Monday Musings

I know that I’m a little late getting this post out – but it’s technically still Monday. A few things have been happening, that definitely have me musing away.

• My husband was incredibly productive over the weekend, and managed to get through a huge list of tasks that he had set himself. He re-gunked up the skylights, (so hopefully no more raining in my living room)… fixed my glasses… put the rubber thingees in the windows so I don’t have gale force winds coming through the house… he did about 3 loads of washing, and changed the sheets… installed some fancy-pants heating unit thing in our room that heats the room in hardly any time at all… and he did a few other things as well, that I just can’t recall.
• Mother in law’s partner is staying at the moment, and he has been putting the handles on our sliding doors. Nasty finickity job, that he seems quite happy just pottering away at. Another dreadful task around our house getting done. All in all, it was an incredibly productive weekend around our house.
• Editing and revising is happening on my book. I forgot how much I seriously love revising and editing. Analysis of the storyline, the characters, and all motivations really gets my mind ticking over… and this is happening. Slowly but surely. You can’t eat the elephant all in one gulp, and I’m chewing away at this mammoth task, working solidly through it. I’m not joking when I say that this is one book that I never really want to heavily revise and edit again. I can’t be bothered as I have a lot of other work that needs to be done on the writing front, and it’s about time that I let this one go and fend for itself out in the real world.
• Speaking of revising and editing, the post that I wrote yesterday on that seems to have been generating some interest. Always good to know that every now and then my blog posts are meaningful to someone out there.
• Lotto was won in the weekend, and by someone who is reasonably poor, with a good community spirit. I know that it’s a shame that it wasn’t me, but I’m pleased that it went to someone deserving of a break. :-) The chap is a forestry worker from the middle of no where, with a very humble sense of self opinion. Now that is the sort of person I want to win lotto.
• I’m sad to discover that my neighbour has Liver Cancer. He has done a lot for us over the years that we have been living next door, and I know that this is an incredibly tough time for him. I had a good cuppa tea with him yesterday, and his faith is one of the things mentally getting him through. He finds out today whether or not its terminal. For someone so positive and active in life, it’s sad to see them fall to pieces like this.

So… I think that’s me for the moment. Ideas are flooding into my head at an alarming rate for books that I would like to write. But at this stage, I’m just taking them all as they come and storing them away for a rainy day. In the meantime, I have some revising and editing to do – not to mention a critique partner who is expecting the finished piece.

I hope that everyone has a super-duper week head of them.

 

Monday Musings

I can’t quite believe that we are already at Monday. Again.

I have never been a good Monday person. For some reason though, I can usually get up and out of bed without too much of an issue. By the time I hit Friday though, my mind and body is over the fact that I actually have to go to work for a 5th day, and I procrastinate my way out of bed to the shower. Then I procrastinate in the shower, until my husband boots me out, and after all that procrastination, usually we are running a few minutes late by the time we leave. It’s awesome.

So… here are my current musings:

1. Snow. It’s snowing at the moment! I’m from the great South, so I seem to have a positive affiliation with
   

   Wellington Snow!

   snow. Mind you, down there when it snows hard, we all get days off work to snuggle up at home, and ‘chill’ out Up here, there is absolutely no such luck. The dumping is not heavy enough… it melts to nasty slushy stuff, and the wind chill factor forces you inside because it’s a little miserable out there. But at the moment, I am still enjoying the fact that it’s on the ground. I can just imagine that all my work colleagues are going to be moaning about it though. Hehe.

2. Editing. My editing plan is up and running, and now I just need to get stuck in and implement it. Marvellous. I’m really looking forward to having the final product sitting my hands in all it’s glory. One day I will write a post about how I edit…
3. Didn’t win $20 million from Lotto in the weekend, but I have my fingers and toes crossed to win $23 mil next weekend.  I think that would do me nicely.
4. I keep thinking that I should really take a drive up the coast a bit, and visit my critique partner. I have been meaning to visit her since May, and I still haven’t managed it. She’s only a few hours drive from my place too!! Shocking.
5. I seriously cannot be bothered with the Evil Day Job this week. There is so much damn filing that I need to get through (because I have been procrastinating on that, too), and I have no doubt that the staff are going to be on edge when I send stuff out to them to complete. Ah well. That is what pays the bills until I win Lotto. Once that happens, I’ll be able to work from home as a full-time writer, and wouldn’t that just be bliss. For the moment, it’s EDJ, and part-time writing. And this week – it’s mainly editing.

Ciao ciao for now!

 

Monday Musings

My good friend Tee G. Ayer usually has a regular Wednesday blog post, with just a quick update of where she is at, or anything that is going on. I thought that to get me back into regular blogging, then I would start up a quick weekly post as well. Then once I’m back up and running properly with the blog, I’ll evenually drop it.

So… here is the first of the Musings for you.

• Seriously wish that we had won Lotto over the weekend so that I could just disappear somewhere.
• Wish I went to the LA SCBWI conference this weekend with a bunch of writing buddies. Another year maybe.
• Need to draw up an editing plan for The Mediterranean Source, so that I know where to start. Have already dropped the document into Scrivener, and am appalled that about 50% of my chapters are sitting around 4500 words in length.
• Minimising carbs in my food intake is becoming a serious hindrance. Mental note: Learn more carb-free stuff to cook – other than salad.
• Freaking out by some of the dreams I have been having lately. Some, yes, would make good books… but others are just plain scary. I’m not so impressed with Alien Invasion type dreams. They scare the pants off me.
• Cannot understand why my mother is such a pain in the ass. (Love her to bits, but seriously… starting to get very sick of constant gossiping.)
• Wondering exactly how much time will be genuinely dedicated to writing this week. Could help if I drew up a new timetable.

So… I think me for the moment. Might try and write up this new plotting plan for the editing this week… then I won’t feel so lost.

Have a good week everyone! Ciao ciao!

 

My world in Monterosso Bay

Cinque Terre - Monterosso

As a writer, I am often writing about different locations around the world… some that I have never even been to! Needless to say, I need to do my research on them before I can place my characters there.

One of these fabulous places is the seaside bay of Monterosso, situated in the Italian Riviera. Beautiful setting, with calming and serene local energy, and always basking in the warm glow of the Mediterranean.

Monterosso Sunset

In my house this morning, we were talking about the fabulous places we would live if we won Lotto. I chose Monterosso Bay. Everyone looked at me as if I had just made it up until I explained that it was in Italy.

I see this bay as being a writing and surfing retreat for myself. This is not a place that I would probably take my family to, as I can imagine that since they love a faster pace of life – they would probably get rather bored. But for myself? There would be wine on the terrace in the dusky evenings, early morning surfing in the bay, food markets with the locals, and writing the Great Kiwi Novel during the day. Sounds like heaven? Well in my mind – it is.

There is just something about the Italian people that inspires me. Working hard, playing hard, and generally enjoying love and life. This seems like a wonderful way to live. Wholesome produce to eat, good wine, and salty water. Most important of all I feel that this environment would give me the mental space and inspiration to write.

The Dream Door of my writing retreat

Places are a great way to inspire you… sometimes it is as simple as your own personal writing space in your house. Other times this inspirational spot could be the beach, your office, the train (I love writing on the train), or even a coffee shop.

My other writing retreat is my library that we have built in our house. Beautiful room, with dark army-green walls, rich fabric curtains, the most amazing surround sound-system for my writing music, not to mention it’s lined with books by inspirational authors. It looks out over the garden, my favourite tree, and towards the morning sun-rise that creeps over the mountains in the distance.  It’s hard not to feel inspired in that room. And I guess that until I win Lotto, that’s where my current writing retreat will stay.