Tuesday 28 July 2009

Coincidentally this is a little Contrived

I am having a bit of a panic. Nothing new there then! It’s my novel AGAIN! I have far too many coincidences throughout, which make it all seem a little contrived. It’s so hard though, I want the subplots to link in some way to the main plot - but there’s got to be a valid reason, rather than a coincidence - YES?! So my job over this week is to go through it in the hope of making my coincidences less coincidental – so to speak.

I’ve been so busy on my novel! I’m nearly at 70,000 words on the re-write. Last week I followed Calistro’s fab idea of chapter index cards – and that worked brilliantly! Do go have a look if you haven’t already - it’s such a great idea!

Ooh, and finally, I have a story in My Weekly this week – YAY! I received my complimentary copy yesterday and they’ve done such a lovely job. The artwork is super, as always! It’s out this Thursday, I think! So exciting !

Saturday 18 July 2009

Derren Brown's ENIGMA


I leapt across the nice old lady who sat next to me. She was asking her son if ‘being put into a trance’ was anything like having an operation, and looked startled when I landed in her lap. But, despite my efforts, I didn’t catch the Frisbee.

‘Swearwords.’

I so wanted to catch it. To throw my Frisbee clasping hand in the air and shout, ‘Ooh, ooh, ooh, Derren, look at me, I’ve caught a Frisbee.’ Because then Mr Brown would have called me down onto The Adelphi stage, where I could have spent some wonderful moments with him.

And I was all prepared, you see. I was wearing my ditsy yellow top (well that's what it says on the label) and my best Tesco necklace. Get the idea? Yes I’d really gone to town.

But hey, we can’t have it all. Just to see him up there, waltzing around the stage like he owned it (which he probably did) was enough. And, actually, I’m lying. Sorry! I’m not one for going up on the stage, truth be told. Although I have acted, oh yes indeed! I had a huge role in a P.T.A. murder mystery play a few years back. I bet you’re impressed.

Anyway, I digress. And I must not digress. Look into my eyes. I must not digress. Because, this blog post is about Derren Brown, who entertained me last night, although sadly he has asked I keep the evening’s events a secret. You know, between me and him – and 2000 others, who just happened to be there. So I can’t share anything with you; which I suppose makes this post a complete waste of time.

Except that, if you do get a chance to spend the evening with him, I strongly recommend it. As, quite frankly, his show, ENIGMA, is blummin’ FANTASTIC!

Details of his tour can be found HERE

Monday 13 July 2009

Patience



YAY - I’ve just received my copy of Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2010.

Trouble is, it’s made me all impatient.

I'm itching to send off the first three chapters of my novel! They are ready! Done and dusted a gazillion times! As too is my synopsis. Yes, I'm all set to GO.

Trouble is, I’ve only re-drafted 60,000 of my 75,000 words. So I know it’s too soon.

So, I’m going to be very patient! Yes, really I am!

Oh and the above picture is of Molly, my twelve year old gorgeous doggie. It was taken yesterday, when she seemed to have a fancy for eating the lobelia, which is apparently toxic. So we'll be keeping a close eye on her when she ventures into the garden from now on!

Saturday 4 July 2009

A Good Week


A lavender walk on Thursday with three of my closest friends, certainly put a spring in my step. It was a beautiful evening full of sunshine and smiles, and later we put the world to right in a pub garden; lovely times indeed. So much so I've included a lavender walk in my novel!

And I’ve been busy, busy, busy clocking up the word count on my re-write – so much has been chopped from the first draft it’s unrecognisable as the same story - and there’s still more editing I can do – but I am getting there – slowly!

Oh and I’ve actually entered the Tonto Competition now, which is exciting. And I’ve SOLD another story to That’s Life Australia – which is trebly exciting as it looks like I’ll be sharing the pages with three super-duper blogger friends YAY!