Monday 21 January 2013

Procrastinating

I've spent most of the morning finding other things to do than come to my desk. 

Since putting my bum on my desk chair I've been trying to edit a story which wasn't working.  It's still not working so I've put it away for now, because that's the reason I was avoiding the desk in the first place.  Instead, I'm going to find something that I can get enthusisastic about, then at least the day won't be a total write off.

Hope you are all OK in the snow.  I'm doing my very best to stay inside and ignore.  Still full of a cold so the plan is to hibernate until I'm feeling better.  It's one of the plus sides to not having a job anymore and it stops me from spending money I no longer have!

Take care in the snow.

Linda

Saturday 19 January 2013

Actually .....

I've just re-read the entry requirements and it says the first 1000 words of your novel, so you do need to get your hero and heroine into bed rather quickly at the start of the book then!
 
Scratches head and awaits a lightbulb moment!

Should I or Shouldn't i?

I'm in a bit of quandry about whether to enter the ITV Competition  Racy Reads.
 
It's only a 1000 words, and although the deadline is 28 January, it's certainly do-able in terms of time.  Although, reading the terms and conditions, if you are selected amongst the finalists you have to go down to London in early February, not only to be filmed, but also to pitch the entire plot to the panelists.  So not as easy as they make it sound heh?
 
Not that I'm assuming that I would be one of the finalists, not by a long shot, but there's no point in entering with a defeatist attitude is there?  So if I was going to enter I would have to make sure that I was prepared, just in case.
 
The thing I'm not sure about is how racy do they want it to be?  Mills & Boon are involved, but so is Jackie Collins, and 50 Shades of Grey was mentioned quite a few times, along with the word "steamy".  Mills & Boon have certainly come along in terms of steaminess in recent years, and I'm comfortable enough with that, but 50 Shades?  No, I don't think that's really me, I haven't even read the books. 
 
Can I write love scenes?  Not really sure, but on the other hand, if you write romance its not a bad skill to acquire so the practice would be good.
 
The other thing that I'm not sure about, is do the 1000 words need to be from the beginning of the book or could it be an excerpt from anywhere?  If its the beginning then, it would indeed be racy because there's not much time to introduce two characters to each other, and to the reader, and then get them into bed, or elsewhere, in the space of a mere 1000 words.
 
If anyone is thinking of entering how do you interpret this?
 
Hmm, think I may need to go back to the i-player.
 
I'll let you know how I get on.
 
Linda

Thursday 17 January 2013

Falling At The First Fence

One of my New Year's resoloutions was to blog more regularly.  Seeing as its now the 17th and this is my first blog of 2013, I'm not doing very well am I?

It's been a bit of a unusual start to the year though. It's a poor excuse, but the only one I have. Before Christmas I scratched my eye. That healed up but then it became infected, so I've been on antibiotics and now all is well again.  For a while though, I couldn't even open my eyes, let alone read or face a computer screen. Thank goodness for my Ipod, I think its the only thing that kept me sane.

At the start of the year, when everyone else is getting back to normal, we start with another celebration which is my youngest son's birthday on 5 Jan.  Poor thing having a birthday so soon after Christmas, but he was due on Christmas Eve, so it could have been worse!

This year was the first year he didn't have to go back to school after the holidays on his birthday and, as it was a Saturday, and like the rest of the males in my family, he loves Leeds United, we paid another trip to Eland Road, stayed at a hotel and had a meal out in the evening.

Although I'm not a footie fan, I must admit it is beginning to grow on me.  It's a great atmosphere walking towards the ground with the fellow fans, and the family stand is full of different generations, grandads, dads, mums and offspring, all united in a common cause.

As it was his birthday, I was a bit worried that the score might not go the right way, especially by the way Leeds were playing (1-0 down at half time) and the fact that it was a knock out round of the FA Cup.  In the end, after a valiant effort by both teams, it was a 1-1 draw, resulting a replay. Thank goodness that didn't spoil the celebrations!

The reply was on Tuesday, and again, after being 1-0 down at half time, Leeds pulled it off winning by 2 goals to 1.  The next round, against Tottenham, is at home on 26th Jan and there are mumblings in the house about getting tickets. I'm not sure my nerves can stand it!

The boys only went back to school the following Tuesday and then on Thursday we took them out for two days (naughty, naughty) to pay a visit to the Emerald Isle.  My other half has a lot of Irish reletives so we vist regularly, and this was a 50th birthday celebration.

I'm not entirely sure that it's a good thing to go to Ireland in early January, it just adds to the excesses of Christmas, but a good time was had by all.

This week I thought it would be back to normal, but on Monday was struck down with a heavy cold. It's not man flu, so I can keep going, but as you can imagine, not much writing has been done recently.

I have, though, been catching up on some work and general paperwork, and am determined to get into a good routine soon, both with working from home and with the writing.  Wish me luck.

I hope you all have had a good start to the New Year, and now I would like to wish you, rather shamefaced, a belated happy New Year.

I'll be back again soon, I promise!

Linda

Things They Never Said - First Week in the Big Bad World

  Well, my debut novel Things They Never Said has been out in the real world for nearly a week now and I'm pleased to say that it seems ...