Archive for September, 2006

September 28, 2006 • 9 Comments

For as long as I remember I’ve always been the one to make the quips and crack the one-liners - as my school reports will attest. And it dawned on me recently that a lot of the time the jokes are made at my own expense.

So why do we poke fun at ourselves? Is it a form of self-preservation? If I say it then others won’t say it, or think it, behind my back. Or is it because I can say these things without fear of upsetting anyone, because I’m the only one who could take offence?

And what I’ve also noticed, is that there’s always at least one character in my ms with the same trait…..

What about you? Do you regularly give your characters a trait of yours?

September 25, 2006 • 6 Comments

Or just slow down a bit. This year is disappearing faster than a speeding train. I was minding my own business earlier, when the guy on the radio starts to tell me how many shopping days til christmas. WTF…. that’s impossible. Christmas was only yesterday. I know because I’ve just put away all the wrapping paper and stuff.

Is it an age thing? Is that why time is totally out of control? I remember when a child it would seem forever between one Christmas and the next, or one birthday and the next. And now…. birthdays creep up what seems like monthly. So much so, I’ve had to instruct the children to start lying about their age, because no way am I old enough to have kids of their age…… that’s what I tell them… they just roll their eyes towards the ceiling and mutter something about mum having lost it…

September 22, 2006 • 6 Comments

Check out this cover for Amanda’s (great friend and crit partner) debut book:

COOL, or what!!!!

5 Comments

I’m torn between excitement and dismay, at being close to the end of my current ms. It’s exciting because it’s the culmination of months of work… on the other hand…… I know my characters, I know the setting and it sort of feels safe.

I still haven’t decided what to do next… and once I start something new, how do I know I’ll fall in love with it… and hate it half way through (which goes without saying)? And what if turns out to be a duff idea, or I can’t make a good idea work?

See, it’s hard…….. and this probably explains why I’m not some intrepid explorer or doing something really adventurous!!!!!

How do you feel when you get to the end of a ms?

September 20, 2006 • 2 Comments

I’m so excited because on Friday the computer man is coming round with my new computer……. What? Some of you may be saying. You have a new computer. We know that because you told us all about it.

Correct. But my new computer was a duff computer…….. Did I break a mirror recently and someone forgot to tell me….. aside over……. My old new computer kept coming up with some very strange error messages regarding the memory. And in the end, after disabling the motel’ s broadband and taking out the network cards, to make it a standalone computer, they’ve established that I need a new one.

So having just got my old new one right, entering all the passwords for all the different groups I belong to blah, blah…. now I’ve got to do it again…… as if I need another excuse not to get on with my writing.

Hey, ho…… ain’t life grand!!!!

September 18, 2006 • 3 Comments

School balls… got to love them. DS had his at the weekend. And, oh joy, parents were invited!! So, we dutifully got a motel minder and took off.

Now, the thing with the ball is that the kids have a great time getting ready; drinking at the pre-pre-ball drinks in their motel room (kids away from their parents); mingling at the pre-ball drinks…. and by the time they get to the actual ball all they are interested in is the after-ball function. Which this year took place at a farm close by and they were taken by coach at 12.30am and dropped back at 5am (security on the door, food provided, DJ ….).

So, not only didn’t we see much of DS but at the ball this woman chose to talk AT me for what seemed like hours all about how wonderful her kids were. Now, as a parent, I know what it’s like to be proud of ones offspring…. but there are limits………

Anyway, that’s the last ball for us…. phew! DD had hers last year.

Back to reality now…… and to another hot water problem (this time the pump had gone…. )