What do you call a gathering of romance writers? A heaving bosom of writers? A gasp? A swoon?! (Just kidding, but hey, the jokes in our bon bons were even lamer).
There’s one thing you can certainly call a gathering of romance writers - noisy!
Many of us don’t often get the chance to step away from our computers and fictitious worlds to chat to others about our craft, so when the opportunity arises to do so, the conversation is non stop. Even the shyest people get caught up in conversation or are prepared to be photographed for the RWA blog (after some gentle persuasion 
).
Meeting writers is a learning experience, and with thirteen writers who write everything from sweet to erotica, you can’t help discovering something new and interesting. Personally, I find chatting to other writers inspiring, and it ignites my enthusiasm to pursue my writing dream or to set new writing goals. It’s all very appropriate and timely as the New Year is approaching faster than you can say ‘happily ever after’.
Fortunately we had a gorgeous day and a fantastic venue overlooking Darling Harbour on Saturday for our non-official, but nevertheless fun, RWA members’ lunch. The food was delicious, a couple of the waiters were just as delicious to look at (according to some people I won’t name) and ‘Mrs Claus’ and her ‘elf’ (who weren’t brave enough to put their entire costumes on) handed out goodies to everyone. And somehow by the end of the lunch, all of us sucked in to agreeing to help out at the Sydney conference next year. How did that happen? Aargh!
Below are some pics of the lovely members who attended the lunch.
(Front to back, left side) Jenny, Mon, Chelle, Shayne, (back to front, right side) Keziah, Jacquie, Sussan, Vanessa & Paula
(Front to back, left side) Kandy, Keziah, Jacquie, Sussan, Vanessa, Paula, (back to front, right side) Jenny, Chelle, Shayne, RC, Jess & Carla
To everyone who attended, thanks for coming and making it a fabulous occasion. To every RWA member, may you all be blessed with amazing plots, witty dialogue, awe-inspiring word counts and shiny new contracts for your brilliant manuscripts in 2010.
Oh, and most of all, may the New Year bring real – and lasting – romance to everyone. xx Mon
Vanessa and Paula
Jenny, Chelle and Shayne
Shayne and Mon
RC, Jess, Mon and Carla
Chelle and Mon
Jacquie, Mon and Sussan
Today we welcome Angela James, Editor of Carina Press to the RWAus blog to answer your questions.
1. Have you chosen all the books for the launch of Carina Press or are you still looking for more?
Not at all, as of today (December 17th) we’ve actually only acquired three authors, for a total of six titles, and though we do have half a dozen more slated for acquisition, we’re still searching for additional launch month titles.
2. Will the cover price be different for different lengths of books? ie. will shorter works be sold for less?
Yes. We haven’t set our final prices yet, but they will be competitive within the digital market and based on word count.
3. How many submissions did Carina Press get?
In the first two weeks of opening to submissions, we had nearly 300 manuscripts submitted!
4. How long will the wait time be on submissions?
Wait time is currently 8 to 12 weeks. To start, we’re taking just about every bit of this because we announced we were open to submissions the same day I started the job! And so, I had no editors hired yet to read submissions. Now that I have 8 editors hired, with 2 more to come, submissions are getting read very quickly.
5. And when will you be coming Down Under again?
Oh, I loved every minute of my trip to Australia, you have no idea how much I’d like to come back. And maybe make it to Sydney this time! Truly, the Australia RWA members and everyone I met while wandering around Brisbane and Melbourne were fantastic and I just had a lovely time discovering the food, the culture and the sites. I’d come back next month if I could! But sadly, I have no immediate plans for visiting. Some day…
6. What format will the books take? Is it true there will be no DRM, in which case, how does this affect piracy and posting of author’s works on torrent and file sharing sites?
Books will be available in ePub and PDF formats for sure, we haven’t decided on the other formats quite yet.
There will be no DRM on files, but this doesn’t haven’t any affect on piracy. Pirates are technically savvy people and DRM is not a deterrent to piracy as is evidenced by the sheer number of titles available to pirate, that were sold only with DRM on them. Those who pirate know how to strip DRM within a minute’s work if they want to upload it to the sites so DRM doesn’t stop piracy. At Carina, we believe that DRM does, however, stop customers from making legitimate purchases and also accessing their content. DRM is a barrier for many people, who find it confusing, frustrating and a reason not to buy.
7. Will they be available at legitimate ebook seller sites or only through Carina Press?
Carina Press titles will be available through third-party distributors as well. Essentially, we want to be where readers are!
8. Are there any plans to traditionally print bestselling stories at a later date?
The future is full of possibilities!
9. Will the royalties be similar to other epublishers (i.e. 35-40%)
Royalties will be 30% of cover price from direct Carina sales and 15% of cover price from third-party retailers. There is no option clause in the contract and we request a term of seven years.
10. Are you concentrating on any particular content? And what won’t you be publishing?
We’ll be focusing on romance and all its subgenres, but will also be publishing a variety of fiction genres such as fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy, mystery, thrillers, women’s fiction and more.
Right now, the only two things I can say we won’t be publishing is poetry and young adult.
Thank you, Angela, for taking time out to answer our questions.We wish you lots of success with Carina Press, and perhaps we’ll see some of our members chosen as Carina Press authors. For more information about Carina Press, visit their website.
Wishing you a Very
Merry Christmas
and a Happy
and Safe New Year.
I’m still deep into edits. I’ve put one MSS aside until a friend gets back to me about the most recent edits, and so I’ve pulled out my next WIP to start the editing process all over again. This is a more recent story and I must say from an editing point of view it’s much easier to do. There aren’t as many mistakes to fix and the story flows easier. But I am still attacking it with my big knives.
So does this mean I’m a learnin here? That as I write first draft in the back of my head are all the little lessons I’ve picked up from previous writing? I hope so.
What will Santa bring? Well I’ve already been given a carton of photocopy paper and a long life ink cartridge (an essential gift), ummm I don’t know, but I’ll not peek under the tree until it’s time to unwrap.
What about you? What would you wish for this Christmas?
Welcome to this week’s edition of ‘Cruisin’ the Blog’ and Member’s News.
24th DEC – Anna is posting a review of Georgette Heyer’s ‘Devil’s Cub’ on The Romance Dish. Now Anna, you know I’ll be searching second hand book stores and the internet for this book, okay all book by and about Georgette.
Carol has an interesting post on I (Heart) Presents about ‘Family Gatherings (and How to Survive Them)’.
Cathryn has a trailer up for her December 22nd release novella ‘Ritual Passion’, love the music.
Claire Baxter, Michelle Douglas & Nicola Marsh ~
These three Aussie authors along with other big named Harlequin authors have a big Christmas giveaway on the Harlequin Romance Authors blog featuring a pile of HR books and other goodies. It’s drawn on Monday, so if you’d like to win, don’t wait too long to visit, and good luck!
Okay you have go and read Denise’s blog ‘Not an Outdoor Girl’ if for no other reason than to look at the picture she has posted. LOL.
Erica has a post about ‘Agent appreciation day…’.
Nip over to the eHarlequin Medical Authors Blog where Fiona has a post about ‘Some Down Under Festive Traditions’.
Okay, I’m going to admit I’ve been slack in not posting the lovely Heather’s blogs the last couple of weeks, so when you get a chance drop over and have a read of Ms. Boyd’s entertaining blog. Oh, and have a read of Heather’s Free Story, ‘. . . A Ramshackle Start’.
This week our lovely Kylie is blogging about ‘Feeding Your Talent’, the importance of rejuvenating your well of creativity, sounds interesting. Kylie is also asking for feedback on what refreshes you, drop by and leave a comment.
19th DEC – It was Mary’s turn to once again step into the bloggers seat over at ‘International Christians Writers Blog’
23rd DEC (US time) – Paula is blogging over at eHarlequin Silhouette Desire Authors Blog drop in and say hi and support Paula.
Suz has been busy the last few weeks blogging her little heart out with some very interesting posts:
Perfumes and toiletries in Historic London
Something for everyone in that selection.
RWAus Blog
21st DEC – Natalie Hatch – CRAFT Day
23rd DEC – Diane Curran – Asked the Editor – Angela
Also last week on RWAus Blog ~
Did you read Diane’s post ‘Bright Star Movie Pass Giveaway’ if you missed it click on the link.
Yesterday we had a Guest post by Tracey O’Hara ‘My Book Signing Tour’.
There is no Blog Bite this week due to it being Christmas Day.
Sites of Interest
Agent in the Middle – I thought this was an interesting post during the week on ‘What’s Selling.
Romance Bandits ~ Those wonderful women over at Romance Bandits are giving away prizes everyday with their 12 Days of Bandita Christmas. Now you still have time to grab some great prizes and wait for it… the ladies have a super duper hamper for one lucky commenter on 25th December, what a Christmas present.
The Blood-Red Pencil – ‘Self-Editing One Step at a Time’, this is a timely post for me. Editing is not my strong point.
Word Wenches – Ask a Wench: Pets in Historicals, now this will be of some interest to all you historical romance writers. It got my attention.
Okay that is it for ‘Cruisin’ the Blog’ for this week. Let’s move along to contests & events:
CONTESTS for 2010:
RWAustralia
Theme Gem: Topaz
Opens: 18th December 2009
Closes: 29th January 2010
Opens: Friday 1st January 2010
Closes: Friday 12th February 2010
Opens: 15th February 2010
Closes: 26th March 2010
See website for details.
The Clendon Award, an annual writing contest in which aspiring romance
authors submit an entire manuscript to be judged by devoted romance readers,
is now open for submissions for the 2010 award.
The 2010 Clendon Award closes 26 February. Manuscripts must be between
40,000 and 110,000 words. Full details, including the entry form, can be
found on the Romance Writers of New Zealand website.
(See member’s news for the placings in the High Five and Selling Synopsis).
Upcoming Events
In Person Events
(Costings Code: M-member. MC-Member concession. NM-Non-members.)
Monday 11 January, 2010 ~ Summer School Novel Writing ~ Carmel Bird
When: 10:00am–4:00pm
Where: Victorian Writers’ Centre
Cost: $105 M, $95 MC, $150 NM
Booking deadline: 21 December
FMI + Bookings: Victorian Writers’ Centre OR (03) 9094 7855
Tuesday 14 January, 2010 ~ Summer School To Market, To Market ~ Nadine Davidoff
When: 10:00am–4:00pm
Where: Victorian Writers’ Centre
Cost: $105 M, $95 MC, $150 NM
Booking deadline: 21 December
FMI + Bookings: Victorian Writers’ Centre OR (03) 9094 7855
Tuesday 19 January, 2010 Summer School Editing and Proofreading ~ Penny Johnson
When: 10:00am–4:00pm
Where: Victorian Writers’ Centre
Cost: $105 M, $95 MC, $150 NM
Booking deadline: 21 December
FMI + Bookings: Victorian Writers’ Centre OR (03) 9094 7855
3 x Tuesdays from 19 January, 2010
Marketing your book: Your Best-seller Blueprint ~ Amanda Falconer
When: 6:30pm–8:30pm
Where: Sydney Writers’ Centre
Cost: $265
FMI + Bookings: Sydney Writers’ Centre
@ Saturday 23 January — Saturday 27 February
Writers’ Cafe Tutorials ~ Carol LeFevre
When: 9:00am
Where: Adelaide cafes & SA Writers’ Centre
Cost: $330
FMI + Bookings: http://www.sawriters.on.net/
Saturday 30 & Sunday 31 January
Write a Page Turner ~ Amanda Hampson
When: 10:00am–4:00pm
Where: New South Wales Writers’ Centre
Cost: $190 M, $165 MC, $270 NM
FMI + Bookings: NSW Writers’ Centre
OR (02) 9555 9757
Saturday 6 February
Writing Dramatic Dialogue ~ John Harman
When: 9:30am–4:30pm
Where: University of Western Australia Summer School
Cost: $169
FMI + Bookings: University of Western Australia
OR (08) 6488 2433
Starting Saturday 6th February, 2010
The Society of Women Writers, WA inc. is conducting creative writing classes in 2010.
Citiplace Community Centre on the concourse.
Saturday morning class
“Writing in the City.”
Stand alone morning sessions cover all aspects of writing.
When: 10-12 am doors open at 9.30.
Saturday afternoon sessions
“Write your novel from start to finish.”
When: 1-3pm. Doors open at 12.30.
Where: Citiplace Community Centre on the concourse.
Register your interest, or for further details, phone SWW, WA on 0415 840 031 or email
Per session is $10 for SWW members -$15.00 for none members. Tutor is Helen Iiles.
Thursday 11 February
Capitalise on creativity: making money from your writing ~ Angelo Loukakis, Angela Tolley & Justin Chadwick
When: 10:00am–4:00pm
Where: South Australian Writers’ Centre
Cost: $100 ASA M, $232 ASA NM
Registration deadline: 4 February
FMI + Bookings: South Australian Writers’ Centre
ONLINE Events
Julie Rowe, a 2006 Golden Heart double finalist, moderates the Announce Online Writing Classes list.
The Announce Online Writing Classes list notifies subscribers of around 25 to 35 workshops available each month. Most tutorials are sponsored by Romance Writers of America chapters, but on occasion other reputable teachers are handpicked too.
Interested? Subscribe by sending an e-mail to Announceonlinewritingclasses-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Thank you to Doreen Sullivan for supplying the Events information to the ‘Cruisin’ the Blog’.
Let’s move on to our Member’s News.
Member’s News
Heather C Brown did it again this week taking out Book of the Week at Whipped Cream Reviews with Forbidden Love Anthology by Stormy Glenn, H.C. Brown, Anna O’Neill, and Aleksandr Voinov. Congratulations Heather and your fellow authors.
Heather also received an email during the week from Noble Romance offering a contract for her M/M erotic novella ‘A Hot Delicious Slide’. Here is a little of what Noble said, “Very unique concept. We’d be honored to publish this story.” WOOHOO Heather, what a great Christmas present.
Cathryn Brunet received a great wrap from her editor on Anna’s Book during the week, here what Deborah had to say:
‘Sex can be a lot of fun in erotic fantasies. Imagine sex without any of our society’s norms, expectations, taboos, or hang-ups. That’s what you get in Ritual Passion by Cathryn Brunet (releasing next week). I normally don’t like it when plots rely on sexual acts, but this author’s writing is so strong, I was easily able to get beyond that and be utterly caught up in her world, one populated with a jealous goddess, jungle-hardened warriors and corrupt priests.’
Pretty cool isn’t it?
CONTEST RESULTS
High Five Placings
1 Cristien Hickey
2 Jennifer St George
3 Doreen Sullivan
4 Bec Sampson
5 Sharon Francesca
6 Melissa Smith
Selling Synopsis Placings
1. Dayle White
2. Dayle White
3. Clare Jude
4. Rebecca Skrable
5. Maggie Mundy
6. Tracey Turner
Congratulations everyone on winning or placing in the High Five and Selling Synopsis.
TOP TEN
Claiming His Bought Bride by Rachel Bailey is once again in the Top Ten Best Sellers on the eHarlequin site. This makes it three weeks in a row for Rachel. YAY Rachel, congratulations.
Millionaire Under the Mistletoe by Tessa Radley is again in the Top Ten eBook Best Sellers.
Unbridled Passion by Jennie Brumley once again found hit the top ten list over at Ravenous Romance.
Thank you for dropping by, I wish you all a very ‘MERRY CHRISTMAS’ and a ‘PUBLISHED NEW YEAR’
Happy reading
Sandie
Today we welcome Tracey O’Hara, author of Night’s Cold Kiss, to the RWAus blog.
Can you call three stores a tour? Actually it was four in the end. My ‘tour’ started on Halloween, well the 31 of October since we don’t technically celebrate Halloween here in Australia. Anyway that didn’t stop me getting into the mood of the day coming to my signing dressed as a witch and giving away lollies.
Me with my fans … um … okay yes they are family
I got to share my very first signing with fellow HarperCollins author K J Taylor who had her book THE DARK GRIFFIN for signing. Poor Katie was flooded with my friends and family coming along to support me. But the day was fun and I even got to sign some books for complete strangers who actually seemed to want to read my book – or even better – had read it and enjoyed it. Lisa and the girls at the Angus & Robertson store in Queanbeyan were absolutely fantastic and made us feel at home. My aunt and cousin happened to be in town, visiting from Queensland and it was so nice to see them.
My second signing was with my very good friend Erica Hayes at the Intrigue Romance bookstore. The lovely store owner Margaret generously shared the store’s 5th birthday celebrations with us and we had an absolutely lovely time.
Erica and I admiring each other’s postcards.
Margaret had prizes and discounts for customers on the day. She had an amazing collection of promotional t-shirts that she’s collected over the last few years. Interesting fact – the Intrigue book store opened its doors in November 2004 – the very same year I started trying to write a book.
The ever lovely Kate Cuthbert came to visit us and we had lots to chat about. We talked books, things we were doing and our latest stories. She took photos of us too to do a report for Kat at Bookthingo. It was also great to meet new people and readers.
My final book signing and author event was at Galaxy where the lovely Sophia looked after me and made such a fuss over me that I actually felt important. It was so lovely. The signing was held on the night that was the usual meeting night for half of the paranormal book club (they have half in the first Thursday of the month and the other half on the second Thursday of the month. But this month they had a special combined meeting to, well, meet me.
They were all very lovely. Some had read it, some were part the way through and some had it on their TBR pile – or at least kindly said they did 
. I got to sign lots of books. I also got to catch up with Bookthingo’s Kat and Decadence who are actually giving away a signed copy of NCK. In fact Decadence was the person I got to talk to and believe it or not – I was so extremely nervous. And I stayed nervous and feeling a little like a fraud until we actually sat down and the meeting started. Then I was a reader having fun sharing book news.
This time, being my third signing, and because I had pretty much exhausted almost everyone I know on the other two signings, I discovered I had developed “the signing look”. I could feel it on my face. It is that half clueless look you give the person that has just handed over their book. The look that says “let me try and think what to write while I wait for you to tell me your name”. I’ve seen it before – on the faces of authors who I have been waiting in line for to receive their moniker on my precious book. Sometimes people forget that you don’t actually know their name.
Besides meeting all the lovely people from the readers group – I got to meet Rosie and Ali from Fangtastic online books who have both been extremely supportive of me. And my Dad came too.
My husband and I (ooh – that sounds like one of the Queen’s speeches) had to leave around 8 because we were driving back to Canberra that night. And yes we did get lost – but that was my fault – I kept going the wrong way because I was in the wrong lane. It was a lovely time and it was so nice to talk to people who didn’t have to say nice things about NCK because they knew me or were related to me.
Anyway – that was my book tour. It small and intimate and fun and I got to talk to people. I would like to thanks everyone who came out to see me. Mwah.
Thanks to Tracey for visiting the RWAus blog today. Night’s Cold Kiss is now available and Tracey has released an added extra on her website: Dante Rising: The Birth of a Venator.
Night’s Cold Kiss is nominated for Best Horror Novel in the 2009 Aurelis Awards! Best of luck, Tracey!
My worst habit is… Being Bossy! I am my mother’s daughter.
My day job is… Mum, writer, cleaner, housekeeper, taxi driver, bum changer, dishwasher, washing machine, need I go on.
Plotter or pantser… Pantser! I try to let my characters write the story for me. Less work that way.
It’s a bit daggy but I love… my fiancée. Even when he can’t aim, puts the kids to bed in their clothes or feeds them meat for dinner with no vege. He’s still my man and I wouldn’t be where I am without Doug!
I write… A bit of everything. Hot contemporary, regency historical, westerns. I write whatever comes to mind at the time. Part of being a pantser.
Find out more about Bronwyn here, and go to the rants page for her blog.
Bronwyn is the lucky last Blog Bite for 2009. Thank you to all the wonderful members who braved the blog bite and to everyone who supported the blog by visiting or posting a comment. If you’d like to take a bite of the blog in 2010 send Anita an email. Remember, this is for any member of RWA, pub’d or unpub’d. Blog Bites will return on the 8th January with none other than me in the hot seat
For now I’d like to wish you all a magical and safe Christmas and health, happiness and contracts in the coming New Year. Anita
Selling Synopsis Winners
Romance Writers of Australia Inc is pleased to announce the winners of the Selling Synopsis contest, as judged by NY Agent Ethan Ellenberg. The contest was managed by Sandii Manning.
Congratulations to all our winners!
Romance writing contest invites aspiring authors to “make this year your
writing year”
The Clendon Award, an annual writing contest in which aspiring romance
authors submit an entire manuscript to be judged by devoted romance readers, is now open for submissions for the 2010 award.
The award, administered by Romance Writers of New Zealand, is believed to be the only contest in the world where every entrant’s full manuscript is read and given detailed feedback. Entries are judged by between three and eight romance readers, depending how far they progress in the contest. Finalist manuscripts are judged by an editor at Harlequin Books in New York, the world’s largest publisher of romance and women’s fiction.
Seven of the previous 11 Clendon winners and a further 11 former finalists
have gone on to have international writing careers, including New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh, and popular Australian Mills & Boon authors Melissa James (previous winner), and finalists Bronwen Jameson, Trish Morey and Maxine Sullivan.
The contest was founded by Barbara and Peter Clendon of Barbara’s Books, the specialist Auckland romance bookstore, after they realized that most people who start writing a novel never manage to finish it. The Clendon Award was an incentive to writers to get to “The End”.
“These days, we have a small army of dedicated volunteers who collate, read
and judge the anonymous manuscripts, all hoping to discover the next
international star,” says Barbara Clendon, whose bookstore continues to
sponsor the award.
Romance Writers of New Zealand president Abby Gaines, herself a former
Clendon Award winner and now a Mills & Boon author, says the Clendon Award is a great opportunity for women to go after what’s often a long-held goal.
“Many women say they hope to write a book one day,” she says. “RWNZ’s theme for 2010, our 20th anniversary year, is ‘Make this year your writing year’ – do it now! Deciding to enter the Clendon Award is a great incentive to jump in and write.”
The 2010 Clendon Award closes 26 February. Manuscripts must be between
40,000 and 110,000 words. Full details, including the entry form, can be
found on the Romance Writers of New Zealand website,
www.romancewriters.co.nz.
For additional information and interview please feel free to contact:
RWNZ President, Abby Gaines, email abby@abbygaines.com , website www.abbygaines.com
RWNZ Publicity Liaison, Sue Knight at sueknight@ihug.co.nz,
Romance Writers of New Zealand Inc.
PO Box 10264 Dominion Rd, Mt Eden, Auckland 1024, New Zealand
http://www.romancewriters.co.nz
Bright Star is the new Jane Campion film about the love affair between John Keats and Fanny Brawne, starring Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw and the RWA blog has passes to give away.
London 1818: a secret love affair begins between 23 year old English poet,
John Keats, and the girl next door, Fanny Brawne, an outspoken student of
fashion.
This unlikely pair started at odds; he thinking her a stylish minx, she
unimpressed by literature in general.
It was the illness of Keatsʼs younger brother that drew them together. Keats
was touched by Fannyʼs efforts to help and agreed to teach her poetry.
By the time Fannyʼs alarmed mother and Keatsʼs best friend Brown realised
their attachment, the relationship had an unstoppable momentum. Intensely
and helplessly absorbed in each other, the young lovers were swept into
powerful new sensations, “I have the feeling as if I were dissolving”, Keats
wrote to her. Together they rode a wave of romantic obsession that deepened
as their troubles mounted. Only Keatsʼs illness proved insurmountable.
In earlier days, before the advent of emails and texting and instant messaging, lovers used to write love letters. Inked emotion on parchment or perfumed paper. A keepsake to treasure forever. And possibly a keepsake to betray you.
We’ve lost some of this with the instant communication that occurs in our world today. No-one is ever really absent. Most people can be reached at anytime via mobile or online.
Does this mean the angst and the longing has disappeared and the love letter has also disappeared?
When I was an angsty teenager and went to New Caledonia on a school excursion, I wrote a love-letter to my then-boyfriend entirely in French. It seemed the thing to do.
In my early twenties after moving back to New South Wales from one of the Southern states, I sent a letter to the lover I’d left behind, though it was more a ‘lust letter’ than a ‘love letter’.
But with instant communication, I’m more likely to make a quick phone call or send an email than pen a letter.
I wonder how Keats would have coped in the 21st century?
We have five in-season double movie passes to giveaway to ‘Bright Star‘. To enter, write a short love letter in the comments. It can be to your hubby, your boyfriend, your pet…whomever you like. All entries will go into the draw but you must write a short love letter to be eligible. You have until Wed 23 December. Look forward to reading them.
Oh no, I’ve started something here. I’ve been working on a YA Steampunk mss and editing has turned out delightful, I’m learning so much going through this time. Yesterday I opened another folder with an earlier mss that I love, love, love. As I read through I could see glaring mistakes, things that needed fixing, and then the thought came up that “hey I can actually fix this”… so now I’m concentrating on the steampunk but on the side I’m starting to fix and twiddle with things in my other story.
Have you ever tried to juggle two projects at once? I sat in on a workshop two years ago given by Kevin J Anderson, mega selling, super awesome SciFi writer. He has written/published over 98 novels so far, and he spoke of how he goes about his writing day. He gets up in the morning and goes for a walk, taking his tape recorder (microrecorder actually) with him and dictates a chapter out and about. When he gets home he works on fleshing out another novel, then in the afternoon after the dictation has been transcribed (he’s made a bit of money so he can afford to hire a typist) he goes through the edit. Then that night he works on the plot for the next chapter. Sleeps on it then gets up in the morning and goes again.
I don’t know if I could be that organised. I hope one day I can, but my day starts off like this:
2am someone’s crying, get up and pat them back to sleep.
4am roll over in bed and squash a child who’s snuck in beside me.
4.20 am still awake as child kicks me in the middle of the back searching for warmth with freezing cold toes.
5am get up and start mucking about with current WIP
5.02am one or many children awake and bouncing around the house looking for breakfast/something to drink/eat
5.07am Chuggington dvd starts up, kids are singing and eating and making lots of noise.
6.00am the christmas tree has fallen over mysteriously again – goblins are blamed.
8am some semblance of normality restored to my home, time to edit.
15mins later another disaster has struck, put computer away until later
try to sneak 5 mins here and there during the day, succeed sometimes, fail miserably most others
8pm, time to edit… open computer file, start scrolling down…. it’s quiet, peaceful….. hubby shakes my shoulder, there’s drool on the keyboard and I now have ASDF imprinted backwards on my forehead… go to bed it’s 10pm
One day I shall have the organisational skills of Kevin, but for now I’ll just take any and all chances I have to work/type/edit/dream about writing. Christine Wells said when I first met her that if I really wanted to write I would take every spare minute I could to do it. She’s right, I do.
Diane Curran
Kiki
Anita Joy
Monique Wood
Sandie Hudson
Natalie Hatch
Imelda
kellyethan
Eleni Konstantine
