Published Princess

What's that? Published Princess???

Yes, you read correctly! I have no idea how it happened - it really is a mystery to me! - but I appear to have gotten myself a publisher for my innuendo-filled Cardiff tale. *is still recovering from shock*

Now, if you are one of my Facebook friends, you will already know this (as I announced it yesterday), but this announcing thing is fun, and surely it deserves a post of it's own on here. *nods* I'll be updating the Cardiffella Blog over the next few weeks with news as and when it happens, but for now, I'll just quickly say that in a little over two months - April 29th to be exact - my prudish pussy(cat) will be unleashed on the world!!

My pussy is going to be famous! Well, sort of...

Who'd have thought that my feline fairy godmother would make it, eh?

More to the point, who'd have thought that a Procrastinating Princess would ever kick her own butt enough to keep querying her innuendo-filled novel? This is why it's a mystery, you see...

Those of you in the know will remember that I wrote Cardiffella way back in 2009 during NaNoWriMo (you know, that crazy event where you write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November). It was great fun - what with the pussy jokes and the obligatory mention of wobbly sausages - but it was also NUTSO when it came to doing it. Particularly since I wrote it between three computers, not a one of them in full working condition. Between the three, there was just about enough to make ONE decent computer. Of course, they all died on me several times (and obviously came back to life), and between THAT and the 'boken keboa' (that was extremely fwuztwatin, let me tell you), it was a truly heroic effort.

But anyway, it was done. And I was proud of myself for not putting it off and actually finishing it. So proud, in fact, that I let it sit on my hard drive for over two years before doing anything with it. *shifty*

Last year I managed to talk myself into fixing it up so that I could submit it to a publisher. I formatted like crazy so that it looked nicer; I cleared up the (thousands of) typos, took a few words out (and added a few here and there). Finally, in September, I sent out two queries. Not being delusional (well, actually, I AM delusional for the most part, but you know what I mean), I figured there was no way it would be accepted (which it wasn't). But more than anything, I wanted a little feedback as to what would be needed to make it publishable, and I wanted the feedback from someone in the publishing game.

To my surprise, although it wasn't accepted, it actually did rather well - making it as far as the acquisitions team, no less. It failed at the final hurdle, which was, while disappointing, also extremely encouraging. Now, this happened in the last week of January - so a mere few weeks ago - and I thought to myself, well, if it made it THAT far, maybe I should just keep submitting. I told myself that I would submit it to another four publishers, and if I didn't get any feedback, then I would work on it some more before submitting again.

At no point, you see, did I think that it was going to be accepted.

So I sent out to another four publishers and heard back from one on the very same day. They told me it was a 'fun idea', and that they 'loved my voice', but as they were already working on  a similar series, they would have to decline.

*sigh*

But you know, that was even more encouraging than the previous rejection. I mean, this time the editor had given me a little feedback, even if it was only a few words. I was resigned, but still feeling pretty good. Surely I'll get a 'revise and resubmit' soon, I thought.

But - shocked and stunned as I was - I got much better! Last Thursday I got an acceptance, and I signed the contract over the weekend. Pretty cool, huh?

As I said, I'll be giving more details on the whole she-bang over on the book blog, but I just HAD to swing by my Procrastinating Princess blog to formally 'come out'.

Onwards and upwards, my friends, onwards and upwards!

Image self-taken.

*is plodding along*

Yup, it's slow going, but I am plodding along. Of course, it's Saturday, and I did say I would blog on Friday, but seeing as it's WriMo month, and I finally had a bit of luck with the writing yesterday, I think I can get away with it. *winks*

It's been a funny week. I got off to a good start by pumping out a thousand words as soon as the clock struck midnight and it was officially November the first. Great! Start as I mean to go on anallat, yes? Of course, this is me, and nothing is ever as straightforward as that, so there was bound to be something to cock up my good intentions.

Yup, my hubby got hit off his motorbike early Monday afternoon. He seemed fine, and I breathed a sigh of relief, not least because he had already camped at the local A&E department a fortnight before after being 'glassed' at the local pub, and then knocked down by a car as he was chasing the person who did it. (Knocked down, if you can believe it, by one of his friends (!!!) who was on his way back to the pub to help break up the consequent kerfuffle). Anyway, twenty stitches to the arm, and several cuts and bruises later, hubby was home. All good. I figured the Smith family was done with the A&E for this year, after all, one visit to the emergency department is quite enough, thank you very much. *nods*

Monday evening arrived and I was getting ready to pump out some more words on my NaNo. The kids had been fed, the house was tidy, school preparations had been done for the following day, and I had a lovely take away pizza to sustain me. Hubby was doing his best to eat his meal, but found that he couldn't lift his arm very well. Trip number two to the A&E, here we come. Several hours later, we finally get home, with severely bruised shoulder and ribs, and a broken thumb to add to my hubby's injured arm (which, by the way, was infected from the glassing incident).

That was quite enough drama for one day. I was tired, it was late, and I figured Tuesday would be a better option to get to my writing.

*rolls eyes*

Yup, Tuesday was no good either as it turned out. My daughter woke up with a stomach bug for company. Cue two days of multiple changes of clothes, excess use of toilet paper, and repeated speeches telling my daughter that no, she can't have anything to eat because her belly will never get better if she doesn't give it a rest. The problem with stomach bugs is that often you don't actually feel ill as such, you just can't eat anything. And seeing as my daughter loves her food, you can imagine how difficult it was. If I heard say "But I'm starving!" once, I heard it a hundred times.

Anywho, Thursday arrived, my daughter returned to school ( after a hefty breakfast *snort*), and I thought to myself Yay!!! Shortly followed by... oh bugger. Stomach bugs tend to be catching you see. Yeuch.

So yesterday was the first day that I actually managed to do some work on my NaNo, which is why I got sucked in and decided to keep writing as long as the words flowed. Hence the slight change in my blogging schedule. I'm still a bit behind, but I have decided that I am not doing anything today apart from write, so hopefully I can catch up a bit. I won't hit my personal goal of 17,500 words by tomorrow night, but the recommended target of almost 12k by the end of day 7  (according to NaNo standards) should be doable.

And so I am plodding along.

*is struggling*

Yes, it's only day three of NaNoWriMo and already I am behind. I'm around 2k behind at the moment, but I really wanted to be ahead at this point, so my personal goal for today is ever further away.


It's so typical. I took two weeks off from work specifically to get ahead, yet I am already struggling to stay on top of things. Of course, I spent all of Monday evening at the A&E with my husband, who managed to get himself knocked off his motorbike earlier that day. Several x-rays confirmed bruised ribs and shoulder, and a broken thumb, so he is fine all in all, but the worry and the annoyingly long wait to be seen by the doctors really scuppered up my first day of NaNo.

Still, I thought I would catch up yesterday and today. No problem. I hadn't bargained on my daughter getting a stomach bug though. *rolls eyes* Honestly, I think I've spent the majority of the last two days trying to explain to my daughter why she wasn't allowed to have anything to eat.

Anywho, quite apart for the lack of time at the computer, I'm just really struggling to get my first few thousand words down. I know where I want to go, and I know what I need to cover in the first few chapters, but somehow everything I type doesn't sound right. I've made the mistake of deleting paragraphs at a time because I'm not happy with them, which is absolutely the wrong thing to do with a WriMo. Last year I just kept typing, even though I knew there were hundreds of mistakes, and more than a few sections that were definitely shaky. I need to get the same attitude going for this year, because if I keep deleting large sections of text, I'm going to end up with nothing.

So, I have given myself a little pep talk. *nods* No more deleting!! No more wasting time correcting spelling and typing errors!! (Yes, that's how much I am dithering - I am checking for typos. So not like me at all). And no more worrying about whether a sentence could be phrased better!! Just. Keep. Typing.

See you Friday, when hopefully I will have a blog titled *is storming ahead*.

*crosses fingers*

*is informing through rambling*

Just a quick one today (er, blog that is) so that I can tell you that I've managed to start writing for my NaNo novel. No really - I did. *is shocked and stunned* I'm only just past a thousand words, but I should hit my personal goal of 2.5k by the end of today. *nods firmly* I have to work at a slightly faster pace than the official 1,667 words a day if I am to win, you see. I'm currently off from work and won't return until the 14th, so a few extra words a day are essential to make up for the second half of the month where I know I will be tired and less inclined to write. I figure 13 days at 2,500 words is what, 32,500k? That'll leave me 1,030 words per day to write for the remainder of the challenge, which sounds infinitely more preferable to 1,667, right? I don't think I can finish the story in 50,000 words, mind you, but I'd love to have 50k under my belt by the end of the month. I'm thinking the novel should be hitting 80-90k as a finished product, but there's no way I'm getting that many words down in thirty days...


Anywho, I should also mention that after last month's effort of blogging every day *is shocked and stunned about that too*, I'd like to keep to a semi-regular blogging schedule if at all possible. I highly doubt that every day is doable - especially seeing as it is me we are talking about - but I figure three days a week might be a nice compromise. Possibly Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but nothing is set in stone yet.

Lastly, asterisks are back. *nods again* Of course they are! I can't blog without asterisked titles during a WriMo month, can I? That would be unthinkable! Inconceivable, even!

Lastly, if anyone would like to Buddy me on the official NaNoWriMo site, you can find me under the moniker of Tundiel, and my novel is titled Soul Identity. Go ahead and add me, there's always room for more slags and clarts on my buddy list. *smiles winsomely*

Out With The Old

So I mentioned the other day that two of Weesa's topic suggestions linked heavily with my first attempt at an original novel. Today's topic - imagination - is Weesa's final suggestion, and I am going to post what was intended as a prologue for my long-neglected work (not) in progress. In the prologue for 'Soul Identity', I wanted to somehow get the reader to really visualise the set up, and also to set the tone for the entire novel. It was never meant to be longer than a single page - in fact, it was more of a forward than a prologue now that I think about it.


I had mixed feedback from my friends, both Burrowing and non- Burrowing, and I could never quite decide myself whether I liked it or not. This incarnation is pretty much what I originally wrote way back when, and although I had intended to keep it, I think I may scrap it (along with the few chapters already written) and start all over. Nevertheless, I intend to keep pieces of this and incorporate them into the story at a later point because I still like the imagery.

But what does this have to do with imagination? Well, apart from the obvious - that writing a story requires imagination somewhere along the line - the entire point of my prologue was to get readers to imagine the scene themselves. In fact, the very first word is 'imagine' - fancy that!

So here comes the soon-to-be scrapped prologue of 'Soul Identity'. I figured it deserved another airing before I laid it to rest and began working on the book from scratch again during this year's NaNoWriMo.

Soul Identity - Prologue

Imagine a soul floating on the breeze. It shivers as if it is deathly cold, fluttering wildly. It moves along the air currents, passing through clouds unnoticed; the birds that fly by on their daily journeys do not sense it. Indeed, the soul itself does not register the presence of the winged creatures. The soul continues to float through the sky seemingly aimlessly. It does not know where it will end up; it does not understand why it is traveling. It is, after all, only a soul. It has no conscious thought, it does not think for itself. The soul simply is.

Imagine a child who is hidden from the world. The Child sits in a stark, cold room and waits for her life to start. The daily existence that she lives through is nothing more than a parody of life. The Child is fed at first light and at dusk. The child knows not how the nourishment arrives at her feet, just as she knows not how the books came to be in her possession. She does not understand why she is in this place, nor does she question it.

The Child may be alone, but the Child is not ignorant. She is well-read and fluent in several languages. Indeed, the Child can speak quite proficiently, though her voice is rarely heard. The Child prefers the silence because Silence is her friend.

Silence comforts her when she is uneasy. Silence does not mock her when she is troubled; Silence wraps its arms around her and soothes away her distress. Silence warns the child when there is danger at hand, for when Silence is disturbed, the Child invariably is disturbed soon after. The Child knows this, therefore the Child respects this. Silence is her friend.

And so the Child sits in her stark, cold room and waits. She waits for Silence to abandon her, as she knows will happen soon enough. She waits for life. She waits to breathe.

Imagine.

                                                                      #

Picture a village on the outskirts of a forest. Small rickety homes litter the rural landscape; broken, rundown homes screaming their poverty for all to hear. Picture the inhabitants of this village. Quiet, goodly folk who farm their land and dream of nothing more than a good meal and a safe family to return home to at the end of the day. They are a peaceful folk; there are no wars to be fought, no crimes to punish. They set their lives to the rise and fall of the Sun. When dawn breaks they set about their work without complaint, eager to toil on the land that they love. The arrival of dusk brings contentment; satisfaction that they have worked to the best of their ability. They return home to their loved ones and retire after a simple meal, intent on being well-rested for the coming day.

A simple life; but a good one.

But Darkness creeps through this quaint part of the world, hidden from sight, invisible to the innocent. It seeps into their hearts without their knowledge; once it has a grip it is hard to be free of it. Darkness seeks those who are least able to understand. It strikes into the hearts of the pure, a sharp spear of confusion. Only the strongest souls have the strength to repel its deadly tip. But even the heartiest soul has its limits.

Picture a tall and muscular man with dark hair cropped close to his skull. His piercing blue eyes are sometimes flecked with green, hinting at a cold nature. His nose is large and pocked from many beatings. He is a hard man, but a pious one. He holds his faith up like a shield, proud of his heritage. Arin is a basically decent man; he's a husband, a farmer and a friend. First and foremost he is a Guardian of the Faith. The Faith holds priority over everything, even his kin. This is typical of the time; a mans faith is a mans life. Arin is no exception.

But Arin was about to be made an exception. Darkness had found a new target, a perfect one. Arin has all the right credentials. He is devoted to his faith; he is past the innocence of youth; he is strong and courageous, prepared to fight for what he believes in. And Arin is married. Arin is wed to a beautiful young woman named Maya, and Maya is the key to it all.

Maya is with child.


Darkness smiles.

It's All About The Purple

I find it interesting that two of the five subjects that my fourth 'topic suggester' picked link really well with the first original novel that I started writing (emphasis on the 'started' there as that's about as far as I got). Among the suggestions that Weesa gave me was 'purple' and 'imagination'. Obviously I'm not going to ramble about imagination today because I need to keep that for a couple of days' time, so today it's going to be all about the Purple. *nods*

My story premise for 'Soul Identity' (the tentative name that I came up with about a century ago) was pretty simple. Everybody has something unique inside them that identifies who they truly are, and this certain something is central to how they live their lives. Everybody has this, but there are some who have a stronger version (for want of a better word), and it is these people who end up shaping the way we live.

Now, my story was fantasy based, so of course I needed legends and back story for my characters, plus I had to have the essential good vs. evil dynamic that most decent fantasy novels contain. I don't want to go into too much detail because I have a sneaksy feeling that I may end up working on the book for next month's NaNoWriMo (and be classed as a rebel for doing so), but what I found really interesting (as I mentioned above) is that Weesa picked out two of the really strong themes from 'Soul Identity'  - how mad is that?

The purple is pretty easy to explain. My main characters are related to each other, though they don't know of this until late in their childhoods. One is kept locked away by a benevolent old man, and the other is brought up by loving parents and a godmother. Although they have completely opposite experiences of childhood, they are both almost identical in looks and temperament, and recognize their kinship as soon as they eventually meet.

But where's the purple? I'm getting there...

Being fantsay based, it should come as no surprise for you to learn that these children  (both girls, named Cassiopeia and Andromeda, by the way) have a mystical history, and are, in fact, the key to saving the world (obviously!). Naturally there is legend and folklore that tells the story of the coming of two girls who will defeat the evilness of the world, and of course they will have to suffer through many obstacles and sacrifice a great deal before they can to what they're destined to do.

What do you mean, that sounds familiar? Of course it sounds familiar! All good fantasy novels have the hero/heroine venture on some sort of quest and end up having to save the world - it's the tried and tested formula. *nods*

But where's the flipping purple?!?!

Alright, alright, I'm getting to it...

Both my girls have piercing lavender eyes (is that not a shade of purple? *winks*) and are the main identifying attribute that alerts those in the know that they are the girls that were spoken of in legend. To compliment their unusual eye colouring, they both have vibrant violet hair (ooh look, another shade of purple!). Obviously this isn't the norm even in a fantasy based world, which partly explains why the one child is locked away, and why the other will be seen to go to great lengths to conceal her true colouring. It's all about the purple indeed.

It's also a pretty moralistic tale, with plenty of action, a little mystery, a pinch of magic, and a great big whack of emotional punch, because when I am not being nutty and delusional with talking cats and modern-day fairy tales set in the Kair of Diff, I actually think my true writer's voice belongs in angsty, dark and emotional story telling.

This, I hope, is what I want to bring to 'Soul Identity', and hopefully I'll be Bringing It throughout next month's WriMo challenge.

Writing Tips From An Unqualified (but enthusiastic) Writer

Moving into the second half of my October blog challenge, and it's the turn of my HPANA buddy Weesa to suggest the next block of topics. Her first prompt is 'Advice for beginner writers'.


This one makes me a bit squirmy as I don't really feel that I'm in a position to offer advice. Sure, I've been writing for around five years now, but I'm not published, and I know I could improve in a number of ways. Still, there are several things that I believe would be useful to aspiring writers out there who are just starting out.

1 - My biggest piece of advice is to read. And when I say read, I mean reads lots. Read copious amounts, really. As much as you can, in every genre possible. The more you read, the higher your vocabulary skills will be, and you will also get a good idea about what does and doesn't sell. Look for plot patterns, see how foreshadowing works, look at the pacing. Dissect as much as you can and break the novel down into sections. If you can see how things work in a published book, it will help you with the layout in your own book.

2 - After you have read a good selection of novels, pick a genre that you enjoyed the most. If you really enjoy reading fantasy, for example, chances are you will enjoy writing fantasy too. Find your comfort zone, and test the waters by writing a short story first, or even a poem. You'll soon know if the genre you've chosen is working for you. My first original novel idea was fantasy based, and I spent three years on the thing and never passed five chapters. Fantasy is my favourite genre, so I really thought it should be the genre that I should write in. Then I went through a phase where I read a bunch of chick lit novels and I decided to have a go at writing one for last year's NaNoWriMo challenge. One month and 50,000 odd words later, and I had a working novel on my hands. Sure, it needs editing and what not, but the bulk of the writing is done. Goes to show that your first genre choice may not be your genre at all, so don't despair if your first choice doesn't work for you.

3 - Have a go at writing some fanfiction. I dipped my toe in the writing pond by writing fanfiction for Harry Potter (you can find all of my Potter stories in the Fan Fun forum on HPANA under my pen name Tundiel Mehtarion). My earlier attempts are a wee bit embarrassing, but I like to leave them up because I think you can really see how much I've improved over the years, and that is something which encourages me. Fanfiction is an excellent way to hone your writing skills, and also has the added bonus of feedback when you post it online.

4 - Blog. As often as you can. This is one of those things where I am saying 'do as I say, not as I do'. My blogging habits are sporadic to say the least, but I am trying to do better. If you really want to write, then you need to get into the habit of writing daily, even if it's only a couple of hundred words. It does work, but you need to be strict. I initially blogged almost every day for the first two months, and this was the time when I wrote my chick lit novel too. Since my blogging dwindled, so did my writing in general (in fact I slipped back into my terrible habit of not doing anything at all *shifty*). The whole reason I'm writing this blog today is because I decided to challenge myself to blog every day in October, partly because it's National Blog Writing Month, but also because I want to enter the NaNoWriMo next month, and this is an excellent way to get myself back in the habit of writing daily.

I also advise you to READ as many blogs as possible, especially any that are to do with writing in general, or are published by authors. You'd be surprised at how much you can pick up just by reading a handful of decent blogs every day, There's a wealth of knowledge out there, and all we have to do is read. *nods*

5 - My final piece of advice is to have fun. Seriously, enjoy your time at the keyboard (or with your pen, if you write by hand). If you really enjoy it when you write, there's a very good chance that people will enjoy reading your work.  And channel your emotions. Sometimes I am laughing like a mad woman when I am writing, or I am sniffing back tears. These are the times when my writing is at its best, and I'm pretty sure that what I am working on is more than half decent. If it seems like a chore, then your writing will come out flat, but if you are enjoying yourself, and have your emotions engaged, then your energy should  (in theory) seep into your work.

That's about all I can think of really. As I said, I'm by no means an expert at this writing malarkey, but these five tips are usually what I tell people if they ask me for advice. Hope some of you find it helpful!

Tomorrow I shall be talking about The Purple. Indeed.

Loopy Laptops

So it's 10pm on Thursday 14th, and I need to get something ready to post automatically for tomorrow (today, whatever) because I'm working an extra shift tomorrow (er, today) and it's an all-dayer. I'm also using a different laptop than normal because  - surprise surprise - my normal laptop is kabuggered. *mutters* I'm sick and ducking tired of having laptop problems... let me recap:

Laptop numero uno, well, this baby actually lasted me a couple of years before it started going loopy. First it was the overheating thingy, which was SO annoying because it would suddenly go off anything up to four or five times a day - and usually when I was in the middle of typing something. Grr. Then the keys went kaput, and we entered the boken keboa period. Ever tried typing without the use of half a keyboard? Not good. Six months or so I struggled before I finally - FINALLY got another laptop. Ok, so it was second hand - being on the breadline kinda stuffs up even the idea of a new laptop - but I paid £100 for it and expected it to last more than a flipping week.

A week?!?!?! Right before last year's NaNoWriMo challenge started, of course, so the timing was what I like to call Tara Timing (in other words ducked up).

It was months before I could even consider another laptop, so I had to use the hubby's computer for the interim (and also my son's computer, which was awkward for many reasons, not least the fact that the PC was in his bedroom, which is in the attic, and I don't like ladders (nor small rooms]). Hubby's comp is linked to the TV - a whopping 42 incher - and the strain of typing with such a huge monitor was awful. I'm a bad typist on the best of days, but my typo rate fairly tripled.

Anyway, back in February this year, we got two shiny new laptops (the joys of contract phones, yay!). Yay! I picked the smaller of the two ( a mere 10 inch screen), so the adjustment from the big screen was strange, but I got to love my little laptop all the same. I have everything set to how I like it, all my bookmarks are there, and it doesn't cause my legs to cramp because it is so light.

You know what's coming, right?

Last month it started switching off several times a day (bugger). It DOES boot back up, but only after resetting the bios thingy about six times (apparently, even though I reset it exactly the same way every time, it only likes it when it's on the sixth reset. Yeah, it's tormenting me, I know it is).

What is it with laptops?? What is it with ME and laptops? I mean, did I do something awful to a machine in a previous life? Maybe it's revenge. I don't know, I just know that I'm bluddy peeved at the whole thing. A simple, easy to use, working laptop. It's not a lot to ask.

I think they make them these days to last six months and that's it, just to make you spend money on repairs or an upgrade. But I don't have the money for repairs or a frigging upgrade, Stupid Laptop Manufacturers!!!

I live in a tiny house, have crappy wages, usually have more money going out than I have coming in, and any money that I DO have to spare on those rare occasions goes on silly things like, you know, clothes for the kids and food for our bellies.

So you see, Stupid Laptop Manufacturers, I would like to get a book finished and PUBLISHED so that I can earn some extra cash. In order for me to do that, not only do I have to curb my procrastinating tendencies, I also need a working laptop!! I was almost too scared to start using the last remaining working laptop in the house ( I now have three gathering dust in the corner, plus the son's computer is naffed too (I think I may have done it, actually *shifty*) in case it blows up or something.

I think they're allergic to me. Or me to them.

Anyway, I have three words to say to those Stupid Laptop Manufacturers, who, despite the alleged allergy problems, I'm holding responsible for my laptop woes:

Sort it out!!!!

PS - Blogger is being a pain again with the commenting section, so the same thing goes to you, Mr. Blogger - sort it out!

(Oh, in case you thought I'd steered away from the blogging challenge, this was Tami's final suggestion - a good old-fashioned rant *nods and pokes out tongue at Stupid Laptop Mnufacturers*).

A Procrastinator's Plan

Tami is being very sneaksy with the suggestion for today's topic, because she just knows how terrible I am for not sticking to a plan and getting stuff done. I think she's definitely giving me a massive kick up the butt - which I direly need, no question - and forcing me to commit myself to a workable plan that will enable me to have my book ready to submit sometime in the next century or so. *shifty*

According to Tami ( who I usually listen to because she is a wise Watery Tart without a doubt), putting your plans out there publicly gives you accountability. Normally I would agree with this, but with me being the most lazy of writers, and with 'procrastination' as my middle name, it doesn't always work.

It definitely worked with last year's NaNoWriMo challenge. Announcing my desire to embrace the madness on my new(ish) blog page meant that I needed to keep going if I didn't want to look like a prune. I really shocked myself when I completed it, so heaven knows I probably shocked my nearest and dearest too.

However, announcing a plan of action on my Facebook page several months ago didn't work. My 'Five Month Plan' is way past its deadline, and I haven't completed all of the tasks by a long shot.

So sometimes this works, and sometimes it doesn't. Lets see what happens this time around....

Tara's Plan For Actually Sticking To The Plan That Will Get Her Book Published (otherwise known as Get Your Lazy Butt Into Action).

October 2010

Complete the October blogging challenge. Repeat after me: Writing daily will get you back into the right frame of mind. (Not really book related, but as a motivational tool, highly useful).

November 2010

Enter this year's NaNoWriMo. Okay, so this has nothing to do with editing and polishing my first novel either, but I'm hoping to finish the WriMo as before. With two books under my belt, it would be absolutely disgraceful if I didn't do anything with them, so hopefully this will shame me enough into doing something about it.

December 2010

Bad, bad month for doing anything remotely useful when it comes to writing and/or editing. Christmas sucks up all of my time, but in the unlikely event of finding a few spare hours, I will diligently read through both (*crosses fingers that there will be a second novel*) manuscripts and make some notes on what I like and don't like in readiness for...

January/February 2011

Yikes! 2011??? Anyway, New Year's resolutions will definitely be to work my butt off on editing and polishing Cardiffella primarily, and my goal is to spruce it up and have a readable book to send off to Burrowing buddies by mid February. In the interim, I'll work on my query and synopsis.

March/April 2011

Hopefully I will have gotten feedback from several people by mid March, and this is when I will undertake the final edits and what not in order to have a finished - ! - manuscript to send off to some select publishers that I have in mind.  First queries and sample chapters to be sent off by the end of April at the latest. *glares at self*

May 2011 will arrive at some point (obviously), and I really, really hope that I can get there with everything ticked off on my 'to do' list. Crossed fingers, toes, and anything else that might help would be appreciated, because I have a feeling that I'll need it.

*dies*

Pontificating, Procrastinating and Prevaricating.

Yup, the three big P's. Not to be confused with the singular big 'P', which could mean any number of things (I'll leave it to your imagination). Essentially they all mean the same thing, but because they all start with 'p', and they're all slightly funny sounding, I decided to use them all in my title.

Anywho, what is it this time that I am pontificating/procrastinating/prevaricating over? Well, aside from the usual Putting Things Off (this beginning with 'p' seems to be a pattern of mine) mindset that I have, I typically decided that I should add to my list of Projects to Dither Over (another 'p' right there) and seriously consider doing this year's NaNoWriMo.

*awaits tumbleweed to pass*

I know, I'm crazy. I mean, I haven't even managed to keep up with my blog this year, never mind actually write anything. My brain has been mostly disassociated with anything to do with writing for the majority of 2010. Every once in a while I've attempted a blog post, and I wrote a short story back in... March I think.... but other than a haphazard editing schedule, I've done nothing. It's pretty easy to fool yourself into thinking that it doesn't matter and that tomorrow will be The Day to start writing again, but the problem with tomorrows is that there are far too many of them.

So, with only three months left of 2010, and with one of them being the infamous Novel Writing November, I figured now was as good a time as any to stop putting things off tomorrow and start doing things today.

Okay, so November isn't technically today, but you know what I mean.

Anyway, going from writing nothing to 1700 words a day is bit of a big step - too big a step to start off with, I'm thinking. Last year I had been blogging for a month when I decided to take a stab at the NaNo thing, and I figured this year I should probably do the same thing if I was to seriously consider attempting writing my second novel. That being the case, and with October being the lesser known month of NaBloWriMo (that would be National Blog Writing Month for those of you uninitiated to those funny WriMo words), I am crossing my fingers and hoping to post a blog for every day of October. If, by some miracle, I manage to complete this challenge, then not only do I get to complete my first WriMo this year (*is trying to forget the failure of June's WriMo*), but I also get in good, solid practice of writing every day in preparation for the biggie WriMo in November.

My biggest problem is obviously procrastination - I wouldn't have named this blog the way I did if it didn't make sense, after all - and one of the biggest props that a procrastinator has is the plethora of excuses they can come up with when they are putting things off. My biggest excuse is lack of inspiration, and to be fair, it's an excuse that is actually true. Most days I seriously don't know what the heck I will write about, which is why most days I don't write, it's as simple as that.

So I need 31 topics to blog about. Crikey. That's where you guys come in. Take pity on a poor prevaricator and give her some serious ammunition against the I Don't Know What To Write About Monster that is lurking next to her laptop and just waiting to pounce on her. He's not really very scary to look at, what with his purple fuzzy face and  loopy grin, but he's definitely a big distraction, and has been known to cause weeks of Non-Writingness.

I will put myself at the mercy of six (un)lucky people, each one having the dubious honour of being able to control what I blog about for five consecutive days. Now, if you do the maths, that works out at only covering 30 days, not 31, but I figure I should leave the final day of October for recapping on what will hopefully have been a crazy, but fun-filled blog writing month. (Plus I'll need to have a last-minute panic attack on record if I decide to go ahead with NaNoWroMo *shifty*).

So there we have it. Are there half a dozen people out there ready to thrust strange and random topics at a Procrastinating Princess? There's no fixed way of doing this - you can post five random subjects in the comments below this post, you can give me your chosen subjects via email (tundielatgooglemaildotcom) at the start of your five day slot, or you can give them to me at the last minute, the night before I'm due to post. I'm not fussy (just slightly crazy).

What say you?

Timeslip

Why is it that the older you get, the faster time seems to pass? This is a puzzle that has made me think a lot over the last few years, with each year passing making me puzzle over it more. As a child, the time between birthdays and Christmas etc seemed eternal, whereas even though we are now only midway through July, already I am panicking about Christmas 2010. I know, it's five months away for crying out loud, but from experience I know that those five months will soon be behind me and the joy (stress) of the festive season will be upon me. Its nuts! I have a birthday coming up (unfortunately), and it honestly doesn't seem like it has been a year since my last one. Looking back on it is like looking back at a day from a couple of weeks ago. What's up with that?

I noticed that time seemed to speed up when I hit thirty.  I mean, sure, the years went a little more swiftly in my twenties when compared to my childhood, but a year still felt like a relatively long time. But when I reached thirty, suddenly a year felt about half as long as it should be. And it also seems that time appears to go faster when you have things to do. Back in February (I think it was February anyway, it may have been last week for all I know), I made a five month plan with regards to my NaNo novel. I fully intended to edit  the messy bits and add another ten thousand words so that by the end of this month I would be ready to start trying to sell it.

Now, I have made decent progress on it considering how much of a procrastinator I am, but it is far from done. Of course, I can take off a couple of months because I was back on forth on different meds for my depression, and most days I didn't know whether I was coming or going. Definitely not the right frame of mind to be in when you want to edit a novel. But I was finally given meds that worked, and over the last three months I have gradually got better, and although I know I am not completely back to normal, I am not nearly as bad as I was.  So allowing for adjustments due to the meds thing, I guess I could say that the last ten weeks or so should have seen a lot of work done on my novel.

Well, I have worked on it, but not nearly as much as I should have. I keep thinking to myself that it is only March or April, and then stop short when I realise that we are now in July. Logically I know it is July, but it just doesn't feel like it is. The time going faster as we get older thing is definitely part of that, but the whole Being Out Of My Tree for the first third of this year has also added to the problem.

I'm still determined to get Cardiffella edited and ready for submission by September though. I have this funny feeling that September should be a good month to do it, and being a bit of a stickler for 'funny feelings', I want to go with my instinct.  I just hope that September doesn't arrive before next week or something, because at the rate time is slipping by me this year, it really wouldn't surprise me....

*is a failure*

Yup, a great big fat failure, that's me. Now don't panic, I'm not about to depress everyone with tales of woe, I'm actually talking about a specific failure, not failure in general. In actual fact, despite personal blips here and there, I feel pretty good on the whole, and not a failure at all, so perhaps I shouldn't really call today's blog *is a failure* because that might be a tad misleading....

Anywho, when I say a specific failure (which I'm quite sure I did somewhere in the above rambling paragraph), I'm talking about BuNoWriMo. You see, I was supposed to have written a 50,000 word novel in the month of June, but it's the 26th and I still haven't passed 10k. Tomorrow is a no-no for writing, it being a Sunday anallat (cooking, cleaning, general Sunday busy-ness etc), which leaves only three days of the month left in which I would have to write just over 40k words. Im. Poss. I. Ble. Thus *is a failure*

I don't quite know how and where I went wrong. Or perhaps I do, I just don't know why. Now, being a procrastinator of the highest order would usually mean that there should be no surprise that I have failed the challenge. I'm an 'avoider' by nature, and constantly put things off until the last possible moment. Why I do this, I don't know, but there we are. I know that I shouldn't do it, but can't seem to help myself. It's like when you are dieting and there is a cream cake in the bakers which appears to be glowing at you and labelled with a flashing arrow accompanied with a sign saying 'Eat Me, You Know You Want To.'

Anyway, like the glorious cream cake that beckons, I can't seem to resist procrastinating. Sometimes I shock myself and keep control over my avoiding tendencies - last year's NaNoWriMo is a perfect (and probably unique) example of this - but mostly I find myself slipping back into those horrible habits. These include copious amounts of cleaning (both horrible because it stops me from writing, and because cleaning is not exactly the nicest of jobs in the world), scandalous amounts of games of Bejeweled Blitz, reading fluff (which is a fairly new habit, but one which serves two purposes - one, it keeps me from writing *coughs*, and two, I can pretend that one day Mr Darcy will sweep me off my feet and pay homage to my boobage), and even more cleaning. I have no idea why I clean so much, because I absolutely loathe housework, but I still find myself endlessly polishing, sweeping, mopping and vacuuming on a daily basis.

The strange thing is, I was absolutely determined to write my novel this month, and was far more prepared than I was for NaNoWriMo. I wasn't at all concerned about the challenge. After all, I'd done it before, so I could do it again, right? Not to mention that this time around I had a core base of both characters and setting, and even a rough plot already worked out in my head. I should have breezed through it.

Rather than get all down in the mouth about it, I am going to shrug my shoulders and accept the fact that even the Best Laid Plans Sometimes Go Awry. *winks at Tami* There's no point beating myself up about it, and I still have almost ten thousand words written  and saved on my computer. That's pretty good when you consider that I haven't had the best of years so far, and is in actual fact the only real writing that I have done so far in 2010.

So maybe I shouldn't name today's ramble *is a failure*, even though technically I have failed BuNoWriMo. I prefer to see it as a step in the right direction, and as my friend often says (another nod to Tami), baby steps, baby steps.... or just keep swimming.

Though maybe I'll leave it at baby steps. Being a scaredy cat when it comes to water, I can't actually swim. *snort*

*is doing it all over again*

Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone! Ima Nutcase here, your faithful reporter dutifully doing her thing and bringing you the latest news from around the world (or Cardiff, as the case may be). I have to apologise because I have been so scarce lately, but my boss made me cover some "important" stories over the last few months and I haven't been able to stick to what I know best. (Honestly, I kept telling Mr Editor that nobody was interested in British politics or Icelandic volcanoes, but he wouldn't have it, and forced me to report on them anyway. *rolls eyes*).

So here I am, back to my roots in the Kair of Diff, and about to meet up with one of my favorite victims clients. My faithful readers should be in no doubt of whom I speak of, for today's subject has been interviewed a few times before, and each time was very interesting. I am talking about, of course, young Cardiff housewife Tara Smith. Tara (who still insists she is 23) is, as I'm sure you'll remember, rather famous (or so she claims) for being a procrastinator of the first order, as well as a semi-regular blogger and part-time writer of innuendo-filled modern fairy tales. The last time we caught up with Tara, she was bemoaning the state of her NaNo novel because she had suffered some damage to her computer. You will be pleased to know that Tara (23), finally finished her novel, despite her setbacks, and even managed to get a decent laptop to replace her rather decrepit computer.

Now, six months later, we catch up with the young housewife and see what she has up her sleeves for the coming month.

Ima Nutcase: So Tara, what have you been up to since we last spoke to you?

Tara Smith: Oh you know, this and that. Well, mostly this if I'm honest, and not a lot of that at all, but you know what I mean.

IN: Quite. So you've not had a very eventful six months, then?

TS: Well I wouldn't say that. There's been lots of stuff going on, but I'm sure it wouldn't interest your readers. I'd much prefer to keep things of a private nature, well, private, if you know what I mean. I'm not one to talk, you know that.

IN: I see. So you don't want to discuss the last few months with your favorite roving reporter?

TS: Nope.

IN: Not even a little bit?

TS: Sorry.

IN: *pouts*

TS: I thought you might want to discuss things that are happening right now, you know, current events, that sort of thing.

IN: Well, if that's all you've got for me, I suppose we might as well....

Yes, dear readers, it seems that our twenty-something friend is not willing to discuss her recent history with us. But never fear, I am sure we can still get some interesting details about forthcoming events from our young Cardiffian.

IN: So, moving swiftly on, what can you tell us about what is happening in your life right now?

TS: Well, I have two pieces of news for you.

IN: Excellent!

TS: I'll tell you the smaller piece first, because I know how you reporters like to keep the bigger stuff for the end of the article, yes?

IN: Indeed. Always best to keep the climax for the finale, don't you agree?

TS: Oh yes, I quite agree. Well, the first thing I'm going to tell you about is my blog. I've decided that I will be using asterisked titles for all of my June blogs.

IN: Didn't you do that before?

TS: Yes! I'm glad you remember! I'm starting a tradition!

IN: A tradition?

TS: Yes, a tradition!

At this point, dear reader, I have to admit that your faithful reporter is somewhat confused. A tradition would imply that something is occurring on a regular basis, but seeing as it has been six months since the last time our young friend blogged with asterisked titles, this poor Nutcase is a wee bit confuzzlegasted. Obviously we need to pump for more details.

TS: Honestly. *rolls eyes* I'm leading up to my big news here, isn't it obvious?

Well, not really, no.

TS: Well the last time I asterisked all over the place, I was writing my NaNo novel, yes? This time I am writing my BuNo novel, which although has a different name, is basically the same thing.

IN: You're writing the same book again?

TS: No! I meant that NaNo and BuNo are the same sort of thing. Only I have to admit, I like BuNo better.

IN: Ah! *penny drops* You are attempting to write a 50,000 word novel this month again, yes?

TS: Yes! Only this time, my fabulous writers group are hosting the event. I thought that asterisking my blog titles for the month of June would be a nice little connection with the whole write-a-novel-in-30-days- thingy. Youknowzitmakezsense!

IN: *takes a calming breath and counts to ten* So you are going to blog this month using asterisked titles?

TS: Yes!

IN: And you are also going to write a novel?

TS: Well duh, isn't that what I've been trying to explain to you?

Quite frankly, at this point, dear reader, your humble Nutcase is feeling a bit violent, but being the professional person that I am, I resist strangling the youngish housewife and paste a friendly smile to my face as she starts rambling about her current project. I suspect that the Cardiffian has been at the vodka again, but I refrain from probing this issue as that would mean extending the interview, and quite honestly, this Nutcase has had about enough for one day.

IN: In short, you are blogging with asterisks this month because you are writing a novel, and that is what you did the last time?

TS: That's right, Ima, I am. Ooh, Ima, I am - that's kinda funny, isn't it? Ima, I am, Ima, I am....

IN:  *gnashes teeth * And what is the subject of your latest novel? Perhaps a sequel to your last effort?

TS: Er, actually, I'm still not sure.

IN: But shouldn't you be writing already? It is the first day of June.

TS: Oh pish posh, that doesn't bother me. I'll start writing something by the end of the day, never you fear.

As the young housewife takes a sip of a suspiciously clear-looking 'cup of tea', this reporter feels that the interview has come to a natural conclusion. As we pack up our equipment, we leave the Kairdiff Slag sipping her 'tea' and humming somewhat manically, and we promise her that we will be back to follow up on her current project.

Though honestly, if another volcanic eruption happens, I'll be begging Mr Editor to let me cover that instead.

Ima Nutcase, The Daily Ramble.

Blog Filler (or not having a subject to blog about, but blogging regardless).

I'm feeling fairly chuffed at the moment because this is blog number seventeen for this month. Not bad going, I reckon, as that means I have blogged for around half of the month. When I consider that January through April was pretty abysmal on the blogging front, I can definitely live with this month's blog count. I have a way to go before I am back to my previous form of blogging practically every day, but I'm on the right track. *grins happily*

Only.... (there had to be an 'only' here), tomorrow is June 1st, and that means BuNoWriMo. Erk. Something tells me that I may regress on my blogging progress this month. I solemnly swear that I'll try not to, but given my recent history on the whole writing front, I'd hazard a guess that June will be a quiet month for the Princess of Procrastination (well, for the blog page, not the person).

I am already doomed for tomorrow. Aside from the normal busy-ness that Tuesdays bring to my life, I also have the kids home from school because of the half term break (commiserations will be gratefully accepted). I also have a job interview tomorrow afternoon. While this is good news for me personally, it's not so good for BuNoWriMo. The job, if I get it, is only sixteen hours a week, but it is spread over three days, which will inevitably interfere with my BuNo progress. You would think that a four hour shift wouldn't interfere a lot with your entire day, but it does, and incredibly so. You still have to fit in your usual daily chores, and although the shift may only be four hours, you need to add an extra hour or so for travelling there and back. By the time you've done everything that needs to be done, the day is surprisingly over. And as for the day with the eight hour shift, you can forget it. Nothing's getting done that day, no sirree.

However, I am still confident that I can complete the target of 50,000 words by the end of June. Last November threw me huge curve balls with one thing and another, but I still managed to complete my NaNo novel. And I have two big advantages this time around. One, I KNOW I can do it, and if I did it once, I can do it again. Two, because this will be a sequel, writing the novel isn't as as scary a process as last time around. This time I already have most of my characters in place, and I know exactly what I want to do. Cardiffella was nuts to write as I really had no clue what I was doing, and yet here I am, editing like mad and hoping to sell the darn thing by the end of the year. Goes to show that you don't always have to have a plan when it comes to novel writing for it to work. It helps, yes, but it's not strictly required.

Or maybe that's just me.

The thing is, I woke up this morning with another idea in my head, so my BuNoWriMo novel may just end up being a journey into the unknown again. I won't know until I start it tomorrow. *shifty* I'm a nutter, obviously. I mean, I have a sequel pretty much worked out in my head, and BuNoWriMo is the perfect opportunity to write it, yet because I am me, I may end up doing something completely different.

Still, it's all part of the fun, right?

Writing Challenges

Hello all! A quick(ish) blog from me today, mostly because I have a ton of things that need doing, but also because I'm recovering from my trip to the dentist this morning (and the six injections I had to suffer through). *shudders*

The next few months look like they're going to be pretty busy ones. First off, there's the BuNoWriMo, which I briefly mentioned before. Like NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), BuNoWriMo promises to be manic. My writer's group (The Burrow) are hosting their own mini version of NaNoWriMo (hence the 'Bu' rather than the 'Na' at the start), and it starts in less than a week. The month of June should hopefully see lots of lovely new novels written by everyone who participates. These novels will be written at top speed, whether by hand or by typing, and they all promise to have many typos and plot gaps, but that's part of the fun. *grins*

"Fun?" you say. Yes, fun! Because although I'm betting more than a few of us will be stressing like mad during the process, the beauty of the challenge is that the completed novel isn't meant to be perfect. You are supposed to write, write, write - and that's it. No reading over what you have done, no spellchecking, no going back to tweak something that bothers you. Just write. It's quite liberating, actually, because you don't really have time to doubt yourself.

So I'm asking anyone and everyone who reads this to think about taking part in BuNoWriMo. Yes, I'm talking about YOU! All you need is a slight leaning towards insanity, plenty of pens/pencils and notebooks (or a working computer), and the will power to let go of those annoying I Must Write This Perfectly habits. Oh, and a Facebook account, because that's where we're hosting the official group.

Moving on quickly, I wanted to let you all know about a short story competition that I'm also writing for. It's only open to UK residents unfortunately, but the prizes are fabulous, and include online help from a published author, book vouchers, signed books, and, most impressive of all, a meeting with an agent from a publishing house! How awesome is that? The host of the competition is the author Rowan Coleman, and you can find full details of the competition and the prizes right here. Incidentally, Rowan also hosts a fabulous mini competition on her Facebook page every Friday. You have to write a short story in 420 characters or less and post it as your status. It's fun to do, and it doesn't take long to write. I've participated for the last three weeks and had a ball writing for it. It's open to everyone, and I highly recommend having a go!

And while I write for BuNoWriMo and the above competition, I shall also be continuing with the editing of Cardiffella, and possibly working too, depending if any of my job applications are successful. I'm also going to try and teach myself how to build a website, because I have an idea that's been fermenting for some time now, and I'm about ready to give it a shot (I'm not saying anything more until I have it ready. Which could be never, seeing as I'm so technically challenged.*snort*). Summer's going to be crazy this year! *faints*

Anywho, that's it for today,  I'll catch you all soon!

Image is courtesy of our lovely honorary Burrow member, Joris, who produces beautiful images for both our writing group, and for individual projects. You can contact Joris at jorisammerlaan@gmail.com

I iz Taffin' again....

Whassup, peeps? I is 'aving a bangin' day today! First ov all, itz bluddy BOILing yer in the Kair of Diff, itz unfriggin'believable how 'ot itz got in the last two dayz like, innit? I mean, it was bluddy rain, rain, and MORE rain a coupla dayz ago, but now itz like, I dunno, a bluddy foreign country or sumfink.

At the moment I iz sat on the sowfa and typing this yer blog like, with sum moozic blastin' in the background. Me doorter is bopping around like the Mini Disco Diva that she iz, and I iz tappin' me foot along to Lady Gaga. Issallgood, innt?

P-P-P-Poker face, p-p-poker face....

Anywayz, while Lady Gaga (digitally) warbles in me lugholes, I thought I'd squeeze a blog in. I've bin busy all day today, spending lotsa time and 'avin' lotsa fun wiv me very amoozing pussy. Now, if you've bin paying attenshun - and I 'ope you 'ave -  you'll know that me amoozing pussy is not anyfink rood like, itz just me furry little friend. *reads last sentence* That's still a bit innuendo-y, ain't it? What I ment is me pussy is me furry little literary friend, cos my pussy is called Muse and she is like a characta in me novel. 'onestly, you is all filfy-minded peeps, ain't ya?

Anyways, coz I 'ave to add, like, anuvver ten fousand words to me novel if I wants to submit it fer publishin', I needs to like add quite a bit to it. There's a coupla new charactas to squeeze in, and some scenes need a bit of lengthenin' like, but a good free fousand words is gunna come from the prologue. And this is where I've bin having fun wiv me pussy. See, Muse is a fairy godmother, and she's like a recurrin' characta. Okay, she's not a recurrin' characta as of yet, coz me novel is the only book she's in like, but me novel is book one of a planned series, so eventually she'll be a recurrin' characta, see? *nods*

So, today I've bin puttin' me pussy threw her paces. She's been reminiscin' on her previous cases, see, and itz in order to flesh out her characta. You see, there's nothin' better than a fleshed out pussy.

And that's anuvver fing; today's bin bangin' becoz I've bin innuendo-in' all day long, coz innuendo is like the best fing since sliced bred, innit? You could be 'aving the worst day evah, but as long as you get a bit of innuendo in, everyfing just seems a little bit betta, don't it? Youknowzitmakezsense!

In ovver Itz Bin A Bangin' Day So Far news, I'm chuffed to beans becoz me networkin' is definitely paying off. I've now got almost two hundred more Facebook friendz than I 'ad three weeks ago - thatz like, more than double what I 'ad before! Sweet! And everyone is like, so nice! I 'ave to admit, this adding and accepting new friends fingy is so addictive, itz like, I dunno, choclut or sumfink. I loves it, I do, I loves it!

Lastly, there is one more reason I is 'aving a bangin' day, and that's BuNoWriMo. Now, I know that reading 'BuNoWriMo' might make you fink "what the 'ell is that?", and 'onestly, I wouldn't blame you becoz, well, unless you is psychic, you won't have a bluddy clue what I is talkin' about. See, BuNoWriMo is basically NaNoWriMo, only wivout the 'Na' bit at the start (and wiv 'Bu' there instead). Now, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month, which is like a worldwide fing that 'appens in November, and 'as peeps from all ovah the planet attemptin' to write a 50,000 word novel in firty dayz. Itz bluddy manic, I can tell you, but lotsa fun too. The only reason I had a pussy to play with today is because of NaNoWriMo, so I loves it, I do, I loves it.

Anywayz, my writers group is doin' itz own version of NaNoWriMo, and coz we is called The Burrow, we like altered the name like, innit? We iz gonna attempt a 50,000 word novel in June. Now, this is where me recurrin' pussy comes into play, coz I is gonna write the sequel to my original NaNo novel for BuNoWriMo, and the provisional title is gunna be Beauty has the Beast (nuffink like an innuendo-y type title, is there?), and will once again be set in me home town, the Kair of Diff (that's 'Cardiff' to anyone who ain't familiar wiv Taff speak). I like, can't wait to get crackin' on it, so I iz like totally buzzin'!

If anyone would like to participate in BuNoWriMo, I'll be like posting details and stuff when I knowz more, and we will like advertise and stuff on our Burrow Facebook page. It's gunna be crazy, but fun, and the more peeps who take part, the betta!

I'll keep you posted on BuNoWriMo, but in the meantime I needz to go back and have sum more fun wiv me furry little friend, so I'll catch you all later! Byez fer now!

Magnificent Mojos

This request buisness has been pretty good for my writing mojo. After successfully blogging for two solid months, then being pretty good in December (I managed to blog 15 times, which when I think about how mad December was, is not bad at all), I virtually disappeared. This is blog number eleven of 2010. Bad. Very bad. Anyway, as I was saying, this request malarkey is great, because it appears that by having someone suggest a topic for me, it has actually pushed me into writing regularly again. Okay, so we are only on the fifth consecutive day now, but my blog count for January was a big fat zero, while February only had one blog posted for the entire month.

Moving on.

My fave NaNo novel illustrator, Ana, came up with her second topic suggestion for this round of requests, and as usual, she has picked something close to my heart. Namely mojos.

Now, I have blogged about mojos before. In fact, I seem to remember saying that my 'Mojo Moments' would be a semi-regular blog topic. *coughs*  My first Mojo Moment was way back in my first week of blogging, and was all about my ultimate mojo, Aragorn (of Lord of the Rings fame). I rambled extensively about the advantages of being hot, dirty, and owning a big sword. Good fun for all, I would think. I think I forgot all about my intention of blogging about mojos semi-regularly after that (forgetfulness is one of the banes of being a procrastinator), until about seven weeks later.

The madness of November (NaNoWriMo anyone?) ended on a surprising high when I not only managed to blog almost every day (I missed once), but I also managed to complete the 50,000 word novel challenge that I had been suckered into by my good friend Tami (Confessions of a Watery Tart). What better way to celebrate than to blog all about the mojo that is Dean Winchester (a.k.a. Jensen Ackles) of Supernatural fame?  I got to insert plenty of innuendo into my post (always a good thing), managed to include several increasingly hot pictures of said mojo, and was also able to use copious amounts of asteriskisms, which are quite possibly my favorite things in the world. *fondly remembers asteriskisms blog post* [/shameless self-plugging once more].

Anywho, after only a mere *shifty* six months, here I am blogging about mojos again. Okay, so far all I have done is ramble about my previous blogs and added links (shameless plugs) to several things (mostly because I'm still strangely impressed that I can actually do this kind of thing without stuffing it up)  but I'm getting to new stuff, I swear.

My Mojo Cupboard is pretty full, I have to admit. Accompanying Aragorn the Hot and Dean the Droolworthy are more than a handful of gorgeous hunks that, as far as I'm concerned, were put on this earth for the purpose of making me (and several million other women) drool. Yes, I know that's a bit shallow.... Tara, these men are people too, not just eye candy! They are talented as well as hot, and would probably be insulted if they thought people only liked them for their looks.... but honestly, the whole point of mojos is that they give visual pleasure (at the very least) to hoards of women all over the world, and are unavailable, thus safe to fantasize over. Yes, they're intelligent, talented people who are more than just merely good -looking actors (or fictional characters, as the case may be), but when we fantasize about our mojos, we aren't imagining how sexy they would be if they were working out a quadratic equation.

And lets face it, mojos are perfect fantasy material. I'm pretty sure that there isn't a single perfect person, be it male or female, in the world right now. Everyone has faults, no matter how nice they are. But mojos are perfect. They always look perfect, always act in the way that you love, and sometimes wear sexy lingerie just the way you like it *coughs* Find me a man like that in real life and I'll eat my laptop. And this is why we love our mojos. It's pure escapism, fun, and a little bit naughty to have private droolfests over people we are never likely to meet in a million years. And quite honestly, I'm pretty sure that most of my mojos, while publicly holding themselves aloof, are privately a little bit chuffed that they bring so much pleasure to women all over the world. At least, I like to think so.

I suppose I can't finish today's blog without having a proper Mojo Moment. I've rambled a fair bit already, but haven't actually mentioned any of my other mojos. I could wax lyrical about Mr. Darcy, or perhaps enthusiastically witter away about Johnny Depp, but I think I'm going to go with Ian Somerhalder. Mr. Somerhalder stars as Damon Salvatore in the American TV series The Vampire Diaries.

Now, I've blogged before about my TV addictions, and this series is another habit that I have. I'm not one for vampires in general; I can't stand anything to do with Twilight, and the phenomenon that is True Blood has completely passed me by. To be truthful, The Vampire Diaries is not that great; the plot is contrived, the characters predictable, and the overuse of music with moody overtures can be a bit, well, overused. But I'm a sucker (no pun intended) for a bad boy, and Damon Salvatore is truly a bad boy. He treats women like dirt, traumatizes his brother on an hourly basis, and thoroughly enjoys himself when he is in full vampire mode. But as with all bad boys, you know that deep down (very deep down with this one) lies a poor wounded little boy lost. *sighs in Scarlett O'Hara fashion*

Okay, it's a fantasy, I know. Real-life bad boys are rarely soft and cuddly on the inside, but if you were paying attention, you would know that the word 'fantasy' is the key here.

As I said before, The Vampire Diaries is not fantastic. I think I would have given up on it a long time ago if it wasn't for the character of Damon. In fact, I already did give up on it last year. I watched two or three episodes and decided that it wasn't my cup of tea at all. Then the crappiness that is British TV at the moment forced me into looking online for other viewing pleasures, and I decided to give the series another shot. If nothing else, I can hit the mute button and freeze frame all the Damon scenes (especially the shirtless ones), right?

And don't roll your eyes at me, because I know you do that too (or at least I hope you do....)

Ahh, I loves me my mojos. *sighs happily*

Next request?

Rambling Update

Considering it's been three weeks since my last blog - you know, when I said I'd be blogging a bit more often *shifty* - and considering that I now have a few projects to work on and therefore have something to blog about, I thought I'd pop by and ramble a bit. Of course, I've had a few bevvies this afternoon (highly unusual for me, but there we are), so I'm nice and relaxed and am more amenable to typing. Another of course is that I should have blogged properly for the last three (er, four) months when I had virtually nothing to do, but (yet another) of course, I have chosen to blog when I have about a gazillion other things that I should be doing instead.

In any case....

I have finally started editing my novel from last November's NaNo madness - yay! I have decided that I want to be ready to send it to publishers (or, at least, a specific publisher) by the beginning of September. I originally planned to have it done by the end of July, but I am postponing (for a reason not yet to be divulged) for a wee while.

In other news, my lovely writer's group (http://www.the-burrow.org/) are keeping me busy (with spiffy things that are also not yet to be divulged) and this recent burst of activity is responsible for giving me back some of my Motivation Mojo. So far I have his lower body (which can be quite nice, if I'm honest), but I'm hopeful that I will soon have the use of his full working body (including his brain, which is the bit that feeds my ideas) sometime very soon.

Closely related to my 'other' news, I'm having a marvelous time reading and reviewing my fellow writers' stories from The Burrow. Well, I'm thoroughly enjoying the reading at any rate, but as my reviews tend to be cringe-worthy ('I liked that bit' is about as technical as I get),it's a bit of a mixed bag. I mean, I always feel that my review comments rarely (if at all) help, so I'm a bit squirmy about posting them. Still, I do my best, and that is all you can ask of anyone, right?

In other, other news, I'm now 3lbs shy of the three stone marker in my weight loss project. Okay, so losing weight is not really a project, but I am working at it, so as far as I'm concerned, it's a project. *nods firmly* I've dutifully ordered the Wii Dance game (to go with the Wii Sports) and will endeavor to get the console out for an hour every day in my bid to get to my target weight (as of now, I am 23lbs away from my goal).

In other, other, other news, I'm definitely feeling better lately, and having more good days than bad, so I'm hoping that May will be the month that I finally get back to what I love doing (er, I'm talking about writing, in case anyone wondered. Of course, there could be nobody reading this, so nobody would wonder, but.... what was I saying?). Ah yes, back to writing.

And editing.

And reviewing.

And blogging.

Well, as much as any procrastinator can, at any rate....

Here Pussy Pussy....

Oh, I am tired. It's exhausting, this 'being a cat' business. One minute you are asleep, the next you hear,

"Puss! Puss- puss!"

Really, when you imagine that we are rolling our eyes, we probably are.

"Puss! Here, puss-puss!"

No! I want to sleep! I will not catch your pesky mouse. I caught one only yesterday, and brought it to you. What did you do? You wrinkled your nose and told me to "Shoo!"

Silly humans.

Yes, now I am sniffing with disdain, you did not imagine it.

"Puss!"

No! I am stretching lazily and ignoring you. 'Shoo' yourself!

Purrrr... 


Ha! Gotcha! I bet you thought that the title would mean I was being all Taffish again, but I fooled you, oh yes I did!

*coughs*

Well, maybe I didn't fool you at all, and maybe it is only ME that has a dirty mind....

Anywho, I've been a busy bee all day again today, and I'm not sure how much time I have on the PC before the hubby gets home, so I thought I'd share a drabble that I wrote last year. Hence the pussy post. In actual fact, the image that inspired the drabble wasn't the picture above, but I decided to share a photo of my own pussy instead. My pussy is in fact my third child (or maybe fourth if you count the hubby). I cwch (that's how we say it in Wales) her like a baby, and talk to her in that special voice reserved for children under the age of one.

I speak to her, and she speaks to me. Really. She honestly does speak to me. And sometimes she doesn't even have to utter a meow, she'll talk with her eyes and let me know exactly what she wants. It was Belle (my pussy's name) who inspired me to include a talking cat in my NaNo novel. Okay, so the cat in my novel, Muse, actually speaks with a human voice (which quite obviously my own cat does not), but in looks and character, Muse is the carbon copy of my own feline friend.

I've always been a cat person. Growing up, my family always had at least one cat in the household. Some we unfortunately lost prematurely due to the two biggest worries that a cat owner stresses over - traffic and wandering. But we had the one cat for seventeen years. Now, Fluffy (highly original name, I know *rolls eyes*) was really part of the family. She survived countless house moves and was treated like a human more often than not. When we lost her we were devastated. For those people that don't have family pets, its seems strange to say that we really grieve when a pet dies, but we do. I think I cried more when Fluffy died than I did when I lost my grampy. Of course, I only ever really saw my grampy about twice a year, so we were never what you would call close, but still, it seems strange to think that I was more upset at losing my cat.

My current pussy, Belle, gave me a scare a couple of months ago when she disappeared for two nights. Normally she rarely ventures out, and on the odd occasion when she does, she's back in under an hour. I was convinced she had been attacked by the neighborhood dogs and/or had been run over. I was on pins for the whole time she was gone, and cried buckets of tears when I thought no-one was looking. Thankfully she came home, none the worse for wear. *wipes brow* She was also completely oblivious to the stress she had caused (I know, she's a cat, and therefore doesn't think like we humans do, but still, you'd have thought she would have at least given me an extra cuddle by way of apology). She strolled in, ate her fill at her dish, and sauntered into the living room so that she could zonk out on her favorite chair. And do you think she would let me make a fuss of her? Not bloody likely.

Still, that's cats for you, eh? As long as they get fed and have a warm place to snooze, they really don't care about us. I suspect that they see us as their pets actually. They're very crafty, those cats. *nods wisely*

Leaving things half-finis...

No, there isn't a typo in the title of today's blog, it was an attempt at humour. I know you may not believe this, because a)I am a Typo Queen and b), well, it's not really funny. But it's the truth, so help me Aragorn (that wasn't a typo either, though to be fair it would be pretty difficult to to have 'Aragorn' as a typo for 'God'. Having said that, if you have Aragorn on the mind, anything is possible, so maybe it could have been a typo after all). Hmm.

Anyway,  what I wanted to talk about was my very bad habit of leaving things half-finished. This, I should also tell you, goes hand in hand with leaving things to the last minute. And also hand in hand (you may have to swap hands to achieve required handiness, or borrow a friend's extremities, you decide), with the tendency to dither, waste time, and generally procrastinate.

On Leaving Things half-finished....

These things could be anything, though then usually tend to be writing projects. *shifty* I have - wonder of wonders- actually completed no less than three longer length fan fictions. Now, three is quite a nice number, but when you consider that I have been writing fanfic for over four years now, three isn't an awful lot (and in fact, the very first fiction that I ever wrote and completed was short enough to be definitely dicey on the classification of 'longer fanfic').

To put it into perspective, I currently have two 'ongoing' (and I use that term loosely) fanfictions. One was started in November of 2007 and was supposed to have been finished within two to three months. *pulls familiar shifty face* The other, probably my personal favorite in terms of writing for it, was started way back in March of 2006 (you all know how shifty I am looking now, right?). The first fic should have been finished at least a year ago. I stipulated two to three months because I thought it would be fairly short, but I ended up writing more scenes that I initially intended, so the plot became too much for a shorter length fic. Still, two years later, I am only half way through....

My second fic, though, was always meant to be longer. Having a extremely soft spot for Remus Lupin (of Harry Potter fame), I decided to write his life story based on the little canon that we knew about him. I have him at nine years old at the start, and the plan was (still is, in fact) to take him right the way up until his death.  The really good thing with this story is that I get to be evil. *nods* Remus Lupin is definitely a victim, and not only because if his Furry Little Problem (er, for the few of you who haven't read these books, our Remmy is a werewolf, bless him *hugs Remmy*). The poor soul is also without parents, not to mention virtually friendless, and without any means to support himself in a world that categorically hates werewolves (poor thing, I mean honestly, it's not like werewolves are dangerous, is it? )

Still, even though I intended the story to be long-lasting, we are now three and a half years later, and Remus is still only 14. *does the shifty foot shuffle* It's also a mark of how long I have been writing this fic that the banner actually has my original HPANA username on there (complete with obligatory typo), when I actually changed my username over two years ago. *snorts*

And then there are the three fictions that I abandoned completely.  My bad. Very bad. It's an absolute pain in the arse when you get involved in a story only to have the author give up on it half way through. I KNOW this, yet I have still committed this cardinal sin.

The thing is, it's not that I actively choose to abandon these stories, and it's not that I don't want to finish them, because I do, very much so. Obviously I am to blame, because I can't exactly blame it on someone else, but sometimes it really isn't my fault, I swear. Scout's Honour (okay, I'm not, nor ever have been, a scout, but you know what I mean). A good 50% of the blame can actually be apportioned to things that are out of my control. Lack of computer (this is the biggie), lack of time (some months more than others), and lack of ideas (you can't force a muse to appear, even with bribery, I tried) all contribute to the lack of writing. I could even add stress and depression to this, because I am a very up and down person who can experience quite scary mood-swings on a regular basis. The highs are very good, because they make me a little hyper, thus more inclined to write, but the lows are not at all conductive to story-telling.

On the other hand, there is also 50% worth of blame that still needs to be dished out, and I can't deny that this half of the problem is all down to me. You would be amazed at the amount of things I could find to do that would mean I could accidentally-forget-on-purpose that I am supposed to be writing. I've even been known to get the iron and ironing board out in order to put off that update that should have been written several days ago. *needs to have the word 'shifty' tattooed across my forehead).

I suppose that technically, it really isn't my fault as such. It's always been in my nature to dither and put things off, and it's a very hard habit to break. I have small breakthroughs now and again (NaNoWriMo was the biggest breakthrough EVER), but they are few and far between.  I'm trying to do better though.

Only, I've sort of noticed that this month is not going so well. I've not written anything at all in the last week, and I haven't managed to keep up with my blog.  Still, this is mostly because December is such a mad, mad month, and also because the hubby is currently off work so my computer time is severely hampered. I'm not too worried about it in actual fact. My fingers may be idle, but my brain is whizzing with activity, and I have managed to jot down plot ideas for the next two books in my proposed Fairy Tales series.  (Note that once again, my original 'original', Soul Identitiy, is on the back burner. One year I may actually write the darn thing, but seeing as at the moment my brain can only conjure chick-litty stuff, I'm letting that one stay in the dusty attic which is situated in the top left-hand corner of my brain for the time being).

Oh, and I forgot! I haven't 'not written anything at all' this month after all! I churned out two Christmas drabbles the other day. *grins* There, that's not so bad, is it?