Tales of a Romance Nerd

Jumping on the NV bandwagon

2010-09-22T00:04:00.002+10:00

Ok - so I'm very late, pretty much just scraped in but I've just uploaded my chapter for the New Voices comp. It's called Sex and Sin City and it's set in, yep, you guessed it, fabulous Las Vegas.

Head on over to New Voices and have a read if you are not already brain fired.

What to do when your mojo goes AWOL...

2010-09-10T16:11:00.003+10:00

Problem: Missing mojo
Solution: Immerse yourself in all the fab New Voices entries. None more so fab than those of my two fab CP's - Rachael Johns & Jackie Ashenden.

But seriously, Its been months since I've written anything, and still waiting on news re my revisions (14 weeks, but hey, who's counting?) and all the great entries thus far in the New Voices comp SHOULD HAVE been a sure fire way to get the creative juices flowing... well I got zip. OK - that's a lie, I have a single paragraph, but it's crapola.

So peeps - please divulge - anyone got tips for how to get the groove back?

I Beg Your Pardon

2010-04-15T20:35:00.002+10:00

I never promised you a rose garden.

That's what my ms would say to me if it could talk. Actually, to be honest, I think it'd call me every name under the sun.

If you haven't guessed it by now, I'm having ms love issues. It is like a rogue child, and funny that, since it has a working title called The Prodigal Daughter.

My poor CP's have heard me rant on like a mad woman possessed by nutty writers syndrome (NWS) for far too long and I'm sure they'd be just as glad to see the bugger sent off as I will. And I am trying, oh so desperately to find the love that I once had for my hero and heroine, for their story and for their HEA.

So I ask of you - how do you find the love when all seems dead and gone?

Happy Cupcake & 5-5-5

2010-04-09T20:03:00.000+10:00

Last month the lovely Lacey Devlin nominated me for a happy cupcake award. And yes, I am a slacker because it's taken me this long to come up with ten things that make me happy. So here they are:
1. My girls - as cheeky as they can be, I love them to bits.
2. My hubby - as cheeky as he can be, I love him to bits.
3. Light bulb or aha! moments when writing - love when all the pieces of the puzzle slot nicely together.
4. Reading a good book on a rainy day - actually reading a good book, period.
5. Coffee (more on this later).
6. Ice cream (again, more on this later).
7. Travelling. I LOVE flying - the longer the flight the better! (um only if I'm travelling business class).
8. A glass of a good Aussie red, wine that is.
9. Ticking something off my looooooonnnng to do list. Will get there one day!
10. Watching a good movie - esp if it has a HEA ending!

And yesterday, the ever so talented Jackie Ashenden nominated me for the 5-5-5. Five questions, five answers, five blogs. My answers are no where near as interesting as others, but here goes:

Question 1: Where were you 5 years ago?
1. Working in a mega stressful job travelling a total of three hours (round trip) to work - So not going back there again.
2. Planning what would end up being our last holiday before kids. Went to Bali, loved it.
3. Going to the gym three times a week (whatever happened to those days?).
4. Thinking of moving to France (for hubby's work).
5. Thinking of doing my masters in Commerce (hahahaha).

Question 2: What was on your to do list today.
1. Get kidlets fed and out the door by 8am (was out by 8:05am).
2. Have my 'me time' at my local cafe with the latest book I'm reading (a very good Blaze by Sarah Mayberry BTW).
3. Write 5,000 words (have another 1,800, but hey, the night is young).
4. Feed kidlets nutritious dinner (does pasta bake count?).
5. Get kidlets in bed by 7:30pm to get number 3 done (Got them in at 7:40pm, not bad.).

Question 3: What 5 snacks do you enjoy.
1. Coffee (the smell of it, the taste of it!)
2. Ice cream (especially chocolate or honey macadamia, yummmm!)
3. Apple cinnamon muffins.
4. Lemon lime tarts.
5. And as long as we counting drinks as snacks - red wine (hey, Jackie had chocolate martini's!)

Question 4: 5 Places you've lived. Ok, in the interest of not writing Sydney 5 times or listing 5 suburbs I've lived in, I'm breaking the rules (yep I'm a rebel!) and saying 'lived' means somewhere you have been for at least a week:
1. Sydney (had to put it in)

2. Paris (sigh, one of the best weeks of my life)
3. Honolulu (if only)

4. Phuket (if only I could remember it)

5. Denpasar, Bali (again, if only I could remember it)

Question 5: 5 things you'd do if you were a billionaire. I'm gonna get heavy cause number one is something close to my heart.

1. Find a cure for autism. It should NOT exist.

2. Find a cure for alzheimer’s.

3. Find a cure for dementia.

4. Find a cure for cancer.

5. Eradicate world hunger (or at least put a mighty dent in it).

As for the nominations, well I'm going to be lazy here and say - if you haven't been nominated as yet, then consider yourself tagged!

Shoot Me Now

2010-03-08T20:51:00.007+11:00

I've been wallowing in my revisions for a while now (6 weeks, but who's counting) and all the time thinking how much easier to be to work on a new project. Well the age old saying of 'Careful what you wish for' couldn't be more appropriate because I have a new project.

Sort of.

Last year I had a couple of entries for the Presents contest. One was a Modern Heat entry (my targeted line) and the other one is way more Modern. I sent the Modern Heat entry off, and of course, it got nowhere, but that was fine cause in retrospect, it was total garbage. My other contender, the Modern I sent off to the Romance Writer's of Australia as my entry for their mentoring program - 5 Day Intensive. A workshop where an aspiring writer is paired up with a published author who provides critique on their manuscript.

I got word this morning that I got offered a place in the workshop. Am very excited that I have been given this opportunity, especially since this will be the inaugural intensive manuscript development workshop.

But I am also scared - big time. Why? Well I've only written three chapters of my manuscript (working title - The Prodigal Daughter) and I am only up to chapter 8 of my Modern Heat rewrites/revisions (working title Hot Nights). I have nine weeks to complete The Prodigal Daughter to my mentor and four weeks to complete and ship off Hot Nights to the ed I'm working with, so another 10 hours added to my day for a couple of months wouldn't go astray. Do you reckon if I stare at a pic of my hero's (the yummy Josh Duhmel as Tom and the scrummy Hugh Dancy as Adam) these manuscripts will just magically write themselves?

Argh! Shoot me now!

Shameless Eye Candy

2010-02-13T21:56:00.002+11:00

No insightful or meaningful post here girls. Nope - if you're looking to learn something - this is not the place for it. What I do have however is some shameless eye candy... Allow me to introduce my hero Adam Bennett, aka Hugh Dancy:

Now, he is not my original Adam. My first choice was Eric Dane (Mc Steamy) but after my revisions came through, Adam needed to be younger, about 30ish (he was 35). Therefore, there was a need for a new hero and even though there are lots of yummy 30 year olds out there, I was totally clueless as to who to choose, until I laid eyes on Hugh. He fits the bill and he's a hottie! I still hope I can use Mr Dane sometime in the future.

What's that I hear? You don't know who Eric Dane is? OK - you twisted my arm - here is another piece of eye candy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Teenage crushes - where are they now?

2010-02-04T15:38:00.000+11:00

One thing that I neglected to note in my Kreativ Blogger post is my obsession with Jon Bon Jovi. Ask anyone of my friends and family and they will vouch for this. I was nine when I first heard the Bon Jovi anthem 'Livin' on a prayer' and ever since I've been hooked on this glam rock band that in a day and age where nothing lasts, they are a true testament to Darwin's survival of the fittest.

Now, these boys have been around the block and back, and all of them are pushing, if not already surpassed 50, and their lead singer is no exception. Jon is just a month shy (his birthday is March 2nd) of turning 48 and, I think, he still is hotness! Just look at the pics. Big hair pic is circa early 80's and the new one is a promo shot for their new video. I think, like fine wine, JBJ has gotten better with old age.

If I was writing a mills and boon in the eighties, I would definitely have tried to use him as hero inspiration, most probably as a bad boy, self made maverick from the wrong side of the tracks.

So come on - 'fess up, who was you're teenage crush? And could you use him for a hero today?

Kreativ Blogger

2010-01-31T15:30:00.002+11:00

Thanks to the lovely and ever so talented Rachael Johns for nominating me for the Kreativ Blogger. Now for the hard part. 7 interesting facts. Here goes...

1. I wrote my first story in grade 2 - it was about the then Aussie prime minister, Bob Hawke and the then opposition leader, Andrew Peacock. In my story they were birds and head of opposing tribes. I think Mrs Hawkins thought it was odd that a seven year old was writing about politics, but she told my parents that their daughter should be a writer. Bless her cotton socks.

2. I had my first crush when I was 12 - that boy, or rather that man, is now my husband. Our paths crossed for the second time when we were 18, briefly dated then I went to uni and got consumed in studying. Fast forward two years and I woke up one day and realised he was the ONE. Only way to contact him was through a mutual friend, so I got her to get him to call me, and the rest as they say is history.

3. I'm fascinated with politics and comparative economic systems. I used to spend summers with my grandparents and when my aunt and uncle were still living at home - there was a lot of reading material. The summer I was 12 I discovered my aunt's Mills & Boon collection, but on the same bookshelf were my uncle's political and economic books - so I read M&B and books on Stalin, Marx and Churchill at the same time. Yes - I was a weird child, it’s no different as an adult.

4. I once had a teacher accuse me of plagiarising my book review. I was furious and took a lot of convincing to make her believe otherwise. In hindsight - I should be flattered.

5. I've never seen the movies ET, Mad Max or Star Wars. But am a James Bond freak and LOVE all of the Bonds except for Timothy Dalton and George Lazenby (what were they thinking?).

6. I've always loved chick flicks, but since having my girls, I refuse to watch or ready anything that doesn't have a happy ending. Not sure why, but means category suits me well.

7. I'm an 80's music freak, which is a bit strange considering I was quite young in the 80's. I even know more than my hubby who can sing, play drums and guitar and fancies himself as a bit of a music buff. If you asked me how Bon Jovi chose the songs for their Slippery When Wet album, I can tell you.

Ok - so now for the hard stuff, passing the nomination. I think pretty much everyone I know has been nominated, but if you're reading this and you haven't - then go for it!

Making a molehill out of a mountain

2010-01-24T15:49:00.000+11:00

Yes you read right - I didn't get mixed up. I have a problem (well actually, I have several, but that's another post altogether). I have a massive set of revisions that came through for my ms that's targeted at Modern Heat. When I say massive, I'm not exaggerating, and I really need to make a molehill out of a mountain. After coming down to earth and really reading the email it was clear that there are a number of issues that need addressing.

So where to begin? With lovely ed I'm working with suggested I map out my characters lives, from birth till now. I know that this is something others have done and recently, the wise Jackie Ashenden did the same for her current wip and has found it immensely helpful (thanks Jackie).

Why? A character map/bio gives you and really it’s the best way of getting to know your protagonists - their likes, dislikes, quirks, stuff about their childhood, past relationships, hopes and dreams all paint a complete picture of them.

But wait? We create these characters - shouldn't we know them already? Well... maybe. I know in the past I've certainly written some kind of background/description, but for this ms, I just dove into the writing without so much as a second thought as to WHO these people really where. Our characters are our foundations - if we can't get them write - the rest of the story will crumble, so really getting the bios right - is really really vital. Once you do and you really know your characters, the rest is as easy as pie...well, maybe not, but it’s certainly a good start on chipping away at that mountain.

The Art of Simplicity

2010-01-17T08:30:00.000+11:00

I noticed something whilst editing my latest ms. I'm no fan of simplicity, well not in the first draft that is. I tend to overcomplicate things, write flowery descriptions of things that last paragraphs when really, a sentence or two will do. This wasn't the first time I did this, in fact, I'm pretty sure I've done it with every ms I've written, so you would think by now I'd know better.

Recently I read a the first two books of Nora Roberts' latest series - The Bride Quartet. I'd been a while since I'd read one of her books, but pretty much from the first word I was reminded of the elements of her writing that I've always admired, the primary one being simplicity.

Now, I'm a bit biased because I think Nora Roberts is a genius, but seriously, when she writes something, she doesn't need to rely on pages upon pages of description to get the point accross. When she switches POV, and she does this a fair bit, we the reader are not left with whiplash. On the contrary, we clearly know who's POV we're Why? Because she does it with simplicity. Yes, NR has mastered the art of simplicity. Perhaps after writing eons of books I might get it right too.

The Problem with Tom/What's in a name?

2010-01-16T14:52:00.003+11:00

So I have an issue. I don't like my hero's name. Petty I know, but when I started writing my current MS, he was originally Nicholas Bradley, now he's Thomas Bradley and I'm thinking of changing it back, or perhaps, calling him something else. In the grand scheme of things does it matter what his name is? probably not, but I'm finding it hard to continue till I figure it out.

Am I alone on this? Has anyone else started an MS then changed the main character's names half way through? I generally change the look of the character or the image I use for inspiration, but not the actual name.

So here is Tom/Nick. Does he look more like a Tom or a Nick? And what's in a name anyway? Does it alter our perception of a a character if we can link their name to past experiences or people we know?

How to NTAI in Ten Days

2009-11-02T11:30:00.002+11:00

For those brave enough to have committed to NaNo - you're already set in to NTAI, but for the rest of us who have a sub out there/entered the Presents comp here are some suggestions:

Day One - Get a pedi/mani or even better - both. Come on you KNOW you want to!
Day Two - Get a massage (could have done it on day one, but why rush things?)
Day Three - Have a loooooooong lunch with a friend or two. And have a glass of wine or two, or three...
Day Four - Give the VISA/MasterCard a work out and DON'T feel bad about it, after all, its all in the name of earning frequent flyer points right?
Day Five - ???

OK - I could only come up with four suggestions. So tell me, how are you NTAI?

I Have Writer's Block...

2009-10-06T23:14:00.004+11:00

Ok - So it's probably the most over used phrase known to a writer, but hey, its the truth and if it weren't then I'd probably would've thought of something clever and witty to say... but i didn't, because I can't...

The situation is as follows: Logged on this morning to find an email from HM&B requesting my full manuscript for the partial I sent which included some, but not a hell of a lot of revisions.
Yeah - happy dance and all that. I AM stoked, but as I read the revisions carefully, I panic. I have to REWRITE stuff, think of new scenes AND still polish nine chapters, two of which are incomplete...

I sit down and open a file that has not seen the light of day for a good six weeks and then... nothing, nada, zip.

Maybe a spot of surfing, checking my email, visiting face book might get me in the mood? Uh no, still not a single word... After a while it dawned on me...I officially have writer's block.
Sigh. Perhaps tomorrow might be easier?

Inspiration in the strangest form

2009-10-05T00:08:00.004+11:00

So I just got back from a trip to Hong Kong and LOVED it. But the whole time I was there I trying to find a way of weaving my experience into my existing ms. Because we were there for dh's work, I had some time to write, and one gloriously smoggy afternoon as I sat perched at my laptop with an expansive view of Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour in my sights it hit me...

My existing MS is set in the Hunter Valley, deep NSW wine country. How on earth am I going to marry country Australia and the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong? The answer was born from an experience from the night before. After a night on the town, we headed to our hotel and seeing as though it was well before the witching hour, we made a beeline to the 'Sky Bar' and as the name suggests, it is situated way up there with a fantabulous view of Hong Kong at night. One of the may great things about the Sky Lounge Bar is their Wine Room. You are given something resembling a credit card and you can access their wine dispensing system (see pic). Basically, you can have a taste, half or full glass of a various selections of wines from around the globe, and for a wine lover like me, this is heaven! So I inserted my card, surveyed the selection and paused... Hmm... not many Aussie wines on the list, in fact not a SINGLE one! And come to think of it, Aussie wines were absent on many of the menus in other restaurants and bars in HK, their alternatives, bar the NZ wines, were average to say the least. And THAT lead to a light bulb moment...

WHAT if my hero, the new up and coming CEO of Australia's oldest wine empire set his sights on breaking the HK market? WHAT if he whisked the heroine to HK for a romantic week? What would they do? Hmm...

So tell me, what's the strangest way you've gotten a light bulb moment or some form of inspiration???

Back on the bench and on the fence

2009-08-31T13:11:00.008+10:00

Last Friday I sent off baby number two into the abyss, which can only mean one thing....Back on the NTAI bench (many thanks to Jackie for coining this reference).

So, I guess the best way to adhere to NTAI would be to start my brand spanking shiny new project. But I have uno problemo....

I have two ideas floating, two heroines cast, (having some issues with my hero's, but that's another post altogether) and on the fence regarding which idea to go with. Do I tell Claire's story - A girl that falls in love with a rogue of a hero after he takes her to a football match? Or do I tell Abby's, the prodigal daughter - Ambitious, strong willed and clashes with our hero from the very first line on the page?

Funny enough my two heroines come from my latest fave show on TV - Packed To The Rafters (did I mention its my fave show??) Here are my two beautiful heroine's: Claire (Jessica McNamee) and Abby (Jessica Marais)

PS - Wonky images again because I can't work out how to resize them! Sorry...

I Need A Hero...

2009-07-23T16:51:00.005+10:00

Where have all the good men gone

And where are all the gods?

Where’s the street-wise Hercules

To fight the rising odds?

No - I cannot take credit for these wise words, they are courtesy of 80's power ballad queen Bonnie Tyler from her song I need a hero. In my current ms, the h&h are the best man and maid of honour at a wedding where the bride, amongst many things, is an 80's music tragic. The bridal waltz is danced to (The Glory of Love from the movie Karate Kid Part II).

Usually when I start an ms, I cast my hero & heroine using movie stars, models, etc... but since this ms came to me thick and fast to begin with, I had no time to think about who would play my h&h. That was until I wrote the bridal waltz scene and I had a minor epiphany (phrase borrowed from Rach's blog, thanks Rach). My hero Adam appeared as none other than Dr McSteamy himself, Eric Danes and my beautiful heroine Blair was the beautiful Katherine Heigl.

OK - I admit, I may also have been watching Grey's Anatomy at the time too, and had no intention of casting them both (felt like I was cheating because I plucked them from the same pond, so to speak) but then saw a trailer for Katherine's new chick flick The Ugly Truth and there was something about her that screamed Blair and I thought - this is my heroine. Now all I have to do is picture them with Aussie accents and all will be sweet... Oh that and actually finishing my ms...

PS - Sorry for the wonky pics. I'm technologically challenged.

Let's Talk About Sex

2009-07-19T14:51:00.003+10:00

Despite the image that I have posted, no, this is not a blog about the 1991 hit by Salt n Pepa. This is a blog about me trying, rather unsuccessfully, to write the dreaded love scene. It's just that every time I think about writing the DLS, this song pops into my head.

I might as well be a virgin, because for the life of me, I CAN'T write about sex without sounding overly cliche (think along the lines of 'his throbbing member') or like I am writing the instructions for putting together some IKEA furniture (slot part A into part B then pound).

See what I mean? Hopeless, and full of bad puns...

I even skipped the DLS, wrote a whole chapter of what happens after the fact and now I need to go back and fill the gaping whole that is the DLS.

Maybe if I had another song floating in my mind, I might be more successful? Oh I don't know... Any advice? How do you girls get in the mood (sorry, bad pun again) to write about sex?

Redemption

2009-06-30T20:32:00.007+10:00

After showing my dh's not-so-hero-like behaviour in my last post, he then goes and redeems himself, and in a big way...

I have been on maternity leave for about 18months and when it became apparent that I was not going back to work, I started complaining that my 'good clothes' would be stuck in a time warp because there would not been such a pressing need to update them for 'work', my stock standard excuse for buying new clothes in the past. In fact, soon my entire wardrobe will comprise of track suit pants and faded jeans.

So imagine my surprise when my dh hands me a nice little white box and within it, information pertaining to my sessions with a personal stylist and personal shopper. Session one is a wardrobe analysis (an audit of what to keep, alter, give away and what's missing) and session two is the shopping trip (identifying what suits me and equipping me with info on how to shop for myself in the future). This gift was surprising on a number of levels:

The last time my dh put this much thought into a gift for me was close to a decade ago.

This gift proves that at some point, my dh actually LISTENED as I spoke.

Its a gift that is for me ONLY. About four years ago he booked a holiday for my birthday, which was great, but he benefited from it just as much as I did. Generally, my birthday present is being taken out to dinner, again, this benefits him too.

The gift also sparked an idea for my next ms (this one is totally unrelated to the others, but surprised me how much writing has consumed my life).

Sigh, I guess there are SOME redeemable qualities in my very own hero. Now I just have to suck up the courage to accept the findings from the wardrobe audit, cause it ain't going to be pretty!

When Fact is Stranger Than Ficton

2009-06-14T13:33:00.006+10:00

Last Friday was my birthday and since we had a child free day dh & myself decided to go to lunch at a nearby beach side cafe. Friday was also the day that dh received delivery of his somewhat expensive 'hoon' car. Now, for all intensive purposes, it is a very nice car. It's fast, has a luxurious interior and well, looks Ok. Its just the colour I cannot get by (yes, the pic is the exact car, and that key lime green is another story all together).

Since his toy was brand spanking new, I let dh drive his car and listened politely at him gibbering all the way about his brand new pride and joy. I even refrained from making a smart comment when he insisted we park it right in front of the cafe so he could 'keep an eye on it.'

As we sat on the balcony enjoying our lunch, a three cheese souffle for me and lamb shanks for dh, I noticed him looking wistfully over my left shoulder. Since it was a cold, but sunny winter's day and we were across the road from the beach, I assumed he was enjoying the view of the rugged coastline, a view that was quintessential Sydney. How mistaken I was. When I asked him what he was looking at this was his response:
I am looking at my car thinking how about taking a photo of you draped over it in a bikini...'

Umm, WTF? I was stunned, and very confused. Should I be insulted or flattered? At my silence he elaborated.

But it has to be a black bikini, black would look the best against the green. It would look great in the garage. What do you think?

What do I think? I think my semi-intelligent husband has totally lost his mind. And even if I had a personal trainer and chef for six months, plus hair, make up and a spray tan on the day, I would NOT do it.

Note to self: Ensure that current and future heros don't say such lecherous lines to heroine.

Sigh. While I can control what comes out of my hero's mouth on paper, in reality it's a whole different ball game.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

2009-06-06T10:53:00.000+10:00

You know when you are read a M&B author's 'about me' blurb at the beginning of their book and they say how they used to read their grandmother's or mother's M&B when they were 12? Well I can put my hand up and say I too fall into that category, except they were my aunt's books.

The other day whilst reading such a blurb, it got me thinking about the different author's and books that impacted me whilst growing up, and how each book/category/author could be associated with some memory. For instance:

Enid Blyton & Roald Dahl books are my earliest memory of reading 'novels'. I would go shopping with my mother for the sole purpose of scoring a book. She would often leave me on the book section whilst she shopped and collected me on her way out.

Ruth Park's book Playing Beatie Bow was the book that inspired me to write. I loved it so much and convinced myself that I would write the sequel. For those that have read the book or seen the movie, you know that it's pretty much impossible to have a sequel, but hey I was 10 or 11 and my dreams were big back then.

My pre-teen stage: The Babysitters Club by Ann M. Martin and Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume are two standouts.

Then came the teen romances: The Sweet Dreams series and Sweet Valley High. These books remind me of heart fluttering first kisses and happily ever after. I so wanted to be blonde and blue eyed but the closest I came was the disastrous episode with a spray on hair lightener that left my very dark brown hair a beautiful shade of orange.

Then came the summer I spent at my grandparents and I discovered Mills & Boon. My uncle and my aunt where still living at home at the time and the books shelf displayed an interesting combination of books. Books about Stalin and Karl Marx on one end (for arguments sake we will say the left) and an abundance of M&B on the other. Do I have to spell out which I read? This is the only 'fad' of books that I never truly grew out of.

In my senior years in high school we were made to read a lot of texts no one particularly enjoyed. There were two exceptions though: 1. Pride & Prejudice (need I say more?) and 2. An Open Swimmer by Tim Winton. A vivid memory from high school was when a teacher walked into the room at the start of a lesson and found one of my friends and myself devouring Pride & Prejudice whilst the reset of the class ran amok. This is the dialogue, word for word of what happened next:

Teacher to unruly classmates: 'Why can't you girls just sit and read like Janette and Susan?'

Maria: 'But Miss V, we are not nerds like they are.

In my 20's there where two author's that stood out for me: Nora Roberts (particularly Birthright) and Marian Keyes (especially Last Chance Saloon).

Which brings us to my 30's and present day. The funny thing is - whilst the years have passed and morphed into themselves, not much has really changed. Still knee deep in M&B and hooked on HEA; still an aspiring author; still reading an eclectic combination of books and still a romance nerd...