Setting fire to rainy pavements

My girls have gone bonkers over Adele. They spend the afternoons belting out her songs at the top of their voices with varying degrees of success. Even the 4yo manages the angst and the volume (!) though the words are a liquidized smoosh of bad-a-baaaaaa, wop wop…

This is all good, I enjoy her music. There is just one itsy-bitsy teeny leetle problem. My brain is notoriously sticky. And boy do these songs stick! 

You see, my most fruitful plotting gap, when it comes to my current writing projects, is flat on my back in bed with the lights out. You know that time of day when most sensible people are sleeping? That. Except now, instead of a brain full of my characters and their plights, I have Adele. Singing loud. Full of angst. She. Never. Shuts. Up. 

She is one seriously tough woman to push into a corner and ignore. Maybe I need to write her into my book. NOT! *shudders*

So there you have it. My brain is full of rainy pavements and some-poor-soul-like you. Kinda makes me want to hunt down Will Smith and demand he use his MIB flasher thingy on me.

Do you have a recurring mental torture song? (Moms – other than Barney. We all have Barney issues.)

New Beginnings…

Today’s post features a lovely fellow writer, Rebecca Emin - www.rebeccaemin.com.

Rebecca Emin lives in Oxfordshire, with her husband and three small children. Her debut novel, ‘New Beginnings,’ is being published by Grimoire Books today. Isn’t that exciting? Rebecca has finished her second novel ‘When Dreams Come True’ which is also for older children.

 Rebecca enjoys writing flash fiction and short stories and has had several flash fiction stories included in fundraising anthologies. ‘A Knowing Look and Other Stories’ is a collection of Rebecca’s short stories which was published in November 2011. 

Rebecca is also an author for Ether Books who publish short stories and essays to mobile devices via the Ether app.

Pop in and see what’s happening on her website – there are giveaways and prizes up for grabs.

 Rebecca – I wish you every success with your writing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of polar bears and other disasters

The best laid plans of mice and er, polar bears?

This poor bear has had better days, I’m sure.

When I think back on this week – I can sympathize.

This week has been a writing fail of EPIC PROPORTIONS.

And yes, all those capital letters are on purpose. I mean every one.

 

I had lovely, manageable goals set out for this week – 4 OneHope stories (2400 words altogether), 2 blog posts and 2000 words on Finding Amy. I managed the blog posts and thats about all. I only managed those because I like you lot so much. The others? Nope. Nada. Nothing. Zip.  Zero.

 

It has been back to school for my 3 kids which SHOULD equal oodles of writing time. Reality slapped hard though, with me back to work on 2 of my jobs not to mention those lovely night shifts covering books. I hear you moms groaning out there…

 

Honestly? Not reaching my goals had me in some emotional quicksand.  I feel rather shellshocked.  I’m consoling myself with this… If a polar bears icecap melts out from under him, he can always swim to another. So yes – my ice cap melted out from under me this week. Am I sunk? Nope. I’m just temporarily swimming till my feet hit solid ground again.

 

How do you manage setbacks?

 

My Writing Theme Song

A few days back  Cassie posted on her blog about her favourite background music for writing.  http://wp.me/phBnT-L3  It was interesting to see what other writers find their groove to. Alas, silence for me is still worth its weight in wordcount.

So here’s a different angle… What is your writing theme song? This is an easy one for me. Without a doubt, its the song below. (Now… this is the first time I’m attempting to embed a video and I’m hoping it’s as simple as they say. Time will tell. )

It is so beautifully spot on for us writers. Check this out…

I am unwritten, can’t read my mind, I’m undefined
I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun (Son!) illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten….

Nice, hey?

What is your writing theme song?

Embrace the Chaos

Tomorrow is the last day of holidays before my 3 kidlets head off back to school and I start my rounds of furious hat-swapping. I’ve loved being home, I really have. At times I’ve wished kids came standard with a mute button… but I doubt I’m the only mom on the planet who has hankered after that. So… school term: by now I know what I’m in for… early mornings, synchronizing schedules of who has to be where when and with what, making sure they are fed along the way (a few times a day)… homework and tests, good teachers and scary teachers… eisteddfods and ballet exams and so on and so on. 

Its a little daunting to get back into real life, but the best part is – I get my brain back! For a  few hours a day I won’t be MOOOOOM!!’d at mind numbing five minute intervals. The rest of the day is a glorious smoosh of fetch and carry and listen and laugh and council and shutup and referee and correct and leave be. But… I get my brain back! Did I mention that already?

Amidst the happy chaos of home and family, I’m looking forward to pockets of tranquility, rich silence and brainspace in which ideas can stretch their fingers and toes, rooting into the sandy soil of reality but stretching up way beyond where I can see, to touch the far edges of impossibility. That place where hopes and dreams live.

I’m going to embrace the chaos and the quiet, and then see what comes out of my fingertips. It’ll be fun, don’t you think?  

 

Shhhhhhhhh!

My house is quiet. Everyone is safely tucked in bed dreaming whatever their day-weary brains are regurgitating for them. Me? I think I’m going to let my brain dribble out through my finger tips. Just a little.

My house is tidy. I’ve done a bit of admin and some other bits that needed me and I think its time to give in to the urge I’ve been pushing to the back of the queue all day.

My house is not all that I’m about. So I’m going to lose myself inside my head and watch my how my characters deal with all the rubbish I’m about to throw at them. Nothing like a bit of conflict to keep readers reading.

You see if I can claim 600 words and make them mine in the next 1,5hrs – I will have met my goal for book 2 for this, the first week of 2012. I should get on with it then…

Shhhhhhhhhhhh! #amwriting #amhappy

Cross-training for writers

 

How are you all today? 3 days into 2012 and so far? What a great year! *insert cheeky grin*

My last post was very broad and general – if it were a behind, it would not fit into the average aeroplane seat. We all know that the more specific your goals are, the more chance you have of hitting them – rocket science 101 – so I thought I’d focus my attention on the biggest conundrum … writing.

I’m hoping at this point, that some seasoned campaigners will chip in with some golden advice gleaned over years of consistently meeting deadlines with obedient words that line up and jump through whatever hoop they are pointed at. The big question is this: just how do you keep multiple projects moving at the same time?

For me, the biggest downfall has been this: if it comes with a deadline, it gets first priority. (Self-imposed deadlines don’t count, not in my life anyway… trust me, I’ve tried!) 

At first glance this is a no-brainer. The problem is I seem to end up serving back-to-back deadlines. So the projects that are closest to my heart get left choking in the dust of those who come under the banner of ‘finish-by-such-and-such-and-we’ll-pay-you’.

The other part of the challenge of keeping multiples moving is switching track in my brain. To hop between a quiz on ‘What Kind of Friend Are You’ (written in a funky up-beat manner to suit 20-30ish savvy modern women), to a short story challenging young people to stay pure and avoid a devastating clash with HIV (written for english second language learners – i.e. ULTRA simple language / no contractions…) to a humour piece involving our feline friends and then – the thing that makes my heart happy – get lost in the world of book #2.

HA! I love my life!

As I was writing that paragraph, it hit me. To survive and thrive – and dare I say it… make money - as a writer in this era, it’s essential to cross-train. You can’t just be cardio fit. You can’t just have a body that is superbly conditioned. And you certainly can’t be pure muscle.  The writer who will be succesful with whatever opportunities come his/her way, is one that can mentally track-hop without derailing.

And with that, my littlest is awake and I must go be mom. That’s her in the picture above – today’s inspiration for us…

We stand peering across the gleaming waters of 2012, full of the unknown… but also teeming with promise and opportunity.

Bring it on!

 

Hopes & challenges… fertile soil for the DREAMS of 2012

Writing a new book? Not a problem. Cranking out a few articles per month? Completely do-able. Getting through my last 4 kid’s writing course assignments… Lovely fun. Working two jobs, being mom to 3 growing girls, being wife and home-maker? It’s part of what I’m built for. I could go on…

My big challenge is to fit it all into one life.

And I guess that’s where grace comes in. I can trust my Heavenly Daddy to order my days. After all, He is the one who put these longings, desires, dreams and hopes inside of me and set them all ablaze with His vision. Surely He is able to make sense of it all?

So I’m going to walk the tightrope of hope, knowing that when I fall short and fail – there is a safety net of grace that will not simply catch me, but this magnificent grace will bounce me straight back up and onto the rope again. In the words of an old Neil Diamond song – pretty amazing grace!

What challenges are stomping the earth and snorting at you this new year?

Holes in my head… *insert happy face here*

 

I finally know that it is true. There are holes in my head, the size of swiss cheese. But it’s okay.

You see this morning I started novel #2. Where is novel #1 you might ask? On the shelf. For now. I had always harboured a secret hope that I wouldn’t be amongst all those authors who would admit that by the time they had written book 3 or 4, they had learned enough about the craft to get published.

Right alongside that hope, was a sneaking certainty that that would, indeed, be the case. And so I’m embarking on my dream, part 2. A ‘fools errand’ if you will. My writer friends will understand. So will my friends who are dreamers and visionaries.

 And you know what? I have learned so much and I’m ready for this. 

What are you dreaming about? Hoping for?

What is stopping you?

 

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Ok, so its been a while since I last posted.

There is good news, bad news and some ugly news. The bad news?

It’s been a while since I last posted.

The good news? I’ve been scarce because I’ve been caught up in a writing project for these lovely people: http://onehope.net/ I guess you could say I haven’t been writing because I’ve been writing.

I am also busy writing a booklet for these lovely people: http://www.icdf.com/

The ugly news? My bed is sulking from neglect. And the bags under my eyes are growing daily.

Watch this space, I’ll keep you posted!

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