Jumping on the NV bandwagon

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...

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

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

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

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

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?

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?