Whew!

I have been diligent this past couple weeks about getting a first draft of my new novel Padded Walls completed. Not due to some wonderful deadline and publishing date - I wish! - but due to my taking a week off. I'm dropping out of the rat race and attending a painting workshop for an entire week! Since I've never done anything like this before I'm VERY excited!

One whole week with no work, no writing (Yeah, right!), and no kids.
Just me slapping around lots of paint which sounds kind of naughty actually.
Hope I don't end up sticking paint brushes in my coffee again, that tastes so bad . . .

So, for the rest of this week I'll be editing, cleaning house, submitting my novels, and getting the rest of the toys I need for my workshop. Well, the order of that might change a bit here and there. Shopping is a lot more fun than working! But it will get done!

Thanks again to Brian Henry who taught a fun class for the Headwaters Writers' Guild on plotting short stories and novels. It's a good sign when you can walk away from a workshop and be totally inspired to write or paint!
Ciao!

Brian Henry Workshop

Ah, nothing is better than spending a post-Halloween day in a writing workshop learning how to craft short stories and plot novels. The fun part is that everyone's minds were still in morbid mode. Crows, murders, and mayhem topped the list of prompts we all devised. We all came away with a few more things to write about and places to submit our musings to.

I stayed up late Halloween night working on my third novel - Padded Walls. I am glad to say the first rough copy is done. That will now be followed by another hundred or so edits, readings, and re-readings until the can't squeeze out another drop of blood. In the meantime, I plan to revise a little on my first two novels and submit, submit, submit.

Stay tuned. I'll keep you up to date on how it's going...

Computers, the bane of my existence...

Okay, so computers have their uses. It makes life easier to be able to research agents, make submissions and even keep in touch with my friends via the Internet. BUT...my problem is with the constant little glitches in the systems. Anyone stuck with VISTA will understand. My computer stalls, has to be rebooted and lately has had to have a complete overhaul thanks to competing programs which were uploaded without my full awareness of the damage they would do.

On the upside, now that I am back on the information highway I am back in touch with the rest of the world. I have to say, I did enjoy my week away from technology and did actually run about 4 pens out of ink! My typing skills were rusty this weekend when I did get back on but most of my correspondence has been caught up. (Bet you were worried!) And all of the writing I did in long hand is now digitized and has been added to my book. Only a matter of time before that one is done and I can torture more agents.

Tonight, I research, drink and be merry for tomorrow...I submit. Look out agents, here I come!

A Night of Unrest

My creativity has been thrown off the last couple of days with sick kids. There's just nothing like a midnight wakeup call from a child screaming in pain from an ear infection. Thankfully, the worse is over for now. A few doses of antibiotics and he'll be feeling normal again.

In the meantime, I'm puttering with the things I keep avoiding - revamping query letters, tidying up workspaces, sorting through my closet which seems bottomless - those things that get pushed aside when the muse takes hold. So for today I am lowering my expectations. No great works of art are expected to emerge. I'll be amazed if I get through the day without a nap!

Of course, sometimes when your body and brain are at their weariest the creative mind can still be inspired by the oddest things. As I clean today, I'll be sure to leave a door open so the muse can creep inside.

Glorious October Colours

It was a sunny albeit cold day yesterday so we decided to take a hike in one of our local parks Mono Cliffs. We had a fun time taking pictures, collecting leaves for one son's school project, and watching the snow drift down around us. The snow wasn't supposed to be part of the deal but it was better than rain.

We hiked for a couple hours before I realized I'd seen particular landmarks before. Recently. Somehow we'd managed to make a complete circle and missed the path to the the exit. We all did an about-face and headed back in the right direction. The kids were cold and miserable. We were...well, the same. Luckily, there's are several great coffee shops that sell great hot chocolate. The kids were appeased. We still had to go grocery shopping...

We have one more thing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. It stopped snowing! At least for today. We decided not to go hiking today - well, not for 2 1/2 hours anyway - instead, I think we'll have a lazy day full of turkey, potatoes, gravy, and pumpkin pie.

Tomorrow it's back to work....

So many contests...

So many contests, so little time. I've been involved with Wynterblue Publishing's Murder in Ink contest. Recently - yesterday! - it went from being a chapter by chapter murder mystery to being a full novella. Big change but that means I can get into it full steam and submit it when I'm done. No more waiting for the last chapter so I can move on.

Also signed up for a local art class. I'm looking forward to one whole afternoon of painting every week. It gets me away from the computer now and then. I just have to pick a theme for the paintings I'll create over the next 8 weeks. Hmmm... an obvious one would be anything to do with the beach. Warmth. I like being warm. Maybe even something about autumn. It still have a week to decide. I'll keep you posted.

Hubby's gone to karate camp this week. The kids and I will play! More fodder for my writing. Padded Walls is nearly half done now. I've had a lot of cancellations this week that has let me get a lot of writing done. That and I have these characters haunting me and forcing me to write this story. I already know how it ends though. Bummer. It's more fun when I don't know the end until the end. As you can tell, I don't always plan my books out. Sometimes I think I know what's going to happen but some character decides that's not going to happen.

Sounds crazy right? This lady's gone off the deep end? I know I'm not alone. There are others like me out there. They're all in my writing group too! LOL

Have a great weekend! I'll be busy collecting leaves, stories, and anything else that blows my way!

Free Time

I'm supposed to be working part time as well as volunteering. All that has been pulled out from under my feet lately. No shifts at work this month. My volunteer post taken away... It's all a bit unsettling at first but then I realized that I have more free time to finish my novel and do some painting.

My current project is a short story for the CBC Radio contest. Deadline is Nov 1, 2009. I'm halfway there. I'm also looking into posting one of my books on Authonomy.com. Interesting site and I've heard lots of great things about it. I need to get attention to my writing somehow!
In the meantime, I'll be working on short stories, Padded Walls, and magazine articles.

Giving up is not an option.