Long Time No Blog

Hey! How are you? What have you been up to?

Wow. I can't believe I haven't posted an update since the beginning of the month. BUT, in my defence, July has been a pretty active month. 

For starters, hubby took two weeks off from work for an overdue break. And my daughter was home for the same two weeks because of school holidays. 

So, put all that together and it means I was too busy relaxing, going on adventures and catching up on stuff we'd put off. By the time we settled on the couch for the night, I was too tired to post anything. And instead sat back sorting through the Idea Files on my phone while Seinfeld eps played in the backround.

What did we actually do? Well, we started the break with my birthday weekend celebrations. There was much secondhand book shopping, delish meals, lots of walking, plus Ant-Man and the Wasp. Loved the movie, btw. It was SO MUCH fun and that ending was killer.

After such an awesome weekend, we took care of tax stuff, got blood tests done, walked over The Sydney Harbour Bridge, went on several city outings, bought a bunch of EOFY-sale books & stationery, walked everywhere, and hubby even found an awesome laptop for me!

If you remember, I actually bought a new one at the beginning of this year because my beloved Samsung lappy was getting sluggish. As it turns out, the Acer Switch is cute and fast and lovely, but just isn't a right fit for what I need. The 2-in-1 thing is great if you're on the go, but I need something sturdier, with a bigger screen, and more USB ports.

And hubby found a great deal on a 15" HP that is just what I need. Yay. Looking forward to testing it out when I get stuck into my next WIP...

I also spent quite a bit of time reading. Of course! And even more time buying books. 😳

It was a winter break we REALLY needed, and we had a great time. So good I wasn't ready for it to end. The first week back was a little strange and so I spent most of it reading, trying to shift gears, and thinking about what to do next. 

That's another problem. My brain is so cluttered with ideas that I STILL haven't settled on my next project. But that's a story for another day.

Have a great week!

A Strange Week

Hi! 

How was your week? Mine was a bit strange. A little topsy-turvy because after almost three weeks, my daughter went back to school.

That means that my brain needed to switch gears before settling into any new projects. My head is just too full of ideas right now to concentrate on just one. Not until I get the chance to make a plan.

So what did I do? My daughter was home on Monday, so of course we watched SIX episodes of Pushing Daisies S2. We're seriously addicted to this show. A show I was going to watch alone but my daughter ended up getting as hooked on as quickly as I did. 

After she went back to school I decided to finish a short story I wrote several months back. That's what I spent most of Tuesday doing. By Wednesday I'd read it one last time and found a few final teeny things to fix.

On Thursday, I finished. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and the final word count is 4,215. I just need to find a market to sub to... 

I also caught up on Siren, which is turning out to be quite a violent and suspenseful show I'm really enjoying. And The 100 is as fantastic as ever. I was a bit worried about how they were going to show what happened to those who went underground, but I LOVED how everything played out. It was so clever.

There was also a lot of walking, plenty of washing, a bit of sorting and even some reading. But not enough planning. That's for next week. Probably.

Anyway, have a great weekend!

ETA: Because we loved Pushing Daisies SO MUCH, we managed to watch the rest of S2 by Friday night. Loved how it ended, even if I was sad it was over. I can't believe such a unique and wonderful show was cancelled. 😞

Another week of Stuff

Hey!

I somehow managed to get a lot done during my daughter's last week of school holidays. Even with a public holiday thrown into the middle of it.

Actually, I wrote a 3,431-word short story on that day. We got the chance to sleep in on Wednesday and while checking my Twitter timeline, I spotted a beautiful pic. A picture that sparked a sentence, followed by another, until I ended up typing several paragraphs on my phone before breakfast.

And throughout the day, while watching Curb Your Enthusiasm, I wrote the first draft on my phone. It was just one of those pesky stories that wouldn't let me go until I was done!

Funny thing is that the day before, I got another idea. I started a folder, filled it with pics, notes and setting. But I'm not sure if this one is going to be a short story or novella. Not yet.

This happens a lot while I'm in between projects. There's really no downtime for a writer, just time to let my imagination rest... and that's when sparks happen.

Asides from all this idea stuff, I spent the beginning of the week updating my files, pics & photos. It took forever. I finally completed the third draft of my Woods shortie. Caught up on Siren (which is fast becoming one of my faves), watched first ep of Westworld (still hooked!) & The 100 (WTF is going on?!), plus watched the first season of Pushing Daisies.

Okay. Let's talk about the awesomeness that is Pushing Daisies, because I am SO IN LOVE WITH THIS SHOW. Seriously, from the first episode I knew it was going to be something that I would adore. And I wasn't wrong. This is the quirkiest, most romantic and adorable show EVER. Not to mention the murder mysteries are peculiar, it's full of hilarious banter, and the characters are so real and unique.

Everything about this show is so awwwww and wonderful and makes me gush. 💕

I also read a twisted book that infuriated me and had the most awful ending. But I couldn't stop reading because it was SO well written and intriguing. This happens sometimes. *shrug*

Oh, and we went to watch a little movie called Avengers: Infinity War. An ambitious movie that tore my heart out several times, and is SO fucking EPIC. A totally awesome and super emotional roller-coaster ride that doesn't stop.

That was last week. 

This week I'm going to figure out a few things. I want to write a synopsis, finalise my Woods shortie and update my Projects Plan.

Have a good one!

What's been going on?

It's been a while since I popped in, right? April is turning out to be quite a busy month.

Between school holidays, a strata meeting (glad it's done for another year), Loki's vaccine & checkup (everything's cool), plus a hundred other real life things, I forgot to post last week.

Not to mention that I went with hubby to work on Friday the 13th, and then we went to do a little cute-stuff shopping in the city. It was a really nice day, and we got an early start to the weekend... so that's always cool.

I also spent several days updating my story files. Because I keep my story ideas on my phone and often find myself adding pics & notes to each folder at night while watching old Seinfeld episodes, the separate files grow so much I eventually have to do a HUGE backup. 

It's SO time consuming and takes a while. Very glad that's done. For now.

Another thing I spent HOURS doing is sorting through my Kindle books. Yeah, not only do I buy a bunch of books, and get quite a few for review, but I also buy a LOT of books for my Paperwhite. And then forget how many cool titles I have!

Not anymore. I went through the countless of books and was surprised to find so many horror and UF books I forgot I owned! Some I was even eyeing. Imagine my surprise when I realised I already owned them. LOL.

It's so cool.

I spent the majority of this week reading (Gerald's Game by Stephen King is awesome & horrific), watching a new show that I'm absolutely loving (Siren is an intriguing fresh & violent take on mermaids), organising our many tees (to make them more accessible & neater), and watched a movie with my daughter (Call Me By Your Name turned out to be a little dull).

My TBR pile also needed some sorting. So I decided to start a few books to see if they grabbed me. I ended up DNFing one (The Memory Chamber) and getting hooked into another (The Perfect Girlfriend).

So much to do, so little time. 😃

Anyway, that's what I've been doing lately. I have some plans for next week, and am contemplating starting a new draft next month. Maybe... But for now, I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Have a good one!

December= Restless Mind + Scrambled Brain

The other day I posted this tweet:

And just had to mention it here, because this time of year is always the same. By the time we reach December, I've done so many things that my brain begins to slow down. 

I'm the kind of person who's always got a to-do list and pretty much stick to it. But towards the end of the year it becomes a lot shorter. I don't have any real writing or reading goals, and spend a bunch of time just organising stuff while thinking about stuff.

There are a few reasons for this:

• Tired brain (as mentioned above)
• Finally starts to feel like summer
• School holidays are here
• Bunch of public holidays

All of this amounts to many distractions and disruptions. So in a way, I guess my brain is expecting this and decides to take a step back. But that doesn't mean I slow down completely.

This week, I still did this:

• Went for two walks daily
• Read a great SW short story on my Paperwhite, DNFd a YA library book & read an awesome YA review book
• Signed a contract for my YA horror story, which will be included in the Locker Shockers anthology
• Watched OUIJA: Origin of Evil (which I'd been looking forward to watching & really enjoyed!)
• Organised my Idea Files
• Updated/synchronised all my files, pics & photos (several times)
• Wrote the start of a new novel!

Sounds like a lot of stuff, but it really isn't. TBH, I spent most of my time on my phone doing one thing or another. Or reading. I spent a lot of time reading. LOL.

The most exciting thing about feeling so restless is that I seem to be open to constant sparks of creativity. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I have heaps of ideas and random bits & pieces have been hitting me lately. Writing the first 978w of a new project is awesome, but I won't be committing to anything right now. I'll just keep typing everything up, or writing it down so I don't forget!

It's just nice to feel so fertile in mind that characters, situations and snippets keep randomly dropping in. 😊

Also, this restless-mind thing coupled with the end-of-year drag is helping me focus on the stories I want to read before 2018.

Well, that's about it for today. That's everything I've had buzzing in my brain this week.

Have a nice break!

Current WIP: Week Three

Welcome to my third current WIP update! :)

So, how was your week? Mine was super busy. There's a bunch of remedial work going on in our building and the contractors are taking their sweet time getting things done. To the point where we start to think they forgot about us and then, boom! They return with noise and grit and get in the way, making access hard. Ugh.

I'm so over this. Can't wait for this shit to be fucking done.

Anyway. My daughter's also home at the moment. She's got school holidays for two weeks. BUT, I kept writing because this story has to get out.

Last weekend I sat down with notepad and pen to brainstorm everything that was stuck in my head. I ended up taking a bunch of notes, leading me all the way to the end of the story. So: yay!!

Thanks to those notes, I've made some very cool progress.

Here's how this week's w/c looked:

• Monday: 44,544 (added 4427w) 
• Tuesday: 49,218 (added 4674w) 
• Wednesday: 53,498 (added 4280w)
• Thursday: 58,750 (added 5252w) 
• Friday: 62,932 (added 4182w)

This week I was hoping to reach 52,500. I ended up writing way more than that, and that makes me very happy.

Oh, and BTW, last week I said this: I'm at that stage where I'm pretty sure the total word count will probably end up somewhere after the 60k-mark. As you can see from my word count numbers above, I was wrong. In a good way. LOL.

Now, I'm thinking 70-75k. But I'm not concerned with the total w/c. I just want to get to The End and I'm sooooo close now. I can feel it. I can see it. Seriously, the rest of the story keeps playing out inside my brain. I'm once again at that stage where this WIP is TOTALLY consuming my brain and I'm constantly thinking about it. I can't stop!

So much that my reading is suffering. :(

I'm not going to fret about this, though. I'm having such a great time writing this novel. It's exciting and creepy and filled with so much more emotion than I expected.

So, yeah, I'm cool with this. Reading the books on my TBR pile is going to be an awesome reward to work towards AFTER I finish this first draft. *thumbs up*

Well, we're heading into a long weekend, so I won't be adding new words until Tuesday. I'll miss the story, but it'll also be nice to get a bigger break so I can get stuck into it again next week. Plus, hanging out with hubby is always awesome.

See you in October. ;)

Have an awesome weekend!

Long time no post!

Actually, that's not technically correct because I have posted several book reviews and even a Q&A with an Aussie author... but I haven't added any actual update posts for a while.

So, how are you?

This month has been an excellent one. We've enjoyed a bunch of adventures, had lotsa fun, done plenty of chilling, sleep-ins, relaxing with hubby,  and I'm now a year older. That's not so great, but you know.

Hubby took a two-week break at the beginning of July and it was AWESOME! (Especially since I thought he was home for one week and he surprised me with TWO!)

It was a break we both needed. And as I mentioned above, we went on several adventures. We watched Spider-Man: Homecoming (loved it!) and then hung out in the city, spent the best Monday ever in the city and Milson's Point (to do the Bridge Walk & visit Luna Park), walked to IKEA (which is always an adventure), went for two daily walks, caught up on some reading, watched several movies, bought a bunch of stationery & toys, found some jeans that fit super nice instead of falling down, and just enjoyed the hell out of spending time together.

Only problem is how hard returning to our real-life routine turned out to be. LOL. Last week was a little harder than usual and felt plenty wonky. Which is why I spent most of it sorting my toy, stationery and book clutter.

This week, it's time to deal with my brain clutter.

See, although we did take it easy during hubby's annual leave, my mind kept working. A bunch of idea snippets started to develop into something more solid, which is always cool. So I found myself adding inspirational pics, character names, research, and even started seeing scenes play out in my mind. When this happens, I make sure to set up files and keep adding things as they come.

It's an awesome process, really.

So, there you have it. This is what I've been doing lately. What have you been up to?

Have a great day!

Back To Words

It's been a while since I posted an update about my short story goals, so I thought that posting a little something the week I got back into the swing of things might be a good idea.

BTW, this is my daughter's first week of school holidays, so of course my muse decided it was time to tell the story that's been bubbling inside my head. LOL.

The timing might be a bit out, but when a story is this ready to be told, it's not a good idea to turn away from it. Especially since I didn't write a story in March because the short story I started became a novel-sized idea.

Anyway, I only had two writing/reading things on this week's to-do list:

• Write first draft of YA urban legend short story idea
• Read WHITE TRASH ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

And this is what I actually did:

• Wrote YA urban legend short story first draft (9,042w)
• Subbed the story I finished in January
• Revised the YA short story I wrote this week (10,387w)
• Finished reading WHITE TRASH ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

It might not look like much, but I'm quite happy with the progress. Especially since this was really a 4-day week. :D

Subbing the story I wrote in January to a professional short story market is a total longshot, but you gotta be in it to win it. Right? It's definitely worth a try. *fingers crossed*

Next week, I'd like to proofread and finish revising the YA short story I wrote this week because I have an anthology I'd like to sub it to... Ideally, if I can get that done by the end of next week, that would be super cool.

Well, that's it for this update.

Enjoy your weekend!

Break Time!

Hey guys! I hope you're all having a great week.

I haven't been productive this week. At all. And you know what? I don't care. Why? Because it's my daughter's last week of school holidays and hubby took a week off. Yay!

I did get some reading done, though. And even wrote reviews:

BOY21 by Matthew Quick

THE CREEPER MAN by Dawn Kurtagich

I also managed to sort a bunch of stationery, and have been thinking about the novel I'd like to write during NaNoWriMo. I'm at that stage where the idea is bubbling in the back of my mind, and soon, I'll start taking notes. I've even got the notebook ready to go. :)

Oh, and I've decided that October means it's time to read some Creepy, Spooky books. So that's cool.

Asides from that, we've had a great week of sleeping in, hanging out, and having some fun together. It's been great. Sometimes you just need a break. I'm sad that it's almost over. :(

So. There you go. Not much to report, but I wanted to keep the weekly blogging update going.

Have a great weekend! We'll be celebrating hubby's  birthday tomorrow.

October is 'ere!

That's right! It's Michael Myers month, everybody.

 

Also happens to be the birthday month of both my hubby and my daughter. And the time to celebrate all things spooky. That time of year where all I want to do is read scary books and watch horror movies. When it's time to start listening to The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack.

 

I might be listening to it right now... :)

 

Wow. I can't believe I've been MIA for so long. OMG. I think this is my last real post. Back in August! O.o Seriously, was I trying to set some kind of record? Nah. Just been caught up doing a bunch of things, and not feeling well. The change of season always gets me.

 

I even lost my voice last week. Luckily, it's back now.

 

Shortly after the above blog post, I received the first round of edits for HELL OF A RIDE. While it was awesome to return to Lavie's world, and I had a great time strengthening everything, it almost broke my brain a little. LMAO. It took me almost two weeks to do, which is way too long for me. But the results were great!

 

Then I took a reading break before the second round came back. This time around, I actually enjoyed it a LOT more and managed to get it done in half the time. Not to mention that my new editor--Laura--pointed out a bunch of things that needed fixing. After I did, the story is definitely shinier. And the love story at the core of it is deeper.

 

I'm so proud of Lavie & Saul's story, and am super glad that Laura is just as excited about it.

 

I'm not sure when the FLE round will come back to me, but I hope it's not next week. Hubby has a week off work, so I won't be working on anything. It's going to be a nice break. Though it'll probably go way too fast. :/ Still, I'm gonna enjoy some time alone with him.

 

So, what have I been doing this week? I've been wrapping up a few guest blog posts that I committed to. I've also been thinking a lot about new story ideas. My daughter and I watched SERAPH OF THE END the other day. It's one of her favourite animes. Though she loves a LOT of them.

 

Hubby and I also binge watched S1 & S2 of PENNY DREADFUL. What an AWESOME show! I love the humanity, the wickedness, the ideas, and the darkness of the world. I can't wait to see more of what these characters get up to.

 

There's always something to do around here. LOL.

 

Anyway. That's about it for now. I just wanted to pop in for an update.

 

Have a great weekend!

Hey, June is almost over!

Can you believe it? Yikes!

 

Well, it looks like this is now my go-to pic whenever I blog. But how can it not be? I mean, it pretty much captures me during winter: a robe-wearing, book-reading, tea/coffee-drinker who breaks up her hibernation for daily walks. :)

 

Seriously, though. These cold months just don't agree with me. I've been feeling a little under the weather. I'm constantly clogged from nose to throat, keep sneezing, and feel like I'm catching a cold. Which is bizarre since I got the flu shot several months ago. 

 

It's very uncomfortable, but there's not much I can do really. Doctors have already told me several times that there's nothing wrong with my throat or nose, it's just something I need to live with.

 

Yeah, well, sometimes it's easier said than done.

 

Anyway. Let's concentrate on the good things.

 

Last Friday I filled out the blurb and cover art forms for HELL OF A RIDE. That's Lavie's story, in case you forgot. ;) It's always exciting to dream up different versions of a cover and then look up pictures to give the cover artist a peek into what you see inside your mind. Funny thing is I've found that the cover artist I work with at Samhain Publishing always comes up with something WAY better than what I imagined. I really (really) hope that I get Kanaxa again. She's made most of my covers.

 

I also found out that Lavie's book will be released next year, probably around spring 2016. That's the American spring, so we're looking at autumn for us people in the Southern Hemisphere. :P

 

I'll be sure to post the blurb once it's approved, and of course will share the cover when I get it. I can't wait to see this one! In the meantime, I've got my fingers crossed for Willow's story. It's on submission at the moment, and I'd love for her tale to be published as well. That would wrap up all the stories I've written in this world.

 

Well, except for that 50k in-between story that fits (and ties in) Sierra's last book and Lavie's book. But that's another story...

 

The thing about Lavie and Willow's stories is that they're Sierra Fox spin-offs that demanded to be told. Seriously, I couldn't write anything new until these persistent women told their stories. They're also (kinda) companion books that make up a series--or duology--that's called Elsewhere. Why did I call it that? Well, the events of Sierra's series take part in a fictional suburb in Sydney, but Lavie's takes place in multiple locations and Willow's is in an actual coastal NSW city. I wanted to do something different for them. Besides, I thought Elsewhere fit perfectly. While Sierra's story is here, Lavie and Willow's is Elsewhere... but in the same world.

 

Makes sense, right?

 

Last week I didn't binge watch anything new. Thought it was best not to get stuck into anything since my daughter's going to be home for a bit. Haven't decided what will become my new lunch-break show yet, but I'll think of something. ;)

 

I did read, and think a lot about the stories I want to write once RECAST is finished. I get really excited at the prospects and really need to brainstorm before I lose the thread of the many tales I want to tell. So many possibilities, so little time...

 

Oh, and we finally watched FURY ROAD. While we all liked it, none of us loved it. It was good, but not amazing. I mean, sure, it's visually beautiful and there are plenty of kick-ass women in it, but there were just too many plot holes. Too many things didn't make sense. And although I think Imperator Furiosa was an amazing character--seriously, I would love to watch/read her origin story because you just know it's heartbreaking--the movie just wasn't as awesome as I expected it to be.

I think the hype built it up WAY too much. It's also a shame that because Hollywood is seriously lacking in the Female Characters That Are Real People Department, when one does come along (no matter how mediocre it might be) we latch on.

 

Hollywood needs to get their act together and stop being so sexist. Movies with female leads DO SELL. People want to see good characters, and women can be amazing characters. Plus they'll definitely sell. Just look at the book industry and see how well heroines sell. Seriously, man, get with the times! It's the 21st century FFS.

 

Well, have a great week!

Back to Revision

Hey! How's everyone doing?

As you can tell from the title, I spent this week working on Willow's second draft. The cute gal to our left is Willow Moss. Well, a cutesy version of her, which I made on this doll maker site. She's supposed to have blue eyes, but brown is all that was available. Oh well. Still works for me. LOL.

 

So, yesterday I managed to reach the end of the doc, and by then I'd added almost 9,000 new words. This story is shorter than Lavie's and didn't need the same level of rewriting that hers did when I reached this stage, so that's why four days was enough to get it done. :)

 

The total word count is now 73,080, but I expect that to go up a little more after I'm done with the third draft. Especially since I've already got a two-page list of tweaks to tackle.

 

That always happens when I'm done with a draft. As soon as I reach The End, a whole bunch of additions/tweaks fall into my head. So that's what I'll be doing early next week. I want to take care of this list before putting the story aside for another 1-2 weeks. Then I'll tackle the third draft. So the story still has a while to go until I call it complete, but I'm happy with the pacing.

 

I might have fallen behind a bit from my original 2015 Goals List time frame, but I'm not going to stress about it. I'm still pretty much on track.

 

This was also my daughter's first week of school holidays, so what I did was spent the early mornings working on the second draft and then the afternoons with her. We watched a few movies and sat on the couch to read. Although to be honest, I couldn't get into anything I picked up. It's not so much that I've hit a reading slump, it's that when I'm working on something my brain is just so filled with that story, world and characters that I can't step into anyone else's.

 

Might sound strange, but I find it's part of my process.

 

Anyway. That was my week. It was full of revision thoughts and not much else. Next week I plan to get the Willow second draft tweaks done and then I can concentrate on some blog posts I need to write for next month. As well as some reading.

 

Have a great weekend!

Hey, how you doing?

As you can tell from my picture, my Reading Break somehow extended into this week. :)

 

Hubby had a 4-day weekend, and is having another one this week because of the Easter break, so it wasn't worth starting anything new/getting stuck into any projects for three days.

 

So, instead I read. And organised some stuff.

The organising and reshuffling seems to be a never-ending thing.

 

We also got flu shots. We got them last year and they really helped us get through the winter months without catching the flu/cold. It's an amazing thing, because several times we'd each get cold symptoms that didn't develop into anything. Which is super cool.

 

Did you take part in Earth Hour? We did. We've been doing this for years now. Hubby and I grab a DS each and get stuck into some serious Mario Karting. It' a lot of fun, and has become a tradition. Mario Kart by Candlelight. ;) 

 

Oh, and after almost a year of putting it off, hubby dyed my hair a nice shade of red--very similar to the pic. The reason involves a boring and long tale of having to switch to a new kind of dye because they no longer make the one I was using before, but at least I stayed with the same brand. And, I love the colour. Looks nice and shiny. Plus, I trimmed my hair today. It was getting a bit too 80s puffy for my liking. LOL.

 

When I'm not reading, I'm dealing with a head full of stuff.

 

I've been thinking a lot about Willow's story, and even collected several 80s horror movie quotes I'd like to incorporate into the story. I've also been pondering starting a few different journals for different things. Especially since I've been collecting a LOT of inspirational pics that are sparking new ideas...

 

Today also happened to be my daughter's last day of Term 1. She'll be home for two weeks, so I'm not sure how that will impact my productivity. Either way, I think I need to reshuffle a few projects and goal dates until July. I still want to achieve the same things, but maybe move them around. There are projects I really want to finalise by the end of this year, while also spending the second half working on and developing new ideas. I think it's time to spend some time in new, exciting worlds.

 

But for now, I'm going to enjoy the weekend.

 

Have a great one!

The Cycle of Clutter

Now this is a word that can make me crazy.

 

Mainly because I'm so good at unintentionally creating clutter for myself.

 

When I receive or buy something, I don't put it away. I like to put the item/s on my stationery trunk. So that I can see what I've got. It's not just because I like to look at pretty new things, but mainly because in order to put things away I usually have to reorganise something else. Or think long and hard about where I'm going to put it.

This happens a lot with new books and stationery.

 

I love collecting notebooks, pens, post-it notes, etc. so much that I can't stop buying them. The same thing goes for books. It doesn't matter if I have an abundant supply of all these things, I just can't walk past a lovely notebook or an interesting novel. LOL. It's a compulsion.

 

Last week I spent a bunch of time putting away the clutter I'd accumulated on top of my stationery trunk. And managed to clear most of it off. Until we went to DAISO over the weekend and I managed to start a new pile. ;)

 

Stationery and book clutter aren't the only things I need to deal with. There's always mind clutter, which happens a lot because my head is usually full of ideas and plans. And then there's file clutter.

 

I'm super paranoid about my computer files. The thought of losing anything forces me to backup everything, at a bunch of separate places. One of the things that got really out of hand was my pictures file. I have different folders with pics I like to post here, as well as on Twitter, and I often find inspirational pictures online that I like to collect. Well, all of those--as well as the photos I take on my phone--were out of control. I had hundreds of pictures on my phone that weren't organised.

 

So, I spent Friday morning going through everything.  It took hours, but I'm very glad with how everything is filed now. I can't believe I had duplicate files everywhere. It's crazy to let things get so out of hand, but sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day. o.O

 

Well, now it's done and I feel a lot better. It's much easier to synchronise daily. All I have to do now is make sure that I keep this system going and don't let it get out of hand again.

 

Only problem is that clutter has a way of sneaking up on you. Don't even get me started on everything crowding my mind... 

Trying to break a bad (no) blogging habit...

OMG! Asides from book reviews and blog hops, I haven't posted an update since the beginning of June! Can you believe that? O.o

 

Time sure flies when you get stuck into several projects, keep reading good books, enjoy yourself, and take a few weeks off...

 

Okay, the last instalment in my Sierra Fox series, which is called A STITCH ON TIME, is now finished and ready for its October release. I read the final proof a few weeks ago and received the final copies the other day, so I won't be reading it again until I get the print proof.

 

Writing this series has been an amazing rollercoaster ride for both the characters and myself. I LOVE urban fantasy and wanted to write my own series in this genre. And, I've always been fascinated with ghosts, so coupling that with this genre  produced some very freaky storylines. Having the series published by Samhain Publishing was the icing on the cake! Because I ended up working with an amazingly talented editor who helped enhance my story. Holly rocks!

 

I love Sierra & Co. so the final read was bittersweet. But I know I won't be leaving this world entirely just yet, because I've got a few spin-off novels I'd like to write and even a secret story that I've been working on but will not talk about. *whistles*

But enough about that.

Hubby went back to work yesterday, and my daughter went back to school today. They both had a 2-week break, and it was AWESOME! We hung out together and went to a few places, enjoyed many walks, and they were home to celebrate my birthday on the 7th. Yay. It was SO much fun that I didn't want it to end. And even now, it feels weird to be alone with Loki. Actually, even Loki showed some signs of confusion. I think he got used to having hubby home and didn't want him to go back to work. Can't say I blame him. LOL.

Anyway.

Now that everything has gone back to normal and winter seems to be in full swing--it's so cold right now--I guess I should start making some goals. Well, not this week. This week I want to take it easy and get back into the swing of things. I'll catch up on some reading, update some online stuff, write a synopsis, and maybe even take some notes for future projects. I also need to start scheduling a few guest blog spots for the upcoming release of RECAST, Volume 1 and Sierra Fox #5.

I think 4 days should be enough to get my frame of mind back on the writing/revising track. Well, it better be because I intend to spend next week reading the 50k story I finished last month one last time before subbing it. That's my main goal for this month! Next month, I'm actually hoping to get stuck into some new writing. Fingers crossed.

Okay, that's it for now. But like I mentioned in the title... I really have to stop neglecting my blog. There used to be a time when blogging here was part of my daily schedule. Wonder what changed? *scratches head and thinks of Twitter*

See ya!

May Day

So, did you enjoy the Sierra Fox Blog Book Tour? I hope you liked the guest blogs, fun interviews, and contests that took place during the last week. I had a blast.

 

I just want to say THANK YOU to every single blogger who helped get the word out about Sierra's fourth book. :)

 

Phew. It was busy, that's for sure.

 

Oh, and in case you were wondering. Not only did I celebrate the release of Sierra Fox, Book 4 last week, but I also completed the first round of edits for Sierra's fifth/final book. It was a bittersweet experience. On one hand I'm super excited about the upcoming release and can't wait to share the conclusion with everyone. But on the other hand, it's sad.

 

Strange, right?

 

This week my daughter went back to school and all the public holidays are done, so it's back to being alone at home and trying to write, revise, edit as much as possible. While hanging out with Loki, of course. But this week, I'm taking a mental break. I should get the next round of edits back soon, but I needed this week to get a bit of a breather. There are a few smaller tasks that I need to tackle, and I'm slowly crossing them off the to-do list. It feels good to catch up on bits & pieces after being so focused on one project.

 

I also got a chance to catch up on a bunch of The Walking Dead comic books. So I'm now up to date and can't wait to see if the series takes a new direction, or if it will keep circling around similar territory. Don't get me wrong, I love these comic books. They're violent, shocking and filled with characters that I keep praying will survive another issue. LOL. But it would be good to see the survivors actually get a chance to reboot civilization.

 

What else is new? Oh, yeah. See the picture I posted today? It's actually a peek into a diy journal that my daughter and I put together on Monday. That's my one. Basically, we grabbed a bunch of scrap/loose paper and made some cute journals. We even made our own very different covers. It was a LOT of fun, and I'm looking forward to tackling more craft ideas with my daughter. She's inherited my love for stationery. ;)

 

Well, that's about it. I'm hoping to do everything I have on my to-do list by tomorrow afternoon, so I can enjoy the weekend.

 

Don't forget, TORN FROM THE SHADOWS is now available. 

First 2014 Project

Yep.

 

This week I'm working on the second draft of RECAST #4, which I wrote during NaNoWriMo last year. It's a great time to get stuck into it because Book 3 was released last week--yay!--and I'm still riding on that high.

Besides, it's a much smaller story so I can squeeze it in while my daughter's at home. It's hard to be productive when she's home, so scheduling smaller projects is the best way to get anything done. ;)

 

As of today's revision session, I've reached page 54/120. That's almost halfway through, and I've managed to cut two pages. I'm not surprised about that, knew that I would end up cutting a bunch of stuff and rewriting other sections. I wouldn't be surprised if this draft ends up somewhere between 45-47k. Which would be great, actually. That gives me some wiggle room for the third draft, where I sharpen/tighten everything.

 

I've got a love/hate relationship with second drafts. I always look forward to getting stuck into them but when I do, start dragging my feet. This is where I start hating the story and the process one day, then loving it the next. It's always a sluggish process, but once I reach the end my outlook changes completely. By the time I reach the third draft stage I'm super excited all the way through. It's a little strange, but it's my process. LOL.

 

So, the other thing I've been doing is tackling my Declutter Project. I spent the last week sorting through my ideas/research/WIPs/series paper files, and have managed to get rid of a LOT of stuff. I'm just glad it was all paper and can be recycled. I started out with two research binders, and about nine display folders/printed pages. Now I have one binder and one bound book with printed pages. Then there was the actual series/idea files which were all over the place! I cross referenced everything and wound up going from six magazine holders to one. Phew.  

 

Now I can start a new and improved system of filing my book + series info without taking up so much room. There's still more work to be done, but I'm happy with the progress. :)

 

The only downside to all of this revision and sorting work is that I haven't had a chance to read for several days. Must. Remedy. That.

 

See ya!

TGIF

I get up super early with hubby every morning, and while we were having breakfast yesterday I noticed that the moon was huge and bright. So I decided to step outside on the balcony to take a picture of it.

And that's when I noticed the moon had a friend. Turns out it was Jupiter beside the moon. Very cool. I'm glad I captured it.

 

Anyway, wow, what a busy couple of weeks. Yikes!

 

Last week I worked on the FLE for TORN FROM THE SHADOWS, which took up most of my weekdays. And this week I got stuck into the Final Proof. As of this morning, I've sent off the last changes to my lovely editor. I'm really looking forward to getting the final books.

 

You know, it's really exciting to get this book finished and ready for publication. But it's also a little sad. This happens to be the penultimate instalment in my Sierra Fox series and it's filled with a lot of stuff that still made me beam with joy and sadness while I was reading it again. I suppose that's a good sign, after reading it so many times for revision and editing purposes. LOL.

 

I've also been reading at night, catching up on some review books and enjoying many of the books I have on my TBR pile. It never gets any smaller, though. ;)

 

Well, my daughter's now officially on school holidays and doesn't go back until the end of January. O_o That's a long way away. And although I'm going to take it easy for the rest of the year--man, it always feels weird to say that--I need to start planning out my 2014 writing projects.

 

I'm just glad it's almost the weekend.

 

Have a good one!

Sierra Fox, Sunny Weather & Teeth

Hey!

 

So, this feels like another Sierra Fox week to me. :)

Seriously, they seem to become all about Sierra a lot... which is actually a very cool thing. I love writing this series, and I'm going to miss it so much when it's done.

That's why my head is buzzing with spin-off ideas, and other stories I could set in this world I love so much. It's driving me batty because my brain is getting crowded. As much as I love Sierra, Papan, Lavie and everyone else, I really am looking forward to getting stuck into new worlds.

 

Anyway. The print release of SPLIT AT THE SEAMS was yesterday. And in case you missed the news, the fourth book will be released next year. So excited about it. Like I said before, this year has been filled with Sierra Fox goodness. ;)

 

So, remember how it rained continuously for over a week? This week has been perfect--sunny every day, warm during the day, nights aren't too cold. Like I said, perfect. I always love these short glimpses of spring in the middle of winter. It makes the cold months a little easier to cope with. If I could have spring, summer, and autumn only, I would. I would gladly skip winter. LOL.

 

Last night marked one week of wearing the splint while sleeping. I have to admit that it's still weird having to wear it every night, but I'm getting used to it. I think it's doing its job too. Or at least I hope it is. The worst thing is that my front teeth hurt a little as soon as I take it off in the morning. Not sure if that's normal or not, but I'll mention it to the dentist on Monday when we go in to (hopefully) pick up hubby's splint.

 

This is also my daughter's first week of school holidays so I've been catching up on housework, online updating stuff, and sorting through things. No point getting stuck into anything too involved when she has holidays, especially since hubby will be off ALL next week as well. Yay. Can't wait.

 

Well, that's it for today. Have a great day!

Hello, it's Monday

Yikes! I meant to pop in last week but just kept running out of time. Why does it always feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to get allthestuff done? Um, probably because there isn't. O_o

I don't understand how people get bored at home. I've got so many things to do every single day...

 

Anyway. What's new? How is everyone?

 

Today is the first day of my daughter's school holidays. She goes back on May 1st. Don't ask me why her high school has decided they need two and a half weeks off between Term 1 and 2. Seriously confused about that, but whatever. She's got stuff to do.

 

This pretty much means that I'll be starting Sierra Fox #5 while she's at home. I plan to start on April 29, so let's hope it all goes according to plan. Fingers crossed.

 

Last week I spent a lot of time brainstorming and taking notes of the main events that are going to be happening in the book and found myself handwriting actual words. Which means I have three different chapters written. Sure, they're bare bones and out of order, but they're already written. And the best thing is how much of the story is already playing out inside my head like a movie. I absolutely love it when the story gets to this stage.

 

I can't wait to get started, and might even do that sooner. If I can get this week's to-do list goal done, that is. This week I want to write 4 guest blog posts + answer interview questions I've scheduled during the release week of ON PINS AND NEEDLES. Today I came up with the four topics I'm going to write about, so that'll help me get started on the actual writing tomorrow. :)

 

We've been catching up on Season 7 of SUPERNATURAL. I've missed the lovely Winchester Brothers! We're about halfway through the season and can't wait to see where it leads. I remember we took a bit of a break from it because of the Leviathan storyline, but I don't mind it now. It's interesting. Probably just needed some time to miss them.

Loki had his annual check up/vaccine visit at the RSPCA on Saturday and seemed to be okay, not as wonky as he usually gets. But today I found a small bald patch on his back. :/ This has happened before shortly after getting this needle, but last time it was pretty bad. Now I'm keeping an eye on him. As long as only fur is missing and his skin doesn't get scabby or irritated, he'll be fine. The downside is that he's getting the shits with me watching him like a hawk.

 

Well. That's it for now. I do have some good news that I'll hopefully announce soon, so stay tuned! ;)

 

See ya.