life is all work and driving to work and running and watching dvds and sleeping. Once apon a time, I'd have freaked out about this but I've learnt something about myself: sometimes I don't want to write, I don't need to write and I have nothing to say. No point in forcing myself. I predict that in a few weeks, when my work contract ends, I'll have a period of full on productivity. In the meantime, I've filled myself up with other things.

Oh, but I do have a few project appearing in interesting places soon.

Dry

2007-04-14T01:21:00.000+10:00

I haven't updated in forever because I haven't been writing. I've had a dry spell - I hate to say I've had writer's block because it sounds so airy-fairy like when people talk about their muse. I've just not had anything to say. It panics me sometimes, like I'm never ever going to write again. The thought of trying to write makes me feel sick inside. Its so much harder when I'm not working because if I'm not working, I should be writing.

So yesterday I started a short story. It's a strange story and much more wispy than the things I normally write. I'm not sure if it'll be good or not. It's a scary thing to write - like cooking something with a delicate flavour. It just takes one drop of something too much for it to spoilt and overpowered. I'm not used to being light handed, normally I'm much more robust.

The last few projects I worked on, I felt proud of what I'd done. I'd put in the work and the words come easy. With this one, I feel like a beginner again. Maybe I needed the dry spell and the scariness to move to a new level.

Presentation

2007-03-06T09:31:00.000+10:00

I did my presentation last night. I did okay. I could have done better but I really didn't want to put the time and effort into it that I'd have needed to. I'm happy with adequate. I went way over the 10 minute time limit and had to dump 2/3 of my notes - which is rare for me, normally I go way under because I talk so fast.

A lot of people in my class told me I'm so brave, being the first one to give a presentation. I don't see anything brave about it - we all have to do them so I'd rather get it out of the way. There's nothing brave about that. Maybe they meant I'm brave talking about erotica. I think a lot of people in my course are very elitist about writing. Snobs.

Presentation

2007-03-02T12:36:00.000+10:00

I have to give a presentation to my editing class on Monday about some aspect of language or publishing. I decided to talk about erotica, because I'm a slackarse and didn't want to research something I didn't know.

I volunteered to do the first presentation. People think I'm brave but it's not that. I want to get this out of the way so I can skip some classes and go to running training instead... shhhh!

Once I'd get all nervous and flustered about doing something like this. I hated any kind of public speaking and that wasn't helped when I did my business degree. We had to a group assignment on an industry and then look at their financial systems. Riveting stuff, huh? But it gets worse - our group got given bitumen. Oh yeah. Now that's a glam industry to research.

To make it even worse, we had to go out and interview someone from the industry then, as a courtesy, invite them to the talk. Our lecturer said the industry people never actually come to the talk. Well our guy was passionate about bitumen in a way that was most unhealthy. And he came to the talk. And he questioned us about it. In detail.

If I can survive talking for 5 minutes about bitumen, I reckon talking about something fun like erotica is a breeze. Plus I have my golden, confidence building rule for talking - just remember no one is actually listening to you anyway.

Exciting News

2007-02-18T08:47:00.000+10:00

One of my stories is up at Clean Sheets. It's a bit different from the stuff I normally write.

Also, this week I went to Borders and they had some copies of the Mammoth Book of Erotica that contains my story. I wanted to prance around, showing everyone in the store - pointing to my story and telling them that was me. Well I actually thought of pulling up a table and doing an impromtu signing, but contained myself.

I have always dreamed of having something I wrote available in Borders and now that dream has come true. Time to work on my other dream - I want to one day get on a tram and see someone reading my novel. One day!

Shiny

2007-02-05T13:44:00.000+10:00

Today my contributor's copies of the The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica: Volume 6 all shiny and new. With a lovely shiny cheque. There were many issues with it arriving mainly due to Australia Post existing to make my life a misery. I am happy today. Very happy.

I am making progress with my novel but the finish line is like a mirage. I see it in front of me and keep running towards it and it moves further and further away. Damn you finish line. But I'm colouring more and more of my colour coded chart pink and pink is the colour of finished chapters.

The next time I write a novel, I will not use the word 'was' in the first draft. That will make editing so much easy. Damn you, 'was', you're an evil word.

Wall of Hotness!

2007-01-27T10:07:00.000+10:00

Lately I've noticed I'm getting lazy in my writing especially when it comes to male characters. I have a few stock phrases I use as a shortcut to signify hotness. Floppy fringes are a big one. And round buttocks filling out a pair of jeans. Not to mention I have this total fixation on the name Jack.

Not good, not good at all. It's total slackness and must be nipped in the bud now.

My plan of attack is the Wall of Hotness! I'm going to stick up pictures of hot men around my writing area for inspiration. Oh, it's such a hard job sometimes, isn't it.

To take this further, I want to take this further and actually distill the essential elements of hotness from each pic. Personally, I find it much sexier to pick one pivotal detail that sums up the sexiness than a whole laundry list of features. Often it is just that one little thing that makes the heart (or other body parts) go zing.

I used to work for a guy who had the sexiest hands. He'd be discussing a project while curling long, thin fingers around a coffee mug and not a word he'd say would penetrate my brain. How could they when my head was filled with other thoughts?

So far I have one picture on my wall - Dean Winchester from Supernatural (Jensen Ackles, but fictional characters tend to be much sexier than actors). Hard one to distill since he is every colour of the sexy rainbow. My sister loves the pouty bottom lip - and I do have to agree with her there - but I've also got a thing for the eyelashes.

Next up (once I find some pics online) is Lincoln Burrows from Prison Break. That chest with the open shirt makes me swoon.

I've got a horrible feeling this could end badly though. I can see myself with a camera stalking me through the night. Actually that idea has real possibilities.

Slowly, Slowly

2007-01-18T12:25:00.000+10:00

Not much done this week on account of I had bad headaches then I went to the doctor and she thought I had a brain aneurysm so I had to watch all of season one of Prison Break in cause my head exploded before I found out if Michael Schofield and his brother Lincoln Burrows escaped from Fox River. Also it's very difficult to write raunch when you need to keep cam.

Anyway I don't have an aneurym, so that rocks. It could be a neck thing instead. I have to get more x-rays and have physio. I think my doctor is a drama queen cos last time she told me I had broken ribs but they were just bruised (still painful though).

I found out this morning, I've had a story accepted for Clean Sheets. Woohoo! I love Clean Sheets.

I'd been thinking that I'm getting a lot more short stories accepted lately but then realised I'm sending a lot more out.

Progress

2007-01-14T17:31:00.000+10:00

Total chapters: 26
Finished chapters: 19
Chapters need rewrites: 3
Unedited chapters: 4

I'm finally getting somewhere. The other night I was talking to a friend about the stuckness of my novel when I had a thinky thing in my head. The four unedited chapters are the last four chapters (funnily enough). The rest of the novel is strewn around my room because I've been doing paper edits. So, instead of pushing myself through the stuckness, I'm going to type up the paper edits then worry about the end once I'm done. That way I can be most productive this week (otherwise I'd just wallow in stuckness) and once I get to the end, I'll know what I'm doing (yes, I'm that optimistic).

Other stats - I had a short story accepted this week plus an article. One rejection so far this year. I also had an idea for short story yesterday so will be working on that this week.

Stuck...

2007-01-11T15:49:00.000+10:00

No progress this week. Well I got ONE lousy chapter edited. Then I got to the next and I've been stuck ever since. The sticky chapter needs a lot of work, it's the first chapter so far in my edits that needs major rewriting so I guess that's a good thing. The problem is that I changed the ending of the chapter and now the beginning does work. Well actually the bottom line problem is that I'm not in the character's head for this chapter. I know she starts at point A and gets to point B but I can't picture how she does it yet. She's got to make a dramatic about face in this chapter and the problem is that the start of the chapter is too low key. It's like a pendulum - you can't have a huge swing in one direction unless it starts high in the other direction.

I guess what I need to do is forget about getting this done fast and sit down and plot out the whole chapter - the motivations and stakes and all that stuff - then write it from scratch! Arrrggh... hard work but it's gotta be done.

The other reason is for my procrastination is that once this chapter is done, I only have the first 3 chapters and the last 3 chapters to go - the hard ones, the ones that have to be perfect - that freaks me out. Then I have to write a hooky query letter and every time I think about that, I get into a 'my novel sucks big time' freak out. I know it doesn't suck big time - well, I certainly hope so - but I'm too close and too bogged down in the details to be able to write a short, punchy hook.

On the least distraught side, my sister and I have started a collaborative YA novel. We're going to work on it one afternoon a week and it's heaps of fun.

Novel Progress Stats (AKA I Rock)

2007-01-03T11:15:00.000+10:00

I thought I'd put up my progress stats just so I feel good about myself.

Total chapters: 26
Finished chapters: 15
Chapters need rewrites: 3
Unedited chapters: 9

Unfortunately, work must slow down after tomorrow because I'm going camping! I'm having total 'OMG, what the hell was I thinking?' fits about this. Real camping. In a tent. In the bush. No showers, no electricity and a rustic toilet. Just a thin layer of nylon between me and the outdoors.

I do have a plan of attack though. A circle of rock salt around the tent to keep out evil spirits (see I don't just watch Supernatural for a perv, it's educational too) and in case of Mick Taylor style Wolf Creek psychos, I plan to use my friend's as human shields. I figure they deserve it since the last time I left the city, I spend hours wandering alone and lost in the bush and they didnt' even notice. I could have been dead in a ditch somewhere or brutally attacked by critters!

If I survive three days in the wildness, I plan to finish my novel next week. Yippee!

Goals

2007-01-02T08:55:00.001+10:00

My goal for 2007, writing-wise, is to finish my damn novel and get it published. Not too much to ask for, surely. I'm getting through the edits so think it will be finished within a month or so. Then comes the scary bit of sending off to be rejected. I ache for myself already.

Once that's done, I'm going to start novel #2. I love starting things - it's all new and fresh and you can focus on the big picture rather than dicking around with all the nitty-gritty stuff. I pretty much know what I want to write so I'm just keeping it on the back burner at the moment.

I also want to produce something new at least once a month - a short story or article. Woohoo for things that are quickly finished. And double woohoo for things that can be sold and give me money.

***

I read something that really pissed me off last night - an article about women who use male prositutes. LONELY women! Why are women labelled 'lonely' if they see a male hooker? Nobody calls dudes who go to hookers lonely men. They'd call them horny men (or even just men... no need to justify men wanting sex).

There's something sad and pathetic about the whole 'lonely woman' tag. I've never had the inclination to visit a man-whore but if I did, it would be because I'm lonely, it would be because I wanted a red-hot sex muffin to fulfill my every fantasy.

A Very Productive Day!

2006-12-27T18:09:00.000+10:00

After much procrastinating, today I started on my final novel draft. I really expected it to be heavy going and planned on editing a chapter a day. So far today, I've knocked off four chapters to final draft stage. Of course they are the ones early in the book so are pretty much polished and just need a little tinkering. Still it makes me happy - I'd gotten this idea into my brain that the whole book is a total mess but really it's not. The scenes work well and the structure is solid, I love the characters and some bits still make me laugh even after all these edits - all good signs.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-25T16:40:00.000+10:00

Have a good one everybody!

I started the day with a run so I could have guilt-free eating but my ipod earphones are cactus and kept falling out. I nearly chucked them in the bin. Luckily Strathfield have 70% off headphones in their boxing day sale - woohoo!

After the run, I picked up my son and we went hunting for coffee. A cafe near here was open and making a damn fine latte so more woohoos! Then I opened my presents and got the boxed sets of Rocky and Mad Max. Plus Andrew loved his Sponge Bob Square Pants teeshirt I got him. I wasn't sure about it, but bought it on impulse yesterday. He was so excited, he put it on straightaway which only really means anything if you know him because he is so laidback.

We cooked food and ate far too much and watched Mad Max and napped. Now I'm going to nap some more.

It's weird to think that today is Christmas but in some places it's not Christmas yet. Then tomorrow is Boxing Day and some places, like the US don't even have Boxing Day. I guess we need to have boxing day because of the Boxing Day Test, whereas Americans don't play cricket. And, woohoo, Australia is the best country in the world at cricket. Australia rocks! I don't normally watch cricket but this year has been very exciting and there is some really hot English guy playing - I haven't found out his name yet.

There is another weird American thing I've been trying to work out - and I hope someone can answer me this: on Veronica Mars recently, Veronica was eating soup and Keith Mars walked in said something about soup only being a side dish???? At first I thought he meant a starter instead of a side because who eats soup as a side dish? But then I remembered Americans call main course entree which is hella weird (like calling the room in the middle of your house the entrance, who'd do that?)

So hopefully someone can explain if it's

a. he used the wrong word
b. Americans call side dishes starters
c. Americans eat soup as a side dish.

I think I have too much time on my hands worrying about that.

Other than that, Merry Christmas!

Happy News

2006-12-19T09:00:00.000+10:00

One of my story stories has been accepted for the 'Got a Minute' anthology - a very pretty book filled with quick, sexy reads.

I also have another short story in the Mammoth Book of New Erotica which should be turning up on my doorstep (along with a nice cheque) any day now.

I do love seeing my work published. What a thrill!

Sense and Sensibility

2006-12-12T12:41:00.000+10:00

I'm crap at writing description, I have to admit it. It's something I really have to work at. I seem to write in layers - first the dialogue and action, the nuances like gestures and body language, then lastly the description. I'm totally a minimalist and sometimes I think I'd be better off being a scriptwriter then I could ignore that side of things altogether.

One aspect of description that I need to hammer into myself all the time is to use senses. It's something that doesn't come naturally to me and, I swear, being a heavy smoker for something like 20 years has totally obliterated my sense of smell and taste.

I've noticed though in my reading lately whenever I read about a smell or taste, it seems to be tacked on. I don't know whether I notice this more because I'm aware of it being one of my failings or if there are a heap of writers out there who are constantly being told - use your senses - by writing teachers and critique partners.

One thing I struggle with is whether to actually announce the description with a big sledgehammer - 'I kissed him and it TASTED like peppermint' or if I can do that in a more subtle way.

Maybe I need to write some masters of description writing to get a feel for what works.

2006-12-02T13:29:00.000+10:00

I've got so many things on the go at the moment - mostly short stories - that my mind is whirling. Sometimes it can be overwhelming and I just have to make a list and prioritise stuff then make myself sit down and work on one thing at a time. Hopefully I'll clear the to-do list over the next couple of weeks then get back into my novel. Hopefully I'll go back to it all refreshed and ready to finish it off.

I realised after Nikki's comment on my last post, I've never actually said much about my novel. It's just "The Novel"... so here goes:

The Bad Girls Club is the story of three girls, sick of following the rules. They band together to form the Bad Girls Club and, through a series of explicit dares, learn about their sexuality, themselves and the value of friendship.

That's a quick, off the top of my head, blurb.

Now I must write - I told myself that when I get 2,000 words of the short story I'm working on done, I could do a weights workout and I only have 1,500. And yes, I do realise I'm a sick puppy when I think of doing weights as a reward!

Frustrations

2006-11-13T23:19:00.000+10:00

My novel is driving me insane. I feel like the whole thing is shite and I just want to chuck it in the bin. Hopefully this is a temporary state of mind and I just need to take a break from the thing.

I feel like I should take a break and work on something else, but nothing else is coming into my brain at the moment. Maybe I should just take a break and do something totally unwriting related. I have been thinking about putting together a zine so that might be my task for the week - maybe even doing lots of arty stuff, drawing and collaging shit.

Meanwhile, I've been working on my MySpace profile.

Fun With Dick and Jane

2006-11-03T20:59:00.000+10:00

'Raise the stakes' - it's one of those bits of writing advice you hear constantly and, while I'd like to think I learn by reading great literature, the truth is sometimes I only truly grasp a concept when I see it completely balls up.

The other night, my sister and I watched Fun With Dick and Jane - the whole point of stakes in a story became clear. I just didn't care - I didn't care about the characters, I didn't care about what they had at stake. Sure they lose stuff - he loses his job, they lose their car and then their house is on the line. But that isn't enough.

We've all lost our jobs and our cars and our homes at some point. Well maybe you haven't, but I bet you know someone who, through hellish circumstances havs hit rock bottom financially. It's tough but in a movie or a book, it's not enough to make you give a damn. Especially when it happens to a white, middle-class couple who still have a maid.

There has to be something personal involved, something more than just material possessions. Houses and BMWs and Vice-President jobs, I don't care about.

Then, to make it worse, after turning to a life of crime to get money, they go back to their previous lifestyle of home improvements and barbecues to impress their middle class friends. No character growth, no redemption, no increasing the stakes for further tension.

There was only one thing that worked in the movie - their front yard is bare dirt because the instant lawn they are about to have laid can't be paid for. As their situation declines, the front yard stays bare. When they hit rock bottom, Dick takes a knife and steals squares of lawn from around town. For a brief moment, you connect with the characters.

By the end of the movie, I felt ripped off. It wasn't a bad movie, it just had nothing to it but at least I learnt something.

Change of Plans

2006-10-25T08:33:00.000+10:00

For the past few weeks, I've been dicking around and not getting half as much done as I'd like. Sure I'd plan to write, then I'd need to go to an appointment or my sister would suggest a fun outing or I'd go for a run always thinking I could write later.

So on the weekend, I came up with The Plan. The plan involved sitting at my computer every day between 10 - 1 without fail and writing. I figured if I did that for 2 weeks, then I'd have this draft completed. I'd find some temp work for a month or so then work on the edits. Fine in theory except for one little problem. On Monday I started writing and finished the whole draft. That's thrown my entire plan off.

Yesterday I printed the whopping great draft out and started reading. I wanted to just read. No editing, no revising, no quickly scribbled notes in the borders. Just a read through so I have the whole story in my head.

I didn't realise how hard that would be. The temptation to just fix a little bit here or a word there is insanely strong. The good news is that I've heard about half and most of the fixing up is superficial. The structure works, the pacing works - the writing just needs to be tightened.

2006-10-05T09:55:00.000+10:00

I've had a few things accepted lately. One short story by a company that does audio for the internet - that should be really interesting to hear when it's up and running, and on in the "school" magazine.

Yesterday I actually got my butt into gear and printed out some stuff to send off the old fashioned way. I'm fine with sending work out when it's by email but absolutely hopeless if I have to print it out and post it. Firstly, I have only two USB ports on my dodgy old computer - one that is used by my keyboard and one that is used by my modem. So I have to unplug stuff to plug in the printer. It drives me mad.

Then I have to go to the post office and it's annoying and overcrowded. I hate the post office! It bugs me that they have such a extensive range of goods and services there, you have to wait for people to do their banking and pay their bills and buy CDs and all manner of shit just so you can post a letter. What's with that?

Slowly, Slowly

2006-10-03T09:54:00.000+10:00

If everything goes to plan, I might have this draft of my novel finished by next week. I got bugger all done last week because I finished work and seemed to have a mountain of running around to do. I did manage to get the final scenes outlined though. It felt like doing some kind of complicated puzzle since I'm writing from various points of views and had some stuff I had to get in there, in the right order.

To make it more difficult, one of the point of view characters is on her own in a bedroom. I didn't want to go from loads of conflict and drama to suddenly have pages of her waiting around. That would have screwed up the pacing altogether. I figured a way around that and now I think it's going to work. I just have to put the words on the page.

Fences

2006-09-18T10:41:00.000+10:00

Last week I workshopped some of my novel at my writing class. It went okay but afterwards I realised I didn't really want the feedback. I don't want anyone else's input into what I'm doing - I know where I'm going and how to get there. I just need the time and the space to do it.

I've had so much help getting to this stage but now I want to build a big, high fence around my work and keep everyone else out. I have to be blinkered and completely focused on getting to the finish line. Other ideas and suggestions just scatter my thoughts.

As for my timeline, I wanted this draft finished by my birthday. That was last Friday. Oops. I've got the final three chapters to write and I'm very much afraid of them. I finish work this week so think next week I need to immerse myself in my novel. Maybe lock myself in my room and not come out until it's finished.

Shiny Things

2006-09-01T11:16:00.000+10:00

I have a short story - Shiny Things - up at the CCLaP website. It has explicit language. I'd actually forgotten that until I saw it up at the site.

Otherwise I've been plodding along. No great strides forward, but getting there. I have a couple of chapters of my novel to rework then the mammoth task of rewritting the ending. The original ending was lame as. It lacked punch. Not justMuhommad Ali punch but it even lacked Mr Burns punch. I'm still on course to have this draft done by my birthday - 16th September if you are thinking of sending flowers or cards or maybe cash - after that, I'm more than likely going to be unemployed so want to spend a solid month of editing and pulling everything together.

I posted more about this on my other (weight loss) blog, but think it's appropriate here too so have pasted it below:

So anyway, life... there are things you'd think I'd learn. Like every time I start a new contract I'm all like I'm going to save heaps of money then suddenly my contract gets to it's end and I've saved nothing. Buggered if I know where the money goes - dresses, shoes and car repairs, I guess.

My contract is coming to an end soon and I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm so not wanting to look for another job. I'm sick of working for the Man. The Man sucks. But I need to pay rent and eat and all that kind of thing, so I'm trying to think of ways to make money that aren't so time consuming. A few ideas are kicking around.

My needs are simple (except for my need for dresses and shoes but I have enough of those, enough I tells ya) and my living expenses are cheap. I've worked out I can get by if I'm frugal on $200 - $250 a week.

I've been doing a lot of soul searching about this. I think I'd rather live simply and have my time for own pursuits than rake in the cash but be at the Man's beck and call. So much of the stuff I spend my money on is unnecessary - I think working puts you on this consumerist treadmill. You work, then you feel like you should reward yourself for working so you buy pretty trinkets and sparkly things then you have to work more ... until you die.

I've spent so long working for financial type companies where I don't really give a damn about the company or them making money for their shareholders or their profits and bottom lines. I spend my life doing things that I don't really give a rat's arse about. It's not like I feel any of these companies are ethically wrong, but they aren't really in line with my personal ethics either.

Every time I take on a new job, I think I can fit my writing in around it, or that I'll save money and take time off to write but that's not working. It's like saying I'm going to eat all this chocolate cake now, then my belly will be full of chocolate cake and I won't have to eat cake in the future. We all know how that works!

I need to put ME first and put a value on myself that's beyond any pay packet.

Writing Group

2006-08-09T13:00:00.000+10:00

My sister and I have decided to start a writing group of two. Every Saturday we will go to a local cafe and read through each other's work in progress. We are also going to set our weekly goals and, if one of us doesn't acheive them, they have to shout lunch.

It's good having a sister who gives good feedback and is obessive about grammar. Mighty handy indeed.

The Voices In My Head

2006-08-07T11:28:00.000+10:00

When I write, my first draft is almost always dialogue. It's like I'm watching a movie in my head and I have to transcribe the words before I can register anything else. Later I'll go back and add in the bits between the words - the actions, the setting, the thoughts.

I thought everyone wrote like that but apparently not. It amazes me when I read other people's fully fleshed out first drafts. Some people don't even write dialogue! Amazing stuff.

When A Complete Stranger Gives You Flowers...

2006-07-28T11:59:00.000+10:00

This morning I went to the market and, on my way out, grabbed a bunch of flowers. With my arms filled with pumpkin and apples and daffodils, I remembered those old Impulse ads - the ones where the girl wears her Impulse body spray and a stranger is so entranced, he thrusts a huge bouquet at her. The situations changed but the basic premise stayed the same.

I'm not the kind of girl who ever gets flowers from a stranger, no matter what body spray I wear. I might get a free beer occasionally (and I'm not one to scoff at that) but never the girlie-girl stuff.

As I sulked on this, I remembered the one and only time when I recieved flowers from a stranger. The only time, in fact, I've got flowers without having to go through childbirth or illness. I think this story goes a long way to explaining why I could *never* write romance.

Years ago, when I lived in Hobart, one of my good friends worked as the head waitress in a fancy restuarant. Another friend and I decided to splurge on dinner there one night. I can't really remember the details but I'm sure it was a mighty fine meal (you always remember the bad ones).

We'd got to the pants loosening, coffee stage of the night when my friend, the waitress, came over with a massive bouquet of red roses. She handed them to me, saying one of the other patrons had requested she give them to me.

After my initial 'oh my god, I'm a femme fatale with men falling at my feet' moment, I asked her what was really going on. It took a bit of pressing before she told me.

The giver of the flowers had organised the big surprise proposal - a ring in the champagne glass, the rellies waiting in the kitchen, the balloons, the flowers. Everything primed for the moment she said "Yes."

The girl said "No."

Oops. Still they were lovely flowers and I'm sure he was better off without her in the long run.

Where are all the good books?

2006-07-25T10:42:00.000+10:00

Not at my local Borders, that's for sure. I went down there last week when I got paid to stock up on some reading and their entire stock of Chick Lit sucks. I know there are some great books out there - I'm always seeing stuff I want to read when I'm surfing the net - so why do they only stock the blandest crap imaginable? The young, single woman working in publishing or PR looking for Mr Right type books - blah.

The other big thing in stock is Mommy Lit. Now there may be some great stories within this subgenre but I am so never going to read them. I spend 18 years of my life trying to convince my son to leave home and now he's gone, the last thing I want to do is read about people who are conceiving or raising children. Seriously, every time I watch the Gilmore Girls and Lorelai talks about having another child, I have to hide my head under a cushion. She'd have to be as old as me and I so don't want to think about people my age breeding. The whole concept freaks me out.

I ended up buying Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami. It's a great collection of short stories but each one feels like a rich and heavy meal. They take a long time to digest. Definitely not good for tram ride to work. I was looking for something more like a bowl of lemon gelati on a hot summer day.

Timelines

2006-07-19T11:23:00.000+10:00

I have 9 chapters of my novel I want/need to rewrite. My birthday is on the 16th September. What does that mean? It means if I get my butt into gear I'll have my novel finished by my birthday. Well this draft.

Hey, I could even give my birthday guests a copy to take home and critique.

I want this novel finished. I have a head buzzing with ideas for the next book but can't write a word until this one's done so that's a great motivation to get through those troublesome chapters.

Last night I met with my writing teacher. As I mentioned previously, his feedback hasn't been helpful at all. I just don't think he gets it. Actually I've found he doesn't seem to provide much feedback to anyone. As I waited to see him, I talked with one of my classmates -- he'd double booked us -- and she was there for the same reason as me so I'm not just being precious. Anyway he's getting another of the teachers to look at it and give feedback. I'm not sure how long it will take. The thing is, it's the opening chapters so I'm not happy for them just to be adequate or good - they must rock with a rockin' fury!

Story

2006-07-14T10:44:00.000+10:00

In my previous post I said I hadn't been learning anything in my novel class but that's not entirely true. Every week my classmates bring their work in for critiquing. They have chapters filled with wonderful metaphors and poetic language. They weave meticulous detail through their work. I used to feel bad because my work has none of this artfulness but then I realised something.

Say classmate X got hit by a truck - or no, that's a bit ghoulish - say, they got a once in lifetime chance to move to Paris or Jamacia or anywhere that isn't so frigging cold, and I found out I'd never read another word of their novel, I wouldn't care. Even if on their way to their chosen exotic locale, they dropped off a CD with the full ms for me to read, I'd be like ...hmmm my pc is really slow and this CD will take a few minutes to fire up. Maybe later.

There's nothing compelling about their stories. Nothing that makes me give a rat's arse about what happens next. You can write with all the finese in the world, doesn't make it a good story. On the other hand, to use an obvious example, the whole frigging world wants to know what happens next in Harry Potter (with the exception of my friend, Dave).

Nobody raves about the lyricism of JK Rowling's language, nobody rants about her use of metaphor but she can write two rather tedious books and still have the world hanging out for the next one. And the reason is that we care about the characters and we care about the story. She's set everything up so well in the first four books that you excuse the last two (although the last one had better be damn good).

I'm not saying that my novel is the most compelling read ever, or even that it achieves this in any greater degree than my classmates, but I try. Whenever I bring stuff in for workshopping, one of my classmates gets excited because she's been waiting to hear what happens next. She's my favourite classmate.

I don't feel so bad about my lack of artfulness now. Some things are far more important.

Just Write the Damn Thing

2006-07-13T11:36:00.000+10:00

I think you reach a point where you have to decide whether you're a writer with a day job or a Whatever who writes as a hobby. You can't be a professional Whatever and persue those goals with all the enthusiasm and drive required plus give the time and attention to your writing that you'd like to. Well, maybe other people can but they are far more robust than me.

Technically, I made that decision a few years ago when I quit my safe, career focused programming job. Since then I've worked in contract jobs - where you aren't expected to be a "company man" but the downside is that you spend considerable time looking for work. Even when you aren't working, you have to deal with the insecurity of no income. Again, other people probably could manage this but I always seem to end my contracts with no savings and no planning for life post employment.

My point is that I have to immerse myself more in getting things done. For the past few years I've had three goals - to finish writing my novel, to lose weight and to get out of debt. I've done well on the weight loss and seem to have mostly conqueured the debt. I've made steady progress on the novel but it's still not finished. I spend more time worrying about that than actually writing. I'm halfway through the second draft now and I don't feel any closer to completion than I did a year ago.

I think I need a deadline.

Arrrggghhh!

2006-07-12T11:11:00.000+10:00

There is nothing more annoying than those people who can't take criticism. If you're in a writing group or studying, you know exactly what I mean. Every time someone makes a suggestion, they argue and fight and rant that no one understands their work. It's not the work that has the problem, it's YOU for lacking the intellectual capacity to understand their genius...

BUT...

my novel teacher is driving me insane. I swear he has zero understanding of my novel. Not just my novel but of anything that happened since the mid 20th century. He questions every single cultural reference in my writing and I don't use obscure references either. Eg, he asked me who Laura Ingles is - sheesh, even Nan would know that.

Plus he's so frigging patronising - every time I workshop something in class, he says I write well for my market. I want to kick him in the nuts every time he says that. So I don't write post modern literary fiction with poetic language and breathtaking imagery. Is that any reason to talk to me in italiacs?

He wants me to 'introduce' my characters. It isn't enough to have a character *do* something, apparently I have to telegraph ahead to say they are about to do it. I really think you can give the reader some credit, even in my market. If the first mention of a minor character is when he goes dress shopping with the protagonist, I think I can trust my readers to surmise that he's her gay best friend. I don't need to put - "I went shopping with my gay best friend, Jack..." That would be just awful.

Later in the chapter, the gay BFF calls the protagonist "sister". My teach actually wrote a comment on the ms, saying I should have noted earlier that they were siblings! WTF. Tell me, who the hell calls their actual, blood sibling "sister"? Well okay, I do call my sister that sometimes but in a mocking, ironical way.

I think I'll go along before class next week and have a talk to him. Or maybe I'll send him an email. I don't care about my marks - they mean nothing to me. I can't imagine the difference between distinction and a higher distinction in my novel class would matter a toss to any publisher, but I would like some helpful feedback. I'd like to leave class just once feeling like I'd got some value for the time I put in.

Insane Making

2006-07-11T10:39:00.000+10:00

Because I've been working on my novel on more than one computer, I've been having version control issues. More than once, I've redrafted a scene only to find it has later disappeared. The thought of sitting down to re-redraft the same scene breaks my soul.

Last night I decided I need to get my shit together before they come to cart away my blubbering remains. Instead of emailing the whole novel back and forth, I'm going to keep the master version on my pc at home and email the section I'm working on elsewhere. When I'm working on a section, I'll mark it in highlighter on the master version. I'm also going to date stamp everything. Hopefully that will save my sanity.

Btw is it just me or is it normally for any scene that involves shopping or eating tiramisu to require much more research than any other kind of writing? If I were writing an historical novel with an obscure medieval setting, it still wouldn't need as much research as that tiramisu!

News

2006-07-10T14:22:00.000+10:00

One of my short stories is being included in the Mammoth Book of Erotica 6 anthology. I'm not sure about the release date but you can bet I'll have all the details up here when I find out.

CCLaP

2006-06-30T10:52:00.000+10:00

I've been reading Jason's site for more years than just about any other personal site on the whole wide internet and over the last few years have been watching with interest as his business plans for launching an art's centre in Chicago have evolved.

Well the first phase of the centre is a reality now - complete with a very funky web site that everybody should check out. And, because he's a sweet guy, he's put up one of my stories.

Progress... what progress?

2006-06-21T10:58:00.000+10:00

Lately, I've done next to no work on my novel. Poor neglected baby. This has been due to a number of things - being sick, having assignments to do for my writing course, social obligations - but the main reason, I'm starting to think, is that inner fear. I've reached a point where I have to add in a chapter to the middle. I know what I want this chapter to do but I don't know the details. I think the only way out is through, as they say so I need to bite the bullet and get writing.

The other problem I'm having is that I need to edit a couple of steamy sex scenes. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to write about sex when sex is just a distant memory? Blerk... I used have listened to that "write what you know" advice a bit more carefully. I think the Virgin Mary would be more familiar with the workings of human genitalia at the moment.

Smelly

2006-05-19T11:34:00.000+10:00

The next time I write a novel, I'm not showering until the thing is finished. I might end up a big, smelly, anti-social mess but at least I won't be plagued by ideas.

Why is it that whenever I think about my novel in the shower, I get a brainwave that will really, really improve the plot but requires a big chunk of rewriting?

The hardest part is that I've written so much so it's not just a matter of moving some words around. There's a whole grieving process going on here. I start off by ignoring the idea, hoping it will go away. The brain is good at ignoring stuff but the stomach pits know when something is right. Damn stomach pits.

After a while, I get used to the new idea and begin working with it and then all the dominos fall down in a row - this change here means changing that over there and something somewhere else. It never ends.

That's why I'm giving up showering. I want to cut these ideas off at the source. Enough of the ideas now.

String

2006-04-29T10:46:00.000+10:00

When my son lived at home, nearly every night he'd ask me: how long until dinner. I'd reply - as long as a piece of string - because I'm a mother and we like to say annoying things like that.

At the moment, I feel like the time it's taking me to write my novel is like the longest piece of string ever. You could put this piece of string in the Guiness Book of Record for being the longest piece of string in existence. If you wrapped the whole world in brown paper, this piece of string could be used to secure it. It's taking me forever.

I finished the first draft at the end of last year but I don't like the ending at all. I'm working on the next draft but it feels huge and uncumbersome - like there are too many bits to hold in my head at the one time. I need a list, to break things into small segments.

It doesn't help that, at the moment, I have different versions of the master document in different places. I need to reconcile them all and work from that.

On the plus side, most of last year I struggled. I had other priorities and writing slide way down the "to-do" list. I churned out chapters but my main objective was to get them done. Reading back over it, they aren't as awful as I thought and that makes me very happy. The less rewriting the better.

My target date for completion is the end of June. It's so easy to let self-imposed deadlines slip but I need to get this book done. I have other projects brewing in my back brain.

Progress

2005-11-13T12:55:00.000+10:00

Ah I feel like I haven't done much in terms of writing this year but I'm finally nearing the end of my novel. I just have some reworking to do on the last six chapters and then this draft will be finito. After that, I'm going to put it aside for a while before doing final edits. It's been such a long, long process that I can't believe it's almost over.

But, I guess I should get back to it or I'll never be finished.