Monday, April 2, 2012

The Magic of New Life

This morning I basked in the magic of new life. My new nephew cradled in my arms hummed with energy. I am not usually a spiritual person, I have faith but when talking of magic and energy I had forgotten how much a new baby brings your mood up. My children are now 8 and 6 so It has been a while since I felt the new life buzz. Nursing Flynn this morning, swaying as he slept in my arms, I felt all of the tension leave my body. I felt better than I have most mornings. Getting two kids up out of bed and ready at 6:30 in the morning is hard, it pulls your mood down before you even have a chance to wake up properly. So with this morning boost from my gorgeous nephew I have sparked an idea for another novel.
Desmoree is finished and awaiting some awesome publisher to snatch her up, so there is no better time to start a novel that could potentially carry on after her. 'A broken life' will be a stand alone novel that has mutual caracters from 'Mortimers dream' Desmorees story. Hopefully the first draft can be done in a few weeks. With my daily jolt of new life buzz I don't see why it wont.
Untill next time.
Happy writing.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

BITING THE BULLET

So, as Easter approaches I find myself braver than usual. I have sent out my MS for consideration for the second time. I have only sent it to one place before now, as I wanted to re-edit for the ten hundredth time. With so many great writers out there I am trying not to be too pessimistic. But with a growing E-book market, the hope for all us writers to be published in paper format is getting slimmer and slimmer.

I personally prefer to hold a book in my hands, to scan the shelves at bookstores searching for the one book whose cover will grab my attention and force me to buy it. E-books are here, and they are here to stay, however I do not want to buy a book by downloading it, the hum of my computer as the purchase goes through feels nothing like the hold of that book in my hands, the crispness of the paper as you open the cover and turn the page for the first time.

I am adamant that I will not succumb to the E-book. That said however, if a publisher would like to accept my MS and would like to publish it in E-book format, I would not complain.
To have a MS finished is an accomplishment in itself. Getting published is the goal, however the process of writing and finishing a novel gives me a feeling of great satisfaction.

I wonder how many of you fellow writers feel the same way. Do some of you want to self-publish in the E-book market? Do you love that your entire collection of books can now fit in the palm of your hand rather than on the wall to wall bookshelves of your room?
I love seeing my books on display, I walk past them, scan a cover and am reminded of the journey I took when I read each novel. I live quite a disorganised life when it come to my free time, but my books are alphabetised and in perfect order on my shelves. A new purchase is slotted into place surrounded by the fellow storytellers who had previously whisked me away to their land of make-believe. And that is what all of this is about, isn’t it? Being taken away to another world, another place or another time. Being so lost in those pages that the real world fades around you.
If you can achieve that with an E-reader then great, but if you are like me, and prefer the feel of a book in your hands, then keep buying books, so that writers such as yourselves can one day see your book nestled on the shelves of a bookstore, surrounded by the writers that inspired you to put pen to paper in the first place.
Happy writing
J

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Mia or Desmoree who will win the battle for my attention.

I've been neglectful of late towards my two girls. With a full time job (which sadly is not writing) and children to contend with I have had no time for final edits of Desmoree or continuing my WIP Mia. Hopefully as today is slow at work I may get to one of them. Mia being so young will probably win the battle. Her wit and enthusiasm should perk up my interest in continuing her story. Desmoree is a fighter though, and her sass and charm might put up a good fight.
It will be a bloodbath till the end. Only one will win the day. Will it be Mia or Desmoree who stands victorious in my mind? Who will achieve the great task of capturing my attention? Well for now Mia is in the lead but Desmoree might make a sudden comeback.
Check in later for the conclusion to this epic battle.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

The death and rebirth of my obsession with books.

There was a time, long long ago, not as far back as dinosaurs walking the earth, though it might as well have been; that I forever had a book in my hands. Then a asteroid obliterated my desire to read by instilling ground shattering migraines.

It all happened so slowly that I barely saw it coming, it was like pressing slow motion as it plummeted down upon me. First I would wake with a slight headache after reading the night before, until finally I was being awoken by a thumping head.

I reduced my reading dramatically, now taking two to three days to Finnish a book instead of one. But this did not help.

Finally I just stopped reading. (that is except for the final dark swan book Shadow Heir, I took a bullet gladly for that one)

But that all was until my knight (also known as my husband), found something I had lost long ago.

My glasses.

My desire had been reborn, I hesitantly opened a book I had bought months earlier but in fear of the pounding aftermath I had not yet read. ( and yes I still bought many a book after the death of my obsession) I teased back the title page, getting my first glimpse of the words that would soon have me whisked away into a land of unknown delights.
After ten or so pages I placed it down, removed my glasses and waited.

And the world killer asteroid did not come.

The rebirth is upon me. I will build up the page length day by day; hopefully returning to the book a day obsession I once knew and loved.

What can I say, obsession is a prerequisite when you love the written word as we do.

Till next time,
Happy reading.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The many hats I wear.

I was thinking about my many hats. Mother, daughter, wife, sister and friend when it occurred to me that my Work life has also as many. Animal technician is my day job. Chef. Maid. Teacher. Cake decorator. Wedding planner. Graphic designer. IT fix it person, councillor and my favorite, writer. That is many hats for one head. Granted they are not all worn at once. But given that I have J1 and J2 I do wear several at a time.
Does anyone else wear many hats other than the obvious mother daughter etc ones?
This afternoon I will be carving a cake, cooking dinner, editing my WIP, completing more of my work sop, cleaning up after the kids and working out more wedding plans for my soon to be sister in law. So in one afternoon I will wear at least six hats.
My oh my I will be busy.

But that's just the way I like it.

Cheers for now.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

The end hath cometh.

The dark swan series by Richelle Mead wound down to a close with the final installment, Shadow Heir.

A series I have enjoyed from the very beginning. A plethora of characters I have loved throughout came together to close out the story and quite nicely tie up the open subplots.

The writing as always was fluid and enticing. Richelle, like with her other series manages to close out the story in a way that leaves you feeling satisfied yet still wanting more. Not that there were any questions left open in the end, it is more that you love the characters so much that you want to know more about what happens in their life.

Hopefully; as it was with VA she may decide to write a spin off of this series, possibly telling the life the children have ahead of them.

Overall I was extremely please with this book and will continue to praise Richelle's novels to all who will listen.

Till next time,
Keep reading!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

ETERNAL WIP

Whilst re-reading my WIP for the ten billionth time, I realised that, though my characters are what you would call fairies, they are in no way like the ones I grew up reading about. I think i would relate them more to the flesh eating tooth fairies in Hell Boy. Granted mine do not look like evil alien wingged things, but they do hold some of the same verrosity.
My mind then began to question how 'good' fairies really are.

Lets start with Tinkerbell, the first Fairy i read as a child. She flits into the room without invitation, sprinkles her dust on you and helps convince you to run away from home to a magical land with no parents. Not mentioning that there is crocodiles that eat you whole and a pirate that if he doesnt try to kill you will try to make you a pirate too. Now dont get me wrong, I still love Peter Pan and I do let my children J1 and J2 watch the movie Hook, but it did make me wonder is Tinkerbell good or bad?
She can be very mean such as when Peter translates for Wendy "She says you are a great [huge] ugly girl." now that to me shows that the good fairy tinkerbell is not really very nice.

The second questionable fairy i read as a child is The blue fairy from Pinocchio. Now this tricky fairy makes Pinocchio into a real boy but with a nose that will continue to grow whenever he tells a lie. This has led to many of us parents telling our children that the same will happen to them if they lie, therefore the blue fairy has incited many a parent to lie to their children. Good or bad?

I guess with all fairies there is room for interpretation into their behavior.

The tooth fairy is one such fairy I always considered to be good. But on further investigation it appears that this may not be so. She sneaks into your child's room and takes the tooth from under their pillow. Yes she leaves money in return but it's the sneaking part that is not so nice. Also you have to wonder what the hell she needs so many teeth for, is she creating a giant tooth monster? Now that would be cool.

So it seems that My characters belong to a the group of questionable fairies already alive in our history and our reading.

Well now it's off to read it for the then million and one time and hopefully this eternal WIP will one day be complete.

Happy reading