Monday, April 28, 2008

More Good News

As you may or may not know another of our Aussie's had her novel accepted for publication a while back. Yes that's right Ms Suzanne Brandyn had her novel 'Passion In Paradise' accepted by
The Wild Rose Press.

Well now she has a cover. WOOHOOO for Suz. So drop over to her Website and have a look at her book cover, Suzanne Brandyn Romance Writer .

The good news just keeps coming. Have you got any good news you would like to share? I'm more than happy to hear about it.

If I were A Rich Man

That is going to be the working title of my Novella. I really don’t have a clear picture of every thing yet. Well all I have is a hero. Tall, wide chest, shoulder length hair, dark shoulder length hair. Deep blue eyes and lashes that are soooo wasted on a guy. Oh and he has a dimple in his right cheek when he smiles.

He also works with cars, so his hands are well oiled. LOL. Nothing like a a pair of well oiled hands.

He’s leaning against the door to the work shed when a snazzy black sports car goes flying by, I thinking this might be a small town. He is also wiping his hand on an old rag, heavens even that is giving me goose bumps.

This is sooo not going to be a sweet novel. This guy has too much . . . to much . . . yeah I know I’m repeating myself here. No he is not going to want to keep any bedroom doors closed. Heck, he might be lucky to even get in the door first.

Okay I’ve got to stop. My fingers are itching to start to write this thing and I want to put some time in on a couple of my other WIP before this thing starts. That’s it I’m going to bed, can’t spend all my time with this guy. I need some sleep, only had 3 hours last night.

Bye for now.
Hugs
Sandie

Sunday, April 27, 2008

AUTHOR DEVON GARY

YES, It has happened, Ms Devon Gray, Author extraordinaire has her very first contract. How cool is that? Rachel C emailed with the news that the squeeeeeeeee had gone out. Devon received an email saying the senior editor loved "Addicted” (That’s the name of her novel) and would be sending her a contract. HOW FREAKING COOL IS THAT?

I don’t know much more so drop over to Devon’s blog and say “Hi” and congratulate her because she sooooooooo deserves it.

YYYAAAYYY DEVON. Oops that is ‘AUTHOR DEVON GRAY’. How cool is that?

Hugs
Sandie

P.S. Just click on any of Devon's names and you'll be linked to her site. But just in case;
http://authordevongray.blogspot.com/

Friday, April 25, 2008

Rainy Friday

I've had a couple of crappy days this week. Wednesday I got a migraine because I move my head the wrong way. Felt the crack in my neck and "POW" massive headache. Luckily it only lasted for a few hours. I went to bed with the room as dark as possible, took a couple of pills and crushed. The big problem, like with most of my headaches it takes me two to three days to get over them completely. I feel like I'm walking around with a head full of cotton wool. (Okay I'm like that at the best of times, but this is slightly different). So no writing on WIP being done here.

I've checked emails, read blogs, post on read blogs and just vegged out. Next week I will be getting the whip out to myself (no I'm not being kinky) and get some work done. I'll have three days to get house in order, cook some extra meals for hubby (have plenty of soup for myself) and decide what I'm going to write about during May.

Yes I've signed up for another challenge. It is all that Nicola Marsh's fault, went over there just to see what she has been up to lately, and she has this challenge she is co-hosting. Jeez, I have no will power, the challenge write a Novella of 25,000 words in 31 days. My superior thinking kicks in with, good way to prepare for June. Or as I said to Diane it's like waving a red flag to a bull. I see the words challenge and off I go charging in ready to sign up. Never mind, I still love Nicola she's great, always got something to say, has heaps of helpful hints here and there through out her blog. So anyway if you're interested the challenge is with Cata University from May 1st to 31st.

Okay hubby is hoping for at least 30 minutes of fine weather so he can ride a horse he is breaking-in, had to have yesterday off because it rained non-stop. So I had better go keep an eye on him. Just hope the horse isn't scared of my new welly boots, hehehe. Black with hot pink, white and purple dots, sooooooo cool.

Catch ya later.
Hugs
Sandie

Friday, April 18, 2008

Haunted By The Past

Ever since I wrote my blog on how I got started, I've been getting bits and pieces of the stories I'd thrown out. Yes I'm being haunted by my past characters. At first I just thought they were new characters wanting to join the mad house that is living in my head these days. Until I got a flash of a young girl so excited about her wedding day, she rushes into her sisters bedroom with a newspaper in hand to show said sister the article about her wedding. What she finds changes her life forever.

In her sisters bed is none other then her expected bridegroom asleep with her sister wrapped in his arms. My thought was, crap had that vision before. Yes this is one of the stories I' tossed out all those years ago. I guess they feel they have a right to have their stories told as well as the rest of my characters. Yep, even the one about the widow and her boss is filtering through. All I can do is jot down the little bits I'm getting here and there and hope for the best.

So now I have no idea what I am going to do for '50ks In 30 Days' other then adding to my already over flowing collection of WIP. I'm not game to think about starting something new. I don't have the space for any more people in my 'Head City'. I'm having a population explosion. Does anyone know how to switch it off? Is there a switch somewhere I need to flick? It's Frantic Friday today, all I know for sure is that it is Friday and I'm frantic. Frantic for some peace.

Our '50ks In 30 Days' challenge is growing so we should have a great month. We have a few more people doing the nightly word sprints with us, although I had to pass on last night as I was just too wiped out from family commitments yesterday. But tonight I will be ready to take the world on, (well I'm telling myself that). By the time tonight comes around I just may have myself believing it as well.

WRW-BIAW is on again next week so that should be a very good fore-runner for June. Hubby is still home next week and he'll be hopping on the young horse he is breaking-in so I'll have to sit outside to keep an eye on him. At least I have my trusty lappy I can write and watch him at the same time.

Okay that is my rant for the moment, I off to do some washing. Catch ya later.

Hugs
Sandie

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Been Missing In Action

Now I don't want you thinking I've been sitting around doing nothing, because I haven't, I've been very busy. I've helped set up another blog site for our June writing challenge. '50ks In 30 Days' pretty nifty name isn't it?

The site is: http://writeinjune.blogspot.com drop by and have a look. We are working on it all the time adding things here and there. We are also going to have a few people post blogs that have done NaNo a few years to give any new challengers an idea on what to expect with writing for a month flat-out. I've also asked one of the girls that did NaNo last year and had began the month not sure she would ever get to write a full novel. In the end had written her 50,000 words and was quiet pleased with herself. Which she had every right to be.

I've also been doing some great word sprint with Diane and Rachel C. A great way to spend your evenings. Sets of 15 to 30 minutes writing sprints. You would be surprised just how much writing you can get done like that.

Oh and one more thing, Devon Gray a very special friend I've made since I've started blogging got a full MS request. How cool is that? Rachel C and I will be singing from the roof tops when her release date is announced. So stay turned. In the mean time drop by Devon's blog and say 'hi' as well as congratulate her. http://authordevongray.blogspot.com

Okay, I have some sprinting to do with Diane. So catch you later.

Hugs
Sandie

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Putting Your Foot In It

Well I seem to have put my foot well and truly in it this week. No matter what did or where I did it, I stuffed up, (hurt someone’s feelings which I had not meant to do) or in one case sent a private email to someone I think is pretty special and left a very important word out. A small word, but one that changed the whole context of the sentence. What is the word 'not'. I then had to email this person back and tell them how sorry I was. Thank heavens they were gracious enough to forgive me.

What did I learn from this great mess up? Never, never, write a scene where your hero and heroine are having a disagreement about, who is or is not in the wrong and whose fault it is. Because it is very easy to mess up what you should be writing and to whom.

So what else have I been up too. I have three new stories in the pipeline. Heavens, this is getting way out of control. I have so many people running around in my head it is getting quiet crowded up there. It's like they are having one great bit party going on, (Yes I know there is a lot of area for them to play) they do get pretty noisy up there. So I've been busy writing, messing up email site with a couple of friends. Although in our defence we were doing writing sprints, got some really good word counts done. It is amazing how much you can get done in half an hour.

Well I better get back to my writing, have a hunky hero calling.

Catch ya later.
HugsSandie

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

How, When and Why I Started Writing

The wonderful Rachael Blair has a blog about how she started writing and asked how we all started. Now normally I’d write it to her post but it is such a long story I didn’t want to use up too much of her blogging with my answer. Click on the link and go and read about Rachael’s journey.

Why I started writing. I have no idea, because I hated English with a passion. I started reading Time Romance mag's in my teens and loved the stories. Then I read an article I think it was by Barbara Taylor Bradford about her writing romance novels and thought I could do that, yeah right. I’d also been reading Mills & Boons novels on and off for a while, one of Margaret Way’s was the first M&B I’d read. I loved reading about the Australian outback; Lindsay Armstrong was another I read a lot of at the time. I still have to pick up one of Margaret’s novels if I see a new one available.

When I started well that’s the long part. After reading the article by Barbara, I started my first story. It was about a girl who finds her fiancĂ© in bed with her sister on their wedding day. Very dramatic. Back then in my early days of writing having a computer was a luxury, and not one that we could afford. (Heavens I think my age is showing now.) So I wrote long hand, had my exercise book and trusty pen and would spend hours writing. When I think about it, I wrote much the same way as I do today in that I had three stories going at once. One of my other stories was about a girl who after receiving her first modelling job arrives home to find her long lost father standing in her kitchen talking to her mother; he has also brought his step-son with him. (I might have to revisit that one.) Of course I don’t have said exercise books any more, it a fit one day when I was sure I’d never write again I throw them out. Bad move, very bad move. Anyway that’s getting a head of myself. The third story was about a woman who along with her husband and children moves to the outback to work on one of the large cattle stations. The husband dies in a plane crush (very sad), and cattle station owner steps in to help her through her grieving process, he had lost his wife a few years before hand. So you can see what was going to happen here. Really wish I hadn’t thrown those books out.

Anyway, we moved over to the farm and between getting said farm sorted out, children and school, working, in-laws separating, parents illness and so on, my writing got pushed to one side. Well really it got thrown in the bin. I started tracing my family history and thought it would be great if I could write about my ancestors and their battles to survive in a new colony. I think that was when it all started to happen. I’d allowed myself to dream of writing again even though I did put it off for a few more years.

About four years ago I started getting these mutterings in my head; have to say at first I thought I was going bonkers. I started writing down what they were saying; it was just bits and pieces of things nothing that I could put my finger on and say, “oh now I know what to do”. If that makes any sense at all. Then about two year ago it all come through like a title wave. It was like I opened the gates to a dam and in came all this information. I joined the Romance Writer’s of Australia six months later and as they say the rest is history.

You wouldn’t believe it, I’m going to do a Book in a Month in June with some of my RWAustralia friends, now I was going to finish a couple of my MS’s I have going ATM. But nooooo last night while watching T.V. I had this couple come and visit, seems they have a story to tell. Quiet a nice couple been best friends for years. Had me writing a five page sketch on them. A bit rude pushing in like that, but what can I do? They’ve blocked my other couples until I’m finished with their sketch, so I’ll go with the flow and let them have their time or until the other’s get feed up with waiting and push their way back to front and centre. So what about you? How did you start your writing journey?

Now you can see why I didn’t leave this on Rachael’s site. I ramble too much, anyway my son is here for a visit so I had better go and spend some time with him, I don’t get to see him anywhere near as much as I’d like too.

Bye for now.
Hugs
Sandie