Monday Musings

Well… It’s Monday Morning. But it’s not just any Monday morning. Every year – the 31st of October is the same for me. Firstly, it’s my husband’s birthday today. Secondly, it’s also the ‘scariest’ day of the year, which means that there will be many Halloween celebrations happening around the world…. and thirdly, it’s the day before NaNoWriMo starts.

Needless to say, today I am feeling a mixture of things. I’m apprehensive because I don’t feel ready for NaNoWriMo. I’m also excited because it’s NaNoWriMo, and there is nothing quite like the amazing 30 day adrenaline rush that you get during NaNo. I’m happy because it’s my husbands birthday, and that’s always a good day during the year. I’m weary because I have to be at work today, and I would really and truly just prefer to be at home pottering about. And then there is Halloween. It’s not really a big thing in NZ… We never get kids around, and probably because we live where there is 60% elderly population, and I somehow don’t think they are going to dress up for candy. Each year, we buy yummy stuff just in case one comes knocking, but usually it’s very quiet. . Then I just end up eating it. So – a pointless exercise really.

And so my October ends, and a new week begins.

In the meantime. This is what I am musing about today.

• Thinking that I seriously need to be more organised for NaNoWriMo starting tomorrow. But – I have actually been less organised for November in the past… I’m sure I’ll be fine.
• So amazingly impressed about our kitchen. My mother in law came up last week, and felt inspired to clean down our kitchen so we could paint it. We have been meaning to paint our kitchen since we moved into the house more than five years ago… and it was a delicious colour of bright, bright yellow. Now it looks much better in an off white sort of colour, with a lovely white ceiling. Much, much better. Would love to post a picture, but I left my phone at home this morning, so no can do. My living room is absolutely covered in crap from our kitchen. I still cannot quite believe it all came out of the shelves and the pantry…
• There is so much more to do at home. I’m going to start a clear out of my books. There are thousands of them, and I will keep the best of them… but some (I hate to say this since I know how much work goes into producing one….) are rubbish. And it is time for them to leave my premises, and go to the loving home of someone else in this world.
• We bought a new bed! Yippeee!!! Cannot wait till it arrives. Super excited. This will require a bedroom shift to make it all work. Magical. Perhaps this will assist with the multitude of sleeping issues I am having at the moment. *fingers crossed*

I’m pretty sure that’s it from me this morning. Looking forward to culling some of the rubbish out of my house. It’s Spring… actually – it’s more t han halfway through spring, but that’s all good!

Have a good week / Halloween everyone! Oh – and best of luck to those of you participating in NaNoWriMo this year! May the words be with you.

LA Reid's House in Hamptons - A perfect writers retreat for an aspiring 'Wrimo

 

Belated Monday Musings

I realise that I have been slightly useless with Monday Musings recently – and that I should have posted one yesterday! You know what? Completely forgot. Actually – I completely forgot it was even Monday, because it’s a public holiday here in New Zealand. So, it did not even cross my mind until I walked through the office door this morning, and voila! Magically, I remembered that it was Tuesday, that I had missed Monday, and that I only have a four day work week. A very sad fact was that I felt excitement because I only have to work four days!

Having a long weekend is a great way to get rid of your bad juju, and actually feel a little revived without going on a big holiday. Now we are on the downward slope to Christmas holidays. And right in amongst everything is NaNoWriMo, which will make it all come round even faster.

So, here are my musings for the moment.

 - I didn’t manage to get any writing related work done in the weekend, and I feel guilty! I know. This is technically the third weekend in a row. The first weekend, I was at my friend Cassie’s place. The second weekend – staying with my Mother…. This weekend was a long weekend, and I managed to stay home and get no writing done! I honestly have no idea where the time went.

Bumpkin’s new paintings and armchair

 - Apart from the fact that I spent a lot of time planning for our unborn child. Like buying it a ‘nightlight’ lava lamp. (Oh, how very kitsch.) Or my mother in law buying it a little armchair for its bedroom. Or even painting it some animals on canvas for its bedroom… Please bear in mind that I haven’t actually painted anything for about 2 years. In fact, there is still a half finished painting sitting in one of our bedrooms that I keep meaning to ‘get around to’ one day.

 - I’m pretty excited about doing my iNaNoWriMo challenge this November. I’m really really looking forward to getting into some decent writing and editing routines. This has been seriously lacking in my life lately.

 - New Zealand is chuffed with itself. Absolutely over the moon. Everyone is celebrating. Why? Because we just won the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Not only did we manage to host this enormous event for the past six weeks, we managed to beat France by one point on Sunday night! Needless to say, the majority of New Zealand were hungover yesterday from all the celebrating. And the celebrations will continue throughout this week as well. They always say that the All Blacks are the most revered and talented rugby team in the world, but yet we haven’t managed to win a world cup since 1987.

And on that note – here is a song for our beloved All Blacks, for a job well done. I raise my Mocktail to them!

 

interNational Novel Writing Month

Oh, I know that it’s officially named National Novel Writing Month, but since I live in New Zealand, and people all over the world join in the fun each November… I’m renaming it to be interNational.

Now, getting down to business. If you are joining in with all the NaNoWriMo madness this year – what are you planning to do? Much to my own surprise, I have decided to do something a little different this year. Instead of writing 50,000 words… I’m going to edit and revise 50,000 words, which is the amount remaining that I have to edit on The Mediterranean Source to  finish this final edit and revision. Then hopefully I can convince my friend to help me polish it in December. 

Every year in March, there is a month called NaNoEdMo, which is a month specifically designed for editing your NaNoWriMo novel. They base it on 50 hours of solid editing over the month. I’m going to do my November challenge just slightly differently. It will work the same way as NaNoWriMo with word counts of my edits, etc. So that is how I am going to track myself over the month of November. Same principle, slightly different methodology, same NaNoWriMo tools (word count and daily goal).

You may be wondering why on earth I am thwarting away from my annual writing challenge – the one that I participate religiously in… Because this year I am pregnant, and honestly, I can only fit so much information into my head. I think that it would probably be a seriously nasty thing to do to myself if I tried to squash in an entire novel in there and produce it within 30 days. That’s a bit rough!

So this is my alternative. And when I look at it objectively – I think it’s a pretty good solution and alternative to work with. I need to finish the editing on this book, and this is a prime opportunity to get stuck in and do it.

I know that plotting out a novel can be rather overwhelming at the best of times – let alone one that you are going to produce within a month! Whether you are a Plotter or a Pantser, there will always be a little initial planning that goes into your novel – whether it is research, or character development, or scene and setting. There is always a little planning that goes into these things.

So…. here is a little treat for those of you who are currently plotting out your NaNoWriMo novels. Alexandra Sokoloff’s Narrative Structure Cheat Sheet. Seriously – whether you are plotting a Nano novel or not – this is a brilliant tool to use! When I saw it yesterday – the first thing I wanted to do was to print it out and use it straight away. A fantabulous tool for any writer to use. So thank you very much, Ms Sokoloff – your brilliance will benefit all creative writers!

So off you go. Plot, plan, and dream up your new novels that you’re planning to write. Let me know how your progress is going.

 

Oral and Traditional Stories

I am one of the people lucky enough to work in an industry that records and researches the Oral and Traditional History of Maori (our indigenous people) in New Zealand.

But I’m not going to talk the technical language about that side of my life. It was the history and stories that we hear that got me thinking though. These are all the traditional stories that are passed onto us, generation after generation through our friends and families. In Maori folk lore there are legends and stories that stay alive through the ‘camp-fire’ story telling sessions. And every now an then, I’m told one. Some of these stories are true, right down to the precise time of when the story occurred… some are the legends… and some have been altered by the original story tellers to make them more palatable to the audience.

But many of the stories have a sordid premise, and that’s the part that I’m really interested in. How the stories and and legends came about in the first place, and the original character motivations. One of the stories from the area of where I grew up is the story about the Purakanui Massacre at Mapoutahi Pa.  ’Purakanui’ means pile of wood, in which the meaning behind is loosely translated to ‘piles of bones that were buried beneath the sand’ after a tribal war in 1750. Today when you are standing on Purakanui Beach, you would never have even thought that anything horrific had ever happened in that serene little piece of paradise. “There is nothing to suggest the tragedy of which it was once the scene, yet these green slopes once ran red with blood and the yells of the victors and the vanquished could have been heard above the noise of the surf that laves its rocky base.” I always knew, instinctively, not to go near the Matoutahi Pa at night. It is within these legends and stories that strike warnings into the centre of our hearts – whether we were there or not. Regardless what we believe in and knowing the histories of the area, brings respect of the area and its people into context.

Maui and the Sun - a story that most New Zealanders know. Click the image for the full legend

But these stories and legends aren’t told just through the Maori. They are told through generations of people in every single culture, all over the globe. Story telling is a universal past time that we all love. Either we are the story tellers, or we are the audience.

The beautiful thing about the indigenous people is that their stories live on like recent memories through the tribe as each story is retold over and over again to the people. Stories are told through art, fire, dance, music, and through the use of our senses. Some are experience enhanced through the use of illicit drugs, hypnosis, or trance. Some are drawn. Some are even written down.

But regardless of what medium they are told in… they are all stories and legends, given to us from our ancestors. Some writers are so inspired by these legends and stories, they incorporate the legends, myths, and the learnings of the stories into their work to share with everyone. One of the more well known NZ legends told globally in recent times is Whale Rider, which was turned into a movie. Some of the authors inspired by legends that spring to mind immediately are writers like Homer, Rick Riordan, David Hair, and a multitude of others around the globe.

While we can listen and learn the stories from our past… It is up to us to create the stories for the future.

 

Monday Musings

Welcome back to Monday. Was meant to post another blog last week, but due to my ‘baby-brain’ it didn’t quite happen. Might happen this week. I’m easily distracted by food and sleep. Surprise surprise…

I had a lovely weekend with my buddy Cassie Hart at her place in Taranaki. I met Cassie through working with her during the Tales for Canterbury period. Something just struck a chord between us, and we have been firm friends ever since. Met through a mutual cause, and maintained our friendship, which is done rather easily since we are both passionate about very similar things.  

As for my musings for this week – here they are:

• 

  A little Taranaki surf to whet our Summer appetites…

  Summer is coming, and I am more than aware of the urgent need to upgrade my wardrobe with clothes that will actually fit me throughout this period. This is happening though through the awesome donations from a few friends, which I am super stoked about. Being pregnant, and about to hit 30 odd degree weather at my house is not going to be too much fun. However, with a little help from my friends and family, I might just get though!

• I’m gutted there is no surfing this summer for me… however – there will be plenty of swimming at the beach next to my house. Gotta have something to cool me down a bit!
• Editing should be moving, but since my Evil Day Job is rather full on at the moment, the editing isn’t moving as fast as it should be. I need to throw more focus at it, and get it all out of the way. Starting tomorrow. *fingers crossed*
• I’m still mulling over ideas for NaNoWriMo this year. I think that even if I can get through 25,000 words this coming November, I will be pleased with myself. The lack of writing has been getting to me a bit, but I do also realise that all my thoughts are completely scrambled at the moment… so I’ve just been taking a bit of a break. I would really love to finish the Talent series though. I think that would be a worthy achievement before little Bumpkin is born.
• Christmas is just around the corner, and I haven’t even thought about what to get people yet – haven’t even discussed what we are doing for it! I guess this is a conversation we better have rather soon though. I have recently thrown all my outdoor furniture out – so I might need to get some more if people want to have it at our house.
• Totally LOVE the new chilling and reading space that we created last week in our living room. Its working really well. I sit there and read in the afternoons, and gaze out at the garden. It’s brilliant.
• One of my best friend’s is moving to Brisbane sometime soon… and while I’m extremely proud of her for taking the leap, and living her life to suit her and no one else, I know that I’m going to miss her. But I am extremely proud of her. Our lives are ours. And it’s completely up to us to change it if we don’t like the stagnant or mundane phase it’s in. She’s moving to a city where the sun shines happily, the weather is normally pretty decent, it’s warm… even in a southerly.

I think that’s it from me today. I look at the above thoughts and think that perhaps I had better put together a decent little list and start working through it!

 

Monday Musings

Before I get into it – I would like to apologise about the lack of my Musings post last Monday. I took the day off sick, as I’d had bugger all sleep… and kinda forgot about it!

I’m not sure what goals you all have in your life… but I know that with mine I have a crap load. Yes. Heaps and heaps of them. And I will keep pursuing these goals until I finally get there, not matter how long it takes me. Is this wrong? I don’t think so. I think that it’s driven, and it gives me something else to think about instead of the mundane everyday stuff that I have to put up with. I’m a dreamer… always have been – always will be.

But how is this measured?

Well. I keep a Hopes and Dreams book, where I write down all sorts of things in it. (Yes, winning the lottery is written down in the dreams section!) But in reality… this is more of a goals book, with a little bit of fantastical dreaming mixed in. If the dreams come to the life of reality, then my world will be all the more richer for it. Another of my dreams, is to one day hit the Whitcoull’s Top 100 List. This has always been a dream, but more importantly – it also keeps my writing and goals in perspective. I’m not sure I’ll ever get there… in fact, at the moment I highly doubt it since it looks as though that particular bookstore is going under. But there will be another ‘bookstore list’ I can dream about some day. For today, I’ll stick with Whitcoull’s.

I also measure my writing progress in six month increments. I find that if I set goals and plans for a year – it’s too long. Six months feels about right. It goes fast, and you would be surprised at how fast it actually goes!! Then I can revise it, carry over some of the straggling tasks and goals, and continue onwards and upwards.

And why am I yabbering on about goals, hopes, and dreams you may ask? Well… because of all the editing and revising that has been happening in my world. With each page and chapter I complete – my dreams get just that little bit closer.

So, what am I amusing myself with this week?

Bedroom from the movie 'The Holiday'

• We need a new bed. I am not kidding. I have just about had enough of the bed we currently have. Every time my husband even sniffs, I feel it. And it’s killing me. By the time I get to Thursday or Friday of the week, I am freaking exhausted from not getting quality sleep. But it’s the same for him as well. We are constantly waking each other up, all night long. Not to mention… my back is killing me at the moment! The other day we were in a shop browsing around (dreaming), and we came across this bed. We both lay down on it, and just knew that even though it was situated the midst of a busy shop, we could actually go to sleep right then and there. Trust me… if I had the cash right now, I would be getting a new bed.
  Bugger finishing off building our wardrobe… a decent bed is our next priority after we sort the other room out this coming summer.
• NaNoWriMo officially starts on 1^st November. Good grief. I was just saying this morning that I am more confused that a chameleon stuck in a box of crayons at the moment over this. I have so many ideas, and yet, no idea what to work on this November. My big question is around whether I should keep writing the Trilogy over this November, or if I should pull out some fresh ideas and try my hand at something new? Bah. No idea. See? Still confused.
• I didn’t finish a short story I was trying to write in September. You never know though – I still might. I was enjoying it, and the processing of new and wild ideas. I also didn’t review the books that I wanted to get through, and even the books that I started reading were put down. My tolerance levels for mediocre writing has dropped significantly, and I just can’t be bothered wasting my precious time on them anymore. Now I am reading a stellar book and really pleased that I ditched the others!  

  

  My new space

• Yesterday afternoon, I decided that I was truly sick of my dining area that I never use properly. And I was also annoyed that there was one sofa in our living room that hogged the heater all the time, not to mention, I felt that our entire living area was centred around the TV, and if I wanted to sit and read, I would have to share my mental space with the TV as well. So…… I put my problem solving hat on, and switched a few things around. Now I have a lovely space at the opposite end of the living room that has one of our sofas, a nice big rug, currently an ottoman, and plenty of space to stretch out and enjoy a good book. It looks out over the garden, has loads of light, and I can open the window and enjoy a bit of the outside world as well. My husband sat there in this new space last night, and chatted to me while I pottered in the kitchen. It was excellent, and he could still watch the news at the same time. Much more family inclusive. And my cat loves it. Sorry about the quality of the photo! To give you an idea of what it was like before – well – the dining table area covered that whole rug – and I never used it! And the dark red sofa sat in fron of the grey rug facing towards the camera, and effectively, it was the heater hog sofa. I’m rather pleased with the end result!

On the writing front, there should be a lot more, but I’m still editing. Very slowly.

Bumpkin Big Foot

Oh yes, and for those of you who don’t know – my husband and I are expecting our first child in February. For the moment, we are calling it Bumpkin till it’s born. Exciting, yes… Challenging? Already. And another one of those reasons why my concentration is completely blown out of control. But I will get it back – hopefully through the participation of NaNoWriMo this year.

I really think that’s about it from me at the moment. Lots on, but at the same time, not much at all. Voila. Monday Musings is officially over for the week. Ciao for now.